How to introduce yourself in a natural, advanced way. (C1+ English)

Hello, everyone, and welcome to English  with Lucy. I'm Lucy and it's nice to meet  

you. Have you ever felt awkward when it  comes to introducing yourself? Maybe you  

look online for a video on how to introduce  yourself, but it's at a very basic level. I  

mean introducing yourself in another language  is one of the first things they teach you.

But how do we introduce ourselves at  an advanced level of English—let's  

say C1 or even C2? I'm going to help you today.  I'm going to train you to introduce yourself in  

English in a very natural, advanced way.  I'm going to give you lots of options,  

so they will definitely apply to you  and your situation. Introductions are  

so important—I want to help you get it right.  To help you even further, I've also created a  

PDF Introductions Guide. You can download this  for free. It covers everything we are going to  

talk about in this lesson, plus lots of extra  information. I've included some extra dialogs,  

a quiz and a link to some secret exercises so  that you can put what you've learnt into practice.

If you'd like to download that PDF, just  click on the link in the description box  

or scan that QR code there. Enter your name  and email address, sign up to my mailing list  

and the PDF will arrive directly in your  inbox. After that, you will automatically  

receive my free weekly PDFs, plus all of my  other updates, offers and course information.

But now, let's get started with the lesson.  So, in this lesson, you're going to listen  

to 2 dialogues. The first one is going to be  fairly simple. You'll hear 2 people introducing  

themselves at a cheese convention — this is  my dad's dream situation. Later in the video,  

you'll hear a much more advanced version.  'Hi, I'm Alex, nice to meet you. Claire,  

nice to meet you, too. What are you doing here?  I sell cheese. You? I'm with the marketing team.'  

Now, I want to make this clear: there is  nothing wrong with that exchange! In fact,  

I've had hundreds of conversations like that. But  today, we're focusing on C1 or advanced English,  

so let's learn some more advanced  phrases. So, how do you begin?

You could say—'I don't think we've been  introduced.' Or—'I'm not sure we've met before.'  

You can use these phrases if you're fairly sure  that you haven't met the person before. They  

are just polite introductory phrases. If you  want to introduce someone else, you might say:  

'I'd like to introduce my colleague, Karson  Chang.' This is more formal. A less formal way to  

do this would be—'Have you met Julie? She's a mate  from school.' Okay, when you introduce yourself,  

you need to share your name — that's probably the  most important thing. It's fine to just say 'I'm  

Lucy', but you could expand a little, especially,  if you use a shortened version of your name or you  

have a nickname. Here are some phrases to use—'I'm  Magdalena, but most people call me Magda.' Or—'My  

name's Roberto but I usually go by Beto.'  'I go by' means I use this name. Or—'Please,  

call me Pati. It's short for Patricia.' Or  a longer, more advanced one—'Bartholomew's  

my given name, but only my grandmother calls  me that! I've always felt more like a Bart.'  

You could also inject a little humor—'I  respond to William or Will, but never Bill!'

Now, let's say you know you have a  mutual connection with someone. You  

could say—'I'm a friend or colleague  of Keiko's.' You might add—'She speaks  

very highly of you.' This means that  Keiko says very nice things about you  

and this is a very flattering thing to  say when you first meet someone. Nearly  

everyone loves a compliment. Another common  phrase is—'I've heard a lot about you.'

And the most common responses are—'All  good, I hope!' Or—'Should I be worried?'  

Or—'Don't believe a word of it! You could also  say—'It's good to put a face to the name.'  

This means it's good to finally see the  person whose name I've heard many times. Now,  

let's say you might have met someone  before but don't remember clearly.

You can say—'I think our paths have crossed  before.' This phrase is perfect when you  

vaguely recognise someone but aren't entirely sure  where from. When you 'cross paths with someone',  

or 'your paths cross', it means you've met by  chance at some point. If you're in a similar  

social or professional circle, you could  say—'We must move in the same circles.'

And if you're surprised that you haven't  met sooner, you might add—'I can't believe  

we haven't crossed paths before!' So, next you  might want to ask someone where they're from.  

You could say—'Are you from around here?'  And some different ways to answer—'Yep,  

Portsmouth born and bred.' Or—'Yeah, I was  born and raised just around the corner.'

These phrases mean you were born and grew up  in a place. Here are some more: 'Originally,  

but I've moved around a lot. I'm based in Milan  at the moment.' Or—'I grew up here, but I've been  

living in Belfast for the past few years.' Or  you could say—'No, just passing through.' 'To  

pass through' means to stop in a place for  a short time before going somewhere else.

Now, let's say you want to introduce  yourself to someone at an event.  

You could ask—'Why are you here?' But that is  very direct, so here are some alternatives:  

'What brings you here today? What brings  you to this part of the world? What brings  

you to the conference today?' You  might add—'Business or pleasure?'  

For example—'What brings you to the  World Coffee Championships today?

Business or pleasure?' And the answer could  be—'Business! I'm with Beans Beans Beans.' Or—'Oh,  

purely pleasure! I'm a bit of a caffeine  addict.' Did you hear that additional detail:  

'I'm a bit of a caffeine addict.' We  often add something about our likes,  

interests and hobbies when we were  introducing ourselves. 'I'm a bit  

of a' is a common expression used to  soften a statement about ourselves.

It suggests we have a certain trait or  interest but in a more casual or modest  

way. For example—'I am a bit of a foodie.'  You might also say—'I guess you could say I'm  

a bit of a bookworm.' Or—'I consider myself  a bit of a language geek.' You'll often hear  

people refer to themselves as 'a geek', but  I don't recommend calling someone else that.

You could also say that you 'have' or 'have  got a soft spot for something or someone',  

it means I like it or I like them. For  example—'I've got a soft spot for stray  

cats and now I have 7 at home.' Or—'I've always  had a soft spot for cheesy 80s music.' Okay,  

are you ready for a more advanced dialogue now?

You're not just going to listen.  There are some gaps in this dialogue,  

so you need to complete the phrases as we go.  'Hi. I don't think we've been introduced. I'm  

Alexandra but I usually _ by Alex.' What do  you think? 'Go.' 'I go by Alex.' All right,  

let's continue. 'Nice to meet you. I'm  Claire. So, what _ you here today?'

'Brings.' Did you get that one? 'I'm with the  marketing team organising this event. What about  

you? Business or _?' 'Business or pleasure?'  'A bit of both! I'm here on holiday, but I  

sell cheese back in London, so I thought I'd pop  in.' 'You know, I think our _ have crossed before,  

actually. Were you at the Cheddar Together  conference in Melbourne?' What about that one?

'Paths' 'Our paths have crossed before…' 'Yeah,  I was. We must move in the same _. So, are you  

a bit of a cheese addict, too?' 'Yeah, you could  say that!' They move in the same 'circles'. Okay,  

how did you do? I would love for you to practise  introducing yourself in the comments. Let me know  

if you have a nickname you go by, if you have  a soft spot for something… I'll keep my eyes  

peeled for your practice introductions. And with  that, we're at the end of the lesson! Make sure to  

download the PDF Introductions Guide to refresh  your memory of everything we've covered today,  

and to get access to another dialogue, as  well as a quiz and some secret exercises.

The link is in the description or you can scan  

the QR code there. I will see  you in the next lesson! Muah!