Give special love to the first and last sentences of your piece: the opening and closing, or the lede (lead)¹ and kicker—in journalism terms.

Why?

The first line sets the tone and beckons the reader onward.

The last line finishes strong, offering a satisfying sense of completion.

“A good lede invites you to the party and a good kicker makes you wish you could stay longer,” says copywriter Matthew Stibbe.²

Your opening sentence hooks the reader into wanting to know more. It pulls them into a piece.

Here are some ways to do that:

• Put your reader into the story. Share a story or anecdote that drops your reader directly into a situation. Invite them to picture themselves at a scene:

  It is a crisp, clear autumn afternoon, about 1:30. A full sun hangs in a bright blue sky. A large crowd mills about.

  Imagine that you are there. You jostle for position. You strain your neck to get a glimpse. You cup your hand behind your ear … as the 16th President of the United States steps to the center of the platform and begins his “few appropriate remarks.”³ —Ernest Nicastro, MarketingProfs

• Articulate a problem your reader can relate to. Describe the pain. Create an It's-Me Minute.

  From a piece on finding the best places to party in cities around the world:

  You're on vacation, dammit, and ready to let loose. Check out a museum? Ogle architecture? No thanks. Because you know that true cultural immersion begins (and ends) at a watering hole or epic party, where you can rub shoulders with local drunks.⁴ —Thrillist

  Or in a professional setting, setting up a problem familiar to hospitals and healthcare organizations:

  You write in plain language, use video explainers and apply all the web writing best practices. So your content should be clear to just about everyone, right?

  No. Not even close.⁵ —Laura Bloom, Aha Media Group blog

• Set a stage. Paint a picture for your reader. Let them see through your eyes.

  From a piece I wrote on a classic marketing campaign:

  I'm in a meeting in a Dallas hotel. The drinks station at the back of the room has a few fun retro bottles of Dr Pepper.

  Thick glass, not plastic.

  Sweetened with “Imperial pure cane sugar,” as opposed to—I don't know—crushed candy hearts? The high-fructose sighs of a thousand kittens?

  And most curiously, three numbers in an implied triangle formation: 10, 2, 4.⁶

• Ask a question. Which your piece will answer, of course.

  From my quest to sell furniture on Facebook Marketplace (and demonstrate the power of copywriting!):

  How do you sell two used couches upholstered in the exact, unfortunate color of the poop emoji?⁷

  Or this, from Upworthy: (Side note: I like the use of “kinda” in here.)

  What if there were a simple and cheap way to keep kids out of detention and from eventually heading down the wrong path? This school seems to have figured it out, and it's kinda genius.⁸

  Use the question lead-in infrequently. It can feel worn-out and tiresome when you overdo it. You want to avoid sounding like a one-note, late night infomercial. (“Did you ever wonder…?”)

• Quote a crazy or controversial bit of data. Grounding the lead in a surprising stat is a way to shock the reader into sitting up a little taller and paying attention, in a Wait … what? kind of way.

  A recent, widely circulated study found that one-third of Americans who bought a wearable tech product ditched it within six months. So why are companies as diverse as Google, Nike, Pepsi, and Disney pumping plenty of cash—and new life—into the technology?⁹ —Fast Company

• Offer a curious point of view. Plant a small seed of wonder in the mind of the reader. As in:

  As a precious creative snowflake, I should probably be shitting myself about the rise of marketing operations and the supremacy of data. —Doug Kessler, Velocity Partners (Yeah … why isn't he?)

• Tell a story or share a personal anecdote. I started a piece on taking off-the-wall risks in marketing with a completely weird scene:

  Last week I saw a squirrel eating a slice of pizza.

  He was high up in a tree just starting to bloom. I think it was a red maple? It was covered with red, scaly buds—like angry teen acne erupting on a hormonal spring tree.

  Not that the squirrel cared. He was focused on his pizza.

  He held it in his hands, tiny fingers curled on either side of the pie-shaped wedge. His technique was all wrong—it was like watching someone eat a candy bar with a fork and knife. At least he pointed the pointy end toward his face.

