Minto Pyramid: Communicate Clearly And Effectively Now

The Minto pyramid helps us communicate more efficiently and clearly. In business and in life, broadly speaking, good communication skills are priceless. People do not have the time to read long walls of text or listen to long presentations where they only get the key info at the very end. Using the Minto pyramid, we give our communication a top-down structure to get our message across clearly and quickly. We lead with the conclusion, then provide arguments and support them with detailed information.

Read the first sentence again. That’s the takeaway. That is the essence of the Minto pyramid: cutting to the chase. The central message is what people are looking for anyway, and the busy ones can go on their way. Below is where you situate the rest: the logically structured, key arguments, the details and explanations for those arguments, relevant data, etcetera. The approach ensures clear, concise, and logical flow of information that makes complexity easier to act upon.

Layer one is the conclusion, also known as the BLUF principle: bottom line up front. Capture your audience’s attention by giving them the core message, recommendation, or conclusion straight away. Do not make them read to get the idea if your goal is efficient communication with an audience that has limited time and attention—and that is, like, every audience nowadays.

In the middle, situate the key points and main arguments. The main takeaway is already communicated. These are fairly short bits of information that explain the “why” behind your conclusion. Sometimes you can stop here. Other times, you need to provide more data to make your points credible. Do that after the main points, providing the information that supports your claims: facts, evidence, numbers, results. This is where you can dive into the details if you want to. The busy ones will skip this part, although it’s sometimes necessary for your recommendations to be acted upon or by regulation. Skip the details if you are sure your key arguments are enough to justify your conclusion and you know your audience will grasp them well enough.

I find it helps to picture the pyramid in your head. At the apex or top sits the main message or recommendation, which you provide first. In the middle layer are the supporting points, grouped reasons, arguments, and insights that justify your conclusion. At the base are the extra details and/or relevant evidence, examples, and analyses that give credibility to the key points. Ensure that you present the ideas in a logical flow and that there are no redundant points to further shorten your message. The idea is to be clear, concise, audience-centered, and efficient. Eliminate unnecessary details. Don’t cram data where it’s not needed.

Real life implications of the Minto pyramid:

• Business: you are presenting a strategy to management: the recommendation is to expand into the European market, and the supporting points are the high market growth potential, the limited presence of competitors, and the internal capabilities that match customer needs; provide evidence in the form of charts, case studies, and revenue forecasts if needed;

• Problem-solving: you are diagnosing a decline in sales: the message is that sales are dropping, supported by the underperforming marketing campaigns, high sales team turnover, and product pricing that is misaligned with the market; provide evidence in the form of sales metrics, survey results, and competitor analyses if needed;

• Day-to-day: you are deciding whether to move to a new city: the conclusion is that moving is the best option, backed by career opportunities, higher quality of life, and lower cost of living; for evidence you might seek out job offers, lifestyle rankings, and cost comparisons.

How you might employ the Minto pyramid as a thinking tool: (1) clarify your objective of your communication, since persuading, informing, and analyzing all require a different approach; (2) identify your key recommendation for the audience and present it first, phrasing it as clearly and shortly as possible; (3) present your main arguments for the conclusion afterward, giving the necessary details that validate your recommendation only; (4) add evidence beyond that if needed, such as data, examples, or reasoning to substantiate your points; (5) test your pyramid—your email, your text message, your speech—to see if the ideas connect seamlessly; (6) ensure that your audience doesn’t lack necessary knowledge to understand the concepts and evidence; (7) put it into action.

Thought-provoking insights. “Start with the answer, then prove it.” underpins how different this is from traditional storytelling and the way we are used to communicating. Use the pyramid as a map: visualize it as a decision tree, where the top is your destination, and under it the supporting arguments and evidence that get you there. By concentrating on the main message, you become a more efficient and clear communicator. Whether you use it in writing, sales pitches, or day-to-day decisions, mastering this thinking tool has the potential to dramatically improve your ideas.

Grab the template and put the Minto pyramid into practice today.

Questions to reflect on:

1. How can I use the pyramid structure to present complex information in a clear and concise manner in different areas of my life?

2. How do I identify and eliminate redundant information in my oral and written communication?

3. What strategies can I employ to maintain a logical flow in my communication?

4. Have my current communication habits reflected the Minto pyramid structure? How will I change them starting today?

5. What can help me structure my ideas to-down, starting with the main point and supporting it with the details? Can I come up with an example where I will do this next week?

Quotes to burn brain calories:

1. "Good structure is like a spine. Without it, the content flops around." - Barbara Minto, author of the Minto pyramid.

2. "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist.

3. "Clarity is the most important characteristic of good writing." - James Michener, American author.

4. "The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components." - William Zinsser, author.

Example use cases:

1. Business: Barbara Minto used her own principle to help consultants at McKinsey structure their reports and presentations, ensuring their main message was clear and supported by arguments and evidence. This approach has since been adopted in the business world to improve communication.

2. Academic writing: academics and researchers use the Minto pyramid to structure their papers and articles, presenting the main findings at the beginning and supporting them with detailed analyses and evidence in a logical, hierarchical, prioritized manner thereafter.

3. Marketing: marketers use the Minto pyramid to structure their advertising campaigns, ensuring that the central message is loud and clear and supported by well-organized details and strategies with nothing unnecessary.

4. Legal: lawyers use the Minto pyramid to structure their legal documents, briefs, memos, and presentations in order to strongly drive their main argument and support it with logical reasoning and evidence.