{"id":13414,"date":"2016-02-22T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/?p=13414"},"modified":"2020-11-30T12:46:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:46:02","slug":"think-outside-the-pyramid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2016\/02\/think-outside-the-pyramid\/","title":{"rendered":"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The traditional news structure fails readers<\/h2>\n<p>If I told you there was a communication tool that reduces readership, diminishes understanding and causes engagement to take a nosedive, would you use it?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_23914\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23914\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"23914\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2016\/08\/thank-you-for-sharing\/think-outside-the-pyramid-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" data-orig-size=\"600,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"think-outside-the-pyramid\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If only the inverted pyramid were this colorful&lt;\/strong&gt; The traditional news structure gets &#8216;more boring as the reader reads down,&#8217; according to a classic study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid-300x150.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" alt=\"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure\" title=\"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23914 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png 600w, https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid-300x150.png 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 600px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 600\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"23914\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/2016\/08\/thank-you-for-sharing\/think-outside-the-pyramid-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" data-orig-size=\"600,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"think-outside-the-pyramid\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If only the inverted pyramid were this colorful&lt;\/strong&gt; The traditional news structure gets &#8216;more boring as the reader reads down,&#8217; according to a classic study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid-300x150.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png\" alt=\"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure\" title=\"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-23914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid.png 600w, https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/think-outside-the-pyramid-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-23914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>If only the inverted pyramid were this colorful<\/strong> The traditional news structure gets &#8216;more boring as the reader reads down,&#8217; according to a classic study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Friends, there is such a tool, and I am afraid you are using it every day. It&#8217;s called the inverted pyramid. And, according to &#8220;Ways With Words,&#8221; a classic study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, it does &#8220;not work well with readers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The problem with the pyramid<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Ways With Words&#8221; researchers studied four story structures and found that traditional, inverted-pyramid stories:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>&#8220;Do not work well with readers,&#8221;<\/strong> and &#8220;did not justify their predominance in today&#8217;s newspapers.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scored low in readership and understanding.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Made a mediocre showing in &#8220;involvement,&#8221;<\/strong> or whether the story made readers care about the news. (In our business, we call this &#8220;engagement.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Were the least effective at getting the reader to the jump<\/strong> of all story forms studied.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Researchers identified two problems with the inverted pyramid:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<strong>The story gets more boring as the reader reads down<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Journalists put background and context in the second half of the pyramid, so the reader who does not know that background cannot understand the top of the story. As a result, <strong>only journalists and sources can fully understand inverted-pyramid stories<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why are we still using this thing?<\/p>\n<h3>Back away from the pyramid.<\/h3>\n<p>Instead of sticking with a story form that&#8217;s been proven in the lab not to work, you&#8217;d think writers would experiment with other story structures. But, the researchers lamented:<\/p>\n<div class=\"excerptbox\" style=\"border:1px solid black;\">&#8220;The basic conservatism and frantic pace of our profession keeps us from enlarging our repertoire of forms. So year by year, we keep boring and confusing our readers, and driving them away. \u2026 We should think of the inverted pyramid as A form, rather than THE form.&#8221;<\/div>\n<p>Amen.<\/p>\n<div id='MC-CYR-GBTIP' class='widgets_on_page wop_tiny1  wop_small1  wop_medium1  wop_large1  wop_wide1'>\n\t\t\t<ul><li id=\"custom_html-23\" class=\"widget_text widget widget_custom_html\"><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3>What structure draws more readers?<\/h3>\r\n<p>Writers say, \u201cWe use the inverted pyramid because readers stop reading after the first paragraph.\u201d But in new research, readers say, \u201cWe stop reading after the first paragraph because you use the inverted pyramid.\u201d<a title=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/corporate-communication-training-programs\/persuasive-writing-course\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/persuasive-writing-training.png\" alt=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" title=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" border=\"0\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 250px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 250\/250;float:left; text-align:left; margin: 0 auto; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 10px; background-color: #000000; font-size: 18x; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px; color: #FFFFFF; max-width:100%; max-height:100%;\" class=\"img-max lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/persuasive-writing-training.png\" alt=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" title=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" width=\"auto\" height=\"auto\" border=\"0\" style=\"float:left; text-align:left; margin: 0 auto; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 10px; background-color: #000000; font-size: 18x; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px; color: #FFFFFF; max-width:100%; max-height:100%;\" class=\"img-max\"><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>If the traditional news structure doesn\u2019t work, how should we organize our messages?<\/p>\r\n\t\r\n<p>Master a structure that\u2019s been proven in the lab to outperform the traditional news format at <a title=\"Catch Your Readers, a persuasive-writing workshop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/corporate-communication-training-programs\/persuasive-writing-course\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Catch Your Readers<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a persuasive-writing workshop.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n<p>There, you\u2019ll learn an organizing scheme that grabs readers\u2019 attention, keeps it for the long haul and leaves a lasting impression.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"btn btn--depth\" style=\"text-align: center;  margin: 10px 0 20px; width:100%;\"><a id=\"btnTT\" style=\"\" title=\"BOOK NOW\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/corporate-communication-training-programs\/persuasive-writing-course\/\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-width=\"91\">BOOK NOW<\/a>\r\n<!-- [if mso]>\r\n<p style=\"line-height:0;margin:0;\"><v:roundrect xmlns:v=\"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wyliecomm.com\/corporate-communications-training\/corporate-communication-training-programs\/persuasive-writing-course\/\" style=\"width:153px\" arcsize=\"8%\" strokecolor=\"#D96237\" filled=\"t\"><v:fill type=\"gradient\" angle=\"180\" color=\"#f16522\" color2=\"#f16522\"><\/v:fill><v:textbox style=\"mso-fit-shape-to-text:t\" inset=\"0px,11px,0px,11px\"><center style=\"font-size:16px;line-height:24px;color:#FFFFFF;font-family:sans-serif;font-weight:bold;mso-line-height-rule:exactly;mso-text-raise:4px\">BOOK NOW<\/center><\/v:textbox><\/v:roundrect><\/p>\r\n<![endif]--><\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><!-- widgets_on_page -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The traditional news structure fails readers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[205,225,206,256],"class_list":{"0":"post-13414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story-structure","8":"tag-feature-story","9":"tag-feature-writing","10":"tag-inverted-pyramids","11":"tag-readership","12":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v23.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Think outside the pyramid for writing structure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Think outside the pyramid for writing structure. 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