One of the most common situations that can make you a little nervous is when you have to introduce yourself in English.
This could be in a job interview, when the interviewer says “So, tell me about yourself!” or it can be at the beginning of a meeting or presentation, or when you join a new group, class, or team.
You want to give a nice, strong, confident self-introduction, so that you make a good first impression. Today I’m going to teach you a super-easy way to introduce yourself professionally – and this can be used in both formal and informal situations.
If you want to download this lesson, you can get the free PDF guide by clicking here and entering your e-mail address!
How to introduce yourself: Present – Past – Future method
OK, are you ready to learn the easiest way ever to introduce yourself in English?
It goes like this: present – past – future.
- You start by describing your current situation
- Then talk about your past experience
- Finish with a statement that looks forward to the future
Let me give you some examples and phrases to use.
Present
Start with your name – you can say “My name’s…” or “I’m…”
- My name’s Shayna.
- I’m Shayna.
Then you can say something about where you’re from and/or what you do:
- I’m from the U.S., and I’m an English teacher.
To talk about what you do, you can say:
- I’m + your role
- I’m an accountant
- I’m a doctor
- I’m a student at the University of California
- I’m a stay-at-home parent
- I’m retired
- I work at/for + your company
- I work at Apple
- I work for Time Magazine
- I work at a restaurant
- You could even combine them by saying, “I work as + your role + at/for + your company”
- I work as an engineer at Apple.
- I work as an editor for Time Magazine.
If you want, you can add something about your family, for example:
- I’m married with two kids.
- I’m married and we have a ten-year-old son.
Most people only do this if they are married with kids; we don’t typically announce it if we’re single, dating, divorced, or widowed (meaning your spouse has died).
If it’s a more informal situation, you could also mention your interests/hobbies. We’d typically do this when joining a social group, not so much in a job interview unless they ask you specifically about what you like to do outside of work.
To introduce a hobby/interest you can say:
- I enjoy +ing
- I enjoy running/baking/reading.
- I like/love + to/ing
- I like to do yoga.
- I love traveling.
- I’m really into + noun/topic
- I’m really into science fiction / martial arts / sports.
So that’s your present:
- Your name
- Where you’re from
- What you do
- Your family (optional, depends on context)
- Your hobbies/interests (in informal introductions)
My example: My name’s Shayna and I’m from the U.S. I’m an English teacher and I’m married with two kids. I love working out and listening to podcasts.
Past
Next, say a little bit about your past. You don’t want to tell your whole life history here – just some of the highlights or the most important elements.
If you’re in a professional situation like an interview or a networking event, you could talk about your degrees/qualifications and your past work experience:
- I have a degree/certification in… [area of study]
- I graduated from… [college or university]
To talk about your past work, you can say:
- My background is in… [area of work/learning]
- I worked… where I was responsible for…
- I have lots of experience…
So if I was in a job interview for a position as an English teacher, I could say “I have a CELTA certification in teaching English to adults, and over ten years of experience leading individual and group classes as well as teaching online.”
If you’re introducing yourself in a situation that’s NOT related to work, then you could say one of these things about your past:
- How long you’ve lived in the area:
- “I recently moved here for college.”
- “I’ve been living in New York for about 7 years now.”
- What made you interested in the topic/hobby/event, or how long you’ve been involved:
- Joining a sports team: “I was on a soccer team in high school, and I usually played defense.”
- Joining a painting class: “I’ve always loved painting, but I’ve never taken a class before.”
- Meeting someone you don’t know at a wedding/party: “I’ve known Amy for many years – we grew up together.”
Future
Finally, close with a statement that looks to the future, for example:
- Job interview: I’m excited to explore how my skills would be a good fit for this role.
- Meeting: I’m eager to get started on this project.
- Work conference/event: I’m especially interested in the sessions about marketing.
- Book club: I’m looking forward to our discussion.
- Class: I hope to learn a lot this semester.
