The purpose of introducing people is to give them an opportunity to know each other. Beyond just stating names of the two parties, the person making the introduction is often obligated to establish an acquaintance and help the two parties initiate a conversation.
The Art of Making Introductions: Four Steps
The basic protocol of introductions calls for introducing the ‘lesser-ranking’ (socially, professionally, by age or seniority) to the ‘higher-ranking’ person. Here are four steps:
- First, state the name of the person being introduced to. This is the ‘higher-ranking’ person.
- Second, say “I would like to introduce” or, “please meet” or, “this is,” etc.
- Third, state the name of the person being introduced. This is the ‘lower-ranking’ person.
- Finally, offer some details about each, as appropriate. As I wrote in a previous article, add a snippet of information about a topic of common interest between the two parties. Do not elaborate. This will help them connect and pursue a conversation.
The foremost principle of etiquette for making introductions lies in understanding reverence and respect. Here are some guidelines.
| Higher Ranking Person | Lower Ranking Person | Example: Introduce lower-ranking person to higher-ranking person |
| An older person | A younger person | “Grandma, this is my neighbour, John” |
| A senior professional | A junior professional | “Mrs. President, this is Mr. Analyst” |
| A customer | A team of employees | “Mr. Customer, this is my sales team” |
| A guest | A host | “Ms. New Yorker, this is my daughter, Sarah” |
| A guest from out-of-town | A local guest | “Mr. Australian, this is my neighbour Janet” |
| Peer from another company | Peer from your company | “Mr. IBMer, this is Ms. Edwards” |
When introducing people of equal seniority or status, you may introduce either person to the other.
Making Introductions: A Few Examples
- Introduce a younger person to an older person. “Grandma, please meet Alicia and Carlos, my neighbors.”
- Introduce a relatively junior professional to a senior professional. “Ms. Director, I would like to introduce Mr. Nakamura, the Chief Product Architect for our software division.”
- Introduce an employee to a customer. “Mr. Sung, I would like to introduce our plastics engineering team. This is Mark Smith, Jessica Ramos and Liang Zhu. All three participated in last week’s teleconference regarding product definition.”
- Introduce a host to a guest. “Elaine, I don’t think you have met my daughter, Anna. Anna arranged for all the food at this festival party. Anna, Elaine is my Project Manager.”
- Introduce a local guest to a guest from out-of-town. “Charlie, this is Debbie. Debbie is my colleague from work. Debbie, Charlie is visiting me from New York. We shared an apartment when we were at Columbia together.”
- Introduce a peer from your company to a peer from another organization. “Melissa, I would like you to meet Steve, our Systems Engineer. Steve, Melissa Hoffmann is from Marketing. She is our Account Manager for Wal-Mart.”
Gender Distinction
Customarily, a number of people introduce a man to a woman out of respect, regardless of the guidelines presented above.
When introducing a man and a woman at work, consider their positions and seniorities alone. Outside of work, it may be more appropriate to introduce a man to a woman, in contradiction to the above guidelines. Be judicious and sensitive.
Concluding Thoughts
Many people have difficulty introducing people to one another and helping initiate a conversation. With some practice and a sense of social and/or professional ranking, you too can master the art of introduction.
so practical..on so many levels..thank you for being
a quick refresher course!
very good. easy to understand very practical, thank you.
Most of us in india do not give much importance to the protocol of introducing people. Thank you.
These are ideas that can easily be practiced. Urdu language suggests introducing people using phrases “Janab! In se miliay, yeh hain Mr …”, “main chahta hoon ke main Mr. … ka ta-aruf ap sy karoon” etc. Thank you.
good morning,
I have a doubt and I would really appreciate some help. I have a customer who has come to our institution to request a credit, and I would like him to meet our Credit Department VP, who also happens to be a woman… My confusion comes from the example where you introduce the employee to the customer, but at the same time, this is no ordinary employee…is the vicepresident of the credit department… who should I introduce to who?
thanks!
Most guidelines of etiquette are meant to be commonsensical. Typically, you would introduce the guest (more important in the context) to a host party. If your Vice President’s social status is much more prominent than the guest, feel free to introduce the Vice President to the guest. “Ms. [Vice President], please meet [Guest]”
hi
its good easy to understand.
thank you
Recently, attending a meeting, with a friend who was there for the first time, I saw three other friends talking, so took my friend over to introduce her to them. I waited for the the three to finish what they were saying. However, they ignored us, and after waiting for several minutes, it was obvious that they were not going to recognise us, so suggested to my friend that we go into the meeting room, as the meeting was about to start. I am not sure who was in the wrong, i.e. if people are talking, is it acceptable to attempt to introduce someone new to them and whether they were right to ignore both me and my firend.
do i have to stand when being introduced to a man.
