It is a technique used by most of the journalists and other writers to explain how information should be prioritized and structured in any story or any other content.
Using inverted pyramid technique journalists put the important pieces of a story in the first paragraph to inform and draw in a reader. We can say this paragraph is the recipe of the story.
It gives away the traditional W’s instantly: who, what, when, where, why and, of course, how.
The inverted pyramid can be thought of as a triangle pointing down. The topmost widest part of the triangle represents the most newsworthy information that the writer wants to convey. While the tapering lower portion represents the diminishing important details followed by other general information.
Using the Inverted Pyramid technique has many advantages.
- It supports all types of readers, even those who skim
- It improves comprehension, everything you need to understand the article is in that first paragraph
- You need less time to get to the point
- It gives writers a full paragraph to draw readers in.
- Done well, it encourages readers to scroll and read the rest of the article.
To use the inverted pyramid technique, you should start by writing the main points of your article in the order of their importance. The first paragraph should contain the most important information, followed by the next most important points in the second paragraph, and so on. As you move through the article, you can include additional details and background information, but these should be presented in decreasing order of importance.
The inverted pyramid technique is effective because it allows the reader to easily understand the main points of the article and decide whether they want to continue reading. It is especially useful for online content, where readers may not have a lot of time or attention to spare.