Every keynote speaker needs an introduction—whether they are a celebrity like Molly Bloom or an up-and-coming speaker. Your speaker shouldn’t be on stage explaining who they are and why they have come to speak at your event. That’s the job of the master of ceremonies.

When an introduction is done well, it sets up the keynote speaker—and your event—for success. When the introduction is done poorly—or not at all—your speaker has to do all the hard work of winning over the audience.

So, how do you create a great keynote speaker introduction?

In this article, you will learn how to do the following:

1. Write a credible and relevant introduction.
2. Deliver in a way that excites the audience.
3. Create GenAI prompts to write your introduction.

How do you write a credible and relevant introduction?

All successful introductions should set up the credibility and relevance of the event speakers. You can set up the credibility and relevance for your MC, keynote speaker, and the event topic by answering these five questions for your audience.

1. Who is the Master of Ceremonies (or the person giving the introduction)?
2. What is the topic?
3. How is this topic relevant to the audience or event?
4. Why is this speaker an expert on this topic?
5. Who is the keynote speaker?

For example, if you were introducing James Clear, the bestselling author of Atomic Habits, your introduction might sound like this.

 “Good morning, everyone! I’m Bobbi Jones, Head of Personnel here at The Company. And I’m excited to speak to you today. Did you ever want to build and maintain better work habits so that you can thrive personally and professionally? I know I do. That’s why we invited the foremost expert on habits to come speak with us. He’s written the bestselling book Atomic Habits, which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, and is the author of the 3-2-1 newsletter with over 3 million subscribers. Please put your hands together to give a warm welcome to our keynote speaker, James Clear.

How do you deliver an exciting introduction?

In order to deliver an exciting introduction to engage your audience, you must follow these two principles: be brief and enthusiastic. 

Be brief: Good intros are short. Thirty to sixty seconds is all you need to establish the credibility and relevance of the speaker and topic. Any shorter, and the audience doesn’t know enough about the speaker or topic to get excited. Any longer, and your audience’s attention will begin to wander.

Be enthusiastic: Enthusiasm is critical to set up your keynote speaker for success. Practice your speech so you can deliver it with high energy. If the MC doesn’t sound excited or interested in the speaker or topic, the audience won’t be either. Then, end the introduction by clapping your hands and encouraging your audience to do so.

How do you create GenAI prompts to write your introduction?

Writing intros doesn’t have to take you all day. If you need to draft an introduction, your favorite Gen AI application can do the heavy lifting for you.

Just write in the key information, such as length, who the master of ceremonies is, the name of the keynote speaker, their expertise, and a relevant accomplishment of the speaker. 

Write a [word or time length] introduction to be made by the [name of the master of ceremonies] to introduce the keynote speaker, [name of speaker and title] for [name of event or conference]. Mention [relevant expertise and accomplishments of the keynote speaker]. 

Here is a prompt for the keynote speaker Marc Randolph.

Write a 30-60 second keynote speaker introduction to be made by the CEO of Google to introduce the keynote speaker, Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, for the 4th of July event. Mention his book That’ll Never Work. Also, have the CEO state their name.

Then you might end up with a nice introduction like this:

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I’m Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, and it’s a true honor to be here with you all today. As we celebrate our nation’s independence, we also celebrate the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that makes America great. And few stories embody that spirit quite like the story of our next speaker. He’s a visionary, a disruptor, and a true pioneer of the digital age. He took a simple idea – mailing DVDs – and turned it into a global streaming giant that revolutionized entertainment. His book, That’ll Never Work, is a must-read for anyone who’s ever dared to dream big. Please join me in giving a warm Fourth of July welcome to the co-founder of Netflix, Marc Randolph!

Once you have a draft, you can change it to suit your needs.

Now, all you need is a great keynote speaker to introduce.

If you would like a great keynote speaker for your next event, contact BigSpeak Speakers Bureau.