How to Write an Introduction About Yourself

Knowing how to write an introduction about yourself is very important because your introduction determines how you will be perceived by your readers. As such, you ought to be careful when writing an introduction about yourself because the information and words that you use can either harm or uphold your credibility- wikihow.com. An introduction is the beginning section of any writing. This can be a speech, a book or an essay.

An introduction about yourself or personal introduction should highlight your achievements, credentials and notable projects that you involve yourself in. It should be concise and short. The introduction should list relevant information only.

A guide on how to write an introduction about yourself

State your name

Start the introduction by stating your name clearly. Most people are interested in knowing your name before they hear anything about you. If you do not start the introduction with your name, such readers will most likely question your name throughout while reading the introduction.

Background

Include your background information in the introduction. For instance, where do you come from? What group do you belong to? What are your experiences, skills and educational qualifications? Ensure that your background information enables your readers to relate with you or to know what makes you different and why they should continue reading your personal introduction.

Write an introduction that describes you

Writing an introduction about yourself might be one of the toughest things to do because you know everything about yourself. You also have so much that you can say about yourself including your talents, skills and experiences. You can write the introduction in a single paragraph or several paragraphs. Regardless of what you intend to include in the introduction, think about it as an introduction to a complete stranger.

Start by answering these questions:

• Who can you say you are?
• What interests you?
• What talents do you possess?
• What are the challenges that you have faced in life?
• What can you call your achievements?

The answers to these questions should enable you to write an introduction that describes you.

Include your goals in life

After telling readers about yourself, your interests, talents, challenges and achievements, tell them about your goals in life. For instance, if you are determined to get a job, tell readers about it and what you are doing to achieve that goal. For example, you could be studying or networking so that you can get your dream job. You could also be applying a particular talent or skill such as using a foreign language in your efforts to get your dream job as.cornell.edu.

Describe the most important aspect about you

Determine the most important information that you would like readers to know about you. For instance, this could be your recent internship, a job that you got in a particular field or a vital skill that you acquired recently. You can also tell readers about your current situation in life. Additionally, you can include the organizations that you are a member to, your occupations and other projects that you find important to the readers. Remember that the content of your introduction tells readers whether you really know how to write an introduction about yourself because the introduction should answer all the questions that readers have regarding your personality.

Write about your noble achievements in details

State the noble awards or achievements that you have earned in life. Ensure that the information that you include entails only the achievements that are relevant to your readers. For instance, if you are writing for an audience that is interested in writing, tell readers about the awards that you have received from a magazine or a publishing house. If you are writing for a business audience, highlight the awards and other types of recognition that you have received from business organizations.

Close the introduction

Close your introduction by stating your upcoming or current projects. These could be a book that you are writing or a business project that you have just started. You can also tell readers where they can find you and other relevant information that reflects your current situation- smallbusiness.chron.com.

Read, revise and edit the introduction

After concluding the introduction, read and analyze it. Assume that you are reading about another person that you have not met before.

Ask yourself these questions:

• How do you feel about that person?
• According to the introduction, what is the character of the person?
• Do you like that person after reading the introduction?

Based on your answers to these questions, revise the introduction accordingly. After revising the introduction, edit it thoroughly to eliminate all grammatical, typo and spelling errors.

More on how to write an introduction about yourself or personal introduction

• Focus

While writing the introduction, think about it like an elevator. Remember that the information that you include in the introduction will determine where your readers will place you. Make your introduction brief and concise. Therefore, consider the introduction as a limited opportunity that you have to tell your readers about yourself. Use it to convey only what you consider relevant to your readers. Ignore everybody else and focus on your personality.

• Avoid clichés and instead employ an active voice

Clichés are not good for an introduction because they give any writing a tired and inauthentic impression. Therefore, avoid any sentence that you can start for anybody and they finish it instantly without thinking because that is a cliché. Instead of using clichés, employ an active voice in your introduction. Active voice enables you to engage readers while providing more information.

• Limit your introduction

The introduction should be brief because the body of your writing should contain detailed information. Therefore, ensure that your introduction is limited and proportional to the size of the piece that you are writing. For instance, if you are writing a speech, limit it to a piece that can be read in 60 seconds. Writing an introduction that exceeds that time to read eats into the time of the other speakers. A long introduction can also be boring to your readers or make you egoistical.

• Depict authority

Anybody who knows how to write an introduction about yourself will tell you that depicting authority in the introduction is very important because it determines how readers perceive and position you. For an introduction about you to be effective, mention your knowledge, personal experience and qualifications. Also include any research that you conducted and how it enhanced your skills and abilities. This will depict your authority to the readers and give them a reason to listen to you or to continue reading what you write attentively- utminers.utep.edu.

• Have a nice story to tell

Listeners and readers are typically good at listening or reading and responding to stories that are told properly. Starting an introduction about yourself or personal introduction with a short story is therefore a good idea. As such, come up with a story that you find relevant and one that conveys the information or major points that you want to put across. For instance, you can start the introduction with a story of a person or persons who influenced you in life and how they did it.

• Use examples of personal introduction

One of the most effective ways through which you will know how to write an introduction about yourself is by reading self introductions by other writers. Sample introductions act as practical guides for writing introductions. Therefore use examples as your writing guides.

Here is an example of a personal introduction:

“Hello, I am Henry Patrick, currently a sophomore at the Cornell University. My interest is in PR and marketing. Last summer, I engaged in PR activities with a local firm. This gave me experience in PR and marketing through my involvement with community and students’ organizations. My hope is that next year, I will get a job with a large PR and marketing company.”

Note that this introduction paragraph is professional but friendly. It is also specific and it enables you to understand the writer and his needs. It also relates what the writer is doing at the moment and what he would like to achieve in the future or his goal. Additionally, it touches on the work habits of the specific area that the writer targets which is PR and marketing. This can be seen from the engagement of the writer with a local PR and marketing company that engages the community and students’ organizations.

Get help with an introduction about yourself

If you encounter difficulties while writing an introduction about yourself, talk to us for instant assistance. You can also visit the home page of our website for more information regarding our writing services. Alternatively, continue reading for more guidelines on how to write an introduction about yourself and sample introductions on this blog.

Online Sources

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Speech-Introducing-Yourself

http://as.cornell.edu/academics/careers/networking/your-self-introduction.cfm

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/write-short-bio-yourself-57289.html

http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/engl1311/intro_conclu.htm