How To Introduce Yourself Professionally (In An Email, In An Interview, To A New Team, And More)

In some encounters, all you’ll have at your disposal to make a positive impression is the time to introduce yourself. Whether you’re sitting down for an interview, meeting a new coworker, or going out on a first date, your self-introduction is the first glimpse into the kind of person that you are.

Making the most of an introduction builds initial rapport with people and gets them invested in hearing what else you have to say.

How to Introduce Yourself in Four Steps

1. Consider the context of the introduction. Adapting your self-introduction for the situation you’re in is imperative. An introduction that is professional at a job interview is considered boring on a first date.

   Additionally, speaking as casually as you might on a first date is inappropriate when interviewing for an open position.

   Before speaking, the first step is to understand the context of the scenario you’ll be introducing yourself in and adjust your approach accordingly.

   Examples of self-introductions situations include:

   • Job interviews

   • The first day of a college class

   • Welcoming new co-workers

   • Going on a first date

   • Giving a presentation to a large group

2. Use positive body language. People are strongly influenced by body language, even if they don’t realize it consciously. Using positive body language draws the other party into what you have to say and who you are.

   Examples of positive body language include:

   • Eye contact

   • Shaking hands

   • Smiling

   • Nodding

   • Standing upright

   • Arms uncrossed

3. Give a little information about who you are. The thing about an effective introduction is that it’s a push-and-pull in exchange for information. Spend equal time speaking and listening.

   In the case of a job interview, this means explaining your professional background briefly while highlighting your responsibilities and achievements. Explain what jobs you’ve worked in previously and what the responsibilities in those roles entailed.

   When you’re introducing yourself in a social situation, it’s okay to include some career-related information, but try to extend the description past that to give a more well-rounded depiction of your social status.

   Whether the introduction is professional or personal, keep the description of yourself short to maintain the other party’s attention.

4. Ask questions. It’s not an attractive quality to be self-absorbed, whether in a professional or social setting. One way to avoid this perception is by asking the other person questions about themselves, the position you’re applying for, or the company you hope to work for.

   Questions demonstrate a genuine interest in the other person or professional role, and that makes them respond more positively.

   Asking questions also helps the interaction flow naturally from an introduction to a relaxed conversation.

   Good questions to ask an interviewer include:

   • What do you like about working here?

   • What are the biggest challenges I’d be facing in this position?

   • How will I be trained?

   • How do you evaluate success in this role?

14 Ways to Introduce Yourself Professionally and Casually

1. How to introduce yourself in an interview for a job

   “Hello, it’s nice to finally meet you in person. Even though we spoke over email, I wanted to formally introduce myself. My name is Sally Jones, and I’m a passionate social media manager.

   I’ve been a professional social media manager for the past five years after graduating with my bachelor’s degree in communications from New York University. I’ve led teams that handled high-profile clients and improved their sales margins by upwards of 4%.

   I’m hereby seeking the position of social media manager with your team to utilize my leadership skills and industry knowledge.”

2. How to introduce yourself to a new team

   “Hi, my name is Connor. What’s your name? Nice to meet you, _____. I understand that you’ve recently been hired for the job of administrative assistant, which means that we’ll be working together a lot.

   I just wanted to introduce myself and extend a warm welcome to the team.

   Please let me know if there’s anything I can help you with while you’re getting adjusted to the new role.”

3. How to introduce yourself in an email

   “Dear Mrs. Adams, How are you doing? I hope this email finds you well. My name is Jackson King, and I’m a school librarian. I have ten years of experience working as a librarian in the public schooling system, which has awarded me strengths in collaboration and patience.

   I’m emailing you today because I know that you are the hiring manager for Woodbridge City School District, and I wanted to pass my resume along in case any positions open up that fit my experience and skills. I’d love to have a further discussion about the education philosophies at Woodbridge City School District.

   I can be reached via [email protected] or (923-742-6336). Thank you for reading my email in full, and I hope to hear back soon.

   Sincerely,

   Jackson King

   [email protected]”

4. How to introduce yourself at a hiring event

   “Hi there, how are you? My name is Matthew Shelton. I’m a recent graduate from the University of Texas with a degree in engineering. While I haven’t had much paid professional experience, I participated in a competitive internship with Cisco Systems for six months.

   I wanted to come over and introduce myself to you because I saw that you’re representing Flash Energy Solutions. I’ve heard incredible things about this company’s innovation, and I’m curious to find out more about their open positions. Are you available now to talk more about opportunities at Flash Energy Solutions?”

