And Introducing….
I remember the first time I saw the introducer of a general session speaker at the annual convention of the National Speakers Association take five minutes to introduce a 45-minute speech. The introducer did her own “star turn,” to rousing applause.
The next year, NSA being as derivative as it is, EVERY introducer had become Henry Clay and and Winston Churchill rolled into one huge slather of oratory. Introductions were the rage. You couldn’t get these people out of the spotlight. And the actual speakers were enthralled because, after all, they must be great if it takes so long just to introduce them!
One juggler, the warm-up act for me at a convention in Canada, wouldn’t get off the stage and kept doing “false endings” to diminishing applause until the emcee and program director dragged him off, still juggling. He thought that HE was the show.
Yet I recall seeing Sinatra in his prime at the Circle Star Theater outside of San Francisco. There was no introduction. When the time came, a spotlight found Sinatra walking down the aisle launching into “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me.”
“Of course,” I thought, “he doesn’t need an introduction. That’s stardom.”
Stop worrying about loud and contrived accolades. You’re not a Roman Emperor nor a candidate for public office. When you can just “walk on” you’ve achieved your proper status. Less is more.
That’s why these books with five pages of testimonials at the beginning always make me suspicious. If you need so much of a buildup, is it because the actual content doesn’t stand up for itself, or the author isn’t sufficiently credible?
We don’t need to be derivative. (“Chicken Soup for the Soul” quickly gave rise to “Turkey Chowder for the Cobbler’s Sole.”) We don’t need a phalanx of French horns announcing our arrival for the media.
All you need are expertise and confidence. And then you can sing, “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” coming down the aisle.
© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.
Tim Wilson
Insightful, profound and relevant.