When Ian Jones needed to craft a — yawn! — diversity story for employees at Columbia Gas of Virginia, his first instinct was to go with a fact pack.

You can see Ian’s natural creativity peeking through with the concrete details in the headline and — buried deep but still breathing — in the lead.

But by the end of a recent Catch Your Readers Master Class, Ian had totally rewritten his piece from an inverted pyramid to a feature story. That basic structure lets the concrete details rise to the top.

Here’s his before and after:

1. Lead

Like (too) many of us, Ian was taught to cram all of the facts into the lead, so readers would get the key details before they stop reading after the first paragraph. Here’s how his opening paragraph looked:

You can see the problem with that: a lead that is so thick that most readers will stop reading before the first paragraph. Plus, Ian’s delightful concrete details get smothered in all of the not-so-interesting facts.

Instead of a fact pack, write a lead that draws readers in with a concrete detail or three. Don’t tell the whole story in the lead — that’s what the whole story is for — but write a lead paragraph that entices people to read the second paragraph.

Here’s how Ian handled that in his rewrite:

2. Nut graph

Inverted pyramids don’t have nut graphs, so neither did Ian’s original story.

When you don’t feel compelled to put all of the W’s in the lead, they need someplace to go. Ian moves them into the nut paragraph:

At 57 words, that’s still a little thick. What can you do in 25 words or less?

3. Background section

No background in the original story. But in the rewrite, Ian provides context for the story — the reason the diversity initiative is so important:

4. Body

In his first version, Ian emphasizes the event — what happened during the kickoff — in the body of his post:

In the second, he focuses on the impact: what the attendees learned that might be helpful to you, too:

Note also the crisp paragraphs in the final version compared to the 100-plus-word-long ones in the original.

5. Wrapup

The great thing about inverted pyramids is that you don’t have to craft a conclusion. When you’re finished, you just stop typing. That’s what Ian did in his original.

But the feature-style story structure demands an ending. In his revision, Ian summarizes the story in the wrapup, or the penultimate paragraph, topped as it should be with a subhead to separate the body from the ending:

6. Kicker

Ian ends with bang and circles back to the top with a concrete details kicker that leaves a lasting impression:

Focus on the reader.

“Thinking about the reader from the start really changes everything — from story angle to story structure to sentence length,” Ian says. “Instead of approaching writing from the perspective of a writer, I now think about whether I’m writing a story I would want to read.’”

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When I teach the feature-style story structure, communicators nod. It seems reasonable that readers would prefer concrete, creative stories to a hierarchical blurtation of facts.

BUT — and as Pee-Wee Herman said, there’s always a big but — they wonder, is the feature-style story structure for everything? Even for writing an email? Even for writing event invites?

Yes, Virginia, the feature structure works for almost everything — email messages included, event invites include. And here’s proof, thanks to Sarah Herr, employee communications manager at Sensus.

In my Think Inside the Inbox workshop, Sarah rewrote her company’s holiday party invitation, transforming it from blah to brilliant, using the feature structure. Here’s how she did it:

1. Lead

The job of the lead is to grab readers’ attention and draw them in. But too often, writers get down to the nuts and bolts in email invitations.

Here’s Sarah’s original just-the-facts-ma’am approach:

But the key to a good invitation lead is to make folks want to attend the event. So tell them what they can look forward to in a concrete, creative, provocative feature lead.

Sarah visited my BFF and research assistant, Google, to find out what her colleagues could do at the science museum. Her revision whets my appetite with specific details about the party:

Remember, you’re covering the topic in the subject line. If you mention the holiday party there, you don’t need to lead with it.

2. Nut graph

In the nut graph, you’ll tell readers where you’re taking them.

Inverted pyramids don’t include nut graphs, so Sarah’s original email invitation skipped this element too. But in her revised piece, Sarah encapsulates the main point in one quick, informal sentence:

3. Background

The background section gives readers information they need to know before they dive into the body of the story. That might be a definition, bit of context or history lesson.

But background is also known as blah-blah. Don’t let blah-blah get between your readers and your story: Keep this to one short paragraph.

In her first version, Sarah has a quick paragraph of background after the lead:

Her revision pares that down a bit:

4. Body

The body is where you develop the story. In this case of an email invitation, you’ll give a few more details about what people will be able to see, learn or do at the event.

