Introducing a speaker is much more than reading his or her name and the title of his or her presentation out loud from a piece of paper. Typically, this information is shown on the speaker's first slide (projected on the screen at that moment), and attendees can read it for themselves. Therefore, your introduction will be more useful to the audience if you add something about both the speaker and the topic that they cannot read on the screen.
Conferences are networking opportunities: They are about meeting people as much as they are about learning about the latest developments. As a chairperson, you can help the networking process by introducing speakers usefully. Do say the speaker's name out loud, if only to show the audience how it is pronounced, but do not stop there. Place the speaker in context; for example, say which institution he or she comes from (and, within this institution, perhaps which or whose research group), which degrees he or she holds from which universities, or what his or her research interests are. Here is an example:
Our next speaker is Markus Grossgrabenstein. Markus is originally from Germany. He graduated two years ago as a mechanical engineer from Heidelberg University, and he is now conducting research on combustion-generated nanoparticles in Albert Wang's group at Stanford University.
Depending on the context, it may be appropriate (and appreciated) to say something more personal about the speaker, especially if you know him or her personally. You might mention an anecdote that reflects positively on the speaker, shows him or her in a different light, or is amusing without being disrespectful. Such anecdotes, if kept short and good-humored, help break the ice and create a connection between the audience and the speaker. In fact, speakers are usually willing to provide interesting personal details or stories if you press them gently. For example, you might say this:
Markus is not only a combustion expert — he is also a juggler: He can keep any four things in the air for as long as you want. I had the chance to see him in action at last year's conference banquet, where he suddenly started juggling four dessert plates — very impressive. Right now, however, he is not here to demonstrate juggling, but rather to tell us about . . .
If you are introducing someone well-known or, more generally, if you expect applause at the mention of the person's name, consider saying the name last, not first, to avoid interference. In addition to doing this for speakers, you might do so for laureates or nominees, as in the following example:
Our next award winner is from Argentina. She has been in the field for more than 25 years, has delighted you with her witty presentations at our conferences, and has impacted generations of students with her now famous textbook on . . . For a lifetime of achievements in . . . , our society is pleased to present the K. Chang Award to Ofelia Quino Mendieta. [applause]
In this video, Wout De Cort is introducing both the afternoon session of a \"Ph.D. day\" and the first speaker at this session (Marie Verbist). Given the composition of the audience (mostly Ph.D. students) and the purpose of the day (to create links among students from different departments in science and engineering), Wout is not afraid to add some personal information about Marie or to use humor. However, he did check with Marie ahead of time to make sure what he planned to say was okay with her.
Transcript
When introducing speakers, it is often difficult to choose the appropriate level of formality. Should you refer to Susan Johnson as Dr. Johnson, as Susan, or even as Sue? The answer depends on many factors, including the conference tradition (what do other chairpeople do?), the atmosphere you are trying to create in your own session (formal or informal), and the relationship you have with the speakers. One defendable option is to refer to speakers in front of the audience in the same way you would address them in private. For example, if you know Susan Johnson well and normally address her as Sue, it is natural to refer to her in that way. Still, say her full name first, possibly with her title ("Our next speaker is Dr. Susan Johnson") before going on ("Sue and I both graduated from the University of Sydney . . . "). If you are unsure what to do, being more formal is usually safer than being less formal.
Finally, besides introducing the speaker, introduce the topic of the talk. Doing so requires more than just saying the title of the talk out loud. Rather, you must connect this topic to other topics in your session — just like you connect this session to other sessions at the conference. Consider the following example.
Thank you again, Ana, for this eye-opening toxicological study. Now that we know how toxic combustion-generated nanoparticles can be, the question we all have in our head is, "What do we do about them?" This is a question that the next presentation is going to try to answer. Our next speaker is . . .
