What does the lead in mean?

Lead-ins are an important part of any story and can make your narrative much more enjoyable than if you didn't have one. They help to set the scene before the main event, giving readers a little preview so they know exactly where they're going with their characters.

A good example of this would be when someone starts reading Harry Potter and finds out that he's about to go through his first Wizarding War. The reader knows how long the war will last, but still needs some kind of introduction to give them context and get them ready for the big fight. So, we need a lead-in, which could come from anywhere—a flashback, exposition, foreshadowing… anything really.

In other words, a lead-in is simply anything that comes before the start of the main action. It might not even actually be related at all! For instance, in a book called A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, there’s no real connection between the two cities mentioned, Paris and London. However, both cities play crucial roles in the novel, and having those names appear early on gives us an idea of what’s coming later on in the story.

So let’s look at some examples of how we might use the term ‘lead-in’ in different types of writing. First off, here are three sentences using the verb ‘to lead’ in various ways. We’ll then discuss each one briefly.

1. This article has been written based on research conducted by Dr. Michael Bresnahan.

2. You may want to consider buying a car that has a fuel tank made of polypropylene rather than steel. Polypropylene doesn’t rust like iron, and its lighter weight means less energy loss over distance. As such, it also burns fewer fossil fuels per kilometer driven.

3. When people talk about the economy, they often refer to the "real" GDP. But economists prefer to measure real growth in terms of the money supply. And that's because economic growth isn't just about the number of dollars being produced in our society. Economic expansion depends largely upon the amount of spending within our country.

Now let’s take a closer look at these sentences. In #1, we see the writer starting with information about Dr. Michael Bresnahan, before moving onto the actual content of the article itself. Here, ‘based on’ acts as a lead-in to explain who wrote the piece. If you were describing the article yourself, you wouldn’t say “This article was written by Dr. Michael Bresnahan.” Instead, you’d probably say “Dr. Michael Bresnahan writes articles that include information about economics.”

In #2, we see a transition phrase used to connect one section to another. A common way to do this is to introduce a new topic, such as mentioning a type of vehicle or explaining why certain materials should be used instead of others.

Finally, #3 shows a transitional expression. These phrases act as bridges connecting sections together, making sure nothing gets left out or forgotten along the way.

So now that we understand what a lead-in is, let’s check out what the opposite of that is: what happens after the main subject/event. What follows is a list of four expressions you might find in texts. We’ve discussed each one individually below, too.

4. The following is my lead-up speech.

5. I must admit that we had trouble finding suitable housing for you.

6. Some critics claimed that the movie lacked a strong storyline. Others said it wasn’t funny enough.

7. My point is that once you've got your lead in, you don't have to worry about getting lost in the middle.

8. Once again, I'm afraid this film won't satisfy everyone.

9. I am sorry to inform you that this year's conference did not meet expectations.

10. Now please enjoy the rest of my presentation.

11. There's a lot of debate surrounding the issue. Many believe that the government should subsidize the cost of college tuition while others think education shouldn't become a privilege.

12. He went back to work immediately afterwards, though.

13. That's why we decided to move ahead with the project without delay.

14. She came home late every night until her father found out.

15. After watching the video, she realized she'd been played.

16. He told me that he wanted to marry me but only under specific circumstances.

17. I asked him to leave. His presence caused great stress to all involved.

18. This is my lead-in speech.

19. Please bear with me while I answer a few questions. Then we'll begin.

20. I tried to tell him how bad things were, but he couldn't hear me.

21. I hope that this helps. Thank you very much.

22. I don't mind telling you that I haven't seen a better performance since the days of William Shatner.

23. Let's cut right to the chase. Can you guess what happened next?

24. You can always count on me to provide quality customer service.

25. It seems the problem lies somewhere else.

26. Your parents never taught you manners, did they?

27. I'm glad you finally agree with me.

28. She took a seat beside me and started eating her lunch.

29. I'm happy to report that everything turned out fine.

30. I thought I heard my name called.

31. After the ceremony, we all gathered around the table to eat cake.

32. There's quite a difference between the two.

33. You have to remember that this is a small town. Things happen here faster than elsewhere.

34. Our team worked hard to solve the problem.

35. We're trying to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.

36. I was able to convince her that I was leaving.

37. Don't waste time arguing with your mother. Just grab whatever clothes you need and run away.

38. I have to confess that I'm usually much happier alone.

39. I'm afraid that's impossible.

40. You can call me anytime.

41. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but...

