Answer First Communication

It’s no secret that the news media begins broadcasts with the most
attention-grabbing headlines possible and jumps straight into the meat
of the content. The same style of communication is also highly
effective in business – especially consulting – and is known as answer
first communication.

What Is Answer First Communication?

Answer first communication, also referred to as the Pyramid Principle,

is a communication style that prioritizes the conclusion first. This
contradicts the traditional Hollywood story arc, but if your goal is to
spend the most time on the most important part of the conversation,
answer first communication may be the answer you’re looking for. See
what we did there? Here are the three steps to answer first
communication:

1. Concisely present your assertion or singular main point up front

2. Provide supporting arguments
3. Dive into the granular detail of your supporting arguments (if
necessary)

Why the Answer First Communication Style Works

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who rambles on and
on and on, leading you to exhale out of frustration, “Okay, but what’s
your point?!”

If you know that feeling, then you inherently know why the answer first
communication style works.

People – especially key stakeholders you’re interacting with – are

busy. When you’re a consultant and frequently interfacing with
management teams, executives, and partners, time is always of the
essence. Answer first communication allows you to get to your point
immediately. If a meeting ends early and there isn’t enough time to get
through an entire presentation, you won’t have to rush past the
recommendation, which is always the most important part.

In addition, answer first communication frames the entire discussion

from the get-go. There are times when the data and supporting
arguments are so complex that a presentation can lose its audience
before the conclusion even arrives.

Lastly, the answer first communication style puts some positive

pressure on your recommendation. It makes you create a thoughtful
and well-constructed conclusion that won’t lose your audience right
away. If and when your answer is challenged, you know now the
audience’s objections right up-front, and can work to address them
head on. Ideally, you would have anticipated these objections and
used your supporting arguments and data to disarm them.

When to Apply the Answer First Communication Style

There are several ways to apply answer first communication in both

your personal and professional life. They include:

 Presentations
 Meetings
 Emails
 Memos
 Conversations (with colleagues and friends)

When the Answer First Communication Doesn’t Work

Admittedly, the answer first communication style is not a foolproof

method that should be used 100% of the time. There are times when
it’s better to provide the conclusion at the end. Such times include:

1. When you want the audience to come to conclusions

themselves – Providing the answer first is like giving away the
answer key before the test. The audience won’t think as critically
if you give the answer away first. If you want your audience to
brainstorm and come to conclusions on their own, don’t use
answer first communication.
2. When there isn’t a level of trust already built up – People
usually don’t like surprises from others they don’t trust, as it
could elicit a fight or flight response. Answer first communication
 is most effective when the two parties know each other and trust
that there will be a thoughtful set of supporting arguments and
data that accompany any recommendation.
3. When the background, context, and data are more important
than the conclusion – When you’re telling a story, sometimes it
makes sense to start with the conclusion and circle back to it.
Other times, it’s important to build up the suspense and go into
the details of the background to make the conclusion or
punchline more effective.

Conclusion

The answer first communication method is an effective way to

persuade, drive action, and become more efficient in your
communication. It saves time and presents you as an action-oriented
individual. If you haven’t heard of this communication style before,
begin to implement it in both your personal and professional life, and
let us know in the comments how your conversations change!

The Pyramid Principle

At McKinsey, one of the lessons I learned was the
importance of structured thinking and communication. We
often had to crisply present a recommendation to busy
executives. Many times, we only had a few minutes to
communicate that recommendation — then, if the executive
was interested in digging deeper, we could present more
details.

One of the tools that we used at McKinsey was the Pyramid

Principle, a methodology for structured communication.
The key take-aways from the Pyramid Principle at McKinsey
were:

1. Start with the answer first.

2. Group and summarize your supporting

arguments.

3. Logically order your supporting ideas.

Start with the answer first.

To communicate in a structured way with a busy executive,
you should start with the answer to the executive’s question
first, and then list your supporting arguments. This “top-
down” structure is counter-intuitive for many of us,
especially those with a scientific or engineering background
used to writing technical papers. For many people, it’s
natural to build up to a conclusion by first reciting all of the
facts, recounting all of the analyses that have been done, or
reviewing all of the supporting ideas. Then you get to the
punch line.

At McKinsey, “start with the answer first” was drilled into

us. When an executive asked a question — “What should we
do?” — you were to start your response with, “You should do
X,” very crisply and directly. Only then, after you have
answered the question, should you present your supporting
reasons. Why?

First, you want to maximize your time with your audience.

Executives are busy people. They are perpetually short on
time, are used to processing lots of information quickly, and
get impatient when they feel like someone isn’t getting to the
point. To get the most out of your short time with an
executive, you want to make your recommendation first and
foremost. In some cases, the executive may already mentally
be at the conclusion you want them to reach, in which case
she will accept your recommendation and move on (without
you having to go into the detailed supporting arguments).
Second, many executives often think in a “top-down”
manner. They want to focus on the big picture—in this case
the “answer”— and don’t want to get bogged down by
details. By delivering your recommendation in the “answer
first” format, you are fitting into the executive’s mental
model and allowing them to quickly process your
recommendation.

Finally, you are more persuasive when you are direct. By

answering the executive’s question first, you sound more
assertive and confident. You’re not searching for reasons or
words, and you don’t sound like you’re wavering. You are
plainly and directly answering the question that was posed
to you.

Group and summarize your supporting arguments.

Your audience—whether listeners or readers—will naturally

begin to group and summarize your arguments and ideas in
order to remember them. So you may as well help them do it
and make your overall recommendation more effective and
memorable.

The Pyramid Principle advocates that “ideas in writing

should always form a pyramid under a single thought.” The
single thought is the answer to the executive’s question.
Underneath the single thought, you are supposed to group
and summarize the next level of supporting ideas and
arguments. Then, for each supporting idea or argument,
break that further into more ideas or arguments until you
have formed a pyramid. The Pyramid Principle teaches that,
“Ideas at any level in the pyramid must always be
summaries of the ideas grouped below them.”

Decomposing an argument into a pyramid structure

It just so happens that the magic number of ideas in a group

is three (see my Rule of 3 post).

When you group and summarize your supporting

arguments, it’s easy to go from the single thought to the next
level of ideas without getting too detailed right away.

Logically order your supporting ideas.

Finally, you want to ensure that the ideas you bring together
under each group actually belong together, are at the same
level of importance, and follow some logical structure. There
are a few different ways of logically ordering ideas that
belong in the same group:

1. Time order: if there is a sequence of events that

form a cause-effect relationship, you should
present the ideas in time order.

2. Structural order: break a singular thought into its

parts, ensuring that you have covered all of the
major supporting ideas.

3. Degree order: present supporting ideas in rank

order of importance, most to least important.

When combined with the Rule of 3, the Pyramid Principle

becomes an extremely powerful structured communication
tool for making recommendations to busy executives. I saw
many examples during my time at McKinsey when the
Pyramid Principle was invoked in written and verbal
communication to successfully motivate action.

The Pyramid Principle is not just valuable for

communicating with executives, but really it’s effective to
communicate with anyone whom you wish to persuade with
argument. As an entrepreneur, the tool could be what you
use to communicate with prospective investors or board
members. As a leader in an organization, you can use the
Pyramid Principle to communicate with peers or project
stakeholders when you make an important proposal.

If you’re interested in learning more, definitely pick up

the original book by Barbara Minto. I would urge you to try
out the Pyramid Principle when writing your next proposal,
making your next elevator pitch to an investor, or even the
next time you respond to an executive’s question. I bet that
you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results.