How To Write an Irresistible Introduction 

When writing your essay remember that you have less than 30 seconds to snag your reader’s attention with an eye-catching introduction on your essay. If your introduction does not capture the reader’s attention, your essay is likely to be among the more than 55 percent of essays that readers don’t even spend a minute reading them. Knowing how to write a good introduction will ensure that most of the people who come across your piece read it to the end. 

What is an Introduction?

An introduction is the opening part of a research paper or any piece of writing. It is the part that a reader is likely to read first. Thus, definitions, notions, and other important information necessary for understanding what is contained in the paper should be presented here. 

The three parts of an introduction are:

The hook

Including a hook is one of the best and most effective ways to start the introduction of your essay. The aim of a hook is to catch the reader’s attention in a single sentence. It is the attention grabber in every written content. How do you make an interesting hook? The following strategies can help you create a powerful hook. 

• A shocking fact
• An anecdote
• A question
• A short summary
• A quote

Avoid the following when using a hook

• Clinches
• Dictionary definitions
• Generalization
• Sweeping statements that include words like everywhere, always, etc. 

Once you have created an effective hook, you should provide a broad overview of your topic and give some background information for the subject matter of your essay. Are you still wondering how to write the introduction of your essay? To come up with the best introduction, provide a broad explanation of your theme and lead your readers to specific points. This means that you should start by giving some general information and then give specific points.

The 5 types of hooks

1. A common misconception
2. Statistics
3. Personal story
4. Scenes
5. Thesis statement

Connections

Once you are done giving a hook and some background information about the topic, try to give the reader a better understanding of what you will be discussing in your essay. Briefly mention your key ideas in the order you will discuss them in your essay. After this, lead your readers to your thesis statement. In this part of your introduction, you will answer the following questions. 

• Who?
• What? 
• Where?
• When?
• How? 
• Why?

By answering these questions in 2 or 3 sentences, you can provide your readers with full information about the topic of your essay. Ensure that your sentences are short and straight to the point to avoid writing a very long introduction. 

Thesis statement

The thesis is the most important part of your paper as the entire essay revolves around this statement and must be included in the introductory clause of your paper. A thesis statement provides your reader with the key points of your paper. It briefly shows what you will discuss in the body of your essay. Your thesis should appear at the beginning of your introduction and must be concise, accurate, clear, and focused. 

How to write a good introduction

Keep your first sentence short. Short sentences are good as they are easy to understand. Most of them are readable and easy to digest. Most writers are caught up in stress when writing introductions such that they end up writing long and unclear sentences. These types of sentences require the reader to work harder to understand them. No one wants to work harder to understand your article, especially at the beginning. 

Don’t repeat the title. The reader must have read the title before moving to the introduction and thus you don’t have to write it again in your introduction. You should take that chance to reinforce the title and set the stage for the remainder.

Keep the introduction brief. Most readers have short attention spans. Thus, they are impatient to get to the meat of the article. Make it easy for them to find the information they are looking for with as little effort as possible. Don’t bury the information deep in your essay to make it easier for the reader to access this information.  

Use the word “you” at least once. The word “you” is very important in an article as it tells the reader that when writing, you had them in mind. Show them that you empathize with them, you care about them, and you want to provide content that is important to them. This can be a trick to help establish a connection with your reader. 

Dedicate 1-2 sentences to explain what the article covers. This is where you state your thesis. Tell the reader what your article is about. What will you be discussing? What will the reader learn? Clearly state this information so the reader can decide whether their expectations will be met and whether they want to read the whole article, scroll to different parts, or not read any part of it. 

Dedicate 1-2 sentences to explaining why the article is important. State clearly the advantages the reader will get by reading the information in your article. This might convince a reader who might have just read the first paragraph to keep reading. 

Refer to a problem or concern affecting your audience. It is much better if you can pull a pain point into the introduction. Everyone in every field has a set of problems. You should list some of these problems when creating your buyer personas. Show the reader that you are aware of these problems in your introduction and this will likely win you a sympathetic reader. People have problems and would be very willing to read articles that can help them solves these problems. 

Be careful with telling stories. Stories are good but they should be used in the right way. You can use stories to spark the reader’s curiosity and empathize with her. Avoid writing very long stories that might end up confusing the readers along the way which might lead to a loss of interest in reading the entire content. Remember that the introduction is supposed to be kept short and thus you should always maintain this. 

Use a stat or fact to convey importance. When writing your introduction, it is important to use an interesting stat of fact to draw the attention of your reader and show them why the topic you are writing about is important to them. 

