People & Influence
Communication & Storytelling
Make ideas land, and stick
Novice
Mastery0%
Novice
People & Influence
Make ideas land, and stick
Novice
Subdomain
How you order information so the listener stays with you. Lead with the answer, then back it up; humans follow stories better than lists.
BLUF, Bottom Line Up Front
A writing convention that places the conclusion or recommendation in the first sentence, with supporting context and analysis below.
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Story structure, weeknight version
A compressed four-beat story shape, setup, trouble, choice, and consequence, suitable for ordinary work updates and pitches.
Open
Show, don't tell
A writing principle that presents observable evidence and lets the reader infer the conclusion, rather than asserting the conclusion directly.
Open
Pyramid principle (Minto)
A top-down structure where the main conclusion sits at the top, supported by grouped, mutually exclusive arguments beneath it.
Open
Story spine (Kenn Adams)
A simple eight-beat scaffold for any story: once upon a time, every day, until one day, because of that, because of that, until finally, and ever since then.
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Inverted pyramid
A journalistic structure that leads with the most critical news first, then layers supporting detail and background in descending order of importance.
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SCQA framework (Minto)
A four-beat introduction structure: Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. Opens any executive memo by orienting the reader before delivering the conclusion.
Open
BLUF
Bottom Line Up Front, leading with the conclusion.
Ethos
Credibility / character of the speaker.
Pathos
Emotional resonance in an argument.
Logos
Logic / evidence in an argument.
Pyramid principle
Minto's top-down structuring of arguments.
SUCCESs
Heath brothers' framework for sticky ideas: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Story.
Hero's journey
Campbell's universal story structure (setup → call → trial → return).
Curse of knowledge
Inability to remember not-knowing once you know.