How long should a networking introduction be?
Around thirty seconds, which in practice means three sentences: what you do, who it is for, and the live problem you are working on. Career-services guidance uses the thirty-second figure for a first introduction and reserves one to two minutes for the interview version.
Around thirty seconds, which in practice means three sentences: what you do, who it is for, and the live problem you are working on. Career-services guidance uses the thirty-second figure for a first introduction and reserves one to two minutes for the interview version. Once the other person asks a follow-up, the limit no longer applies, so finish early rather than fill the space.
Most drafts run long because the second sentence tries to explain the whole team. With thirty seconds and four facts, keep the audience and the live problem, and let the org chart go: the other person can ask about it later, and asking is what you want them to do. A quick test is to try the opener on someone from a different industry and notice the first sentence they ask you to repeat. That sentence needs rewriting, even if it is the one you like most.