Sarah’s original was already pretty good. She had me at heavy hors d’oeuvres and carving stations!

In the revision, she adds a few more details about what attendees will be able to see and do:

If you have a series of three or more activities to showcase, you might use bullet points to make the body a list. The line breaks and extra white space make these activities stand out.

5. Wrapup

In the wrapup, you’ll draw to a conclusion.

Your call to action goes here. That means the wrapup — not the lead — is where you put time, date, place, contact information and the reserve button. Something like:

6. Kicker

The job of the kicker is to end with a bang, to leave a lasting impression. Inverted pyramids don’t include kickers, so Sarah’s original doesn’t, either. But in her revision, she ends with a bang in a concrete, creative provocative final paragraph:

Now that sounds like a party!

Congratulations, Sarah, on a great email!

How to structure an email invitation

The feature structure increases reading, sharing and more. (Download our free e-book chapter on why the feature outperforms the inverted pyramid.)

For that reason, features work for virtually all media, channels, topics and audiences. Choose this structure when you write a formal email, professional email or business email, as well as an email invitation. It’s also a good idea to use a feature approach for social media and other business communications. Next time you find yourself composing an email invitation, double-check this list before sending the email.

Learn more about writing emails:

• What email address should you use?
• How can you write a compelling subject line?
• How else can you make your email programs more effective?

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I love it when my clients send me their rewrites after I present a writing workshop.

For one thing, it’s gratifying to see that people’s writing actually improves after I visit! For another, these pieces make great case studies in good writing.

Workers Compensation Board-Alberta writer Caren did a wonderful job rewriting an article during my Catch Your Readers workshop. Notice how her rewrite:

• Focuses the angle on reader benefits. Caren moves from event to impact. Her original story angle was WCB’s new opioid claim rollout. The rewrite focused on how employers can help save employees from addiction and overdose by using the board’s new resources.
• Uses the feature structure. This approach has been proven in the lab to be more effective at reaching readers. It also allows writers to plug and play their information into an existing format, saving time and effort.
• Keeps the piece short. The revised piece weighs in at fewer than 200 words — a one-minute read. So you can use the feature structure even when you don’t have a lot of space.

Here’s how she did it, with a great blog-post structure that works every time:

1. Lead

The original lead focused on background — in this case, a history lesson:

There’s a reason the feature structure places the background in the third paragraph, not the first. Background — otherwise known as the blah-blah — doesn’t grab readers’ attention.

Instead, write a lead that hooks the reader with a startling statistic or another concrete, creative, provocative lead. That’s what Caren did in her rewrite:

2. Nut graph

Caren didn’t include a nut graph in her original news story, because inverted pyramids don’t have nut graphs.

But in her rewrite, she puts the story “into a nutshell” — and shows readers how they’ll benefit from the piece:

3. Body

The original angle of the body is how the sausage was made. It’s not very interesting to clients whose employees are abusing opioids.

Readers want to know, “What’s in it for me?”

The revised body focuses on the readers’ needs with a list of tips for dealing with the crisis:

4. Wrapup

There’s nothing wrong with this call to action, but it isn’t very rousing:

In Caren’s rewrite, on the other hand, the wrapup is nice, neat and sweet:

5. Kicker

Here Caren ends with a bang and comes full circle by referring back to statistics in the lead:

How to structure a blog post

Next time you start writing your blog post or social media post, try the feature structure. It’s been proven in the lab to get a lot of people to read your post and share your post. It’s the best writing skill you can use to write successful blog content.

Learn how to write feature stories, do keyword research for search engine optimization and more in our online courses.

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“Always grab the reader by the throat in the first paragraph,” said Time magazine reporter Paul O’Neil. “Sink your thumbs into his windpipe in the second and hold him against the wall until the tag line.”

How do you keep attention from the first paragraph through the tagline? Writing structure makes all the difference in how riveting your story can be.

Just ask Kathleen Sullivan, communication manager at Local Government Federal Credit Union. During my Get Clicked, Liked & Shared workshop, Kathleen reorganized a blog post from the inverted pyramid into the feature structure.

The feature approach convinces lots of people to read your post — and share your post. Plus, it’s a step-by-step structure that shows writers clearly what goes where.

Want to write successful blog content? What can you learn from Kathleen’s original and rewrite?

