5 Short But Powerful Introductions Every Online Writer Needs To Entice Readers
How Nicolas Cole Optimizes His Openings For 100M+ Views
Online readers skim most articles before actually reading them.
The job of your article’s introduction is to give readers something to latch on to. Fail to grab attention early, and they won’t stick around to give your writing a chance. However, introduce your topic with these proven rhythms, and your readers will want to hear what you have to say.
These techniques are why you’re still reading my article, and they’re how an online gamer became one of the most-read online writers in the world.
Why should we care what Nicolas Cole has to say?
When I came across Cole’s book, The Art and Business of Online Writing, I was already somewhat familiar with his work.
I knew he’d been the top writer on Quora — and that was about all. I’d upvoted tons of his answers on the platform and knew about his writing company. Some Quorans seemed to talk about him in hushed and reverent tones, but like sarcasm, this is hard to pick up on in the written form.
All this was enough to make me download the small sample Amazon lets you read first.
Two pages into the sample, I purchased the book.
His writing is that concise, that credible, and that good. I could give you a list of his accomplishments, but he’s already written them on his website. Simply put, he’s good at what he does.
And what he does is write.
The book is worth its weight in gold, and I’d say that even if my copy weren’t digital.
Cole says to look to top writers and emulate what they do. In his book, he shares many secrets, including how to write the perfect opening.
Of the multiple opening rhythms Cole mentions, I’m going to include the five. These are the ones that are the easiest to master. Every introduction shares the same beginning:
A short sentence, about ten words long, that tells the reader what the article is about.
We’ll start by looking at that sentence and then move on to the five rhythms.
The perfect opening sentence will answer the first of three unspoken questions every reader has.
Right away in the introduction, your job is to answer all three of the reader’s preliminary questions:
What is this about?
Is this for me?
What are you PROMISING and how confident am I that you’re going to deliver on that PROMISE?
That’s directly from Cole’s book. The job of the first sentence is to tell you what the article is about. Let’s take a look at this article’s first sentence:
Online readers skim most articles before actually reading them.
Combined with the title, this showed the article discussed the problem of capturing people’s attention right away. If you are still reading, then we know the sentence did its job.
The sentence should
- Be about 10 words long.
- Contain the main point of the article.
- Be clear and concise.
- Make readers feel like they’re off to a quick start.
In the book, Cole says, “You are successful if you can nail the entire ‘point’ of the piece in ten words or less.”
The reason I have amended that to about ten words is many of his examples are between 12–15 words long. There’s not a single one I wouldn’t continue reading, though.
Shoot for ten words or less. Keep the sentence as short and straightforward as it can be. Then, move on to one of these five formats:
- 1/3/1
- 1/5/1
- 1/4/1/1
- 1/3/1 + Bulleted List
- 1 + Subhead
These numbers refer to the number of sentences in each paragraph. While there are more complex formats in Cole’s book, notice that here we’re dealing with no more than four paragraphs in each introduction.
The 1 in each of these five examples is your concise opening sentence.
1/3/1 — The first introduction to master.
This is the most basic and easiest introduction. It’s highly effective in drawing the reader’s eyes in. It’s also the one I used for this article.
Nicolas Cole describes this and every introduction with demonstrative examples.
This first sentence is your opener.
This second sentence clarifies your opener. This third sentence reinforces the point you’re making with some sort of credibility or amplified description. And this fourth sentence rounds out your argument, guiding the reader toward your conclusion.
This fifth sentence is your strong conclusion.
Let’s talk about the strong conclusion. If done correctly, your concluding sentences will:
- Conclude your introduction.
- Transition to the main points of your article in the next section.
Here is how I adapted the format to this article.
Online readers skim most articles before actually reading them.
The job of your article’s introduction is to give readers something to latch on to. Fail to grab attention early, and they won’t stick around to give your writing a chance. However, introduce your topic with these proven rhythms, and your readers will want to hear what you have to say.
These techniques are why you’re still reading my article, and they’re how an online gamer became one of the most-read online writers in the world.
Master this rhythm first. Every other introduction format is a variation.
1/5/1 — For when you need more words to build the beginning.
Use this structure when 1/3/1 is not enough to introduce your topic. It allows for additional clarity and description.
In my paraphrasing of Cole’s words:
Start with your opener.
The first sentence of the second paragraph clarifies the first paragraph. The second sentence reinforces your point with either credibility or description. Next, add to that credibility or description with additional information or context. Now tell the reader why you’re explaining all of this. The last sentence in the paragraph drives home the point.
Your last paragraph is your one-sentence conclusion, and it should be shorter than your opener.
This gives you a relatively large second paragraph. More long-winded writers are going to gravitate towards this format. I highly recommend you only do so after effectively writing several 1/3/1 beginnings.
When using 1/5/1, make your conclusion as short as possible. Visually, this will help balance the longer second paragraph.
1/4/1/1 Two conclusions for the price of one.
This format gives you a second paragraph with more information than the first example while being shorter than our last example. At the same time, you get two conclusions.
Here’s my paraphrase.
Start with your opener.
The first sentence of the second paragraph clarifies the opener. The second sentence reinforces your point with either credibility or description. Next, round out your argument. The last sentence in this paragraph shows the emotional benefit of your main point.
Now give your one-sentence conclusion and usual.
Show why the conclusion is essential.
Here we’re still favoring brevity while using emotional language. This introduction tends to be opinionated and, as such, can seem stronger when done correctly.
1/3/1 + Bullets. Readers respond to bulleted lists.
There’s a simple explanation as to why so many online writers use bulleted lists.
- The eyes gravitate toward them.
- They are an effective way to make points.
- Readers tend actually to read them.
See? I did it to you just now.
These lists are most commonly used in the main section of an article, but you can employ them in your introduction for an added punch. Just be sure you already have a firm grasp on the 1/3/1 format. As you’ve no doubt already guessed, this format builds upon it.
Instead of paraphrasing again, let’s see how Nicolas Cole describes this format in his book.
This first sentence is your opener.
This second sentence clarifies your opener. This third sentence reinforces the point you’re making with some sort of credibility or amplified description. And this fourth sentence rounds out your argument, guiding the reader toward your conclusion.
This fifth sentence is your conclusion, as well as the subhead to your bulleted list.
Point #1
Point #2
Point #3
Point #4
Etc.
1 + Subhead. Short and sweet.
This is a favored rhythm for when you want to jump right into your piece. Use it sparingly, but when mastered, it breaks things up for your regular readers.
Your first sentence is the opener, telling what the article is about
Then you add a subhead jumping right into the article.
If I had decided to go with this article’s format, it might have looked like this.
Online readers skim most articles before actually reading, so you have to hook them right away.
That’s why we’re going to look at five proven introductions that will keep your readers engaged.
See how the eyes flow from one line to the next?
Master these openings, and you’ll increase the odds of readers engaging in your writing.
Remember you are letting the readers know what the topic is about, why it is relevant to them, and showing them you’ll follow through on your promise.
Keep your introductions short. The eyes should flow naturally from one line to the next.
Each of the rhythms here, from 1/3/1 to 1 + Subhead, are optimized to do just that.
Once you’ve mastered these, pick up The Art and Business of Online Writing. Along with other masterful information, you’ll learn additional beginnings that will keep your readers coming back for more.
I can’t wait to see what you’re going to write next.
Scott Hughey wrote the following words for this article. “The amount of usable information I’ve learned from Cole could fill a book. Come to think of it, that’s probably why he wrote it.” It detracted from the article, but Scott couldn’t bring himself to delete them. That’s why they’re here in his always dynamic 3rd-person bio.
More from Scott about writing.