As you can see, these sentences are not necessarily in a future tense, grammatically, but they are future-looking, talking about your hopes and what you’re excited about and anticipating in the future.
The future statement also functions to provide a nice end to your introduction, making it clear that you’re finished talking, instead of saying something like “uh, yeah, well, um, I guess that’s it.”
Let’s see how we might use and modify this present-past-future introduction in different situations. I’ll start with a job interview situation:
How to introduce yourself in an interview
In an interview, you don’t necessarily need to say your name, because the interviewer already knows it. But you can still follow the present-past-future model to answer when the interviewer says “Tell me a little about yourself.”
Example for a Marketing position:
- Present: “I’m currently a Digital Marketing Specialist at XYZ Agency, where I manage social media campaigns.”
- Past: “I have a solid background in marketing, with a Bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience. Most of my projects have involved increasing online presence for non-profits.”
- Future: “I’m excited about the opportunity to bring my expertise to your team, and I’m especially interested in using data analysis to increase user engagement on your company’s social media channels.”
Example for a Project Manager role:
- Present: “I’m interested in your project coordinator role because I think it’s a great fit for my experience and career interests.”
- Past: “I have a Master’s degree in Project Management, and in my most recent role I was responsible for overseeing collaboration among multiple teams. We had an excellent track record of delivering projects on time and within budget.”
- Future: “I’d love to bring my organizational and leadership skills to your company to help streamline processes and increase efficiency.”
Example for a Software Developer position:
- Present: “I’m currently a freelance software engineer, and I work mainly with Python and JavaScript.”
- Past: “I’ve had clients in many different fields over the past eight years, and I’ve been involved in the full software development lifecycle, from design to implementation and maintenance.”
- Future: “I’m looking for a full-time position and I’m eager to contribute to the cutting-edge projects here at ABC corporation.”
How to introduce yourself to a new team
Hi there! I’m Sarah, and I’m glad to be joining the customer service team. I have some prior experience working in a call center for National Bank. I’m looking forward to getting to know everybody and working with you all.
Hi everyone – my name is James and I’m your new IT person. I was previously working in our company’s San Francisco office and then they transferred me to this location. If you have any computer issues, or any tips for great places to eat in this city, just let me know!
How to introduce yourself in an e-mail to a new client
Dear Ms. Abernathy,
My name is Mike Green, and I’m your account manager at Awesome Ads Agency. I’ve worked with several nutrition companies like yours, and I can’t wait to get started on our first ad campaign together.
How to introduce yourself in a meeting
Hello, I’m Sharon and I’m here representing the Noteworthy School of Music. I’ve been involved in musical education for the past 25 years and I’m passionate about teaching kids the skill of playing an instrument. I have some ideas for programs at this new community center, and I’m looking forward to hearing everyone else’s thoughts as well.
How to introduce yourself in a presentation
Good morning, everyone! I’m Mary Johnson and I currently serve as the director of human resources at ABC company. Over the past few years, I’ve developed an effective method for onboarding new employees, and I’m excited to share it with you today.
Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Thompson and I’m the Chief Financial Officer at the Helping Hands Organization. I’ve also worked as a consultant for several other non-profits, and I’ve seen a number of common financial mistakes that are fairly easy to fix. In this presentation I’ll teach you how to make realistic budgets and more accurate long-term projections.
How to introduce yourself in a class
Hello, I’m Ana and I’m from Venezuela. I need English for my job and I’ve been studying for about four years. In this class I hope to improve my speaking and confidence.
Hi everyone, my name’s Peter. I signed up for this exercise class because I was looking for a fun way to get back in shape. Can’t wait to get started!
How to introduce yourself in a social group
Hiking club: Hi everyone – I’m Tina. Nice to meet you all. A little bit about me: I work as a nurse at the City Hospital, and I’m married with one daughter. We also have two dogs. I have some hiking experience, and I just bought these new boots, so I’m looking forward to trying them out!
Now you know how to introduce yourself in English professionally and confidently!
Learn more: How to start a conversation in English
