Last week I was doing a stage hosting gig, and I’m amazed at how many acts don’t know the difference between an introduction and a bio. I was frequently handed introductions that were a half of page, or more!
Here’s an example of something I was handed to read:
I had to do some editing to the intro, and it was still a lot longer than it needed to be!
An introduction should be a few bullet points, the idea is to put a little bit of context into what people are about to see…not tell the whole story. You’re going to tell the full story onstage with whatever your act is.
A simple formula for writing an intro is three bullet points:
- Where you’re from
- Cool sounding accomplishment(s)
- What you do
That is then followed by your name. It’s pretty simple. Sure there are reasons to do longer introductions, or more complex ones, however the majority of shows don’t need those.
Also giving tips on how to say uncommon names is super handy for the host/MC.
-Louie