How to Write an Essay Introduction about Yourself
Writing about yourself can be such an interesting experience. Imagine yourself in that serene environment and walking down the memory lane to tell the world who you are. But it is not as easy as that. In fact, veteran writers and senior students agree that writing about yourself has its share of bottlenecks. The main challenge being, deciding what is relevant. Still, introducing yourself will not be an easy task. What should be your first sentence? What makes a great introduction paragraph for your personal essay? Will the reader like my essay? With this manual on how to write an essay introduction about yourself, none of these questions will trouble you. Just relax and digest the content.
This article covers the following areas:
- Introducing yourself in a personal essay
- Wrong ways of introducing yourself in a personal essay
- Sample intros of personal essay
The guide will take you through a journey of discovering the things you tell the reader in your first paragraph, what you should spare for the body of your essay and what you should never include in an essay about yourself. This journey begins…NOW…
The fundamental principles of how to write an essay introduction about yourself
The first paragraph of your personal essay carries a lot of weight. It says much about you and creates a lasting impression in the mind of the reader.
The introduction allows you to take the reader into your little unknown world. To achieve this, you must choose the style, tone, and language to convince the admissions board or HR manager that your essay is worth their precious time. And so, what should you do…? Here are a few secretes on how to write an essay introduction about yourself.
Just introduce yourself. At this stage, you want to woo the reader, without bothering him or her with fluff. Tell the sweet side of you, but remaining professional and meeting the purpose of your essay.
- Decide what to say. Not everything about fit and belong in the introductory paragraph. From your educational background to the name of your pet, evoke your wisdom nerves and make the right decision. Try the following:
- What is the purpose of your essay? The prompt of your essay should help you decide on what to include in your introduction. For example, a biography essay and an admission essay serve completely different functions. Read and reread the prompt to get this right.
- Introduce yourself to a stranger. As you craft your introduction, assume that the person who will read the essay does not know anything about you. This means you are strangers to each other.
Once you get to a level where you and your audience are strangers, then you are ready to filter chaff from wheat and tell your story with a big story.
What to include in your essay introduction about yourself
This is the hardest test. The following questions should give you hints on how to write an essay introduction about yourself.
Important questions to ask yourself:
Question 1: Who are you? Identify yourself to the reader. This is the first step towards creating a rapport with your audience. The HR officer wants to know who you are without any trouble.
Question 2: What are your interests? Tell the reader that area or task that gives you maximum satisfaction. This is closely tied to your dream. Where do you want to go? Where do you see yourself in say, 5 years? No one has your dreams; put them down.
Question 3: What are your talents? Besides your professional qualifications, tell the reader something unique and special about you. Remember, that you want to stand out as the best candidate. Do be like be everyone else, but yourself.
Question 4: What are your achievements? Selection panelists are looking for achievers, and not professional dwarfs. Capture your milestones either along your career or academic tangent. However, write about your achievements with a lot of humility so that you do not sound too proud for consideration. Do not try to prove anything to the reader. Just say who you are and let them be the jury.
Question 5: What are your challenges? There is never a smooth sailing in college are at work. Talk about the limitations in your life. Again, do this without justifying your failures. State some of the options you employed to overcome the bottlenecks. After all, you are not an angel.
If you can get genuine answers to the above questions, then you will be on your way to mastering how to write an essay introduction about yourself.
Let us look at some examples of intros to a personal essay as you digest the sections that we have so far discussed.
Examples: Essay introductions about yourself
Example 1: Cancer tried to conquer me but I won the battle….
This can be an interesting way to introduce yourself as a fighter. Any person who comes across your essay would want to read about yourself.
Example 2: I use a different name every time I place an order at Starbucks…
Why on earth would someone do that? This is intriguing. You want to pique the reader’s interest and wet their reading appetite…
You can comfortably use these examples to start your bio notes. Note that in both cases, the writers use first person pronoun. In case you do not want to refer to yourself with, ‘I’ try the following:
Example 3: Jane Smith is the Chief Finance officer of Abbott and Abbott Limited, a position she has held for the last three years. At Abbott, Smith ensures that….
Note that in this example, you write about yourself in the third person. You assume to be describing a person you know very well, yet it is you. After all, the basis of how to write an essay introduction about yourself is in understanding yourself better.
General tips on how to write an essay introduction about yourself
As you are now aware, your introduction is the face of your essay. If you cannot develop a strong introduction, then you might miss numerous opportunities in life. In this section, you will find more tips to help you polish personal essay writing tips.
Be interesting in your introduction. Do not start your essay on a flat note. No one wants to read a boring piece when there are hundreds of essays to go through. Try as much as you can to arrest the reader’s attention.
Know the purpose of your essay. Your intro will depend on the reason behind your essay. Is it a personal biography, admission letter or cover letter? Be clear about what you are writing and the rest will fall in its right place.
Be brief. Your essay should have an introduction, body and conclusion. Do not suffocate your first paragraph with details about yourself and leave nothing for the remaining sections. Capture what matters to the reader before you get into the meat of your life.
Have a narrow focus. Remember that personal essays are never in tens of pages. From a few paragraphs to a page or two, you should be able to tell a memorable story of your life. Have in mind that this could be the last chance to engage that reader.
Be specific in your writing. As you gain deeper knowledge on how to write an essay introduction about yourself, aim at being clear and concise. You do not want to leave the reader guessing who you really are. Stamp your identity with clarity.
The FIVE COMMANDMENTS of writing an essay introduction about yourself
- Thou shall be brief – Focus on that which adds value to yourself.
- Thou shall not start your essay with a summary – By doing a summary of yourself in the intro, you are telling the reader not to go through the other sections.
- Thou shall intrigue the reader- Do not be predictable in your introduction. Adopt an interesting writing style. Appeal to the reader in every way to give them a reason to read on and relate with you intimately on paper.
- Thou shall be yourself – Do not write to impress the reader. Be honest in every aspect.
- Thou shall not rush – take time to write your essay and edit to eliminate inexcusable mistakes.
With these ideas on how to write an essay introduction about yourself, you are ready to face world. Make this your study toolkit. Let us know how it goes
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