Elements of a good introduction

•  An attention-getter: Introduction paragraphs should start out with something attention-getting, ideally in the first sentence. This could be an anecdote, a surprising fact, a question, or an interesting quote. Try to avoid dictionary definitions, clichés, or sweeping generalizations.
• A brief overview of the academic landscape: An introduction should give readers context for the paper’s relevance within a particular field of study, including a brief history of important shifts in thought.
• An explanation of how your argument fits into its academic context: Introductions should transition from the background information to the paper’s particular argument. How is your paper related to the academic work that came before it, and what new perspective is it bringing to the table? The introduction should answer these questions.
• A thesis statement and road map for the paper: Introductions should culminate in a thesis statement a brief statement of the paper’s main argument or research question and a quick overview of how the paper will defend the thesis. Think of it as a mini version of your paper to prime readers for your argument before you jump into the analysis in the main body paragraphs. This is arguably the most important part of the introduction because it lets readers know what the paper is really going to be about.

The aim of a strong introduction

An introduction shows your audience that what you have written is there to answer their questions. Let everyone who comes across your introduction know that they are in the right place. 

An introduction serves three main purposes, i.e. 

1. It captures the reader’s attention: The opening paragraph is the most crucial part of your paper because it’s the reader’s first impression and the best clue as to whether the paper will be worth the reader’s time. The best introductions will not only be informative but also include a hook to keep readers reading.
2. It gives vital background information: You should assume that not all of your readers are experts in your specific field, especially when you’re zeroing in on a particular concept within that field. To make sure that readers can follow your argument, you’ll need to equip them with important contextual information—that way, they’ll be prepared to understand your main points without being distracted by terms and trends they aren’t familiar with.
3. It serves as a road map for the paper: As a beginner writer, you may save your results or main points for the body of the paper which is a mistake. By leaving out the overview of the paper, writers rob readers of a vital road map and make it significantly harder for readers to understand their argument’s progression. A strong introduction will always give a brief sketch of each of the main points to show readers where the paper’s headed.

Importance of an introduction to a research paper.

An introduction in any type of writing is not just important but is very critical. Keep in mind that your readers do not know what your research paper is about from the title and that’s where the introduction comes in. A good introduction will:

• Help the reader understand the background of your topic. 
• Explain why your research paper is worth reading.
• Offer a guide for navigating the rest of the piece.
• Arouse your reader’s interest. 

Best practices for writing an introduction

There’s no one perfect way to write an introduction. Your technique will vary depending on factors like your topic, the tone of your publication, and your audience. Here are a few dos and don’ts.

• Keep your introduction paragraph short. There are no hard and fast rules, but for most types of features and blog posts, three or four sentences is a reasonable goal.
• Don’t waste words. Write lean. Get rid of filler words and phrases.  Writing clean and crisp content is good and it is even better when this is applied in the introduction. This will help you capture the attention of your readers. This is very important in an opening paragraph to capture your reader’s attention.
• Consider eliminating your first sentence. Your first sentence (or even your first two or three) is often a sort of writer’s warmup. Cut it and see if it makes the intro stronger.
• Don’t oversell it. Never let your intro write a check your article can’t cash. Whatever you promise in the opening paragraph, make sure you deliver in the post itself.
• Do try drafting the rest of your article before working on the introduction. Often, writing a piece will reveal the best way to introduce it. If your intro doesn’t flow from the beginning, start with a placeholder and write the opening paragraph after the article is complete.

Take time to craft and carefully edit your introduction. It can mean the difference between a reader navigating away to greener digital pastures or staying on the page to read what you’ve written, share, and engage. 

Tips for writing a winning introduction

As you now know how to start a good introduction and have some clear introduction examples to get you started, let’s quickly go through the key takeaways of what you should and shouldn’t do when writing your introduction.

Dos

• Keep in mind the purpose of your assignment and ensure that your introduction is in-line with it.
• Use an engaging and appropriate hook that grabs the reader’s attention from the first line.
• Be clear by letting your readers understand your stance well.
• Explain key terms related to your topic, if necessary.
• Show that you understand your subject.
• Provide your reader(s) with a metaphorical roadmap to help them understand what you are going to cover in the paper.
• Be concise – it is recommended that you keep your introductory paragraph about 8-9 percent of the total number of words in your paper (for example, 160 words for a 2000 words essay).
• Make a clear and powerful thesis statement.
• Make your introduction as engaging as possible. 
• Ensure that your introduction makes a logical and smooth transition into the body of your paper.
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Don’ts

• Include too much background information.
• Go off the topic or include unnecessary sentences.
• Make your introduction too long (unless you are writing something like a 30-page paper).
• Give it all away. Leave some things hidden so that you can keep your reader(s) engaged and then reveal them later.
• Use cliches or generalizations.
• Be too broad.
• Use too many quotes.