1. Lead

The job of the lead is to grab readers’ attention and draw them in.

In the original, Kathleen focuses on how the sausage was made … the abstract process behind the findings. Yaaaawn! Who cares about these interviews? Not me!

But Kathleen’s revision gets me, the reader, into the story. Moreover, she sets up a surprising scenario that grabs attention and pulls readers into the piece.

2. Nut graph

The job of the nut graph is to tell readers where you’re taking them.

Inverted pyramids don’t include nut graphs, so Kathleen’s original story skipped this element too.

But in her revised blog post, Kathleen encapsulates the main point in one quick, informal sentence:

3. Background section

In the background section, give readers information they need to know before they dive into the body of the story. That might be a definition, bit of context or history lesson.

But background is also known as blah-blah. Don’t let blah-blah get between your readers and your story: Keep this to one short paragraph.

In her original version, Kathleen delivers too much background, at 270 words.

And it’s too technical: Adaptive regulation? A combined perceptive and cognitive integration of emotions? Correlated to a positive orientation? Negative early engagements? No, thank you!

Kathleen’s revised background section is still a little long for my taste. But at 109 words, it’s 60% shorter than the original.

Her words are also shorter — about 10% shorter — and easy to read and understand. Now it sounds as if she’s telling me about this story on the elevator on our way to lunch.

Even better: It’s about me!

4. Body

The body is where you develop your story.

In Kathleen’s original, the meat of the story — the tips — are buried under 296 words of abstraction.

Plus, do’s and don’ts usually have a format: DO do this. DON’T do that. But instead, Kathleen used nouns. Those aren’t tips.

In her revision, Kathleen gets to the meat of the story faster and adds more detail. She also formats the tips as tips, not as things:

5. Wrapup

The job of the wrapup is to draw to a conclusion. Do you have a call to action? It goes here.

Here’s Kathleen’s original, packed with technical language:

Her revised piece is shorter and easier to read:

6. Kicker

The job of the kicker is to end with a bang, to leave a lasting impression.

Inverted pyramids don’t include kickers, so Kathleen’s original doesn’t, either.

But in the revision, she ends with a bang in a concrete, creative provocative final paragraph. Notice how she comes full circle back to the top.

So what’s the best blog post structure?

Writing structure is such one of the most important writing skills. Before you start writing a blog post or other social media piece, spend a few minutes organizing it into this structure.

Whether you’ve just started blogging or are already a pro:

• Start your content marketing piece with keyword research.
• Use the feature structure.
• Optimize your copy so search engines can find you.

Whatever your topic, create a blog post that keeps readers riveted from the first paragraph to the last line.

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Here’s the good news: You already know how to organize your copy.

Just think back to what your third-grade English teacher taught you. Most pieces of writing have three sections:

1. Introduction: the beginning
2. Body: the middle
3. Conclusion: the end

That makes writing a feature story as easy as 1-2-3.

Feature structure works well for blog posts, social media posts and other types of content.

A fill-in-the-boxes structure

Draw these three sections on a piece of paper, and your piece of content looks like this:

OK, so it’s not quite that easy. Because each of those sections has its own parts.

So what goes into each box?

Introduction

The introduction has three parts: the lead, the nut graph and a background section.

1. Lead

The lead’s job is to grab attention and pull readers into the piece. The best way to do that is to write a lead that’s concrete, creative and provocative.

In one of my favorite befores-and-afters ever, here’s a lead by Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham, a communication specialist for Strathcona County, Canada, before applying the feature-style story structure:

But by the end of my Catch Your Readers Master Class, Elizabeth had totally rewritten her piece. Here’s that lead after mastering this approach:

Nut graph

Once you grab attention in the lead, you need to tell readers where you’re taking them. Do that in the nut graph, where you put the story into a nutshell.

There’s no nut graph in the before example, because there’s no nut graph in an inverted pyramid.

The nut graph in the after version puts the story into a nutshell:

Background section

The background section — aka the blah blah — is the boring but necessary information in the story. It might include broader context, a definition or a history or trend.

Keep the background to the third paragraph. Don’t let it bubble up to the lead.

Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham’s original story didn’t have a background section. Inverted pyramids don’t have them, and she’d used up all of her background in that (definition) lead.

