how to write a portfolio essay

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How to Write a Portfolio Introduction

Last Updated: June 21, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Shannon O'Brien, MA, EdM . Shannon O'Brien is the Founder and Principal Advisor of Whole U. (a career and life strategy consultancy based in Boston, MA). Through advising, workshops and e-learning Whole U. empowers people to pursue their life's work and live a balanced, purposeful life. Shannon has been ranked as the #1 Career Coach and #1 Life Coach in Boston, MA by Yelp reviewers. She has been featured on Boston.com, Boldfacers, and the UR Business Network. She received a Master's of Technology, Innovation, & Education from Harvard University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 383,365 times.

The introduction to your portfolio is a great way to tell your readers who you are and briefly explain what you'll be talking about. If you're using your portfolio to attract customers, it's important to give a few examples of professional accomplishments and make your introduction stand out by adding a couple of personal details. If you're writing an educational portfolio, summarize your main talking points and explain what makes you stand out. Don't forget to edit your introduction once you're finished so it looks professional!

Tips for Writing a Portfolio Introduction

Begin by introducing yourself and your credentials. Include a few brief summaries of your work so readers get an idea of what you’re capable of. Add a few fun facts about yourself to give your portfolio a friendly, yet professional tone. Remember to proofread when you’re done writing.

Template for a Portfolio Introduction

Writing an Introduction for a Professional Portfolio

Step 1 Tell your readers who you are and what you do.

You might say, “I’m Kelly Smith, and I design websites for small businesses. While I’m based in Austin, Texas, I help build websites for people all over the world.”

Step 2 Decide which professional experience you’ll include.

You might say something like, “Over the past five years as a photographer, I've taken pictures for graduation ceremonies, weddings, and birth announcements."
Choose experiences where you were in charge of the project, or that had a positive impact on you and your company.

Step 3 Add a few personal details to make you more relatable.

Keep the personal details short and to the point, as their main purpose is to add a little life to your introduction.
You could mention you have three children, love cooking, or learned to code when you were seven years old.

Step 4 Use a friendly but professional tone.

Avoid using slang in your introduction to make it more presentable.
Write in the first person for a more personal feel.
Keeping your introduction conversational will make people more likely to feel like they can reach out to you.

Wear professional clothing related to your job, and smile in the picture to look friendly and welcoming.
Make sure the picture isn’t blurry or too dark.

Step 6 Read over the final version of your introduction.

Check the layout of your introduction if it's online, making sure all of the wording and any pictures show up normally.

Writing an Introduction for an Educational Portfolio

Step 1 Tell the reader your basic information first.

For example, you could say, “My name is Steve Johnson, and my portfolio is a representation of all that I've learned and accomplished as a science and engineering student."
This should only be 1-3 sentences. You can write in the first person to engage your reader the most.

Step 2 Describe the contents of your portfolio.

Avoid listing everything you’ll be talking about in the portfolio. Instead, you can use a table of contents for this.
Include any major themes you'll be talking about, or the main message of your portfolio.

Step 3 Explain what makes your portfolio unique and your own.

You might write that your student experience is unique because you’ve spent 3 years working in a lab researching cancer, or your poetry is published in several different magazines across the country.
Include this near the end of your introduction to keep it fresh in the reader's mind.

Step 4 Keep the introduction short and to the point.

Roughly 2-3 paragraphs is an ideal introduction length.

Step 5 Make sure you follow any specific guidelines you were given.

If your teacher didn’t give you any guidelines, ask them if there are specific things they want you to include.

Reading your introduction out loud can help you find any mistakes you might have missed.

