 | This is an explanatory essay about the applying the Manual of Style's guidelines on lead sentences to biographies. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: The lead sentence of a biography should succinctly describe what its subject is most notable for, preferably in no more than two phrases. True polymaths are rare, so avoid unduly promoting the subject by trying to comprehensively list their occupations. |
The first sentence of a Wikipedia biography often gives the impression that its subject is a polymath, giving a long list of fields and occupations:
- John Smith is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor.
This is bad style, making it harder for readers to quickly find out who the subject is. It also risks unduly promoting the subject by giving the impression of a string of accomplishments. Most people aren't polymaths, even if they've done a lot of different things in their lives. A better lead sentence describes what its subject is most notable for as succinctly as possible:
- John Smith is an American filmmaker.
Trying to exhaustively list a subject's occupations is bad style even where correct and verifiable. John Smith may have been a film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, but it does not help our readers to cram all that into the first sentence of the article. Instead, use the whole lead section to summarise the significant parts of a biography in a logical sequence.