Here’s the background section in her rewrite:

Body

In the body, you build out the story into clear, logical parts. To help web visitors find what they’re looking for, label the parts with subheads or bulleted lists with bold-faced lead-ins.

Here’s the body of Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham’s original piece:

Her rewrite is much tighter and invites readers in:

Conclusion

The conclusion has two parts: a wrapup and a kicker.

Wrapup.

In the wrapup, you will call readers to action or summarize the key message.

Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham’s original wrapup:

Her revision is a bit more streamlined:

Kicker.

To leave a lasting impression, go with a kicker that’s concrete, creative and provocative.

The great thing about inverted pyramids is that when you get to the end, you just stop typing. That’s why Elizabeth Tadman-Kickham didn’t include a kicker.

But features require an ending. Here’s the kicker from Elizabeth’s rewrite:

This to me is the least satisfying part of Elizabeth’s rewrite. I wish instead she had circled back to the top and quoted Florence Storch, that 101-year-old woman who’s running around with a pointed stick and knows how to use it. Maybe something like:

How to organize content

Regardless of which social media platforms you use or where you publish content, make the feature structure part of your content creation process. It’s one of the best content marketing strategies there is.

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It was a good story: More than 1,000 New Englanders would soon have safe, decent, affordable places to live, thanks to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program.

But PR convention demands that we reduce good stories to hierarchical blurtations of fact. And that’s what Mark Zelermyer, the bank’s vice president and director of corporate communications, did with the first draft of his news release covering the story.

But by the end of my NOT Your Father’s News Release Master Class, Mark had totally rewritten his release, taking the story from blah to brilliant. What can you learn from his before and after?

Get a refresher on the feature-style structure.

1. Headline and deck

Mark started out focusing on “us and our stuff”:

FHLB BOSTON AWARDS $30.3 MILLION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND

48 Initiatives Will Result in More Than 1,000 Units in Six States

But his rewrite focuses on the impact, not on the event, of the program.

MORE THAN 1,000 NEW ENGLANDERS TO GAIN AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston Awards $30.3 Million to 48 Projects

2. Lead

In his first draft, Mark crams all of the W’s into a fact pack lead:

The second version shows instead of tells, focusing on specific details about the program’s outcomes. That pulls readers into the story, and it communicates better than a wall of abstraction. Plus, at 24 words, it creates a bridge into the story instead of an obstacle to reading:

3. Nut graph

Mark didn’t write a nut graph for his traditional news release, because inverted pyramids don’t have nut graphs. But in his revision, Mark puts the story into a nutshell in a short nut graph:

4. Background section

In the first draft, Mark gives some context in the quote, then shares perhaps more background information than anyone who doesn’t work at the bank cares to know about how the program works:

In the second version, Mark streamlines the “how it works” section into a short paragraph, then follows up with the context in a more manageable quote:

5. Body

The juicy details are buried in the body of Mark’s first version:

The following communities will benefit from FHLB Boston AHP funds:

The body in the revision covers just the facts of importance to people — and, OK, Google — who may be seeking information about housing in their own communities:

6. Wrapup

Mark ends with a call to action in each version:

But wait! There’s more …

In addition to making his story more compelling, Mark also make it more than 30% more readable. To do so, he:

• Slashed the length of the lead paragraph by 70%
• Cut word count by 37%
• Streamlined sentences by 25%
• Reduced passive voice by 77 percentage points

It’s no surprise that Mark suggested we change the name of our PR-writing Master Class to “The News Release Makeover.”

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When William Faulkner couldn’t figure out how to structure A Fable, he wrote a simple outline — directly onto the wall of his writing sanctuary.

A Fable won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize. Hmmmm … maybe Faulkner was on to something.

You needn’t write on the walls. But you do need to outline. Mind mapping works. Even bullet points on the back of an envelope can help you resolve structural flaws, avoid awkward transitions and write to your word count. (I call this editing before you write.)

“In order to write something big, it really helps me to think of the constituent parts. What are the basic units or elements? What are the chapters? That helps with my research — filling up my chapter files. And it helps with my drafting — writing one chapter at a time.”

— Roy Peter Clark, author, How to Write Short

Whether you’re a fiction writer producing creative writing, a short story writer responding to writing prompts or a corporate communicator cranking out a news release or intranet article, you’re going to need to organize writing projects.

