How to introduce yourself in English

One of the most common situations that can make

you a little nervous is when you have to introduce
yourself. 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. Well, 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.

OK, are you ready to learn the easiest way ever to introduce yourself?

It goes like this: present - past - future.

You start by describing your current situation, then talk about your past
experience, and then 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:

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 • 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 / exercise)

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)

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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.

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…

• I graduated from…

To talk about your past work, you can say:

• My background is in… (field)

• I worked… where I was responsible for…
• I have lots of experience…

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:

o I recently moved here for college.
o 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:
o Joining a sports team: I was on a soccer team in high school, and I
usually played defense.

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 o Joining a painting class: I’ve always loved painting, but I’ve never
taken a class before.
o 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 most
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.”

Examples
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:

IN AN INTERVIEW

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Example for a Marketing Position:

Present: "Hello, my name is Alex, and 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: "Hi, I'm Sarah, and 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: "Nice to meet you! My name is Jason, and I'm currently a

freelance software engineer. I primarily work with Python and JavaScript."

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 Past: "I’ve worked with 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."

TO A NEW TEAM
Hi everyone, I'm Jane, and I'm thrilled to be joining you on the customer service
team. I used to work in a call center in Atlanta, and I just recently moved to this
area with my fiancé. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone here and
working with you all.

IN AN EMAIL 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.

STARTING 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.

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.

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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.

TO 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 easily!

I’d love to help you speak more confidently in every situation.

You can join my Business English Course to learn what to say at work, and my
Everyday English Speaking Courses to learn what to say in daily life.

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