  He took tiny bites. Maybe that's how squirrels eat everything. But it was hard not to imagine that Pizza Squirrel was savoring it.

  I watched him for a few minutes. I had so many questions.

  • What toppings?
  • Where does he stand on pineapple pizza?
  • Did he order one slice or a whole pie?

    But above all…

  • WHO DELIVERS TO A TREE? (Dominoes? UberEats? ToastTakeout?)¹⁰
• Set up an analogy or metaphor.

  Lead forms are like eyebrows—you pay attention only if they look really good or really bad. —Michael Brenner, Marketing Insider blog

• Start with a quote. I started a newsletter about sea shanties quoting, well, the shanty:

• There once was a ship that put to sea,
• And the name of the ship was Bee-Too-Bee…

  Those are the opening lines of World's First B2B Marketing Sea Shanty, a remix of an old-fashioned sea shanty which had its world debut at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum.¹¹

• The fake-out. Your reader thinks you're talking about one thing, when suddenly you swerve into a different lane entirely. I did that here:

  Fall 2020 has been dominated by a contentious, polarizing, absolutely gutting election—where one plumped-up challenger seeks to unseat an overstuffed incumbent.

  Social media has been taking sides (it always does)—adamant that their candidate is the most qualified. The most skilled. The only logical choice, you idiot.

  I'm talking, of course, about Fat Bear Week.

  Fat Bear Week is the annual competition that seeks an answer to the question: Which brown bear at Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve is the fattest?¹²

* * *

Your lead sentences are among the most important words you'll string together.

Your closings, or kickers, are a close second in importance.

Finish strong, with a call to action (if appropriate) and a sense of completion. Don't end abruptly, stopping the music and abandoning your reader on the dance floor. Don't merely trail off … as if you … ran … out … of … steam?

You can pose a question or challenge to the reader, of course: So what do you think?

That's an obvious, easy way out. But it's also … kind of basic. An option of last resort.

Instead try these techniques:

• Recast the biggest takeaway of the piece. Restate the main point of your piece—not as pure regurgitation, but as a synthesized summary.

  I did this in a post about how to deal with social media haters:

  Writing at MarketingProfs today, Carla Ciccotelli offers advice for brands dealing with haters. My favorite line is this: “When dealing with complaints, think of the bigger picture and the effect public complaints will have on your business.”

  I love the part about a bigger picture—especially when it helps a company make it clear what it stands for. And also—and this is gutsier—what it clearly won't stand.¹³

• But wait … there’s more! Invite your readers to explore other content assets for deeper insights. Point them toward relevant templates, checklists, guides. (Gated or not, see Chapter 60.)

  Checklist:

  Ready to become a better server? Download Toast's free list of 30 Ways to Become a Better Restaurant Server to start earning better tips today.¹⁴ —Amanda McNamara, Toast blog

  Related podcast:

  Anyone who's ever worked a service job likely has an opinion about the tipping system. It can be a fantastic way to make good money with or without a college education, but the system's drawbacks are starting to be noticed by guests and servers alike.

  We covered all this and much more in the Gratuity-Free Restaurants episode of The Garnish, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to the podcast newsletter so you never miss an episode.¹⁵ —Dahlia Snaiderman, Toast blog

• Add an element of tonal surprise. “Turn the story around,” suggests Matthew Stibbe. “If you've been formal, go relaxed. If you're relaxed, become formal.”

  From Wired:

  It takes a clean digital signal from your USB port and converts it to a warm analog music. And it looks as badass as it sounds.¹⁶

• Let others have the last word. If you've interviewed someone for an article or post, you might end with a direct quote from that person.

  In a post about an Instagram campaign by the Toronto Silent Film Festival, I gave Festival Director Shirley Hughes the last word:

  When I have teenage boys come out [from] a screening of The Black Pirate [from] 1925 with Douglas Fairbanks and exclaim “that was the coolest!” you know you are doing the right thing.¹⁷