Expert Q&A

Use fonts that are readable and professional-looking, such as Times New Roman. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
Mention any awards or special accolades you've received, if desired. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
Talk about a few of your strengths to make yourself stand out. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

↑ https://skillcrush.com/2013/03/25/the-five-essential-ingredients-of-a-great-online-portfolio/
↑ Shannon O'Brien, MA, EdM. Life & Career Coach. Expert Interview. 24 September 2021.
↑ https://www.format.com/magazine/resources/photography/online-portfolio-about-page-step-by-step-guide
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBRfKvLQhY#t=40s
↑ https://www.theclassroom.com/write-introduction-educational-portfolio-8681477.html
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrBRfKvLQhY
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5TN2wvWCKA

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How to Write a Portfolio Essay

A portfolio is a collection of your best works, whether in the field of art, poetry, prose, etc. This collection is never taken in itself; you have to comment and analyze it in a portfolio essay. Tweet This

Writing a portfolio essay – 8 important things to consider

1. portfolio essay definition.

The specific thing with a portfolio essay is that it includes reflection . A young gifted author or artist should always analyze his/her works and be able to assess them. Reflection means observing yourself, your own feelings, emotions and thoughts; a process of going deep inside your own personality. If taken to extremes, such a process would lead to psychological self-analysis. Still, such thing is not required from you; all you need to do is to reflect on your works, to write what is good and what is not that good in them; to observe the process of development of your writing skills, the factors and motives behind it.

The current guide will only deal with writings; if your paper is related to art, you could also make advantage of the advice available here.

2. Focus of the portfolio essay

A portfolio essay does not have a precise topic, so you do not need to figure it out. Your instructor should have told you what exactly to prepare; let’s say, essays from the current academic year. Thus, your portfolio essay will have a clear focus: either on your development as a writer (within the last academic year), or on your writings on a certain subject. Ensure you have understood what is required from you. When you have selected the essays/writings, show them to your instructor in order not to waste your time and efforts. Afterwards you can continue with writing the paper.

3. Select a few writings

Pick up the writings according to the criteria set by your instructor. Amongst them are the following:

chronological - from the present year, from college, from high-school, etc.;
thematic - centered on a given problem (society, human nature, etc.);
style - writings written in a given style and/or belonging to a given literary movement (i.e. surrealism);

There could be also other criteria. Let’s say you need to select your best short stories. That means you have to choose them according to your personal perception of them. Remember that whatever the criteria are, you should select only the writings which are of good quality; if you need to present all essays written during the academic year, and you personally do not like some of them, you are not obliged to submit them. You need merely to explain in the introduction the reasons for your choice.

4. Introduce yourself

The portfolio essay should begin with your introduction. Who are you? Why have you chosen the given course/class? What attracts you in writing? You have to present this information in one long paragraph - from five to ten sentences long.

However, do not be too long - this is not an autobiography . The portfolio is a kind of advertisement; in order to sell your product (in this case to have higher grade), you have to show its best sides.

5. Present the writings selected by you

Now you need to describe the writings one by one. Some students write descriptions before each writing - this is wrong! A portfolio essay consists of two main parts: introduction which includes the description, and the writings themselves. In order to present them properly, you have to read them prior to starting to write the portfolio essay. Yes, you may remember your writings, but it is recommended to read them once again! Write down some notes and use them to write the descriptions. Each description should comprise one paragraph. You need to make the following parts clear:

the title of the writing;
its style and genre;
main idea; characters (if applicable);
methods and tools used.

6. General idea of the portfolio essay

After the description is made, you have to come up with a conception about the presented writings. Tell the reader what exactly is so special in each of them, and what makes them similar or complementary. Answer some of the following questions: do you see any development or change in your writing skills? Are they improving? Are the factors influencing your writing the same all the time? What mistakes you see now in your past works? What would you have changed if you could?

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7. Comments and remarks

If your instructor has reviewed your writings earlier and you have made some changes due to his/her remarks, you need to have a separate section explaining the changes you have made. You should write what ideas you have added or removed, what characters you have changed, and so forth.

8. Style and grammar

There is no need to say that your English grammar must be perfect. In order to avoid typos or other type of mistakes, handle your paper to a friend or someone who is an expert in English grammar. Moreover, it is good to work on your grammar and punctuation skills, especially if you want to become an author, including copywriter, journalist, etc.

