Be your own hype person!

Remember the Before Times, when you’d go to concerts? Or perhaps you haven’t been to a concert in decades. But let’s imagine being at a concert: You’ve shelled out big money to see a band that you’ve loved for years. You’ve enjoyed—or endured—the opening act. And then the MC comes out on stage and gets the crowd cheering and yelling with excitement.

ARE YOU READY?! Ladies and gentleman, give a big welcome to—and the MC introduces the band.

You’ve heard the expression “he/she needs no introduction.” But who truly doesn’t need an introduction? Beyonce? As in the concert example above, Beyonce-level entertainers who need no introduction still get introductions, as well as a lot of hype and excitement. It’s not that the crowd doesn’t know who’s coming out—their introduction is part of a warm welcome.

When you’re on social media, you need to introduce yourself often. You could have new followers. Or you could have a visitor to your profile who’s trying to determine what you’re all about. Your current followers may not have seen your posts in a while and have forgotten why they followed you in the first place. And your die-hard fans will likely read your introduction to see if they can learn something new about you.

Don’t think to yourself, My followers are going to get sick of me introducing myself all the time! They already know who I am. Well, I know who the Rolling Stones are, but I won’t scoff at an MC introducing them before a show. I’ll hoot and holler and clap!

Keep your introductions varied and interesting—don’t recycle the same one again and again. You’ll include at least one sentence that’s your elevator pitch (mine is I’m a visual artist and an artist mentor), and you can add just a nugget or two about you—everything from your favorite color or art supply to your beloved pet or where you grew up.

Do it with the excitement of an MC who knows that the crowd will go wild!

No explanations or apologies—this introduction will be met with applause!

Tag me in your next introduction post so I can hoot, holler, and applaud for you!