Matt Abrahams

If you've ever watched a television ad, most ads are in the structure of problem, solution, benefit.

There's some issue or challenge in the world, the product or service makes it better, and you benefit in some way.

That's a structure.

There's a logical connection.

It's like a story.

It's a beginning, middle, and an end.

And our brains are wired for that.

We understand story better than just a random list of things.

I'll joke with my students.

Bullets killed don't put a lot of bullet points on a slide because you're not helping yourself.

So in that interaction you had with your graduate student, I wonder if she would have understood it better had you structured the information in a way that's logical.

A great structure for that might have been three questions.

What, so what, now what?

Here's what I want you to do.

Here's why it's important.

Here's the next steps to help you accomplish it.

All of a sudden, it becomes easier for me to digest and understand.

So structure is critical to helping get messages across.

Right.

I love that you are taking the time to have those interactions where you get feedback in real time.