Connecting the beginning, middle, and end of your content
A strong content asset tells a story. How, then, do we set up a story?
A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It flows naturally and believably from one part to the next, with challenges, solutions, feelings, and facts strategically placed throughout. The plot projects you forward, the characters are real and involved, and the conversation is seamless. The writing is engaging, clear, and colorful. Questions are risen and then answered, and all is well with the world.
Some writing styles have a specific structure, such as the inverted pyramid, which starts with the lede aka the headline, which puts the most important information right at the start, provides the details in the middle, and ends with background information or a neat way to close the article. Even within such a structure, you can see the beginning (lede), middle (details), and end (conclusion). Flow still applies – engage the reader with the most appealing headline, provide details that support why that headline is so important, then wrap it all up with supporting facts and a big red bow.
It's all about connection – making a connection with the reader right away and maintaining that connection throughout, and connecting the story’s elements so they make sense and resonate with the reader.
How do we make a connection?
First, we have to present a lede or hook that people care about. Crafting your headline is like writing the perfect topic sentence in an essay. It tells your readers what they’re about to read about and why they should care about it. If they aren’t interested, they won’t keep reading. You have one sentence to capture their attention.
Once you’ve hooked them, you can’t let their attention falter. You can’t lose them. If they were interested in the headline, what do they need to read now? Lay out the details in a way that connects the dots in their minds from the point you were trying to make to the supporting facts. If your headline was that school is cancelled for the rest of the week, a parent might be interested in reading how long the cancellation is expected to last, why it happened, when it will be back, what their children should do in the meantime, and how they can receive updates. These details need to be laid out clearly and concisely in the middle of your piece. They need to make sense and speak to your reader in a way that answers the questions in their mind. They should adhere to some sort of hierarchy of information, starting with the most important and piggybacking off of that with the supporting details. If you pace your writing properly, your reader will stick with you as you dig through the nitty-gritty.
Then, wrap it up. As they say in sales, ABC – Always Be Closing. How can you provide a strong conclusion that leaves the reader feeling satisfied? Some business writers end their articles too abruptly, leaving the reader feeling uneasy or unsure whether they are missing additional information. One tactic here is to try to positively reframe the situation if possible by providing your reader with a lingering feeling of hopefulness or satisfaction upon finishing your piece. Another way to close is to summarize your main point with a few high-level takeaways for them to remember after they walk away. A third tactic is to provide something actionable – a recommendation or call-to-action that the reader can do as a result of engaging with your content. You want your readers to feel that the piece got wrapped up, their questions got answered, and they know what they need to know in order to continue living their lives, albeit a bit more informed than they were before they engaged with your content.
Through storytelling, you can achieve flow in your business writing. Focus on what your reader needs to know and provide the structure, clarity, and voice that take them on a journey with you to find out the answers to their questions or the solutions to their challenges. Leave them better off than before they read your content, and give them a reason to come to you again in the future.

And if you haven’t already figured it out, this piece adheres to the beginning-middle-end structure we just talked about. See if you can identify how!
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