The pressure is on.

The spotlight is blazing, the microphone is on, and everyone is watching me expectantly.

No, it’s not an open mic night at the local coffee shop. It’s just the inside of my brain every time I write a blog post introduction (like this one). Getting someone hooked from the get-go is essential if you want readers to see the content you worked so hard on to the end.

At times, though, coming up with an interesting introduction feels like fishing in a dried-up well. For times like those, it helps to have a few formulas or thought starters up your sleeve to kickstart the process.

Let’s explore tips you can use the next time your creative brain has its OOO autoresponder on.

What a blog post introduction needs to achieve

Understanding what an introduction needs to do helps you gauge whether you’ve hit the mark (and can call a draft “done”). I have three goals each time I start a blog post:

1. Excite readers and give them a reason to read more

2. Introduce a new perspective on the topic

3. Set expectations about what a reader will learn

Keep this in mind, though: your blog post intro should achieve these goals quickly. After you’ve written your introduction, read it through again and see if you can delete any sentences—or even paragraphs—without losing any meaning or effect.