42. I'm afraid you're mistaken.

43. Do you have any proof?

44. I'm waiting for my friend to join me.

45. Where did you learn that?

46. Why don't you try asking him?

47. Tell me what you saw.

48. I didn't expect anyone to die.

49. I'm happy to announce that we succeeded in reaching our goal.

50. I'm afraid you misunderstood me.

51. I didn't realize it was so late.

52. I wish I knew.

53. Thanks for listening to me.

54. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon.

55. Sorry, I forgot.

56. Are you sure you don't want to stay?

57. I'm not surprised.

58. I'll be back tomorrow morning.

59. You're absolutely correct.

60. I think you're forgetting something.

61. I'm hoping that you change your mind eventually.

62. Did you finish already?

63. I'm afraid I'm confused.

64. I don't care about my grades anymore.

65. Please excuse me. I have to attend to a personal matter.

66. I apologize if I embarrassed you.

67. I can't promise you anything.

68. I'm afraid you're wrong.

69. I can't tell you that.

70. I'm not interested.

71. The game ended in a tie.

72. I don't have time today.

73. I have to ask you a favor.

74. I'm afraid that's impossible.

75. I'm sure you've figured it out by now.

76. I'm worried that you're falling behind.

77. It turns out that I'm allergic to peanuts.

78. I thought you were dead.

79. I'm afraid I can't tell you that.

80. I'm sorry I interrupted you.

81. I'm not hungry.

82. You're welcome.

83. I can't guarantee that.

84. I'm sorry to bother you.

85. I'm afraid I don't know.

86. I'm not sure what you mean.

87. I'm sure that's true.

88. I'm afraid I have to decline.

89. I'm not sure whether...

90. I'm afraid I can't help you.

91. I'm afraid I can't tell you that.

92. I'm sorry, sir.

93. I'm not sure what you mean.

A "lead" can be used when someone talks about an upcoming event. In this case, it means there will be some sort of introduction before they describe what's going on. The person who introduces themselves usually has a lot more information than just their name and where they live. They'll also give you a sense of how long they've been doing whatever job they have.

If you want to know why we say things like "the lead singer was great," then read our article called What are lead singers good at? If that doesn't answer your question, keep reading because this one might help.

In general, people don't call each other by their first names unless they're close friends or family members. It's considered polite not to use everyone's full real name all the time. So if someone says, "This is my friend John Smith from work," he could change his last name to Jones without sounding rude. But if he said, "I'm John Jones." That would sound weird, even though he'd technically still be using his surname.

So let's assume John told us that he works with computers. He probably wouldn't introduce himself as "John Computer Guy." Instead, he'd probably say, "Hi, I'm John and I write computer programs." Now that he's introduced himself, he can explain what type of programming he does, which makes him seem much cooler.

That's a lead-in. A lead-in is any introductory part of a story or presentation. For instance, here's a short story about a guy named Jack who owns several dog kennels.

He decided to go camping so he packed everything except for his wallet. Then he realized he had forgotten his wallet — he left it in his car! Luckily, he saw a police officer walking down the road. When the cop asked, "Can I see some ID?" Jack didn't hesitate. With no hesitation, he showed the policeman his driver's license. After looking through it, the policeman handed back the card and said, "You need to get yourself a new wallet!"

Now, imagine you were watching the news and heard the reporter say, "Today, we learned that Jack forgot his wallet while he went hiking in the woods. Fortunately, he found a kind policeman who helped him out -- but now he needs to buy a new wallet." There's nothing wrong with telling the story straight forward, but it sounds better to add a little extra detail right after the fact.

Another way to think about a lead-in is to look at it as a bridge between two parts of a conversation. You start talking about something important, and then you end up saying something completely different later in the conversation. The lead-in is the idea that connects those two points together. In this context, the lead-in is the thing you talked about earlier that led into the thing you mentioned next.

Let's take a closer look at this concept. We'll use the phrase "the lead-up to Christmas" as an example. Here's what it looks like in plain English:

Christmas is coming soon...

We're almost there...

It's only three days away

...and I love celebrating the holidays.

Here's how these phrases relate to each other. First, notice that the first line contains the main verb. This is followed by four examples of the same theme. Second, notice that the second and third lines contain prepositions. Third, notice that the fourth line uses the adverb "only". Fourth, notice that the fifth line ends with an exclamation point. Fifth, notice that none of the sentences actually begin with a capital letter. Sixth, notice that the sixth line starts with "so..." instead of "but..." Finally, notice that the seventh line begins with the definite article ("a").

Notice how the seven steps above flow smoothly into one another. Each step builds upon the previous ones, making sure that the reader gets the whole picture.

There are many ways to express this idea. One popular method is to start with the most specific description, such as the weather forecast, and then move toward less specific descriptions. Another common pattern is to start off with a very broad topic and then narrow down until you reach the exact details you wanted to discuss. These patterns often appear in headlines.

