“Tell me about yourself?”
How do you respond to this most simple of questions?
This is the question that starts many friendships, job interviews, professional relationships and team experiences. However, in many cases… the way that we answer ruins the possibility of creating something great. How do you answer this question?
Andrew Dlugan provides an excellent overview of the Ice Breaker speech at his blog Six Minutes. I recommend that you start by reading that post.
Always be Prepared
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- What do you do when you have a spare 30 minutes?
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This is a good speech to practice
– Introduce yourself: you are an absolute authority on this topic, no research will be needed.
– Conquer fear: get started on preparing a speech that you will give hundreds of times over the course of a life; when you meet someone new, when you move to a new team at work, when you start a new training course.
Here are a 3 simple examples of how to introduce yourself:
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Structure: “How did I get here?”
Patrick from US Toastmasters
Would you like to meet Patrick? How did his story engage you? Are you interested in finding out more? How could you use Patrick’s structure to explain who you are?
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Structure 4 phases of my life:
Esha from Indian Toastmasters
Would you like to meet Esha? How did her story engage you? Are you interested in finding out more? How could you use Esha’s structure to explain who you are?
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Structure: My life as Fiction
Charles from USA Toastmasters
Would you like to meet Charles? How did his story engage you? Are you interested in finding out more? How could you use Tom’s structure to explain who you are? (PS Charles has given over 4,000 speeches and is a professional speaker)
Are there any other good examples? Please let me know.
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Another way to improve your confidence is regular practice. I have been developing an online module of my Persuasive Communications seminar. It is available here: Improve My Speaking. Feel free to share this resource with friends (and people who need it).
P.S. If you liked this post you might also like The greatest coaching question of all time and The top 5 Commencement Speeches.