The lead section(also known as thelead,introductionorintro) of a Wikipedia article is thesectionbefore thetable of contentsand the firstheading. The lead serves as an introduction to the article and a summary of its most important aspects.
The lead should be able to stand alone as a concise overview. It should define the topic, establish context, explain why the topic is notable, and summarize the most important points—including any prominent controversies.[1]The notability of the article's subject is usually established in the first few sentences. The emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly reflect its importance to the topic, according to reliable, published sources. Apart from trivial basic facts, significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder of the article.
The lead is the first part of the article most people read, and many only read the lead. Consideration should be given to creating interest in reading more of the article, but the lead should not "tease" the reader by hinting at content that follows. Instead, the lead should be written in a clear, accessible style with aneutral point of view; it should ideally contain no more than four paragraphs and be carefully sourced as appropriate.
Further down on this page there are suggestions for word choice and sentence structure.