Here’s how five other writers have figured out what goes where — a key step of the writing process:

1. Tom Wolfe outlined.

“I make a very tight outline of everything I write before I write it,” said the author of The Right Stuff.

“By writing an outline you really are writing in a way, because you’re creating the structure of what you’re going to do. Once I really know what I’m going to write, I don’t find the actual writing takes all that long.”

2. Chip Scanlan “collages.”

“Don’t get stuck in linearity,” writes the affiliate faculty member of The Poynter Institute. Instead, he writes in segments, then “collages” the paragraphs and pages together into a whole.

3. Donald M. Murray used Post-its.

“I use a yellow highlighter and Post-it notes,” wrote the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist.

“Since I’m not comfortable using split screens and electronic files to write from, I make a printout of every interview, staple the pages, and spread them out on my desk. I separate the stacks with Post-it notes: pro sources, anti sources, the experts, etcetera.”

4. Vladimir Nabokov used index cards.

Nabokov wrote most of his novels on 3-by-5 cards, keeping blank cards under his pillow for whenever inspiration struck.

5. Ann Wylie uses buckets.

Once you’ve researched your story, it’s time to organize your notes. Here’s how I do it, step-by-step.

“Organization is what you do before you do it, so when you do it, it’s not all messed up.”

— Winnie The Pooh

1. Put your info in buckets. As you gather and organize information, think of your material as “buckets” of like information. Depending on the scope of the project, your buckets might be physical file folders, files on your laptop, Word documents, even bookmarked sections within a Word doc.

For a marketing brochure, for instance, you might have buckets on how the product helps customers:

• Save money
• Make money
• Save time

Each bucket becomes its own section in the body of the piece.

2. Write a ‘lead’ for each bucket. Master writers craft mini feature structures for each section, giving each section its own “lead.”

3. Label your buckets. Make each section easy to find by placing a meaningful subhead before:

• Each section of the body
• The conclusion

If you have three points, you’ll have four subheads — one for each section of the body, and one to divide the body from the conclusion.

That will help you make your thinking visual and your structure clear.

How to organize writing projects

“Prose is architecture. It’s not interior design.”

— Ernest Hemingway, Nobel Prize-winning novelist

Whether you’re writing on the walls or using Google Drive, a lot of times, organizing your writing projects is the hardest part of the writing process. Use these techniques to make the process better, easier and faster.

How do you organize your writing projects?

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Which of these product release leads would you rather read? This one?

Or this one?

Me too. In the first, conventional release lead, I’m not going to make it to the second acronym. But I’ll pay attention to the company and product name in the second — a PRSA Silver Anvil Award winner — because the writer focused on reader benefits first, “us and our stuff” second.

“Present the key element … that explains how your story can benefit Forbes readers.”

— Bruce Upbin, senior editor at Forbes

So lead with the benefits and substantiate with the features. Focus on your reader’s needs first, then follow up with your organization and its products, services and ideas.

“Editors don’t care that ‘Amalgamated Technologies Has Released the New XYZ-2000 Coated Cable Bushing,'” writes Stinson Liles, principal and co-founder at Red Deluxe, “They are much more likely to be interested in ‘Phone Companies Use New Coated Cable Bushing for Difficult Underground Connections.’”

So sell the journalist on your products’ value to the journalist’s readers.

Steal a trick from these Silver Anvil winners.

These benefits leads from PRSA Silver Anvil-winning campaigns are great models of leading with the benefits and substantiating with the features.

Lead with the benefits …

Employers now have a better way to measure, monitor and manage employee absences …

Do you dread shopping for new appliances? Are you tired of being bumped in narrow aisles, searching for customer assistance and even purchasing appliances that don’t fit your needs?

On average, an employer can expect that 10 percent of its employee population will be out on a disability leave during the course of the year. To help employers better understand the types of disabilities affecting their industries and how targeted workplace solutions can mitigate associated costs and employee absences

… Substantiate with the features

… thanks to UnumProvident Corporation’s (NYSE: UNM) expanded online Comparative Reporting & Analysis (CR&A) information services.

If so, the new Northridge-area Maytag store was designed just for you.

… MetLife has made available The MetLife Series on Championing Productivity …

Make the switch.

Sometimes, a small switch is all you need to put the benefits first.

Instead of:

XYZ’s Workbench Sensor Designer tool enables engineers to quickly move from concept to simulation to prototype in a few keystrokes.

