Carefully examine the next news article you read…
Each individual article is cleverly organized to enable readers to make rapid decisions about their depth of interest. The headline presents the topic, providing a binary opportunity for readers to pursue the story or move on.
In a well-written news article, the first one or two paragraphs summarize the story concisely (known as the lede). Many readers are completely satisfied with this amount of information and read no further, returning to scan for other headlines.
The subsequent paragraphs in an article drill deeper and relate the story in more detail. Readers who are truly interested in the topic are the typical consumers of this level of information.
Inverted Pyramid
This article structure and presentation of information is known as the “Inverted Pyramid” style of writing. It presents the most important information right at the beginning, starting with the headline then followed by the overall summary of the article in the first one or two paragraphs.
Material in subsequent paragraphs is more and more detailed and of less importance. Reading on towards the end of an article we generally find the finest levels of granularity and smallest details.
In the bad old days of paper and ink, newspaper editors were able to cut articles to fit the space available (or to sell more advertising) by cutting from the bottom of the article upwards. That way they knew they’d be removing the least important information.
News organizations have evolved the Inverted Pyramid method of presenting information over hundreds of years. Why not take advantage of this learning in your demos?
For the full methodology, grab a copy of Great Demo!
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