WIXLIB

Minto Pyramid Principlefor writing Equity research reports, Business plan,Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsLogic in Writing, Thinking, & Problem SolvingUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 1

Contents Introduction The Pyramid Logic Structure: What is It ? The Pyramid Logic Structure: Why Use It ? The Pyramid Logic Structure: Application SummaryUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 2

Traditionally, Presentations Lack a Cohesive Theme Presentations are typically a summary of fact-based analysis Major sections of document are not clearly linked togetherIndividual slides are not clearly linked to each other or acommon themeIndividual slides lack a clearly defined or articulated main pointor “headline”Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 3

Presentations Require a Cohesive Theme To Be Persuasiveand Inspire Action Presentations should make a strong recommendation, provide facts and conclusions in support of the desired option, and present therationale for not selecting other alternativesPresentations should create client alignment around ourrecommendation and convince the client that action is necessaryPresentations should convey information to build client knowledgeregarding the desired outcomePresentations should become an integral part of the client’sdecision-making processUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 4

A Hypothesis-Driven Logic Flow Will Help Create thisCohesive ThemeDevelop theSupportingArgumentsIntroduce theHypothesis Directsthereader’sattention to the questionthat does or should exist inhis/her mindStates a hypothesis toanswer that questionDevelops the context forthemoredetailedinformation to come Build the logic to supportthe hypothesis Introduce facts Draw conclusionsSummarizethe Argument Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsDraw logical conclusions“Prove” the hypothesisPage 5

The Pyramid Logic Structure: What is It ?Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 6

This Hypothesis-Driven Logic Flow Is Referred to as thePyramid Logic Structure (PLS) * The pyramid will have as many levels as needed to support the logical hierarchySource: Barbara Minto, The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking (London: MintoInternational, 1996)Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 7

In the PLS, Ideas Supporting the Hypothesis Are Related BothVertically and Horizontally xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 8

Example of Vertically Related IdeasVertical Relationships Support the Hypothesis by Establishinga Question/Answer Dialogue xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 9

Horizontal Relationships Support the Summary Point byLogically Relating Facts or IdeasExample of a HorizontalRelationship xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 10

These Horizontal and Vertical Relationships Are Linked in thePyramid Logic Structure SummaryPyramid logic structure buildssupportforthemainhypothesis by linking verticaland horizontal relationshipsVertical relationships supportthe main hypothesis orsummary pointHorizontal relationships buildthe logic to support eachsummary pointUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 11

The Pyramid Logic Structure: Why Use It ?Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 12

The PLS Complements the Thought Processes of the HumanMindThe mind instinctively sortsinformation into distinctivepyramidal groupings in orderto comprehend it. Thus,everywrittendocumentshouldbedeliberately structured toform a pyramid of ideas.The mind attempts to impose order on everything it perceivesThe mind tends to consider any sequence of things that occur together asbelonging together (this also applies to listening to or reading ideas)The pattern for ideas is shaped like a pyramid A grouping of ideas is easierto comprehend if it arrivespresorted into its pyramid.The pyramid states the logic of the relationships of ideas Ideas are grouped into a logical hierarchy and the logic of the relationships is shown A thought at one level suggests the thoughts below it Thoughts at one level suggest the idea above themIt meets the mind's needs to stop at the "magical" number seven There is a limit to the number of ideas a person can comprehend at any one timeThe mind cannot hold more than about seven items in its short-term memory at any onetime (some can hold as many as nine, others can hold only five -- a convenient number isthree)Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 13

All Mental Processes Utilize Pyramids To CategorizeInformationThe mind instinctively sortsinformation into distinctivepyramidal groupings in orderto comprehend it. A grouping of ideas is easierto comprehend if it arrivespresorted into its ely structured toform a pyramid of ideas.All mental processes (e.g., thinking, remembering, problem-solving) utilizethe grouping and summarizing processInformation in the mind can be considered as organized into a largeconglomeration of related pyramidsTo communicate most easily to another mind, it is best to ensure that themessage fits somewhere into existing pyramids The reader can clearly grasp the reasoningThe reader can focus more on whether he/she agrees with it than on trying to comprehend itThe reader can more easily raise logical questions regarding the messageUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 14

The Effectiveness of Communication Is Improved by the PLSThe mind instinctively sortsinformation into distinctivepyramidal groupings in orderto comprehend it. xxx A grouping of ideas is easierto comprehend if it arrivespresorted into its ely structured toform a pyramid of ideas.The structure helps the reader to "see" the groupings of ideas the same waythe author intended, increasing communication effectivenessUse of the pyramid structure provides other benefits for the writer andreader as well Reduces time needed to produce a quality final draftDecreases the length of final drafts Ensures that the argument and support are complete and logicalUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 15

Thus, the Pyramid Logic Structure Results in a Well Organized, Persuasive PresentationPyramid Logic Structure xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 16

The Pyramid Logic Structure: ApplicationUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 17

Using the Pyramid Logic Structure Requires Separating the“Thinking” and “Writing” ProcessesSeparate Thinking and WritingProcesses xxxComplete the thinkingand develop logicalstructureWrite the documentUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsUse a format which reflectsthe logical structure andappears professionalPage 18

When “Thinking” About a Presentation, Use the Pyramid LogicStructure To Create an Outline xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 19

This Outline Should Organize the Facts that Support theResolutionPyramid Logic Structure xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 20

Using this Outline, a Storyboard Should Be Created To Begin“Writing” the Presentation xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 21

The Introduction Should Convey the Situation, Complicationand Resolution Situation:Revenue growth for the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs)has been slowing over the past five years The majority of the RBOCs revenues come from access fees paid bylong-distance service ProvidersComplication / Question: The FCC is considering an auction of additional radio spectrum tobe used for short-distance cellular telephone service (personalcommunication service -- PCS) This additional radio spectrum will allow long-distance carriers tobypass the RBOCs in gaining access to customers The RBOCs must improve their growth prospects to increase theirstock priceResolution / Hypothesis*: The RBOCs should invest in the PCS market to improve their growthprospects and avoid losing additional market share Using Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 22

The Introduction Sets the Tone for the Presentation ConsiderThree Alternatives xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 23

The Slide Titles Should Tell the “Main Story” by DevelopingHorizontal Relationships xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 24

There Four Possible Logic Groupings for Building theseHorizontal Relationships xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 25

The Two Horizontal Logic Groupings Used Most Frequently AreInductive and Deductive Logic xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 26

The Body of Each Slide Should Develop the “SupportingStory” for the Slide Title xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 27

There Are Three Basic Types of Content Slides To HelpDevelop this “Supporting Story”Slide Categories Text Exhibits: Convey specific facts or ideas Eliminate errors in interpretationof the information presented Summarizeinformationonprevious or subsequent slides Organizelarge amounts ofinformationDiagrams: Convey cause / effect, sequentialrelationships betweenobservations Organize information Explain conceptual ideasGraphs: Summarize numerical data Draw attention to specific facts Explain trends in underlying dataUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 28

Text Exhibits Are Useful for Organizing Large Amounts ofInformationText Exhibit Slide Types xxxUsing Minto Pyramid Principle for writing Equity research reports, Business plan, Strategy reports and other consulting AssignmentsPage 29