The Role of the Introduction

In many ways, an effective introduction in a report is similar to the phone calls discussed previously.

To be effective, the introduction must be able to do the following:

• Interest your readers and provide needed context. Unless you succeed in capturing your readers’ interest, they probably won’t read your report.  Briefly explain the circumstances that gave rise to the report so that readers can understand its significance.
• Make the purpose understood.  You must ensure that your readers understand why you are writing so they have accurate expectations and are prepared for your main message.
• State the main message. As we have seen, the main message is the answer to the reader’s main question, and it must relate closely to your overall purpose. The main message provides the reader with a preview of the rest of the document.

To write an effective introduction, you need to determine which components are necessary for this particular document.

You also need to arrange the components in an appropriate order. For example, context almost always comes first; the main message generally comes last.