Lesson Learned #39
We were invited to make a presentation at an industry conference. We arrived in advance and checked in. Then, we were instructed to see the host, who would be introducing us onstage. After a quick hello he started to complain bitterly about how the previous speaker had forced him to read and reread, his introduction before going onstage. He said to us, “Hey, I can appreciate professionalism, but it’s not like I can’t read.” We commiserated, joked a little with him and handed him our own introduction.
An hour or so later we got up in front of the audience, and as the room settled he introduced us. He mispronounced our speaker’s last name and massacred the company name. Our partner could live with the personal slight, but the mispronunciation of the company name was surprisingly unbalancing and gave the presentation a slightly amateurish feel. It also did little to build the brand, which was one of the key objectives of doing the presentation in the first place.
The obvious lesson we learned was: Don’t overlook the introduction when you are doing a speech or presentation. It sets the stage for both the audience and the speakers. Better to have the host complain about you, rather than the audience.
