#50 Communicate effectively with Minto Pyramid principle

Minto Pyramid principle can 10x the effectiveness of your written communication. And it's pretty simple. Next time you are writing a proposal or making a recommendation - start with the conclusion, then give key arguments and then back those arguments with supporting information.

Before, I used to write long pieces and then summarize the conclusion at the end. But in business - attention is scarce and communication needs to be clear and efficient. So get to the point. If you lead with the conclusion, you can capture the attention of your readers and get them to read the rest. Notice what I did with the opening paragraph to this essay.

Then you should write out the key arguments that support your conclusion. These are usually 1-sentence summaries of key insights.

As the last step, you can write out a longer paragraph with supporting information to each of the key arguments. Write out how to arrived at each key insight.

Minto principle borrows from the BLUF principle (Bottom Line Up Front) used in the military. It flips the order of how we usually communicate our takeaways and makes our written communication 10x more efficient.

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