Chapter 70 Introducing Speakers, Presenting and Accepting Awards

When you are invited to speak in public, you can recommend another person to give you an opening statement to explain the day's speech, or to say something light-hearted to brighten the atmosphere.This chapter is mainly to assist you in how to prepare your introduction speech, and at the same time, it also provides some useful suggestions on the expression of award speech and acceptance speech. John Mason Brown is a writer and speaker.His lively speeches have won countless audiences all over the country.One evening he was speaking to the man who was about to introduce him to an audience.

"Don't worry about what to say," the man said to Brown. "Relax, I don't believe speeches need to be prepared! Well, what's the use of preparing, it ruins the beauty of the whole thing and the fun. On occasions like this, I just wait for the inspiration to come to me when I stand up. I've never had a miss doing that!" These earnest words made Brown expect that he would make a good introduction to himself to facilitate the atmosphere of the speech, but unexpectedly, the man stood up and spoke completely unexpectedly, according to Brown in one of his speeches. Memories in this book:

Gentlemen, would you please pay attention?I have bad news for you tonight. We would have asked Mr. Isaac F. Maxon to speak for you. Unfortunately, he cannot come, he is ill. (Applause.) Then we wanted to have Senator Brettke speak for you... but he was too busy. (Applause) Finally, we wanted to invite Dr. Lloyd Grogan from Kansas City to speak to you, but that didn't work.So we had to be replaced by John Mason Brown. (no sound) When Mr. Brown recalled the speech that was close to disaster, he said only this: "This friend of mine, the great inspiration, finally got my name right."

You can see, of course, that the man who is so sure that his inspiration can handle everything could not be worse off than he is now, had he intended to do so.His introduction violated his duty to the speaker he was introducing and his duty to his audience.In fact, his responsibilities are not many, but they are very important.Surprisingly, many presenters don't understand this. Introductions have the same function as communicative introductions.It brings speaker and audience together, creates a friendly atmosphere for them, and creates a bridge of interest between them.Someone might say, as an introducer, "You don't have to say anything, you just introduce the speaker." If you think so, you are making things too simple.Few factors can wreak havoc on a speech more than the introduction.The reason why some people's introductions can do so much harm to a speech may be that many presenters who prepare introductions underestimate its efficacy.

Here are some suggestions to help you prepare a well-organized introduction.