"Principle of the Minto pyramid": 12 golden rules. The essence of the method and feedback

It turns out that it is not difficult to express your thoughts correctly. You can become a true communication guru. It is enough to follow the simple basics that an ordinary woman has developed. Structural thinking is the pledge of the literacy of specialists and the basis of the future in writing. The Minto pyramid principle helps to build your style and always get the desired reaction from partners, customers, colleagues and family. Carrying out the principle of the pyramid of Barbara Minto, any person is doomed to success.

Barbara Minto. Biographical information

Before the principle of Barbara Minto appeared, this woman graduated from Harvard University. She received a high degree of education - Master of Business Administration. McKinsey & Company accepted her as consultant in 1963. By the way, this was the first woman admitted to work in this large company. Get this place Barbara helped her natural talent to compose literate business letters of any level. Her career at McKinsey lasted for a decade. It was employees and colleagues of Barbara who became her students and pioneers in the study of the practice of writing. Its success was developed. Since 1973, Minto manages his own corporation Minto International Inc. Students receive her priceless knowledge in the largest universities (Harvard, Stanford), as well as in European companies in Chicago and the United States. More than 10,000 people have already learned structural thinking. The program is compulsory in many MBA business schools. Employees of giants Ernst & Young, Walt Disney and American Express regularly undergo advanced training in the development of Barbara Minto.

How did the idea to create an effective communication tool?

Having worked 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 carried out. It turned out that the matter is not at all in the level of qualification of a specialist. The most important way to deliver information to an opponent.

Features of thinking

The right course of Minto's consultant was to address the origins. Thinking is possessed by all reasonable people. If you understand how to properly manage your primary skills, you can rise in self-education to a higher level. Based on the knowledge of how human thinking works, Barbara developed her brand name system in the form of a pyramid. Having studied the principle of the Minto pyramid, any person 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 form most comfortable for the thought process.

Hierarchy on the principle of building a pyramid

What is the principle of the Minto pyramid? The essence of the main idea is reflected on the very top, all secondary accompanying 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 greatly saves time resource. In other situations, the interlocutor may not listen or not finish reading the proposed information, but the whole point is reflected in the beginning. Therefore, the goal is achieved in 100 percent of cases.

Multilevel system

The order of building a pyramid is to divide the main idea into secondary ones. Each next level involves splitting the target into two, four, six blocks for reflection. All processes must be logically and chronologically sustained. The number of tiers of the pyramid is unlimited. But it is important to remember that the resources of the human brain are not unlimited. He is able to adequately handle only a certain amount of information. If the speaker has something to say, you need 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 becomes tired.

How to build a pyramid of Minto

The principle of the Minto pyramid has two ways of construction. The most convenient and correct is from the top down. In this case, the problem is indicated, and it is from it that concomitant speculation comes. The second method is acceptable for people who have not yet fully determined the main thesis of the narrative. In this situation, you can start building a pyramid from the bottom up. Sometimes it happens that secondary thoughts lead to a clear and clear goal, helping the author concentrate on the object. For information to evolve into a pyramid by itself, it is sufficient to answer a few questions.

Questions for determining the levels

Interrogative sentences help to formulate your thoughts correctly. They can be specified for each individual case. The most successful method is to write out all the thoughts on a piece of paper and determine the possibility of grouping them into categories by finding a link. The conclusion from all questions and connecting moments and will become the top of the pyramid, level one.

12 gold rules of the Minto pyramid. How to learn to present your ideas logically

1. All ideas of the pyramid must be united by a common thought. Each next level combines the main theses of the previous ones. The main idea should reflect ideological postulates, and not just generalizations.
2. In order to properly form a statement, it is important to use the question-and-answer technique. Starting a thought process, a person activates thinking, and the correct answer comes by itself. All statements require a qualitative justification, until questions cease to arise.
3. The choice of the method for constructing the pyramid depends on the complexity of the question. Specific situations require a different approach.
4. A prerequisite is the writing of the introductory part. It consists of the Situation, the Question and the Answer.
5. 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 more convenient to use the inductive method of perception in principle.
6. Logical sequence (chronological, comparative, structural).
7. Grouped ideas should be generalized into a whole.
8. Correct definition of the problem. This is an important point on which the positive outcome of the process depends.
9. Structuring the solution search process. For personal convenience it is possible to use tree-like schematic sketches.
10. The pyramid must be reflected in the document. This can be numbering, underlining, indenting, fat headlines. Visual perception helps to express your thoughts more confidently during verbal performance.
11. For a quality presentation, you need to use the Minto pyramid principle on the screen. A sketch of a sequence of slides and bright headlines will help convey the basic idea to listeners from the very beginning of the narrative.
12. In a letter it is important to describe your ideas clearly and concisely, mentally presenting the principle of the Minto pyramid. Reviews about this technique are mostly positive, sometimes even enthusiastic.

The book work of Barbara Minto

To provide access to priceless knowledge, the book "Principle of the Minto pyramid: the golden rules of thinking, business writing and oral presentations" 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 anyone who aspires to achieve the best in this life. Practical situations, which contains the book "Principle of the Minto pyramid", are designed for a wide range of readers.

The price of teaching structured thinking in 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. It is 27,000 dollars. This fact is justified by the incredible popularity of the technique developed by Barbara. The demand for its services is growing exponentially. Everyone knows that investments in their education are the most useful. According to Minto's book, there are already more than one generation of specialists from foreign universities. The training program passed the test of time and became the reference book of successful specialists.