Don’t “Bury the Lede” and Lose Your Audience

In public debates “white paper” presentations assume facts and logic to be persuasive, addressing readers who are open minded, conscientious and patient. Such readers will finish articles they start, even if section may be tedious.

In existential struggles among competing ideas, more is needed to avoid ruin.

Persuasive writing is based on reality.  Ordinary readers are often distracted and lazy, therefore:

--The headline is crucial. It should offer a benefit. That was the ironclad rule at Reader’s Digest, which had a paid circulation of 23,000,000 at its peak. Using “why” and “how” are examples.

--Those readers who go on to read the story won’t always finish it, so the “lede,” the most important part, needs to be presented as quickly as possible, usually in the first paragraph. Ledes presented later on are considered “buried” and are missed by many readers, wasting an important opportunity.

-- Specific details are more persuasive than generalities. 

--Storytelling is more powerful than a recitation of facts.

-- Thomas Jefferson applied these concepts when he composed the Declaration of Independence. The premise was presented at the beginning, following by specific examples in a narrative format. It worked. 

-- Be careful not to be too cute; misleading “clickbait” headlines will lose readers.

-- Social media is taking us back to the medieval days of the fractious town square where rumors competed with the truth, so these guidelines are crucial for long-term success.