But sometimes the best way to explain something is to simply break it down into smaller pieces. Let me demonstrate with a few examples below.

For instance, suppose you bought a laptop recently. Before you started working on it, you noticed the power cord wasn't plugged in properly. To fix the problem, you unplugged the charger from its wall socket and reconnected it to the battery. However, once you did that, the screen became black. You tried plugging the charger directly into the laptop itself, but it made no difference. At this point, you thought maybe you should try connecting it to your phone instead. Sure enough, that worked. From there, you knew exactly what you needed to do.

Or consider this example. Imagine you're driving around town listening to the radio. Suddenly, the DJ announces that someone died unexpectedly today. You feel sad, but you quickly shift gears and find yourself thinking about whether you should stop at the grocery store on the corner. Do you really want to spend money right now? Maybe you should wait until tomorrow morning? Or perhaps you shouldn't bother shopping at all since you already spent too much time worrying today.

Both scenarios illustrate the principle of breaking complex ideas down into simpler components. Sometimes, it helps to focus on a single component at a time, which is why it's useful to divide large topics into bite-sized chunks.

These small units are known as subtopics. And since every piece must build onto the others, they're called subclusters. Subtopics and clusters are closely related concepts. Both words come from Latin roots, and both refer to small groups of items.

However, unlike subtopic, cluster isn't a noun. It's a combination of two separate words. Like a subtopic, a cluster describes a group or series of similar elements.

Subtopics aren't always connected. For example, you could make a list of ingredients for a cake, but that won't create a complete recipe. Your list may include sugar, flour, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, baking powder, etc., but you still need to follow directions (like adding water). Similarly, subtopics are typically separated by commas, whereas clusters tend to be written in pairs.

Finally, let's talk about a couple of terms that connect to the subject of subtopics.

One term is the lead-in. Remember, a lead-in is an introductory part of a speech, video, or story. By definition, a lead-in is something that leads up to something else. What follows is the actual content.

The other term is the lead-out. As you might guess, a lead-out is the conclusion or ending portion of a speech, interview, or story. It's also commonly referred to as a teaser.

To summarize, a lead-in is anything that precedes the actual content. For example, a story about a man named Tom who lives in New York City would likely begin with an opening paragraph that introduces the protagonist and explains why you care about what happens next. The rest of the story would consist of scenes showing Tom living his life day to day.

Next, let's learn what a lead-out is.

How do you tell if you're getting lead on?

What does lead mean in cleaning products?

You may have heard the term "lead-in" used when someone talks about how they will be discussing an upcoming topic on their TV program's opening episode. It could also refer to a newspaper article that introduces readers to some information about a person or organization before delving further into the story itself. Or it might describe the first few minutes of a movie trailer where you are introduced to characters who will play important roles later in the film. If you're reading this article online and not watching your favorite TV shows live, then chances are good that you've seen advertisements with titles like "Leading Up To," "A Lead Into," or "Letting In." These phrases all seem to carry similar meanings, but can you tell which one is correct?

We'll start by defining these terms so we know exactly what each one means:

LEAD IN

This is often used in reference to a piece of content -- such as a video, news broadcast, blog post, advertisement, song lyric, etc. -- that serves as a teaser for whatever follows. For instance, if I said, "I'm going to talk today about my new book," most people would assume that I was talking about a forthcoming release from me rather than a work written by someone else. The title of the book could serve as a hint that it's coming soon. But even if I had no clue what it was called, I'd still probably conclude that it was my own because there isn't any way to determine otherwise without looking at the actual text of the book.

So what makes us think it's mine instead of just another author's? Well, it has my name attached to it! And it certainly doesn't hurt that it comes after a long list of other books that I have published over the years. If I didn't say anything more about the subject matter, many people wouldn't take notice of the fact that the book is actually authored by somebody else. They would simply see a headline saying something along the lines of "Book Author Reveals Secrets About..." and get carried away thinking that everything inside must be true.

But now let's switch things around and pretend that I am introducing a book written by someone else. What do I need to do to make sure that everyone knows it wasn't written by me? All I really need to do is attach my name to it! Just like the previous scenario, people won't be able to distinguish between the two until they read through the entire book. So if I want anyone to realize that it came out last year instead of next week, I should give my publisher credit for the cover design, marketing strategy, and overall promotion efforts. This gives them enough bragging rights to convince people that I wrote it, regardless of whether or not I did.

Now that we understand what a lead-in is, let's move onto the question of how to properly use the term within a sentence. Here's what the Free Dictionary says about the phrase:

What is the same meaning as lead-in?

