Increase readership with a feature-style story

Inverted-pyramid stories take a beating in studies and trends

by Ann Wylie, president, Wylie Communications Inc.

Writers say, "We use the inverted pyramid because readers stop reading after the first paragraph."

Readers say, "We stop reading after the first paragraph because writers use the inverted pyramid."

Before you pound out your next pyramid, check out these studies and trends:

Feature-style writing makes readers read more

Feature-style writing increases the chance that readers will spend more time with a communication, read it more completely and read it more often.

That was "one of the most thought-provoking discoveries" of "Impact," a study by the Readership Institute. Sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America and the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Institute was created to identify ways to reverse declining trend in newspaper readership.

The study also found that feature-style writing:

• Increases reader satisfaction
• Is easier to read than the traditional inverted-pyramid news approach
• Improves a communication’s image, making it seem more honest, fun, neighborly, intelligent, in the know and in touch with the values of its readers

That's a pretty big "impact."

Inverted pyramids score low in readership

Traditional, inverted-pyramid stories:

• "Do not work well with readers," and "do not justify their predominance in today's newspapers"
• Score low in readership and understanding
• Make a mediocre showing in "involvement," or whether the story made readers care about the news

That's according to "Ways with Words," a study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and The Poynter Institute.

The study tested four types of structures:

• The traditional inverted pyramid
• A narrative, or storytelling structure
• Commentary, which tells a story from a viewpoint
• Radical clarity, which gives extra background and context to "explain everything the reader might need explained"

"Ways with Words" researchers identified two inherent problems with the inverted pyramid:

• "The story gets more boring as the reader reads down."
• "Journalists put background and context in the second half of the pyramid, so the reader who does not know that background cannot understand the top of the story. As a result, only journalists and sources can fully understand inverted-pyramid stories."

Et tu, AP?

Even The Associated Press is rethinking its commitment to the traditional, "just the facts, ma'am" news approach of the inverted pyramid, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

The nation's dominant news service is now sending a feature lead in addition to a news lead with its stories. The feature leads are designed to "draw in the reader through imagery, narrative devices, perspective or other creative means," according to the wire service.

Why the change? The 156-year-old news agency is trying to reach more readers in a competitive information environment. AP leaders believe feature leads are one way to do that.

That's a far cry from who, what, when, where, why and how.

Use features for hard news

The feature-style story structure doesn’t mean fluff. The best writers can use the feature-style format for hard business, economic, political, environmental and other news.

The feature-style structure:

• Organizes information into a beginning, middle and end

• Includes more colorful details and language

• May use human interest or narrative to illustrate the issues

Use this approach to engage readers about any topic.

Give the pyramid a break

There are still times when the inverted pyramid is the best choice for a story. But writers must also master a structure that works when the inverted pyramid doesn't.

And that’s the feature-style structure.

Bottom line: If you're still married to the inverted pyramid, you're missing the mark.

Build a solid structure

Want to learn how to organize your copy into the feature-style story structure? Join Ann Wylie at "Beyond the Inverted Pyramid," PRSA's Oct. 18, 2007, teleseminar. To register or to get more information, contact Colleen Seaver at 212/460-1408 or visit http://www.prsa.org.

About Ann Wylie:

Ann Wylie is president of Wylie Communications Inc. (http://www.wyliecomm.com). There, she works with communicators who want to reach more readers and with organizations that want to get the word out.

Wylie is the author of more than a dozen manuals and handbooks about writing and communication. Her workshops take her from Hollywood to Helsinki, helping communicators at NASA, FedEx, Motorola, H&R Block and other organizations improve their skills. The firm handles special writing and consulting projects for such clients as Sprint, Northern Funds and Saint Luke's/Kansas City.

About PRSA:

The Public Relations Society of America (www.prsa.org), headquartered in New York City, is the world's largest professional organization for public relations practitioners. The society's members represent business and industry, counseling firms, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. Chartered in 1948, PRSA has 116 chapters throughout the United States and extends services and professional development to the student level through the Public Relations Student Society (PRSSA) with 209 chapters on college campuses throughout the country.

For more information, contact:

Libby Roberge
PRSA
212/460-1495
libby.roberge@prsa.org

Ann Wylie
Wylie Communications Inc.
816/997-8753
ann@wyliecomm.com