How to introduce myself in 10 minutes?

Question

I am invited to an interview and was asked to prepare an introduction of myself and my proficiency, i.e. explain briefly my CV and an example project I am currently working at. I was given a time limit of only 10 minutes. They said I am free to choose between projector, flipchart, whiteboard, etc.While I think ten minutes is quite short to have a deep understanding of my profession (Engineering & Software), I have these questions:* **Which way of presentation is considered to fit the best (especially regarding the ten minutes)?** I guess flipcharts and whiteboards allow a lot of creativity and spontaneous ideas, but I'm concerned that my handwriting will be bad if I'm nervous and it does cost a lot of time. On the other hand it adds a good personal insight because it's individual.* **Should I present my personal interests as well?** I thought about adding a note at the end, for example I'm into sailing, driving motorcycle, etc., because I usually do so in my CV and I would like to keep it consistent. But again I only have ten minutes and I'm not sure if it's important enough to be mentioned.My location is Germany but all ideas are welcome.

Answer 1

Hi! It's always a good idea to go by the rule of 3: pick 3 things to talk about. Attention spans are short and if you present too many things they may be overwhelmed. A standard rule of presentations: 1) Tell them what you are going to tell them 2) tell them 3) tell them what you told them.

Divvy up your time to accommodate:

• intro (tell them what you are going to tell them)

• point #1 (for example, a challenge faced)

• point #2 (the solution you provided)

• point #3. (the end results -what awesome thing happened because of your solution?)

• close (summarize what you told them and why it makes you a great candidate)

30 second intro, 30 seconds close gives you 3 minutes for each topic.

If you'd like to brainstorm further, please message me to schedule a presentation brainstorming session. I am an award-winning Toastmaster with loads of public speaking / presentation / training experience. I can help you choose what to speak about, how to present it.

Just remember, ten minutes is NOT intended for you to teach them a deep understanding of your profession. It is meant to provide them with an overview of YOUR understanding of your profession, and YOUR expertise in it. They don't want to learn engineering and software - they want to hire someone else who already knows it.

Contact me if you'd like to schedule a consulting session!

Cheers,

Meilani