Introduction email: 3 kinds, with a fill-in template for each

A good introduction email tells the reader who you are, why you picked them and the one thing you want, in under 125 words. The catch is that "introduction email" means three different messages: introducing yourself to a stranger, asking a contact to introduce you, and introducing two people as the connector. Each has a different reader and a different way to go wrong, so each gets its own fill-in template below.

Here is a made-up example that runs through the whole post. Tomas Varga runs a two-person company that sells inventory software to independent garden centers. He keeps a spreadsheet of 87 garden centers, color-coded by how grumpy their voicemail greeting sounds. He wants a conversation with Ben Adler, VP of operations at a regional chain of garden centers, and his former manager, Lena Ortiz, knows Ben.

1. Decide which of the three emails you are writing

Before you type anything, name the reader. The three introduction emails look alike, but they ask different people for different things:

1. Introducing yourself to a stranger. Tomas writes to Ben directly. Ben owes him nothing, so the email has to make replying cheap.
2. Asking someone to introduce you. Tomas writes to Lena. She is doing him a favor, so the email has to make the favor take two minutes.
3. Introducing two people. Lena writes to Tomas and Ben together. She is spending her own reputation, so she checks with both of them first.

A common mistake is mixing these up. The classic one is a request to a connector that reads like a pitch to the final person, which leaves the connector to rewrite it. (They will not. They will mean to.)

2. Introducing yourself: say why them in the first two lines

Open with who you are in one line, then why you chose this person. Skip "I hope this finds you well" and the company history. Assume the reader decides in the first two sentences whether this is a message for them or one of a hundred.

Keep the whole thing short. Boomerang, an email plugin, analyzed more than 40 million emails and found that messages of 50 to 125 words all had reply rates above 50%, and that subject lines of three or four words got the most replies. That data covers all kinds of email, not introductions alone, so treat it as a sensible range rather than a rule.

End with one small ask: a question they can answer in a reply, or a 15 minute call at a time they choose. The cold email guide covers subject lines and follow-ups in more depth. If you are reaching out on LinkedIn instead, the guide to a LinkedIn connection message covers the shorter version.

Template: introducing yourself to a stranger

Subject: [Shared context or topic, 3 to 5 words]

Hi [First name],

I'm [your name], [one line on what you do]. I'm writing to you because [the specific thing they did, said or know that made you pick them].

[One sentence on what you are working on and why their view matters to it.]

Would you be open to [one small ask: a two-line answer to a question, or 15 minutes on a call]? [The question itself, if the ask is a reply.]

[Your name] [One line: title, company, link]

Tomas's version might say he read Ben's comment that the chain counts seed packets by hand every Sunday night, and ask how Ben decides which stores get stock first. A question that specific tells Ben the email was written for him.

3. Asking for an introduction: write two messages in one

When you want a contact to introduce you, send them a short request and a separate blurb they can forward unchanged. The request is for your contact. The blurb is for the person you want to meet, written so it makes sense to someone who has never heard of you.

This is the forwardable email. Alex Iskold, writing in Entrepreneur in 2015 when he ran Techstars in New York, pointed out that writing an introduction from scratch can take the connector about 10 minutes, while a ready-made note lets them forward it with a line or two of their own. Ten minutes is a lot of favor. Two minutes is easy to give.

Give your contact a real way out, too. "If it's awkward, no reply needed" costs you nothing and makes the yes more willing.

Template: asking a contact for an introduction

Subject: Intro to [their contact's name]?

Hi [Connector's first name],

I see you know [Target's name] at [Company]. Would you be comfortable asking whether they'd take [a 15 minute call / one question] from me? If it's awkward, no reply needed.

I've put a short note below that you can forward as is.

Thanks, [Your name]

Template: the forwardable blurb

[Your name] is [your role] at [company], which [what it does, in under 12 words]. [He/She/They] would like [the specific ask] to learn [the specific thing you want to know]. [One line of credibility: a relevant fact about you or your work.] [He/She/They] isn't [the thing they might fear, such as selling to them or asking for a job].

Write the blurb in the third person, so the connector can paste it without editing your "I" into "Tomas." Keep it to three or four sentences. Tomas's blurb would mention the 87 garden centers, since a person who has called that many garden centers probably knows something worth hearing.

4. Introducing two people: ask each one before you connect them

If you are the connector, do not send the introduction until both people have said yes. The investor Fred Wilson proposed this in 2009 and called it the double opt-in introduction: when introducing two people who don't know each other, ask each of them to opt in first. His reason was practical. He disliked ignoring unwanted introductions, stalling or replying with an awkward no, so he often took meetings he didn't want, which left less time for the people he did want to meet.

In practice the person who asked for the introduction has already opted in, so you only need to ask the other one. Send them the blurb with a line from you, and wait.

Template: the opt-in check

Subject: Would you like to meet [Name]?

Hi [First name],

[Name] asked whether I'd introduce you. [One line on why you think it's worth their time, in your own words.] Their note is below.

Happy to connect you, and equally happy to say you're busy. Either is fine.

[Your name]

[Forwarded blurb]

Only after a yes, send the introduction itself. Say in one line each who they are and why they should talk, then get out of the way.

Template: the double opt-in introduction

Subject: [Name A] <> [Name B]

Hi [Name A] and [Name B],

As promised, connecting you two.

[Name B], [Name A] is [one line: role and what they want to ask].

[Name A], [Name B] is [one line: role and why they are the right person].

I'll let you two take it from here.

[Your name]

Putting both names in the subject line tells each person what the thread is before they open it, and makes it easy to find later.

5. Reply fast, and move the connector to bcc

When you are on the receiving end of an introduction, reply within a day. Thank the connector in the first line, move them to bcc so they stop getting the scheduling back-and-forth, and propose two specific times. Lena did her part. She does not need to watch you and Ben compare calendars.

If the introduction leads to a call, prepare the way you would for any informational interview: a short list of questions and a clear stopping time. Leave the pitch out unless they ask.

6. Close the loop with the connector

A week or two after the call, send the connector two or three sentences on what came of it. "Ben explained how they split stock between stores, and I rebuilt my demo around it" takes a minute to write. It tells Lena her favor was used well, and it makes the next introduction easier to ask for.

The networking email guide has five more examples for the people you half know, including a thank-you note written after the call.

Write the blurb before you need it

Most of the work in an introduction email is one paragraph: the three-sentence blurb that explains who you are and what you want to someone who has never heard of you. Write it today, and every introduction email above gets easier.

If you need to reach specific people nobody in your network knows, such as heads of business development or board advisors, Instant Expert can invite them to a short call or a written or voice answer, and you pay only if someone books or answers.