5. How to introduce yourself to a university professor

   “Good afternoon, Professor Johnson. My name is Abigal Morris, and I’m a sophomore here at The University of Washington. I just wanted to formally introduce myself and say I’m looking forward to learning more in your course this semester.”

6. How to introduce yourself to your network

   “Hi, Samantha. How are you? I hope all is well. My name is Jessica Lane, and I’m a gallery director for Elegance Art Studios. I’m reaching out to you today because I recently came across some of your artwork online.

   Specifically, I saw a painting titled “Oblivion” that I thought was immaculate. I’d like to see your other work and speak further about the possibility of building a working relationship with Elegance Art Studios. If you’re interested, please email me at [email protected] or call me at (558)-292-6868. Thank you.

   Sincerely,

   Jessica Lane”

7. How to introduce yourself on social media

   “Hey, Catherine! How’s it going? My name is Sadie Michaels, and I represent a clothing company called Free Air Designs as a marketing coordinator.

   I came across your Instagram profile while I was searching through my Top Posts page. I think you have a keen eye for social media development, and I enjoy your style. I was wondering if you’d be interested in collaborating on a few targeted posts involving Free Air Designs. Let me know if you’d be interested in talking more.

   Thanks!

   -Sadie”

8. How to introduce yourself to a stranger on a plane

   “Hello, I don’t mean to bother you, but since we’re going to be on this 12-hour flight, I figured I’d introduce myself. I’m Tom. What’s your name? It’s a pleasure, ____. What brings you on a flight to Milan?”

9. How to introduce yourself at a party

   “I don’t think we’ve met before. My name is Eric. I’m Leah’s older brother. What’s your name? Awesome, it’s great to meet you, ____. How do you know Leah and Craig? Oh, you’re Craig’s second cousin! I guess that makes us family-in-law now! Where are you from originally?”

10. How to introduce yourself on a first date

    “Hello, Emma, it’s so great to finally meet you in person. How was the drive over here? I’m glad there wasn’t too much traffic. Friday’s can be hectic. What’s your favorite drink? I’ll order up a round.”

11. How to introduce yourself in class

    “Hi everyone, my name’s Madeline Johnson. I’m a sophomore English major in the NEAG education program. I was interested in this class as a way of broadening my knowledge of teaching techniques for toddlers. When I’m not stuck in a book, I like to spend my time fishing at the Housatonic River.”

12. How to introduce yourself in a letter

    Dear Mrs. Sels,

    “My name is John Buck and I’m a freelance writer with a background in ecommerce and the technical space. Naturally, I thought I’d be a good fit for XYZ Technica, an industry leader in technical ecommerce.”

13. How to introduce yourself to a group

    “Hello everyone, my name’s Tim Thompson. I’ve been working in finance for 10 years, and what I specialize in is client support and education. Being able to bring some of this esoteric, but important, information from our field to more people is the most rewarding part of my job.”

14. How to introduce yourself in a meeting or presentation

    “Hi everyone, my name is Riley Cooper and I’m the head of our content marketing team. What we excel at is making bespoke content calendars that match your brand’s voice, as well as monitoring the success of those campaigns.”

Why Are Self-Introductions Important?

Meeting new people happens daily. Whether this initial meeting will blossom into a long-term professional or social relationship is often based on first impressions. How you demonstrate your character in the first moments of meeting another person dictates their perception of you moving forward, even if that doesn’t accurately describe who you are.

Reflect on a time that you met someone who left a negative first impression – a teacher, colleague, or even a stranger on public transportation. Unless you were given more time to understand who they were beyond the poor first impression, they probably remain a negative memory to this day.

In situations where there is limited time to interact, such as a job interview, making a positive and professional first impression is crucial in achieving a desirable outcome. The 30-minute interview confines are all a candidate has to demonstrate themselves as the perfect choice for a job.

This is truly a test in first impressions as job-seekers are asked to perform well in a brief introduction before being hired.

Tips for Introducing Yourself

Making a strong introduction is more complicated than simply shaking someone’s hand and stating your name. Consider the following tips for introducing yourself to leave a lasting positive impression on people you meet:

1. Dress well. Clothing is the first impression that a job interviewer or colleague has of you before you speak. Dressing well for an interview secures that you’re portraying yourself in a professional light.

   It also shows the interviewer that you know how to dress appropriately for the role if hired.

2. Be confident.. Refined confidence draws people into what you have to say. While sounding conceited repeals most people, a healthy dose of security in your ability to do a job establishes you as a dependable candidate.

   Employers want to hire individuals who know that they can succeed in the role, and giving a confident self-introduction demonstrates that mentality.

