The introduction is a crucial part of any piece of academic writing. It can grab your reader’s attention and makes the first impression of your work. In the introduction, you clarify your thesis, or the main point of your essay. The reader should not have to do the work of figuring out the point the writer is trying to make – this is the writer’s job. Much of this work gets done in the introduction!

In this podcast, we’ll talk about what should be in the introduction and how to keep your reader in mind as you write your introduction.

Related documentation

Episode 005 - Podcast transcript

Episode 005 - Key points

Episode 005 - Further resources

Episode 005 - Worksheet

Would you like to see other topics covered? This selection of episodes in the 2015-16 series was shaped by students’ feedback and comments about their experience. We will be creating a new, updated series soon and invite your feedback on these episodes and your ideas for future episodes. Please get in touch, via e-mail to lselife@lse.ac.uk, or by using the feedback form below.

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