The Importance of Introductions

A group of friends are hanging out together talking, when someone mentions how badly they want to go to Las Vegas. Several friends chime in, agreeing that they would love to go to Las Vegas as well. Soon, it is discovered that no one in the group has been there, but everyone wants to go.  “Road trip!” someone yells, and then it begins – the planning stage. Everyone starts talking all at once, as they decide how they are going to travel, how long they can stay, how much it will cost, and when they will leave, etc. After a lot of planning, preparation, and sorting out the details, the day finally arrives. The group of friends is heading out on their adventure at last. 

After everyone in the group is loaded into the car, the driver heads in the direction of the freeway and asks, “Who brought the map?” Silence ensues while everyone in the car looks around at each other wondering who dropped the ball. “Well, who knows how to get there?” the driver asks. Again, silence is the prevalent sound.  How are they going to get there? A similar question can be asked when writing a paper or an article, “How am I going to get there? I have all of the information, how do I present it to an audience?” This is why an introduction is so very important. It is essentially a road map to help the audience understand where they are going, why they want to come along, and how they are going to get there. 

The very beginning of an introduction needs to grab the reader’s attention. It needs to be something that will give the audience the incentive to keep reading. The phrase “Road trip!” grabbed the attention of the group of friends and got them interested in the details of how to get there.  The rest of the introduction is the road map, showing the audience where they are going to be traveling throughout the paper. For example, background information is given to the reader so that they understand “why they are going”, just as the group of friends discovered that no one had been to Las Vegas, and everyone wanted to go. The author then gives a basic outline for what information is going to be discussed, and in what order. This answers the “how are we going to get there, how long can we stay, and how much will it cost” questions. And finally, the author gives a basic idea about the final destination, or the conclusion. Here the author gives the audience a “taste” of what the destination is, like a travel brochure, just an idea of what is in store. In order to gain the full experience, the audience will have to jump in, buckle up, and hang on for the ride!