Think Write Grow by Grant Butler

Author:Grant Butler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2011-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

A useful way of developing a clear sense of the structure of any document is to create a table of contents. Insert headings that accurately describe what each part of your document is about, then pull them all together in a table of contents to see if your material has a logical flow. It’s also important to make sure any unfamiliar or contentious concepts are introduced and explained before they are discussed. Another way to make your structure more visible is to make notes in the margin describing what pieces of text (sentences, paragraphs or longer) say or mean. Then look at your notes and consider whether, at a high level, your argument has a logical flow and if there are any problems, such as repetition or contradictions.

Spotting and fixing the repetition of identical material in a document is as easy as playing Snap with a toddler. Harder is noticing and fixing the repetition of similar ideas within unrelated material at different points in your piece. This sort of repetition is like a tumour amidst healthy tissue because it’s usually hard to excise without damaging the sentences and paragraphs around it. The cure is to discuss and explain ideas fully in a single place within the document. If they are relevant elsewhere, just point back to the main place. I think of this as ‘say it once and in one place’.

Repetition often creeps in during editing, when sentences might be changed to include words you have already used nearby. This means that every time you change a sentence you need to re-read all the surrounding text. Also, the more distinctive a word, the more likely a reader is to notice its repetition. For example, a nice word like ‘crux’ is useful in thought leadership but should be used sparingly.

Keep it simple

The most convincing arguments are easy to follow and remember. In turn, good thought leadership writers simplify complex issues, or at least describe them in terms most people can understand. A writer I have been impressed by is the former Australian Treasurer Peter Costello, who now writes opinion articles for newspapers featuring straightforward and insightful commentary. Here is Costello explaining the purpose of the Budget speech to Parliament in simple terms.

The Treasurer has to explain where all the money is going and where it will come from. And if the government spends more than it raises it should explain how it will finance the difference.67

Such simple, conversational and definite prose comes from a deep understanding of a topic; the more somebody understands something, the more easily they can explain it to someone else.

Understand rhetoric

People have been thinking about how to persuade others for a long time. Perhaps the most famous writer on this topic was Aristotle, with his three categories of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos captures the character of the author and their credibility. Pathos is about moving others by appealing to their emotions, while logos refers to the use of logic and reasoning to convince. These remain

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