zlacker

It's moronic to make any inferences about who is who when walking into a room where you don't know anyone. When I walk into a conference room to interview a job candidate whose name I know in advance (from their resume), I always open with "John?" instead of "Hi John". Even though they're the only person in the room.

In the situations described in the article (VC pitch, sales pitch), just make introductions like a normal human being. "Hi, I'm triceratops nice to meet you <hold out hand, other person states their name in turn>"

If there are multiple people in the room, follow a fixed, consistent order. Options include nearest-to-farthest or left-to-right or starting from the head of the table.