John Travolta became legendary at the 2014 Oscars – but for the wrong reason. Here are three tips to prepare for introductions.
The mistake went viral! John Travolta introduced a singer whose name is Idina Menzel; he introduced her as “Adele Dazeem.” You can watch the gaff here. Travolta explains his gaff on a talk show here.
Boy, I felt Mr. Travolta’s pain. I did the equivalent at a prestigious event while I served as a Toastmasters District Governor in 2003-04. I learned the painful lesson – one must prepare for introductions.
Linnaea’s Introductions gaff
Every year the current President of Toastmasters International visits a handful of Districts. A District can be expecting a Presidential visit about every 7-8 years. When I was District Governor, we had a presidential visit. That was November 2003 at our fall conference.
It was a huge affair. Instead of having the standard full-day Saturday conference, we made it a Friday night and Saturday affair. Friday night was black tie glitter formal. And in my full-length halter glitter gown, I got up to introduce the many dignitaries who were visiting. I blundered and butchered 1/4 of their names. (I didn’t do a great job introducing the speakers for the presentations the next day either) My excuse? I didn’t have time. The result? Humiliation then and humiliation every time I think about it now. It’s been 17 years now, and I still blush about it.
I bet John Travolta wishes he had taken the time to make sure he had the name of the person he was to introduce right. While my humiliation is limited to just me and a few others, Mr. Travolta was not so lucky. Slate.com created a widget that allows you to “Travoltify” your own name. Here is my name Travoltified:
Pretty funny. But the laugh is on the person who didn’t take time to do their homework upfront. In addition to exercising simple lectern etiquette, prepare for introductions.
Prepare for Introductions
The best way to avoid butchering a person’s name is to PREPARE for those introductions.
1) If you are being introduced, write your own introduction and provide the pronunciation of your name, including the stresses. “Lin-nay’-ya Ma-let'” is how I indicate the pronunciation of my name in my introductions.
2) If possible, I meet with the introducer to make sure s/he understands my introduction, and that my name is pronounced correctly. Most people appreciate this effort, as no one wants to be remembered for butchering another’s name.
3) If you are the introducer, ask them to give you the pronunciation of their name, and meet with them to make sure you pronounced their name correctly.
In conclusion, don’t “wing” introductions – prepare for them! There is nothing wrong with becoming legendary. Just become so for the RIGHT reasons!
