It turns out that correctly expressing your thoughts is not at all difficult. You can become a real communication guru. It is enough to follow the simple basics that an ordinary woman has developed. Structural thinking is the key to the literacy of specialists and the foundation of the future in writing. The principle of the Minto pyramid helps to build your style and always get the desired reaction from partners, customers, colleagues and family. Fulfilling the principle of the Barbara Minto pyramid, any person is doomed to success.
Barbara Minto. Curriculum Vitae
Before the principle of Barbara Minto, this woman graduated from Harvard University. She received a high degree of education - Master of Business Administration. McKinsey & Company took her to the post of consultant in 1963. By the way, this was the first woman admitted to work in this large company. To get this place Barbara was helped by her natural talent for writing competent business letters of any level. Her career at McKinsey continued for a dozen years. It was Barbara's employees and colleagues who became her students and pioneers in the study of writing practice. Her success was developed. Since 1973, Minto has been managing his own corporation, Minto International Inc. Students gain her invaluable knowledge at major universities (Harvard, Stanford), as well as at European companies in Chicago and the USA. More than 10,000 people have already learned structural thinking. The program is compulsory in many MBA business schools. Employees of the giants Ernst & Young, Walt Disney and American Express regularly undergo training on the development of Barbara Minto.
How did you come up with the idea to create an effective communication tool?
After working for many years in a large company, Barbara Minto as a consultant faced many situations. Not all procedures and transactions were successful. To understand the problem, an analysis of the actions was performed. It turned out that it was not at all a specialist’s qualification level. The most important way to convey information to the opponent.
Thinking features
The consultant Minto’s right move was to get to the roots. Thinking is possessed by all reasonable people. If you understand how to properly manage your primary skills, you can rise to a higher level in self-education. Based on her knowledge of how human thinking works, Barbara developed her proprietary name system in the form of a pyramid. Having studied the principle of the Minto pyramid, anyone can easily and concisely make reports, present presentations, write business letters and books. Taking into account all the points, the result will be the delivery of information in the most comfortable form for the thought process.
Hierarchy by the principle of building a pyramid
What is the principle of the Minto pyramid? The essence of the main idea is reflected at the very top, all secondary related details are located in the plane of the base. The human brain perceives just such a correct principle of the Minto pyramid. The rules are simple and adapted for any person, so an individual with any level of education can acquire useful knowledge. This way of delivering information significantly saves time. In other situations, the interlocutor may not listen to or read out the proposed information, but the whole point is reflected in the beginning. Therefore, the goal is achieved in 100 percent of cases.
Tiered system
The procedure for constructing a pyramid is to divide the main thoughts into secondary ones. Each next level involves crushing the goal into two, four, six blocks for thought. All processes must be logically and chronologically maintained. The number of tiers of the pyramid is not limited. But it is important to remember that the resources of the human brain are not unlimited. He is able to adequately process only a certain amount of information. If the speaker has something to say, it is necessary to divide your material into 3-4 blocks, not counting the main idea. With a large flow of new thoughts, a person loses concentration and quickly gets tired.
How to build the Minto Pyramid
The principle of the Minto pyramid has two construction methods. The most convenient and correct is from top to bottom. In this case, the problem is indicated, and associated conjectures already come from it. The second method is acceptable for people who have not yet fully decided on the main thesis of the story. In this situation, you can begin to build a pyramid from the bottom up. Sometimes it happens that secondary thoughts bring out a clear and precise goal, helping the author to concentrate on the object. In order for the information to form into a pyramid by itself, it is enough to answer several questions.
Leveling Questions
Interrogative sentences help to correctly formulate your thoughts. They can be specified for each individual case. The most successful method is writing out all thoughts on a piece of paper and determining whether they can be grouped into categories by finding a connection. The conclusion from all questions and connecting moments will become the top of the pyramid, level one.
Questions for building the Minto Pyramid| 1st level | 2nd level | 3rd level |
| What is it about (subject) | Current situation | New questions after answering the previous one |
| Problem (Question) | Difficulty solving the problem | Answer method (inductive, deductive) |
| Proposed solution (the answer will be the main point of the speech) | Is the decision process taking place at the moment? | Is there a common sign of grouping all thoughts |
12 golden rules of the Minto pyramid. How to learn to present your ideas logically
- All ideas of the pyramid should be united by a common thought. Each next level combines the main points of the previous ones. The main idea should reflect ideological postulates, and not just generalizations.
- To make a presentation correctly, it is important to use the question-answer technique. Starting a thought process, a person activates thinking, and the right answer comes by itself. All statements require qualitative justification until questions no longer arise.
- The choice of method for constructing the pyramid depends on the complexity of the question. Specific situations require a different approach.
- A prerequisite is the writing of the introduction. It consists of a Situation, Question and Answer.
- The use of deduction and induction. Deduction is a sequence of events, induction is a relationship. For the correct construction of the main level, it is fundamentally more convenient to use an inductive method of perception.
- Logical sequence (chronological, comparative, structural).
- Grouped ideas should be summarized as a whole.
- Correct definition of the problem. This is an important point on which a positive outcome of the process depends.
- Structuring the solution search process. For personal convenience, you can use tree-like schematic sketches.
- The pyramid should be reflected in the document. It can be numbering, underlining, indentation, bold headings. Visual perception helps to express your thoughts more confidently during verbal speech.
- For a quality presentation, you must use the principle of the Minto pyramid on the screen. Sketch slide sequences and vibrant headlines help bring the main message to the audience from the very beginning of the story.
- In a letter, it is important to describe your ideas clearly and concisely, mentally representing the principle of the Minto pyramid. Reviews about this technique are mostly positive, sometimes even enthusiastic.
Book Work by Barbara Minto
To provide access to invaluable knowledge, the book The Principle of the Minto Pyramid: Golden Rules of Thinking, Business Writing and Oral Speaking was created. It is based on examples from the life of employees of a consulting company. Analysis of numerous situations will be useful to workers of any field of activity (numerous reviews confirm this). You can also call this book copy a real guide for all who strive to achieve the best in this life. The practical situations contained in the book "The Principle of the Minto Pyramid" are designed for a wide range of readers.
The Cost of Structural Thinking by Barbara Minto
Classes are held in a group of 10 people. The duration of the training is two and a half days. It is worth noting that the cost is high. She is 27,000 dollars. This fact is justified by the incredible popularity of the technique developed by Barbara. Demand for her services is growing exponentially. Everyone knows that investing in their education is the most beneficial. According to Minto’s book, more than one generation of specialists from foreign universities is studying. The training program has passed the test of time and has become a handbook of successful professionals.