PORTFOLIO ESSAY EXAMPLE

Introduction

I have been writing short stories since I was in high-school. Short stories are the best way to express personal feelings and observations. I am able to make the reader focus on one central idea, to offer a problematic situation and to make the reader figure out a solution to it. My works do not seem finished but that is because I want to make the reader active instead of passively perceiving the information presented in the story.

The current portfolio essay represents some selected short stories written in the last five years. They are ordered chronologically.

Description

Story 1 was inspired by my personal experience. It involves two young people who feel sympathy for each other but are not prepared to go further. The central symbol of the story is the invisible wall existing between both persons, a wall which prevents them from fulfilling their relationship.

Story 2 is a retrospection of a series of events in my life. It rather describes than analyzes. Plenty of situations are interconnected and the transition from one to another is shown as not having clear borderlines. This story shows that I have turned at that time to more introspective methods, influenced by the concept of “stream of consciousness.”

Central idea of the essay

The presented collection of short stories demonstrates my internal drive to move towards introspection, thus ignoring all details of physical appearance and description of nature. At the same time it shows the diversity of my styles, methods and tools used for writing the stories.

Let’s say it again, a portfolio essay may include different genres of writings as well as art (photography and other types of images). Hence, you should adapt the tips given in the current guide to your profession and subject.

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Writing Portfolios

Introduction.

Considering the purpose and audience for a portfolio
Selecting work for a portfolio
Completing a portfolio
A student portfolio cover letter
Developing an electronic portfolio

Imagine that Leonardo da Vinci were alive today and needed to show examples of his art—to get into graduate school, perhaps, or to get a job. He would begin, most likely, by assembling a portfolio of his best work. Probably he would choose one of his self-portraits and maybe a few of his architectural drawings; no doubt he would include the Mona Lisa. In other words, he would include a representative sample of the kinds of work he could do, and he would choose what he considered his best work. He might well develop a Web site to showcase his portfolio.

Chances are that you will have occasion to put together a portfolio of your writing, and you might well be assigned to do so for your writing class. This chapter provides guidelines for assembling a representative sample of your best work in a print or electronic format.

Considering the Purpose and Audience for a Portfolio

Selecting work for a portfolio.

an academic essay demonstrating your ability to argue a claim or position
a personal essay that shows self-insight and demonstrates your ability to paint vivid pictures with words
a Web text you have developed on a specific topic
a brief report prepared for any class or community project
an essay or other writing project showing your ability to analyze and solve a problem
your favorite piece of writing based on field research, library research, or both
a piece of writing for a community group, club, or campus publication
an example of a collaboratively written document accompanied by a description of how the team worked and what you contributed
an example of your best writing on an essay examination
a multimedia presentation
correspondence, such as a letter of inquiry, an email message, or a job application or résumé

Completing a Portfolio

Preparing a written statement Regardless of how many writing examples and what kinds of examples you choose, you need to introduce a course-related portfolio with a written statement that explains and reflects on your work. This statement might be in the form of a memo, cover letter, personal essay, or home page (for online portfolios). Whatever the form, your statement should include:
an explanation of your choices: How did you decide these pieces of writing represented your best work?
a reflection on your strengths and abilities as a writer: What have you learned about writing? What problems have you encountered, and how have you solved them?

For an electronic portfolio, prepare navigation that identifies your work to its best advantage, and check the links to each piece.

If this portfolio is part of your work in a course, ask your instructor whether a few handwritten corrections are acceptable. If you intend to use it as part of a job search, however, you will want to print out clean copies. Either way, the time and effort you spend revising and editing the contents of your portfolio will be time well spent.

A Student Portfolio Cover Letter

Here is an excerpt from a letter that James Kung wrote to introduce his portfolio. Note that Kung does not simply describe the portfolio but analyzes both it and his development as a writer in some detail. To maintain proper spacing and style, we've provided this document as an Adobe Acrobat PDF. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, it's a free download and it's easy to set up.

