Life Coach: How to Write a Self Introduction That Connects (5 Templates)

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When connecting with dream clients as a life coach, your self introduction is huge.

Yet, creating a (perfect) self introduction can be frustrating.

You may have written it/changed it/changed it again…so many times…you’re not sure that it sounds like you anymore, right? I hear you. You’re not alone.

But don’t throw your hands up. Your self introduction is the first impression you make. You want to wow future clients, collaborators, and partners, don’t you?

Imagine how great it would it be if you made an amazing first impression.

⇒ What if your intro summarized your unique approach?

⇒ How great when it calls in your ideal client avatars?

⇒ When it is clear, compelling, and memorable?

How would that impact your ability to fill your calendar with clients who want your services?

Whether you’re networking virtually or in real life, the best way to connect with your dream clients is to be sure that your self introduction resonates with the people you want to work with.

By being intentional and crafting a thoughtful self introduction that explains your value and speaks to the desires/needs of your ideal client avatar, you can set yourself apart in a busy industry.

And (bonus!) attract the best-fit clients for your coaching practice.

That’s what this blog post aims to guide you through.

Let’s get started.

What is your self introduction?

Some say it’s a quick snapshot of who you are, what your business does, and a tidbit to make yourself memorable. And here’s the rub, too many coaches and solo entrepreneurs stop at the *who you are and what your business does*.

They don’t plan their self intro in advance. Sadly, when it’s their turn to introduce themselves to a sea of networking  attendees, they say something generic  like “Hi, I’m Wonder Woman and I’m a life coach based in Ohio.”

As soon as their turn has passed, it hits them: their introduction was feeble. Especially when the next tiny face on the screen uses a memorable intro like,

Hi I’m Janet! I help working moms see their toes again when they’ve tried every eating plan known to humankind, and nothing’s worked. I’m a weight loss coach for women over 40.

The problem is, many coaches feel like they don’t know how to polish their pitch. They don’t take time to make their self introduction stand out and be memorable.

They don’t become intentional about crafting an introduction that they’re excited to share.

If you’ve been in their *Zoom seats*, you’re not alone! Many of us have been there.

What are the benefits of a polished self introduction?

I don’t know about you, but when it’s my turn to introduce myself in a group, I instantly feel that everyone is looking at me.

Then, I have a brief moment of my inner mean girl whispering… “What are you going to say? I told you that you should have practiced more…” (Even though I’ve practiced plenty.)

Can you relate?

So, one benefit of having a polished (practiced) self intro is that your inner critic won’t shout in your head.

Actually, the main benefit is that you’ll take a breath, remind yourself that you know what to say in your precious 90 seconds, and your words will flow.

• You won’t become tongue-tied
• You won’t ramble on for 3 minutes
• You won’t leave out vital details of your capabilities

How can you become intentional with your self introduction?

Do you ever think about what you’ll say about yourself before you have to share it during a Zoom gathering or at an in person meeting? Think of it as your moment to shine in a business setting where you explain what you do and why it matters.

We’ve looked at why a good self introduction can make a difference. Now, here are some simple actions to help you craft yours.

Want to keep the momentum going beyond your introduction? Start creating content that resonates with your dream clients—grab the free guide to get started.

5 Action steps to craft your self introduction (plus templates)

If you freeze up when it’s time to describe to people what your business does, these 5 tidy action steps are for you. Let’s unpack how to make your self intro feel authentic to you. So you can make that all-important positive first impression with potential clients.

Step 1: What do you want to accomplish with your self introduction?

You won’t be surprised, Step #1 is to become intentional about the kind of impression you want to make with your self intro. Think of it as part of your marketing strategy.

Some goals you might consider are…

• You want to engage with and make connections with right-fit clients for your business
• You want to inspire potential clients to remember you because you’re tapping into their exact pain
• You want any attendees who are your perfect client to say, “Tell me more!”
• You want a self intro that’s laced with words your clients use to describe their problems

Reality is, you want each of your potential perfect clients sitting in the sea of faces to think, “Wow, she’s speaking my language. I’ve gotta connect with her!”

Your 3 golden self introductions

1. Your 1st elevator speech is to engage ideal clients on Zoom calls or real world networking events
2. Your 2nd introduction is designed to connect with potential partners in groups of peers and non-clients
3. Next, social media is (still) huge when you’re building an audience. After all, you want to engage and connect with prospective customers, potential clients, past clients, and/or future students

That means, you’ll want a version of your introduction including a bit more of your story, specifically to use when you interact on social media to support your business.

Don’t forget, you can engage with future clients online in places like Facebook groups. This social media group elevator pitch may be a bit longer.

To be the boss that you are, you’ll want a pre-written version of your self intro, ready to paste into the next online group you join.

