Sample Guest-Speaker Introductions

In writing your introduction, you will want to be fairly brief. You will share with the audience important details about the person's life, background, and accomplishments. You may want to mention what the speaker will be talking about, why he or she is an expert on that topic, or why you invited the speaker to come. The more interesting your introduction is, the more likely the audience is to pay close attention.

Here is a sample introduction from the Communications merit badge book:

Thanks for coming today. We have a special guest speaker today, Detective Tom Jackson with the Minneapolis Police Department. Detective Jackson is a 10-year veteran of the police department and has solved many puzzling crimes in our area. He has a bachelor's degree in law enforcement from Iowa State University. When he is not working, he teaches karate and coaches Little League baseball. Detective Jackson has graciously agreed to speak to us today about his position and other career opportunities in law enforcement. Please welcome Detective Jackson.

And here is another sample introduction for a Scout group (found on the Internet):

Careers in corporate law are of great interest to our Explorer post. Tonight, we are honored to have a speaker whose experience and background will highlight these careers. After graduating from the Georgetown University School of Law, our speaker was assistant U.S. attorney for Ohio for three years before joining the legal staff of the General Foods Corporation. She belongs to the American Bar Association, Corporate Lawyers League, and United Fund Board, and chairs our County Legal Aid Society. She received the Governor’s Medal for Juvenile Justice and was elected to the Georgetown University Outstanding Alumni. Currently, she is the director of General Foods’ legal department, serves as counsel to the board of directors, and has extensive legal experience in copyright law, patents, and product liability. Leisure time is spent with her husband and sons either restoring their Victorian home or skiing in Colorado. “It is a pleasure to present . . . Jane Smith.

Guest Speaker Introductions

For this requirement, which you should come prepared for next week, you must do four things:

• Interview someone you like or admire
  
• Listen actively
  
• Write and deliver a brief introduction as if this person were to be a guest speaker
  
• Show how you would invite this person to speak

Here are a few helpful tips...

On Interviewing

• Call beforehand to request and set up an interview
  
• Write down your questions before the interview (5-10 questions, open-ended questions that require more than one-word answers)
  
• Dress appropriately (nice, in a way the person will feel comfortable)
  
• Take a notebook and pen
  
• Be on time, and stick to your time limit
  
• Thank them

On Active Listening

• Listen carefully and take notes
  
• Give encouragement: nod, smile, say encouraging words (“uh-huh,” “cool," "wow”)
  
• Ask follow up questions, be curious, seek understanding, reflect answers
  
• Show interest: look them in the eye, avoid distractions
  
• Watch for body language
  
• Let them talk: don’t fear silence; let them fill the silence

On Introducing: Answer Two Questions in a Few Sentences

• Why should I care about this person?
  > Who is this person?
  > What makes them cool?
  > Interesting stories or background?
  
• Why should I care what they have to say?
  > What makes this person an expert in this topic?
  > What is the significance of the topic?

Communicate, Communicate

The world of communications is filled with cool things like movies, blogs, sports broadcasts, magazines, photography, cell phones, YouTube, and Twitter feeds. It also includes things like talking to your mom after school or listening to your friend tell a story around the campfire or praying to God in the privacy of your room. We communicate constantly, whether we intend to or not. What we say, what we do, how we sit—many things in our world can be considered "communications." It is literally impossible to not communicate.

So if we have to communicate, we might as well do it effectively. Communication is how we build friendships, how we learn, how we develop testimonies, how we influence others for good, how we make the world a better place.

Over the next few weeks, we'll explore communications together. We'll talk about principles of communication, and we'll learn a bit about how to do it well. Along the way, we'll have some fun and build friendships—and making personal connections is a big part of what communication is all about.

Our time in this class is limited: we only have three hours (one hour each week) in which to discuss all these kinds of communications! Sheesh. Give me three months and perhaps we can do it justice... but three hours?!? Put on your seat belts...

A few ground rules for the class:

• Please arrive on time. We've got a lot of fun planned each week, so we will start on time to give us as much time as possible. The first class starts at 6:45; please be here by 6:30 so you can find the room and get situated. The second class starts at 8; please move quickly from your first class.
  
• Please wear your uniform. We will be making video recordings during class, which we will post on this blog. Scouts anywhere in the world could search for "Communications Merit Badge" and find themselves watching a video of you. So please represent Scouting well by how you look. Tuck your shirt in, comb your hair, wipe the ketchup off your cheek...
  
• Please fulfill the homework assignments. Each week, I will ask you to prepare something for the next week. There is not enough time to do the preparations in class; to complete the merit badge, you must do something between each class. The assignments will be fairly simple, but they will be important.
  
• Remember we are among friends. We will get to know each other—and like each other. As we share things with each other, be respectful and kind. And be brave. Others will respect you for being courageous enough to share things that are important to you.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll probably think of more things later, but this is a good start. I look forward to meeting with you on Wednesday to begin our learning process together.

Me, the Editor

I have been the editor of BYU Magazine for 14 years. In my job, I lead a talented group of editors, writers, designers, and students in the creation of a magazine mailed four times a year to about 270,000 readers in some 200,000 homes. If all of our readers got a seat to a BYU football game, LaVell Edwards Stadium would need to be four and a half times bigger than it is now. Imagine four and a half stadiums full of people. That's how many people get the magazine.



As the editor, I do some writing, a bit more editing, and a lot of managing and planning. I once wrote an article about BYU's dairy, and I got to milk cows for a morning while doing my research. I got up about 4 a.m. and spent about five hours staring at the hind quarters of cows—more than 400 of them who came in and out of the milking parlor. It was one of the funnest things I've done in my job.


Another time, I got to go to Scotland and visit BYU students who were doing internships with the Scottish Parliament. I have also shaken hands with President Hinckley, visited Nauvoo, followed the BYU ballroom dancers through Belgium and France, and sat in the press box for a couple of BYU football games.

For one issue, I arranged for Cosmo to come to our photo studio, and I helped him with the photo shoot for our cover. He even wore my belt because he didn't bring one. Here's a slideshow we made of the photo shoot:



Most days, however, I sit at my desk and edit articles, write and respond to e-mail messages, and plan and manage the process of creating a magazine. We have a lot of deadlines and a lot of people working on those deadlines. I enjoy coming up with ideas, working with writers, sharing ideas with photographers and artists, and see the finished magazine come out at the end. And during our weekly meetings, we play speed Scrabble.

In addition to the magazine, our staff produces a monthly e-mail newsletter for more than 200,000 readers, and we maintain a website, a Facebook page, an iTunes podcast, a Twitter feed, and a YouTube channel. The magazine frequently wins awards for both writing and design, and our readers tell us they value the content we put in the magazine.

I earned a bachelor's degree in communications from BYU and a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. I enjoy camping and hiking and Scouting. I used to have a sailboat and a motorcycle. Now I have a beautiful wife and two cute daughters. We love to play games like Ticket to Ride and Blockus, and my wife and my 10-year-old—who are both much smarter than I—often win.