Download James Kung's portfolio cover letter

Developing an Electronic Portfolio

Electronic portfolios provide new opportunities for students to demonstrate their full range of learning experiences to their teachers, advisers, parents, and potential employers. An electronic portfolio might be ideal for you if you want to share your work with others easily, either on a Web site or through email. If you decide on or are required to develop an electronic portfolio, you will have many choices and will need to address several technological issues. Creating an electronic portfolio can be as simple as saving documents in a systematic way on your hard drive or as sophisticated as designing an interactive Web site (sometimes called a Web folio). Here are some questions to guide you as you develop an electronic portfolio:

Taking into account the software available to you, the scope of your intended audience, and your course requirements (if the portfolio is for a class), would an online or offline electronic portfolio be most appropriate?

Does your instructor, department, or university mandate the use of particular hardware and software? If none of them does, what hardware and software will you use?

Does your software allow all of your intended readers to access your portfolio? Does it enable you to integrate existing files (including multimedia) into your portfolio?

If you're creating a Web folio, do you want your entire portfolio to be accessible to anyone on the Web, or do you want to protect part or all of your site with a password?

What kind of design do you want for your electronic portfolio? Is it user friendly and accessible to all?

If some of the pieces in your Web folio contain references to material found on the Web, do you want to create links to those sources so that your readers can click on them and get to this other material easily?

Home » Writers-House Blog » Tips on Writing a Portfolio Essay

Tips on Writing a Portfolio Essay

At some point, students need to create a portfolio that will demonstrate their achievements at different stages of their education journey. For example, when a student graduates from the sixth grade, they may need to include their favorite assignments, exams, projects, and tests in a portfolio. College students need to write a portfolio much more often, especially in teaching and art majors. You may create an online or physical portfolio. No matter what type of portfolio you’re working on, you should summarize its content in an essay. Writers House experts prepared these tips to help you write a good essay.

Choose What to Include

Before writing a portfolio essay, you should decide what pieces you’re going to include in it. It’s hard to write an essay without understanding what it will be about. Sometimes, professors provide students with recommendations on what to include in their portfolio essay. Otherwise, you should select things you’re proud of. When creating an online portfolio, you should upload the necessary documents. No matter what is the format of your portfolio, be ready that you won’t receive any guidelines from your teacher. In this case, make sure to convert your portfolio to different formats so that you can choose the right one.

What to Focus on

Even if you have a diverse portfolio, you should choose the main focus to write an essay to make it well-organized. A portfolio includes everything you’ve done during a certain period of time. Think of why you’ve selected certain items. Were these assignments challenging? Did they allow you to demonstrate your strongest skills? If you answer such questions, it will be easier for you to write a comprehensive portfolio while also helping your readers better understand what kind of student you are. Make sure that the main topic of your portfolio is related to your experiences.

Introduction

Once you’ve collected the necessary materials and decided on the focus of your portfolio essay, it’s time to get to the writing process itself. We recommend that you start by writing an introduction. One of the main differences between portfolio essays and other types of essays is that the former allow you to use the first person. In portfolio essays, you’re both the subject and the narrator. First, tell your readers who you are, what this portfolio is about (for example, provide the name of your course), and briefly describe the main points.

Describe Your Experiences

In the main body, briefly discuss your experiences. For instance, you can write three body paragraphs, devoting the first paragraph to your concerns, worries, and excitement that you’ve experienced before going into the class. In the second paragraph, describe the most memorable moments. In the third paragraph, reflect on your experiences and think of how they helped you improve your skills and grow personally. Make sure to mention particular items from your portfolio that illustrate the content of each paragraph. For example, when writing about your worries, you may include a quote from your diary.

Write a Conclusion

Wrap it up with a conclusion that highlights things you’re proud of and your strengths. Write about things that you would like to improve in the future. Describe your biggest achievements and think of how overcoming certain difficulties can help you in the future. You can even mention the very process of creating a portfolio because a portfolio serves as a thesis in some college programs.

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