My husband introduced me to his friend and i was sitting. is this ok.
please reply i really would liuke to know the right thing to do when being introduced.
do you have any guidelines in introducing one person and advantages in introducing other people?
In Indonesian people say,” Pak Rahman, kami perkenalkan ini Pak Khan Singh, Kabag. Produksi dari Bangladesh. Pak Singh, ini Pak Rahman, manager Pemasaran kami.”
At a church function where there are at least five other members who served in senior post at sometime in the past, on the platform with the main speaker, whom do I introduce first and last, should I shake the main speaker’s hand when he comes to the podium after being introduced?
thank you it was really easy to understand and helped me out.
How do you introduce two friends who both like the same thing to each other without giving the false and utterly incorrect impression that I’m trying to hook them up?
This site helps the persons like me very much.add more situation-based introducing people.Thanks a lot for providing such conveniences
Can a guest be introduced over the pa system with out the one that’s introducing them be seen. And the person that’s being introduced is not coming up to speak
Not sure why you’d want to do introductions like this, but it’s OK.
I will be introducing my company’s Sr. VP & COO to several guest from our company’s financial institution’s including their VP, Loan Accounting & three other lessor positions. How should I introduce these individuals to each other?
First of all let me appreciate the great thing you are doing.
Actually it is very useful for us to learn the etiquette of introducing people.
I would like to know the normal procedure when I am introducing one of my family members to more than one of my superiors at work. Your early response would be highly appreciated.
Thank you.
First I would like to appreciate the good work done here. Since I got this information I started gaining some skills on how to introduce people to each other, but still than I would like you to add more different strategies on how to do a professional introduction.
thank You
At my son’s wedding, I introduced, “Linda, the bride’s mother”, to “my brother, Gerald and Debbie”, followed by, “Charles, the bride’s father.” I felt like this was a courteous introduction of people who had not met. My brother later corrected me, by saying that I should introduce Debbie as “his wife.” Was this a serious faux pas?
When is it unnecessary to introduce people? Is it humiliating not to be introduced to someone?
Regarding western European culture.
At the workplace political correctness is the rule.
In a social situation, significant seniority overrides everything:
– social status rules (superior seniority) introduce everybody to him/her
– a few years older man (and equal social status) is introduced to a woman
– many years senior man (and equal/comparable social status) woman introduced to him
Guest and Host:
Generally, the host would know all invited. In case you are allowed to bring someone along:
Significant seniority rules 🙂
If the invited guest is significantly senior to the host:
– You may want to SEND SOMEONE FORWARD TO THE HOST to tell, he will be introduced to this illustrious guest of honour! The host will be ‘just’ right there to great when you and your guest arrive.
– Introduce the host to the guest (because the host is honoured by the presence of the guest; this is what the host will say: “I am honoured by your visit/presence/ meeting you personally etc. To which the guest says: “The pleasure is mine / I’m glad to meet you for i know about your achievements etc … etc)
Otherwise the guest is introduced to the host.
Handshake is a major part of the introduction:
Unless you were educated as an aristocrat, probably wouldn’t know how to do it.
Who extends the hand first? Seniority rules.
A lady offers her hand first to a man.
If she does not, you keep your hands next to your dirty pants and bow accepting that you have been rejected by her. (The type – head only or from the waist – and the depth of the bow is dependent on the social status between she and you)
If she does, still bow when accepting her hand: do not shake like your do your mantag, do not squeeze and do not lift her hand higher than it was extended. The height is her message of your acceptance: higher she holds, more she likes you.
She will offer her hand PALM DOWN if she wants you to know, who rules or ‘vertical palm’ if you are accepted. She’ll never offer a palm-up hand.
If a man offers his hand PALM DOW means: he rules, he is arrogant and wants you to know that. You can just go with it accepting the defeat or grab that hand, squeeze it with power and turn it either to vertical or until your hand is on the top. Delivers the message on any way. (I do that with arrogant women too … for there are no ladies around here for continents distance…)
You also can refuse to accept it … which is just as insulting -if not more- as extending a palm-down hand. Get ready for being slammed by a glove you’ll pick up and the following duel. Well, not lately. But it won’t go down well as one would expect it.
If a man offers a hand first, and accepts the other party as equal, offers a vertical-palm. (Typical business handshake you see)
If a man offers a hand first with the PALM UP, this means an open friendship-acceptance of the other man.
Kissing a lady’s hand:
Very rare for it is very difficult to find a LADY nowadays … since the Beatles were knighted … material/financial wealth has never been a sign of a Gentleman or a Lady.
To be born as a male or female: is a chance.
To become a Man or a Woman: is hard work on yourself often takes a lifetime.
To become a Gentleman or a Lady … kita dim anta … never mind.
If you ever get into a circle where it is still used.