3. Look for opportunities to further the conversation. An introduction that goes back and forth between two people only lasts a few minutes at most before it gets boring. To avoid a boring discussion, be on the lookout for opportunities to further the conversation.

   For example, suppose you’re talking to a stranger at a networking event, and they state that they just watched Sunday night football the previous evening. In that case, you could ask them about their favorite teams or mention a notable game.

Job Interview Self-Introduction Tips

Introducing yourself at a job interview is a bit different than most social contexts. You’ll want to pay special attention to the following in order to ensure the hiring manager likes you from the get-go:

• Research the company and your interviewer. Before the interview, check out how the company presents itself to the public via social media. Are they casual and hip, or formal and serious? That’s your first clue for what sort of tone to strike, but the second piece of the puzzle is even more important: your interviewer.

  Figure out whether they’re HR personnel or someone who you’d be working under directly. You can also learn about their background to see what sort of information they’re most likely to appreciate in an introduction. Plus, you might find an interesting connection that can be a nice segue out of your self-introduction into a shared, natural conversation.

  Note that if you’re dealing with a third-party recruiter, these tips probably won’t help as much.

• Be hyper-relevant and brief. The job description is your ultimate cheat sheet for what qualifications to hype up at your job interview. Don’t go crazy trying to stuff your whole life story into this intro, though.

  Instead, pick one aspect of your background that’s hyper-relevant to the job and briefly touch on that. This shows the interviewer that you recognize the job’s priorities and can articulate your fitness for the role smoothly.

• Talk contributions. Introducing yourself shouldn’t be a laundry list of where you worked, when you graduated, etc. — that’s what your resume is for. Instead, get animated and talk about why you’re passionate about the field, interesting stories from your background, major milestones from your professional career, etc.

  Anything that highlights not only your skill set, but also your love of the job, will stand out in an interviewer’s mind.

• Avoid common mistakes. Two of the most common self-introduction mistakes are stopping short at a job title and trying to be funny. When you simply give your name and job title, you’re basically saying “there’s nothing more interesting about me than the function I can possibly fulfill” — not exactly a thrilling candidate.

  Plus, job descriptions aren’t very descriptive of your actual lived experience. Chances are, most of the other candidates have the same current job title as you or a very similar one.

  The other big mistake is trying to be funny. Humor is a great thing, but unless you’re a stand-up, you should wait until you’ve developed a bit of rapport before diving into the jokes. No matter how much research you’ve done on your interviewer, you won’t know what they find funny or inappropriate, so it’s best to play it straight.

  This doesn’t mean you have to be boring or solemn. By all means, smile, make eye contact, and be as warm and enthusiastic as you can authentically be. Just steer clear of the Dad jokes.

How To Introduce Yourself Professionally?

Amanda Halkiotis
Owner and Chief Resume Writer

If you have a hard time thinking of ways to break the ice over email, you can always ask those who are close to you how you come across to others. Are you funny? Charming? Outgoing? Sincere? Good natured and kind? Find a characteristic that resonates you and use it to brand yourself. If you are looking to a financial services job at a fintech firm, for example, a great opening line might be something like, “I have been a math geek my whole life and I started building computers when I was in high school.”. The first line is key to get the reader interested, so I cannot stress enough the importance of having a “hook” that makes you stand out as an individual.

When introducing yourself personally, manners and confidence matter. Make eye contact, stand up straight, but try to be relaxed and not too stiff. I also recommend being complimentary but a bit subtle about it, for example, saying, “thank you so much for meeting with me today” followed by “your office is such a lovely building” or “I knew we would have a lot in common when we talked based on our email exchange”. A little flattery goes a long way! I like to have three to five points about myself memorized when meeting someone for the first time in an interview setting. Something biographical, something personal, and something professional. So, for me, if someone says, “tell me about yourself”, I can reply with, “I grew up in Connecticut and have been in New York City for 14 years, I’m a middle child, I love travel, cooking, and hiking, I am not afraid of a challenge and I find that I do my best work when I get to work with clients and build relationships”. To sum it up, have an elevator pitch to go along with the brand you promoted over email!

For anyone who gets nervous meeting new people, I suggest practicing in front of a mirror or doing mock interviews with a friend or relative. For virtual interviews (so many are being done on Zoom these days), you can do a mock version by doing a video recording on your phone and looking it over. A few minutes before the actual interview, try a technique called box breathing to calm your nerves.

Lastly, one of my personal heroes who is a true master when it comes to this type of advice is Vanessa Van Edwards. She is a well-known human behaviorist who has been featured on the Today Show, has done a Ted Talk, and has a great YouTube channel. Trust me, you’ll love her.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.