Step 2: Choose a format that’s authentic to you

At the end of the day, you want to connect on both a business and a personal level when making your self introduction.

As you select an elevator speech format, consider how you can most easily be relatable and make a personal connection with a potential coaching client.

Here’s a post with more examples: How to Polish Your Elevator Pitch and Connect with Ideal Clients

Step 3: Explore becoming more memorable

One way to become more memorable with your introductory elevator speech, is to describe the pain points you help clients resolve.

Think about your private practice or freelance business and what you’re working to accomplish. Next, craft a deeper, more specific, and more compelling introduction.

To be more compelling, you want to draw from your marketing efforts, one-on-one work with clients, or work you do for them as a freelancer. The key is to mention what’s important to the new customer you want to serve.

One idea, briefly describe your clients’ pain and highlight how you help them solve it.

Here’s a recommendation and example shared on TED.com by self introduction expert, Joanna Bloor.

Bloor coached a copywriter who used to introduce herself by saying, “I’m a copywriter.” After working with Bloor, she, “…realized what her secret strength is: her ability to be the other person in her writing.” So the copywriter added that to her refined self introduction.

Specific pain point elevator speech example

Template: You know how [specific pain point]? Well, I [state benefit from your work].

You know how brand new life coaches struggle with creating a social media presence so they can engage the perfect client? Well, I use my 8 years of social media marketing experience to help coaches like you eliminate the overwhelm and create a month’s worth of content in a 1 hour session.

Step 4: Repel non-ideal clients

When marketing your coaching packages or freelance services, it’s about more than appealing to your ideal customers. As a savvy business owner, you want to also gently repel clients who aren’t a good fit for your services.

Let’s say you’re a web designer specializing in Shopify ecommerce sites for entrepreneurs selling high-end products. By stating in your introduction who you serve, you can save everyone time when they hear your elevator pitch.

Specific ideal client example

Template: I [the service you provide] for [qualifier for who you specifically serve}

I design custom, high-converting Shopify websites for growth-minded ecommerce entrepreneurs.

Pro tip: Don’t worry that you may lose out on clients if you’re too specific about who you serve. Don’t ever forget, you’re the boss. You’ll attract some clients who may not 100% fit your dream client profile, no worries. As the boss, you decide who you wish to take on as a client.

Step 5: Test. Revise. Refine.

Here’s the beauty of your self introduction, it’s totally yours. It’s your call on how you craft it. You make the rules and you can change them up so it best serves your relationship building and revenue growth goals.  So cool, right?!

Before you revise your self intro, here are some ways to determine if you’re hitting the right notes.

Listen for how potential clients react to your self intro, and adjust.

Here are the happy-dance kind of responses you’re going for. Remember, it’s a reply indicating that potential clients want to continue the conversation:

“Interesting, tell me more!”

“How do you actually do that?”

“What kinds of creative entrepreneurs do you work with?”

“What kinds of results do your students usually get?”

And the best response of all….“I’m going to private message you!” 

What happens if you hear crickets?

To start with, don’t be concerned because this happens to all of us. If no one you’re introducing yourself to makes a comment or asks a question or how they can follow-up, no worries.

One thing you can do for sure, try out your new introductions with friends. Even if they’re not your perfect clients, you’ll get reactions and questions. Then, you can use that feedback to tweak, refine, and revise your elevator pitch.

As we’ve said, you’re the boss! You can figure out why and decide what action you want to take.

However, if you’re not getting engagement with your elevator pitch it could be one of 4 reasons:

1) It’s time to tweak! You may need to revise your self intro to make it more memorable, specific, catchy, or to better share your personality.

2) Think about how you can stand out more. Consider what you’re sharing? Can you add in a tidbit describing what’s unique about your business? Can you include exactly how you help customers? For example,

“I coach creative solo entrepreneurs so they can write their monthly social media posts in one hour!”

3) The truth is, it takes many clients 7 to 10 marketing touches before they reach out to find out more about your services.

4) The hard truth: within this particular networking group, they’re simply not ‘your people’. Whew! Now, you can move on and try out other groups.

Conclusion

If you often feel unprepared and a bit stressed when it’s your turn to tell a networking group who-you-are and what-you-do. Or, to make a self introduction in a new online group. Take a breath.

Stop dreading these moments! Instead, follow the above 5 steps so you can craft a self intro that results in follow ups, calls, inquiries, and all that good stuff.

Remember, you’re the boss. You can make your elevator speech in whatever format makes you the most comfortable.

Now, you’ll be ready with a nicely polished elevator pitch to test out on your next virtual (or real life) networking event that has future dream clients saying, “Wow, tell me more!”.

~Cynthia

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