Every presentation includes a moment where people quietly decide how they understand who you are and whether they want to keep listening.
That moment is often the introduction.
Most presenters use it to list credentials and past roles. There is nothing wrong with that approach, but it doesn’t take advantage of that moment’s potential to create clarity and recall.
A different approach
In a recent keynote, I tried a different approach to introducing myself.
Rather than defaulting to a standard “About Us” slide, I used a short comic strip to summarize my professional background, what Wendolyn Reputation Management does, and its purpose.
An introduction is more than a question of formatting or placement. Rather, it’s a communication decision about what you want people to understand, remember, and trust about you. That’s where storytelling becomes useful. Stories help people make sense of information. They create meaning and offer a through-line people can recall later. If any part of a presentation deserves that attention, should it not be the moment where you introduce yourself?
The comic strip
There are many ways to tell a story. What I value about using a single slide comic strip is the space constraint it imposes. With only a few frames — mostly filled by graphics — you are forced to decide what is most important to share. There is no room for extra context, filler, or a list of credentials. That discipline is the point.
Regardless of delivery method, storytelling sits at the heart of effective communication. It uses specific experiences to explain broader ideas, offers insight into what people might not otherwise understand, and allows connection through shared experience. In professional settings, effective storytelling remains grounded in reality and intent. (Tip: Avoid stories that drift away from the facts or lean too heavily toward promotion; they weaken trust and lose impact.)
Back to the opening slide
As you face an audience for the first time, whether in person or online, there is a brief pause as people orient themselves. In that moment, the opening slide begins its quiet work. Whether it features a list of credentials or a single image, a narrative is already forming in people’s minds. The question is whether it’s the one you intended for them to remember.
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