Tips for Making Good Introductions

(Note: A lot of this info can be extrapolated to sites like OKC)

I think there are some really great intros posted, and I really appreciate everyone participating. I would love to read more. I thought maybe it would be useful, and encourage more people to post, if I put up some pointers. Feel free to add more of your own pointers!

1) Avoid overly-general comments that are likely be true of the vast majority of your audience. They don't really give any information. Examples for LW might include: I like rationality and AI. I like to read. I am in a STEM field.

2) DO get specific. Instead of saying "I like music" say "Watching Fiona Apple perform gives me the shivers". Instead of saying "I like gaming", say "My favorite board games are Alea Iacta Est, Smallworld, and Oregon, and I am a cheap date, in that I enjoy spending dates gaming or reading"

3) Mix things that make you fit in, and things that make you stand out.

3a) Things that make you fit in- You want your audience to relate to you. A good way to do this when they see things you wrote and think "Me too!". However, we still need to get specific (aka an "I like music" won't elicit a "Me too!" response, it will elicit a "Duh! So does everyone" response). To be able to mention specific things that you think other people will relate to, you really have to know your audience. Some perfect examples of this include:

I'm a lot less outwardly geeky than I was as an adolescent.

and

I like musicals and snowtubing and windy weather and flannel and Renaissance faires and cute animal pictures.

These are both specific and very relatable.

(Hope people are ok with me quoting them as examples. If not, let me know)

3b) Things that make you stand out- If you fit in completely with everyone else, none of your uniqueness is going to come through. People will consider you "Just another average LW-er/ OKC-er/ whatev-er". For this, think of what are some things that are relatively unique to you. If you are lucky, a couple people will relate personally to them too. This is actually GREAT when it happens. Some good examples:

I joined my school's circus club [...] now I do various acrobatics, some stilt work, and a bit of juggling.

and

More than 20 years ago, I built a radio reciever using a superconducting device for my thesis. It was the most sensitive radio in the world for a while.

4) Readability- Make sure everything is easy to understand. Break long paragraphs up! Short paragraphs are easier to read, less likely to be skimmed. Anything longer than about 5-6 lines on here, just throw a paragraph break in. Even if you think it doesn't belong!

5) Topics- Most of a personal introduction falls under the small-talk category. This is difficult for a lot of people because they don't know what to talk about, unless someone asks them specifically. Here's a pretty good list of ideas for things you can write about. In fact, if you ignore everything else I talked about in this comment, and just focused on answering some of these prompts, you are pretty much good to go.

• Hobbies- Things you do or collect.
• Where you live, and how you like it.
• Who you live with, and what your dynamic is like.
• Your friends and why you like them/what they do.
• Anything unique or weird you've done.
• Strangest thing that's happened to you.
• Any labels you apply to yourself. How did you come to accept that label?
• Favorite Vacations, or interesting vacation stories.
• What do you do when you aren't at school/work. Be specific!
• What do you like to read/watch/listen to.
• Something you're proud of (can be anything).
• Family and pets. Do you have any stories about them?

PS- My goal is to encourage people to post by giving follow-able guideline, but my worry is that this post will make people nervous about posting. If you think having such intensive guidelines are more of a hindrance than a help, please let me know, so I can remove the post. Thank you!