Below: Hi, Apologies to “Lord of the Rings,” but you must know this principle. Use it, and your readers will say “My preciousss...” when reading your emails or letters. Forget it, and you'll seem like Gollum on a bad day. Here it is: Inverted Pyramid. Or, “Big News First.” The opposite of inverted pyramid is story structure. People love stories. But most business readers are time poor; they just want the main point, and fast. Write in story structure and your main character could be “delete.” Stories follow “pyramid” structure, going from context, to supporting information, to climax (the “big news”). But news journalists write with inverted-pyramid structure; they lead with the Big News First, then backfill with progressively less important information. So if you write to your boss, explaining that your project is going well, don't say this:
What if she's too busy to get to the good news? She'll just read the bad and think you're struggling. So say the big news first, giving her the option of not reading it all if she's swamped:
Apply Big News First to most things you write, and your readers will love you for saving them time. Have your say... |
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It's tough out there! Only the best will survive, so take this opportunity to ramp up your writing — one of your most crucial business skills. How much better could you be at your job (read “secure”) if you were a confident writer? Professional writing training: "Get it Write" “Your tips and advice (and I used them all) made my last report 1000% easier to write. And our client loved it, saying it was 'very well written, very readable, well presented, and logical'.” Urbis (Australia, Asia, Middle East)
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