It is unmistakable if the lady holds her hand to be kissed as against a handshake. If this happens to you, put your left hand index-finger-up under her hand to support it and you MUST bow to the height of her hand when touching it with your lips. Lifting her hand to your lips is an inexcusable insult. The height is obviously the level of her acceptance for the depth of bow can be significantly humiliating. Everybody will talk about it … “Have you seen THAT bow?! Almost had to lay on his stomach!” “Couldn’t be that low! He does have a stomach to keep his face off the ground!” Laughter follows …
Good luck to all!
This leaves out an important step in at least one instance, where a junior person is being introduced to a senior person.
“Grandma, this is my friend John,” should be followed by “John, my grandmother, Mrs. Brown.” John clearly can’t call her “Grandma” and needs to know her more formal form of address.
Good day! I would like to ask if there is a difference between “this is” and “meet” in making introduction? Example: Greg, meet my classmate Hershey. is it right? Or It should be Hershey, meet my classmate, Greg. What is right? Please explain it clearly and also in using “this is”. Thanks! 🙂
Your two examples aren’t identical for comparison of “this is” and “meet.”
No difference between “this is” and “meet” as in “Greg, meet my classmate Hershey” or “Greg, this is my classmate Hershey.” Follow the rest of the rules.
Thank you! I hope you don’t mind I am using it in my ESL class, but I gave you credit including your website on the page.
Thanks! its was really a very beneficial article.
give answer? how i can introduce 4 people
for example you & your wife, you introduce your wife to Mr. Obanig & to his wife, he introduce his wife to you & your wife? give answer please??
I wanted to comment on “When is it unnecessary to introduce people? Is it humiliating not to be introduced to someone?” This is a very good question, Eric, and got no answers.
It is not necessary to introduce someone only under a very few circumstances, because the lack of an introduction implies that the two people need not meet each other. However, it also implies that there is no one around who is appropriate for the introduction. An example: if my landlord calls a plumber, and my roommate lets the plumber in, it is not my roommate’s obligation to make sure I am introduced to the plumber: the plumber knows that he is a very temporary house guest, and that there is almost no expectation for future interaction, and that neither person in the house knows anything about him other than, perhaps, his name (though he may simply be referred to, even when present, as “the plumber”). Actually introducing yourSELF may be awkward in this situation, since it implies that you may wish to get to know your plumber (which is unlikely, though not impossible) and is therefore presumptuous and can even be viewed by the plumber as insulting.
In other words, so long as there is an existing social tie, however fleeting, between two people, the arrival or presence of a third person means an introduction should be performed. If there are no social ties, then an introduction becomes a moot point. If you strike up a conversation with a stranger on a bus, you don’t then introduce your mother to the stranger when mom finishes paying her fare (exceptions do exist!).
No matter who has the higher rank, you are the most important person in the introduction. So dictate it, don’t be swung by fear or concerns, especially after the introduction is done.
The two parties need to have some mutual benefits or interests. In other words, by introducing them you are doing them a favor. This is the source of your power in this situation. If the introduction doesn’t benefit one or both of them, then the introduction is hard to get right.
If anything doesn’t go as planned, prepare to tell jokes.
I recently was in a very embarrassing situation at work. I come from a more formal background but now live in a rural setting with lower-paying jobs. I am disabled and only work a few hours a week at a retail store. There were 3 managers and me in the store when there was a surprise visit from the district manager in preparation for a more formal visit from corporate managers. I understand that the managers felt stressed, but I think it was inexcusable that I was not introduced to the district manager at all! No matter how stressed or busy you might be, it would take less than a minute to do a quick introduction. felt invisible, worthless, and diminished. I realize that I have a very low-paying job now, but in the past, I held many high-ranking jobs where I have worked with some of the most important people in this country. I have met with former US Presidents, senators, Governors, as well as famous actors and others. Am I wrong to think that I should have at least had a quick intro.
Extremely useful article on etiquette, something normally taken for granted and wrongly altogether. Josephine Howland, you have kind regards, empathy and love for the way you were mistreated. Come over it and move on with grace.
It is very important to know how to introduce yourself, and it depends on which person the presentation is addressed to, thanks for the advice, now I have to practice.
This has been very useful.
Please, how do I introduce special invited guest at a church function
The etiquette of introduction is very important to me, as I do love becoming a talk show host. Most of the time I have my audience and the guest, for me to make my audience attentive the introduction plays a very important role.Also my guest will enjoy talking. So the art of introduction is very important.
Good article. Should be “common sense” but these days “common sense” seems to be quite uncommon.
hi,
making introductions would make more sense for example at work with your colleagues, during an office party or a meeting.
however, if it’s a family member, then that is private. nobody else’s business. it is pompous and presumptuous to say they could’ve introduced them to their mom or dad.