Paul Mundy Planning your document Starting from a pile of disorganized information

Steps in writing a document 1. Develop ideas 2. Collect the information 3. Focus the topic – what is it about? 4. Organize the information 5. Write a draft 6. Rewrite the draft

1 Develop story ideas What interesting things have happened in your project? What problems do people in your area face? What topics interest your audience? What topic is in the news now? What issue does your organization want to focus on? What new things do you have to say?

2 Collect information Read what has already been written Ask questions Observe Soak up information like a sponge Make notes Think of interesting angles while you are gathering information

3 Focus the topic What am I trying to say? Discuss the subject with someone  Tell him/her a story  Explain what happened  Give only the information the listener needs to understand

The elevator pitch Imagine you are in a lift with Bill Gates  What would you tell him about your project?  What is the most important thing to say?  You have 2 minutes! Used with investors

Nine Cs of an effective elevator pitch 1.ConciseAs few words as possible, but no fewer 2.ClearYour grandparents can understand it 3.CompellingExplains the problem 4.CredibleExplains how you solved the problem 5.ConceptualNot unnecessary detail 6.ConcreteSpecific and tangible 7.CustomizedAddresses audience’s interests 8.ConsistentSame basic message 9.ConversationalNot complete, but aims to interest audience in more information

4 Organize the information

What is the story about? Main idea to which all other ideas relate

What we want to end up with Evidence Focus Lead A carefully constructed story with evidence supporting our main idea

4 Organize the information Make a short list of 7-8 categories your information falls into  Eg, Situation, Problem, Production, Intervention, Results, Solution Label your notes with these categories Sort the notes according to category Sort the categories into a logical order

5 Write! Four ways to start  Write a summary sentence  Write some possible leads  Write an ending  Write without notes Don’t  Start off with a 100-page report and try to edit it down to 3 pages

5 Write Focus  What is the story about? Organization  What information is included?  How is it presented?

6 Rewrite When you have finished writing Have you said it well enough? Reread what you have written  Is it in the right order?  Is it interesting? Does it grab the reader’s attention?  Does it say anything new or useful?

When you have finished writing Ask someone else to read it  Ask them to be critical of the structure, organization, logical flow  Ask them if the piece is interesting, easy to read  Ask them what they learned after reading

Now develop your own story idea What interesting thing has happened in your project? What problem do people in your area face? What topic interests your audience? What topic is in the news now? What issue does your organization want to focus on? What new thing do you have to say?

More information BBC SXSW (click on the video) BBC SXSW Youtube Youtube O’Leary: Elevator Pitch Essentials O’Leary