A Little Inspiration on Writing Intros from Paul Heyman

In breaking down the work I do on a piece, I spend more time on the introductions than I do any other individual paragraph. The intro has to set the stage for your piece and make your reader want to read more. Sometimes my inspiration for them can come from an unlikely place.

There is no one correct way to write an introduction to an article, op-ed, or news release (although there are plenty of wrong ones). That is why I seek inspiration from a wide array of individuals.

One person I have been following since the 1990s is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Famer Paul Heyman. Having started out as a wrestling magazine photographer in his teens, Heyman managed talent before purchasing Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), whose reality-based, more violent style has changed the business for better or for worse ever since.

After the ECW folded, Heyman joined the WWE as a commentator and manager for stars that have included Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and Roman Reigns. There, he became a legend for his ability to do promos. If you have only watched wrestling casually, promos are those speeches where the wrestler or manager furthers the story line usually through a combination of braggadocio and airing of grievances. In the below quick video, Heyman tells Stone Cold Steve Austin his approach to kicking off a promo.

Any lead to a written piece has to tell the reader what it is about and why they should keep reading. To Heyman’s point, sometimes it can be as simple as saying, “Here is who I am and here is what I do.”
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