Barbara Minto Pyramid Principle Pdf – Creating persuasive arguments is hard work. Whether you’re trying to present an idea through a white paper, white paper, or even a simple memo, it can be difficult to know where to start and what to say. If this is a family issue, Barbara Minto’s classic book The Pyramid Principle may be just what you need.
Is the summation of Minto’s 20 years of experience in corporate reporting and writing with McKinsey & Company. After leaving the company in 1973, he opened his own consulting business. His goal was to teach business leaders how to write with conviction. Ten years later, Minto lived through those lessons
Barbara Minto Pyramid Principle Pdf
Minto’s thesis is that an argument is easier to understand and more persuasive when it is organized into a pyramidal hierarchy. This means organizing the argument into four levels: introduction, key claim, evidence, and conclusion. This arrangement will not only make it easier for the reader to understand your case, but it will also help them move through the essay.
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While we recommend reading the entire book, we understand that not everyone has the time. So here are Minto’s top three ideas to help you make any argument convincingly and effectively.
When proposing an idea, it’s tempting to provide a narrative that explains how you arrived at your conclusion. However, Minto says it’s more persuasive to focus on a few key statements about why the reader should follow your recommendation and the steps they can take to do so. You can insert supporting evidence below these key points as a basis for those who have time to read them but still disagree with your conclusion.
This is not just for brevity. Minto explains that “if you don’t tell [the reader] in advance what the connection is, they will automatically look for similarities by which they can group the dots.” By first presenting the idea and then explaining how the evidence relates to it, the reader will better understand the logic of your argument and is more likely to find it more persuasive.
For a good example of how this idea can be put into practice, check out Siemens’ guide to leveraging technological innovation in industry, healthcare and infrastructure. The company’s key message is included at the beginning of each chapter, helping the reader focus on the argument while reading the details.
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A pyramid structure can also make your arguments easier to remember. To demonstrate this, Minto gives the example of two shopping lists. In the first, the items are scattered without order, and in the second, fruits, dairy and meat products are grouped. She says people are more likely to remember the items on the second list, even if they’re distracted, because the information is prepackaged for them.
A relevant example here is HSBC’s White Paper on Potentially Overvalued Shares, which beautifully organizes the argument into four simple ready-made ideas.
“If you tell the reader something they don’t know, it automatically raises a logical question.” Write to ask questions and then answer them, which will lead the reader to your argument as they search for answers to the questions you’ve asked.
Minto says the author should continue this process until he “thinks the reader will have no more logical questions.” Then the reader will be ready to see your evidence.
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Minto suggests having at least two, but preferably three, supporting points for each argument. According to her, they should be mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive. This means that they must cover the argument in full and leave no room for doubt.
So, find the most compelling points or data that led you to your position, and then provide the reader with that information. For example, the McKinsey Global Institute discussion paper on innovation in Europe shows how complex ideas can be supported with easy-to-understand numbers and powerful inductive and deductive reasoning.
Repeat this formula for each of your central ideas, starting with a new key claim, explanation, and finally evidence, until you have exhausted your argument. If your reader doesn’t agree with your conclusion at the end, at least they’ll know exactly how you arrived at it. This will create a good basis for further dialogue, Minto believes.
Once you’ve created your structure, it’s time to write a compelling introduction. Minto suggests the following formula to engage the reader: situation, complication, question and answer. “You want to build the reader’s interest in the topic by telling them a story about it,” she says.
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Start your report or other written statement with a statement that everyone agrees on, or at least one that is familiar, and then make things more complicated. Minto explains that by telling the reader that something didn’t go as expected or changed, they know that what you’re saying is important. It will also make readers ask “why?” which requires a resolution to the story. That, says Minto, should be your answer.
Minto cautions against hiding your main thesis before the conclusion like a gingerbread man on a whip. Such tactics are more likely to worsen than motivate. Instead, “put the reader in a position where he can determine whether he needs to continue or is willing to accept your conclusions as they are.” If you’ve already written the body of your case, keep your main points to no more than one sentence, then add them to your introduction.
To see this in action, check out Google’s white paper on cloud storage security systems. In two lines, the reader knows exactly what the next 17 pages will be about and that they are worth reading. It is simple, concise and corresponds to the topic, which naturally moves into the main part of the article.
Just as a pyramid helps the reader retain information, headings help them navigate the argument. If you’re writing a business article, this isn’t just a useful feature, it’s an important one. Imagine a Cisco white paper on the competitive advantage of networking without it. What could be a stream of text is instead an easy-to-understand, visually pleasing document that any reader can digest.
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Minto describes six headline rules you can use to help your great business copy take the final step to success.
With this in mind, even the longest report can be broken down into small parts that the reader can read one at a time.
Finally, after you’ve structured your argument, created a persuasive introduction, and organized your document for easy navigation, you should finish by editing the paper and then editing it again.
If you can keep Minto’s constant tips in mind when writing and editing, you’ll soon be creating reports, articles, emails, or other documents that can convince orders. And if nothing else, I hope this summary has convinced you to dig out a copy of Minto’s excellent book.
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Sam Henderson is an editor and proofreader at Editor Group, based in Sydney. Now structure all your Repost arguments. It was 4 years ago and covers Minto’s pyramid principle, one of the most important concepts of executive communication and logical structuring of arguments. It’s really big among all the Big 4 and Big 3. This is the basis of management consulting thinking. My revised thoughts (2016) are shown in red.
Consultants must structure their thinking. This is the only way to clearly present your ideas to clients. One great tool is the Pyramid Principle from a former McKinsey consultant named Barbara Minto. She is the author of a book called The Minto Pyramid Principle here (affiliate link) which essentially outlines how consultants structure most of their presentations. Most consultants know what the pyramid scheme is, even if they don’t know the author.
Counselors often use grouping to clarify and simplify a problem. Consultants are skeptical enough to believe that many business problems are similar. All too often, clients are too entrenched in their industry, corporate culture and personal experience to rise above and see the root causes or drivers. It’s common for clients to criticize consultants: “Well, of course I could tell you that.” A consultative [silent] rebuttal might be, “Yes, but you lacked the clarity of thought or conviction to make your point.”
Pyramid Principle: As the name suggests, the idea is to make the presentation logic look like a pyramid. The main recommendation is above. It is based on mid-level recommendations, each supported by facts, data, analysis, benchmarks, etc. . .
The Pyramid Principle Logic In Writing And Thinking.
In the graphic below, you can see that the top of the pyramid (executive resume) has 3 recommendations. Each of these recommendations has supporting pages.
This type of presentation begins with a conclusion. It’s a very structured, top-down mindset and the way executives think. A big idea followed by smaller ideas. This format helps you get to the point quickly, which is good for many reasons:
Yes, I know that most high school term papers used a bottom-up type of reasoning where the punch line was at the end of a 50 page paper. confidence
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