The term "lead-in" can be applied to almost every type of media imaginable, including movies, radio programs, music videos, commercials, ebooks, articles, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram stories, and even digital games. When used correctly, the lead-in provides context clues that help viewers or listeners understand what is happening in the main portion of the content. Without it, they wouldn't know why they were supposed to pay attention to certain words or actions in the main body.

For example, consider this tweet made by actor Will Ferrell during the 2016 presidential election:

In case you missed it, Trump is gonna go down as one of the worst Presidents ever. #MAGA #Trump2020 #MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/8dQK3sOoZT

He uses both hashtags (#) to denote keywords that his followers will recognize and remember when using Twitter search tools. He also includes a link to an image of himself holding a sign that reads Make America Great Again. That's the kind of thing that might prompt someone to click on the link and learn more about Donald J. Trump. But it's only possible because he included the hashtag #MAGA (which stands for Make American Great Again), which tells others that this message refers specifically to Donald Trump. Without that tagline, the viewer would likely assume that the photo depicts him making America great again.

And what about this YouTube video produced by CNN featuring former President Barack Obama speaking directly to camera?

It starts off with a disclaimer explaining that Obama is breaking his rule against appearing in public while campaigning for Hillary Clinton. Then it cuts right to footage of him sitting behind a desk in front of a large screen showing pictures of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. As the narrator explains what happened in the past, the audience watches a montage of clips depicting various events from throughout their lives together. There are moments of conflict, times when they disagreed, and instances where they worked together toward common goals. At several points, he emphasizes how much she influenced him personally and professionally. Finally, he offers advice to young voters about how best to navigate the political process.

Without knowing what led into the clip, it's difficult to figure out what its purpose was. Was the point of the video to promote Hillary Clinton? Is he trying to persuade undecided citizens to support her campaign? Did he offer insight into his personal life that would appeal to younger audiences? It's impossible to tell from the short preview provided here. But once you watch the full length version, you can decide for yourself.

What means to lead into?

When you hear someone mention a "lead-into", keep in mind that they aren't referring to a specific piece of media. Instead, they are talking about the act of providing context clues that allow viewers and listeners to better comprehend what happens in the main part of the content. Using examples helps people visualize what those clues look like, especially when they don't already know who is doing the talking.

Here are some ways you can apply the concept of a lead-in to enhance your storytelling abilities:

Add relevant details about what preceded the event being discussed. Let your audience know what happened prior to the current situation. Don't leave them guessing.

Use visual aids to help explain concepts. A picture paints 1000 words, and sometimes a single image is worth 10,000 words.

Provide background information that sets the stage for future developments. Include a brief history lesson that reveals the reasons underlying decisions made by key players.

Don't forget to acknowledge the source material. Always include links to resources that provide additional detail.

Finally, try to avoid cliches or overly familiar references. Nobody likes hearing the same old stuff recycled ad nauseam.

What does lead into mean?

As far as grammar goes, the phrase "to lead into" is synonymous with "to introduce". You can use either expression interchangeably whenever you write about the introduction of something. However, if you wish to emphasize that your story involves an element that precedes the rest of it, then you should definitely choose the phrasing "the lead-in".

Keep in mind that you can follow the lead-in with a transitional period that marks the transition from the lead-in to the main portion of the narrative. An example of this is the following excerpt from one of Mark Twain's letters:

After supper, Mr. Clemens took pen in hand, and sat down, with his family around him, upon a small table, which stood near the kitchen door, waiting patiently for him to begin... His wife, seated beside him, looked on expectantly, eagerly; the children clustered round him, eager to hear the story; the servants waited respectfully outside the door, ready to enter if summoned...

Notice how the paragraph ends with a colon followed by an exclamation mark. Both of these punctuation devices indicate that something unexpected occurred during the preceding section. If you haven't noticed yet, Clemens begins telling his tale by describing what went on afterward. Afterward is considered to be the lead-in because it represents the beginning of the transition phase.

What does lead-in phrase mean?

The lead-in phrase is typically comprised of three parts: a preposition, a noun, and a verb. The order of these elements is always reversed compared to the normal English language construction. The prepositional phrase indicates the object of the action described in the remainder of the clause. The noun describes the subject of the verb. Lastly, the verb expresses the desired result of the whole operation.

Examples:

Preposition + Noun + Verb = Lead-in Phrase

To walk into a room is a perfect example of a lead-in phrase.

Another example:

Preposition + Noun + Verb = Lead-in Phrases

To talk about walking into a room is another excellent choice.

Lastly, here are some variations on the basic structure:

Preposition + Noun + Verb with Adjective = Lead-in Phrase

To talk about the size of a room is another option.

Preposition + Noun + Verb with Preposition + Object = Lead-in Phrase