So how do you take the reams of data, ideas and passion that fuel your work and turn them into a story that’s short, tight, convincing, even inspiring?

When I meet with an astute prospective client in a business I’ve not written about before, they often ask, “How will you write effectively about what we do?” I tell them two things: finding the story is about asking the right questions, and telling the story is about making the right decisions.

Ask the right questions
You don’t need to provide the full myriad of reasons that make you better than the competition—one or two good ones go a long way. Ask the right questions and keep the answers simple. Focus on what makes you, and your audience, unique. A starter set:

Who is your audience and what do they want?
What are the obstacles to their success?
What do they need to do differently and why?
How can you help?
What are your greatest successes?
How did you achieve them?
What does that say about who you are and what you do?

Make the right decisions
All good writers understand the need to “kill our babies.” Before you dial 911, this simply means understanding the need—no matter how beautiful or true an idea, word, stat or fact—to remove what doesn’t make sense for the story.

Corporate reporting is often long on status and short on real successes. Companies want to report every inch of progress they have made. They want to cite every fact that supports their position. I have seen this mind-numbing tendency in action and can attest that communicating in this vein is the quickest route off of the forward path. No matter how good the news, too much is too much. You have to make decisions.

Ask yourself—is this a nice to know or a need to know? If it is not moving the plot, if it is not something your customers or employees will care about, is not a benefit to them or table stakes for the success you seek—then leave it in the board room.


A great book for a fast start to making a long story short is Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start. Of Mackintosh and garage.com fame, Kawasaki has seen true innovation and likely every business pitch that exists—this guy knows how to grab your customers’ attention. For an added bonus re: who you are and what you seek to accomplish in business, read the last chapter first.