The Do’s and Don’ts of the All-Important “Moment One” in Business Situations

One of the most basic and essential skills in business is making face-to-face introductions. It’s a seemingly simple task, yet introductions are a potential landmine field where nerves and common faux pas can cast you in a poor light that’s difficult — if not impossible — to change and may negatively influence future business dealings. On the bright side, introductions are not hard to master! Plus, knowing you’re doing it right will bolster your confidence, and allow you to project an even more professional image throughout the exchange.

Regardless of whether it’s a formal event or a chance meeting in the hall, adhering to these simple do’s and don’ts will ensure you make a positive impression and demonstrate the appropriate respect to clients, higher-ups and colleagues.

DO:

• Introduce yourself. When you introduce yourself first, you establish control of the meeting or encounter, demonstrate initiative and an ability to be direct — all plusses in a business situation. So state your name and something about yourself. For example, you might say, “Good morning Mr. Doe, I’m Laura Smith from Atlas Motors.”
• Create connections: If the people you encounter in your circle at a business event aren’t familiar with each other, take it upon yourself to introduce them. This demonstrates leadership and, again, puts you in a position of control.
• Introduce from the bottom up. Always introduce the “lesser authority” to the “higher authority” by saying the higher authority’s name first. For example, a junior executive should be introduced to a senior executive in this manner: “Ms. Higher Authority, I would like to introduce Mr. Lesser Authority from our legal department. Ms. Higher Authority is the Vice President of Human Resources.”
• A Company Executive Should be Introduced to a Client: See the script above to handle this similar interaction. Clients and customers are always considered more important than someone in your firm. Note: This holds true even if the client has a lower rank than your colleague.
• Be sure to highlight the company or position of the individual: Take it upon yourself to present each individual in the best possible light during an introduction. For example, you might say, “Nancy Stevens, I’d like to introduce Jane Doe, she’s the senior vice president at ABC Cell Phones, and the person to call if you need anything related to cellular phones. Jane, Nancy is president of Stevens Associates, the best P.R. firm in the country for promoting products.”
  [A descriptive introduction is, in effect, an icebreaker, since it eliminates the inevitable silence that often follows when unfamiliar individuals try to guess what each other does, or whether they have anything in common. By providing the information, you automatically put each individual at ease and establish an opening for conversation.]
• Always stand for introductions. This goes for both men and women and for both business and social occasions. No exceptions.

DON’T:

• Never give yourself an honorific: Stick with your first and last name only. Introducing yourself as “Dr. Jane Smith” or “District Attorney Jane Smith” falls in the same tasteless category as drinking a toast to oneself.
• Never assume intimacy due to an introduction. When you meet someone for the first time, you should continue to call him/her by his/her title and last name until invited to be on a first-name basis.
• Never “meet” people. When introducing people, the proper wording is “Mrs. Doe, I’d like to introduce to you Mrs. Smith,” and not “Mrs. Doe, I’d like you to meet Mrs. Smith.”
• Never respond to an introduction with just “Hi” or “Hello.” When responding to an introduction, you should always repeat the name of the person you are meeting (e.g. “Hello Mrs. Martin”). Adding a courtesy statement such as, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you” or “How do you do?” is always appreciated.
• Never assume “ladies first” in your introduction. In the business world, gender has no bearing on order of introduction — it’s based on seniority and rank.

In the end, introductions really aren’t difficult to master. They do, however, require you to think before you act and to take polite command in a business setting.

These small albeit courageous efforts — sometimes you have to speak up, and gracefully take the lead! —  are well worth the effort: they will establish you as a confident and competent professional with whom others will be eager to work in the future.