How to find the perfect structure for you next PowerPoint, Research Paper, or Report.
What I learned from applying Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle to my own academic and professional writing.
After reading this week’s post, finding a good structure for your next writing assignment will be EASY. With a bit of effort and practise, you will be able to impress everybody with the structure of your written argumentation. The best part, you can apply those tools anywhere: for your next research paper at university, at work, or in your personal life. So let’s get started.
✅ Step 1: Always start with the Answer (unless you are writing a story)
The first thing at the top of every piece of content should always be the answer, final recommendation, and our outcome. It should be the key takeaway for your reader(s).
A very common mistake is that people start by listing arguments or data that supports their argumentation and provide a recommendation in the summary section of the document.
In a professional context, people care about the outcomes. They will only care about the data if they want to test your thesis.
📖 If you wrote a story or novel before, you might be freaking out right now… “Why would I tell the highlight right away? Shouldn’t I build up the story?”
A typical storyline is Situation → Complication → Question → Answer.
In a professional setting, we highlight the answer way earlier, HOWEVER, there is one thing we can learn from this.
Before mentioning your answer, always provide a short section about the context and complication that has motivated you to analyse and write a report.
🤷♂️ If you jump right to a conclusion without mentioning what’s going on in the first place, nobody will understand where you are coming from.
🥊 Step 2: Follow up with arguments and not data (yet)
Your key recommendation should be followed by arguments, NOT data (yet).
There are a few moving parts here, let’s address them one by one:
❓What arguments should you list?
You can find arguments, by putting yourself into the shoes of your reader and thinking about questions that he/she will have once confronted with your key recommendation.
A question to get you started is asking “Why? Why is this recommendation true? Why do I think that this is what company x/y should do?”
If you have multiple layers of arguments (see picture above for reference) your questions will likely get more specific.
⇆ In what order should you list arguments?
Your arguments must follow a logical structure. List them in a sequence that makes sense to the reader.
Every reader will automatically draw connections between ideas that follow one another. Therefore, it is your responsibility to guide your reader by using a logical flow of arguments.
🔎 How do you know whether you have found a good structure for your arguments?
Check the following things:
Your arguments do not overlap each other. Each argument should make a distinct claim that you can back up with data.
You should not have more than 7 arguments in each line of argumentation. Our brains can (on average) not hold more than 7 ideas in the short-term memory.
If you group all your arguments together they should summarise the point you are making one “layer” above. If you depict that one argument does not contribute to the above statement, consider dropping it or list it below some other branch.
📊 Step 3: Every argument needs to have data
This part is essential, but remember to do it in the right place.
No data at the beginning! Only data after each argument.
The most challenging part here is to find a visualisation that will convey the point you are trying to make. The choice of the right graphic depends on your context, but here are some rules of thumb that will help you get started
🎙 Choose some kind of table if you argument is based on qualitative data
🧮 Chose any statistical graphic if your argument is based on quantitative data.
Whether a pie chart, bar chart, or line chart is most applicable depends on your context. Just Google to get some inspiration.
The key thing to ask yourself is whether the graphic you choose supports the argument you are making!
💭 Final Thoughts
I have to credit Barbara Minto for her book “The Pyramid Principle.” What you just read is a summary of her first few chapters. In my article, I tried to highlight the most important points to help you get started.
I highly recommend you check out the book and apply the learnings to your next email, research paper, or PowerPoint. Mastering these skills is literally all about practise.
In the next weeks I will deep dive into each of the three sections I just mentioned. There is much more to explore. Stay tuned!
I hope you find any value in what I talked about today. If you did, as always, share this with your friends or colleagues to get them on the same track.
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