Inverted Pyramid Writing Style

By Mary G. White

If you have taken a public relations or journalism class before, you have likely heard the term “inverted pyramid” used to describe the way you should write.

Picture an upside down triangle, with the wide end at the top of the page and the pointy end at the bottom, and you will get the idea.

The idea behind the inverted pyramid writing style is that you should start with the most important information first, and then put the less important information at the bottom.  This style of writing is associated with how newspaper copy was edited in the days before computers. 

Literally, in the dark days of journalism before desktop publishing was invented, newsprint was cut out and pasted on page mock-ups.  If there wasn’t room for the whole story, the editor got out his trusty X-Acto knife and chopped off the bottom of the article.  If important information was included below the chopping point, it never made it to print.

While we have more advanced newspaper publishing technology today, there is still an important lesson to be learned from the inverted pyramid writing style.

Living as we do in the information age, we are bombarded by messages.  I literally get more than 100 e-mail messages every day, not counting the SPAM that I just delete.  I freely admit to skimming through the messages looking for the important content. 

I also freely admit to missing content added on at the very end of a long message.  With so many messages to get through, I just quit reading when I think I’ve gotten the important part.  I don’t do it on purpose.  I don’t even realize I do it at the time that it happens.  It’s like a defense mechanism against information overload.  I’ll bet if you’re honest, you’ll admit that you do the same thing. 

My attention span (limited as it may be) has become my virtual X-Acto knife.  If I have to read too far into a message to get to your point, it is very likely that I will miss your point.  So … if you are even still reading this post, keep in mind that you need to structure your messages so you get your point across first.  Everything else … well, as they say in the newspaper biz … is just filler.

About the Author:

Mary Gormandy White is Director of Continuing Education and Corporate Training at Mobile Technical Institute http://www.mobiletechwebsite.com.  She teaches seminars, classes, and makes conference presentations on Business Writing and a number of additional management, customer service, and communication topics in the Mobile, AL area and nationwide.  Visit http://www.dailycareerconnection.com regularly for useful professional development tips and career advice. 

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