Welcome to issue No. 062 of the Lever

Every good piece of writing starts with this one thing:

A question.

Here is how you make sure your reader is asking it:

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But first:

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You might think the question is, "How do I get the reader to buy?"

But that is your question, not theirs. You need to put yourself in their shoes.

And the best way to do that is using a story.

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Set The Stage

The story comes up front in the intro.

It sets the stage, and leads the reader to the question.

Once you are both "standing in the same place" you can lead them through your solution. But without first getting the reader onboard it will fall flat.

You do this using the classic narrative structure, which looks like this:

• Situation
• Complication
• Question
• Answer

The job of the intro is to remind the reader of what they already know and raise a question in their mind, that your writing answers.

Lets look at them one at a time:

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1/ Situation

This is a statement that your reader will agree with.

Tell them something they already know.

Get them nodding.

The key characteristic of the situation statement is that it leaves them expecting more. It establishes a base for the story to follow.

This would be the hook when writing on X.

For B2B writing it will be the first 1-3 sentences.

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2/ Complication

This is a deviation from the stable situation you've described.

It could be a problem, but not always. It could also be that something could go wrong, something changed, or someone has a different opinion.

A disturbance in the force.

That's a complication.

You've taken the normal, everyday, boring world and gave it a shake.

This naturally leads to the….

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3/ Question

The question doesn't always need to be stated directly. It can be implied.

How you handle this depends on the type of document you are creating.

If your readers beliefs are aligned with yours then you naturally come to the same question. You can leave it implied.

But if you are trying to change the readers beliefs (much harder) then the question should be more direct.

Because the question must be clear in order to present your…

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4/ Answer

Now we get to the point.

The answer, YOUR answer, is the core idea of the rest of the document. Everything that follows supports this answer as being the right answer to the complication.

You've lead the reader to the same starting place as you. Now you can lead them through your solution.

This is where the intro ends and the journey begins.

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Why a Story?

Because B2B writing can be boring.

Facts, figures, graphs.

You need to get people to CARE first. That’s what the story is for.

Follow the classic narrative structure to craft a great intro and set the stage.

Lead the reader to the right question then answer it with your solution.