Should I lead an applause after introducing colloquium speaker?

Question

I am introducing my first speaker at my university and, since the speaker is rather famous, I wrote a 1-2 minute introduction. The crowd will be interdisciplinary and between 100-400 people.Should I lead the audience in an applause at the end of my introduction, or just finish with the title of his talk and a nod to him? Or something else?If it matters, it is an interdisciplinary topic, a public audience and in a science department.

Answer 1

In general, keeping an introduction down to a minute or less is a good idea. The audience knows much about the speaker already if they are showing up in number. It's wise to lead the applause because it may not happen otherwise, or may happen in a way that interrupts the speakers opening moment. My suggestion is to end your introduction with "Please help me welcome....John Speaker or Serena Speaker" as you begin to clap. Leading the applause without the instruction will not have the same effect.