How to introduce yourself?
Today, we are going to talk about self-introduction, the answer to that dreaded question, “Tell me about yourself.”
Now, to some of you, this topic may seem very basic, but learning to introduce yourself properly is incredibly important. You might need to introduce yourself with no forewarning, so you need to be prepared. You may need to introduce yourself in your English class or in a job interview. You might need to introduce yourself to a new job or at a new hobby or leisure activity. You may even need to introduce yourself at a big event or convention in front of thousands of people. I feel very nervous and anxious when I have to introduce myself to large groups of people, and English is my first language. For learners of English, for my students, this is incredibly intimidating. In order to successfully introduced yourself, you must have your self-introduction pre-written and learned.
Be prepared.
In this article, I am going to guide you through this process. At the end of this lesson, you will have a complete self-introduction that is ready to use and ready for you to learn off by heart. I encourage you to share your introductions in the comment section down below, so that the community and I may assist you and correct you.
Obviously, hello. Hello can be both formal and informal, but it’s fine to use it in a formal situation. You also have a good morning, pleasant afternoon, and good evening. Make sure you pay particular attention to what time of day it is. I have said good morning in the evening and good evening in the morning before. One thing to note is the use of a good day. In British English, we consider a good day ancient-fashioned, very, very formal. It’s not commonly used. However, it is very common in Australian English. They kind of shorten it down to g’day. G’day. And I would say that g’day. I wonder what Emma from English will think (chuckling) of me saying g’day. Will she approve? I’ll ask her. But, g’day is more informal.
But this again is if you’re in Australia. It’s just something I’ve noticed people using in my comments section, “Good day.” I can see why you would use it. It appears to be a greeting that is suitable for all hours of the day, when in reality, in British English, it’s just an ancient-fashioned saying. Also note that goodnight is normally a send-off, an equivalent for goodbye. You say it when you are leaving instead of when you are greeting someone. If you’re introducing yourself in the nighttime, you would say good evening. Now let’s talk about informal greetings. It’s really important for you to find one that you feel comfortable with.
There are lots of informal greetings, like hey, what’s up, hi, hiya, yo. (laughing) There’s even, what’s good? Which is quite an American one? Honestly, if I said yo when I was introducing myself in an English class or in a less formal situation, I would feel really stupid, because it doesn’t suit me. My particular region doesn’t use yo, so it feels a bit forced.
If you want to say that you are from one place, but are now living in another place, there are various options. You can say, I grew up in… “I grew up in LA but now live in New York.” “I’m originally from Edinburgh, but I’m now based in London.” If you want to say how long you have lived in a certain place, you can say, “I’ve been living in London for three years.” Or, “I’ve spent the past few years in Paris.” Now, those are the basics. Let’s talk about some other options that you can add to your introduction. A very important option is your position and your company.
For example, “I work at Google in the marketing department.” You can say, I work at or I work for.
You would not say I work in, and then a company name. It’s at or for a company name. You can also say, “I’m a manager at Starbucks.” I’m a position at a company. Again, the at can also be replaced with a form. If you just want to give a general idea of the field in which you work, you can say, I work in, general area.
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