How Do People Know Who You Are?

Ingrid had always introduced herself by her first name. At meetings, conferences, and business events, she would smile and say, “Hi, I’m Ingrid.”

When she was promoted to manager, she continued doing the same. Her colleagues knew her well, and she never thought much about how she introduced herself to people she had just met.

One afternoon, after a meeting with several new clients, a colleague mentioned that one of them had asked where they could find Ingrid’s contact details.

“They remembered your first name,” her colleague said, “but they weren’t sure which Ingrid you were. There are quite a few people in the company.”

Ingrid laughed. She had never considered that her name alone might not be enough for someone to identify her.

At the next meeting, when it was her turn to introduce herself, she paused for a moment.

“Hi, I am Ingrid Gonzalez. I manage the client relations team.”

After the meeting, one of the attendees approached her.

“Are you the Ingrid de Vries who spoke at last month’s conference?” he asked.

“Yes, that was me,” she replied.

He took out his phone and added her contact details.

A Question to Explore
How do you make yourself recognizable to people who don't know you yet?