The Six O’Clock News

Nowadays, most of us get our daily news online or by social media. But not that long ago, the Six O’Clock News was a highlight of our day, often coinciding with the family meal.

There was a certain ritual to these things: First, the headlines. Next, the details. Finally, the summary.

This format is particularly successful in content-driven communication such as presentations, proposals or reports.

Why is this? Let’s look at it with five C’s: chaos avoidance, controlling the agenda, credibility, collaboration and curiosity. We’ll see why this headline-first approach works.

Those were my headlines. Now for the news.

First, your “headlines” will force you to aim before you fire. They enforce structure and organization, which help you avoid chaos. You know the speaker who just seems to wander around until the allotted time is up or exceeded? Headlines will help you not be “that guy”.

Second, it gives you control of the reader’s (or listener’s) intake agenda. I’m betting that you have already got my five C’s in mind and you’re using them as a checklist as we go. This is like having your listeners come out to meet you half-way!

Third, it creates a presumption of credibility– the listener will assume that you have done some work on this material and know where you are going with it. Put another way, they will be inclined to trust you because you are not being “that guy”.

Fourth, the model promotes a sense of collaboration between the presenter and the listener, that you’re all in this together.

Fifth, announcing your headlines creates curiosity, and curiosity is a key to learning.

Your headlines, of course, create a responsibility to deliver. Nothing kills credibility more quickly than unrequited promise. As you build the body of your material, keep referring back to your headlines to ensure no point is left orphaned.

The summary, or recapitulation, is often the trickiest part to get right. This is no place to try out alternative theories or arguments, nor to pound the pulpit. If there was convincing to be done, its place was in the body of the work. The summary, perfectly executed, is gift wrap.

Try the formula and see a real improvement in chaos avoidance, controlling the agenda, credibility, collaboration and curiosity.

And that was the Six O’Clock News!