OrganizingYour Message.
Organization
Most Important
Least Important
Everythingshould be important to your audience
So what?(What do they need to know?)
Key MessageShould go first.
THINKUrgency!
CALL 911Think about what is truly important to your audience.
Caveat toUrgency!
BAD NEWS!
Think Interest(And its relationship to time and effort)
Low Interest High Interest
High Effort
Low Effort
More Time
Less Time
Think Structure(Appropriate structure can increase usefulness)
Inverted Pyramid(Model for deductive structure)
General
Specific
Audiences NeedGeneral information first.
Inte
rest
Audience Interest Declines
Reader InterestDeclines fast.
General
Specific
Inte
rest
Introduction
(So what?)
Purpose(What were you asked to do?)
Acknowledgesthe needs of the audience.
Bottom-line(What was the result?)
Think Importance(What was your key finding?)
What do they need to know?
Summary(Support the bottom-line.)
Roadmap
Which indices supported your bottom-line?
ParallelStructure
General
Specific
Inte
rest
Introduction
(So what?)
Body(What is the story?)
Expound on the information provided in
your introduction.
General
Specific
Inte
rest
Introduction
(So what?)
Body(What is the story?)
NextAction(What should
do next?)
Return Response
Findings
Recommendations
Conclusion
General
Specific Inte
rest
Introduction
Body
NextAction
Executives
Managers
Technicians (Outside the Field)
Technicians (Inside of the Field)
Multi-Section(Same rules apply.)
Inte
rest
Introduction
Body
NextAction
Repeat Section By Section
Part 1
Part2
Part 3
Part 4
Introduction(Same rules apply.)
Body(Same rules apply.)
Next Action(Same rules apply.)
Becomes Transition
Context(What does the section mean for the audience?)
Look Forward
