Introducing yourself and others to key
contacts is essential for building business relationships and networking
effectively. However there are pitfalls that many professionals can avoid when
making introductions.
Here’s a look at 6 introduction mistakes to avoid. This
information comes straight from our program How to be a Polite Professional
1. Looking away:
Looking away when you are being introduced to someone gives off the impression
that you are disinterested and don’t care about who you are meeting. Always
maintain eye contact when being introduced
2. Making overly personal comments: When introducing someone to a group you should give a piece of
information about them. Avoid alluding to divorce, job loss, illness or any
sensitive topic. Instead stick to their job title, where they work or what
field they’re in. You can even indicate how you met them.
3. Interrupting: Don’t
break in to a conversation or simply force yourself into one. Wait until you
are introduced to the group or brought in to the conversation.
4. Deferring to one person: Avoid speaking only to one person and ignoring the others in the
group. This behaviour is especially prevalent in groups of 3, and makes the
person being ignored feel awkward. Make sure you engage with everyone in your group
and at least make eye contact and acknowledge people you are not immediately
speaking to.
5. Overly enthusiastic introductions: It’s always nice to highlight something positive about the person
you are introducing but keep it within reason. Don’t introduce colleagues or
clients with superfluous introductions as these tend to embarrass people. Avoid
using phrases such as “the smartest person at our firm” “the greatest” “ the
most accomplished” “ the most amazing” etc.
These come off as unprofessional and a little immature.
6. Making someone wait to be introduced: Introduce any newcomers to the group immediately, making people
wait causes them to feel left out, embarrassed and awkward.
Copyright © 2013 by Professional Edge Consulting