Write:

Engineers who typically take weeks to design sensor systems can now complete their designs in minutes, thanks to a new, online design tool.

Instead of:

XYZ Corporation (NYSE: XYZ) today announced that print and copy costs can be reduced up to 20 percent with our new ABC product.

Write:

Organizations can reduce their print and copy costs up to 20 percent with XYZ Corporation’s (NYSE: XYZ) new ABC product.

Instead of:

Everquest “Seeds of Destruction” is the new expansion for the Everquest video game franchise.

Write:

Gamers can level up their character to 85 in the latest expansion of Everquest’s “Seeds of Destruction.”

Next time you write a press release, brochure or newsletter article, put the reader benefits first.

“There’s nothing wrong with a story about a new product,” says Stephany Romanow-Garcia, senior process editor, Hydrocarbon Processing. “But readers want to know, ‘How am I going to use it?’ I’m not interested in ‘new and improved.”

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The background might be an important component of your story. After all, the readers might need some of the following elements to fully understand your story:

• A definition
• A short description of a key concept
• A one-paragraph history of the subject
• Additional facts or details that give context to the story or “prove” your point

Background comes third

But readers don’t need this material first. That’s why you:

• Grab your readers’ attention in the lead
• Make your point in the nut paragraph
• Then fill in the blanks in the background section

Remember, the background comes third.

Start specific, then broaden your lens

Good story structure starts with the details, then expands to the background.

Don’t start wide, then get granular

Background:

XYZ Company is known around the world for exceptional-quality petroleum-based pet food solutions.

Nut graph:

Many people may not know that XYZ Company is also building a global reputation for energy-efficient operations.

Lead:

In just the last year, XYZ Company has saved 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. That’s the amount of energy used by 9,500 typical homes each year.

Instead, start with the details, then broaden to the background:

Start with the specifics

… Then expand to the background.

Lead:

XYZ Company saved 100 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year — enough to fuel 9,500 typical homes a year.

Nut graph:

It’s all part of XYZ Company’s new mission to build a global reputation for energy-efficient operations.

Background:

XYZ Company — maker of petroleum-based pet food solutions — is going green by …

So start with the lead, follow up with the nut graph and then deliver the background.

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Web visitors spend 74% of their time on the first two screens, just 26% on all remaining screens, according to the Nielsen Norman Group

So don’t blow your top.

To reach mobile web visitors up top, communicate the gist of the message in the first four elements of the web page:

1. Headline

Tell the story, don’t tell about the story. “Hallmark doubles profit-sharing contribution,” for instance, not “Benefits changes announced.”

And don’t even get me started on label headlines: “Benefits changes” is not a headline.

Before:

Preventing and declaring conflicts of interest

This buries the topic behind 25 characters worth of –inging words. Plus, it’s unclear: Who’s preventing? Who’s declaring?

After:

Conflicts of interest: How do you handle?

This moves the topic to the top and clarifies who’s responsible.

2. Deck.

Deliver a secondary angle for news stories and a summary for benefits and feature stories. Don’t drop this essential element: 95% of web page visitors look at the deck.

Before: The writer dropped the deck, missing 25% of her chance to get the word out within the top four elements of the story.

After:

Conduct all your business ethically with our new policy

The new deck adds the benefit to the readers and introduces the new policy.

3. Lead

Show, don’t tell. Leads that illustrate the point with concrete material like stories bring the point to life for readers. And they draw 300% more readers and 520% more reading, according to a split test by Alex Turnbull and the Groove HQ.

Before:

I think I’d read 520% more of this if it were 15% more colorful.

After:

Just a light touch of detail makes this piece more engaging, puts the reader in the story and brings the message to life.

4. Nut graph

Put the story into a nutshell in the second paragraph. Don’t drop the deck: 95% of web page visitors read the deck, so it’s a key element for communicating to skimmers and other nonreaders in a hurry.

Before:

I’m sure this is all true, but it doesn’t define the story and move it forward. I’d consider this background rather than a nut graph.

After:

Here, we make the story snappier and get that policy link up among the first four elements.

Now test it.

Now email those first four elements to yourself and test them on your smartphone.

Can you get the gist of the story from the first four elements? If so, congratulations! You pass the 1-2-3-4 test.

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