What Corporate Communicators Can Learn From the Newspaper Lead

Photo by Zahra Amiri on Unsplash

When it comes to writing a compelling news article, most journalists know the vital importance of squeezing a story's essence into the first few sentences. The newspaper lead serves a dual purpose: it makes editing easier when the paper goes to print (just cut from the bottom up) and ensures that the audience gets what it needs, even if their attention wavers later. There is something humble about the news lead: here's what you need to know, and feel free to stick around if you want to know more.

In contrast, business executives often waste precious time with bloviating corporate statements, assuming that hapless employees will stick around for the entire message and all the grandiose throat clearing it involves. There's a lot that corporate communicators can learn from reading newspaper leads. In a traditional inverted pyramid structure, a newspaper lead gives all the information you need right on top, while still compelling the reader to proceed.

In this blog post, we'll explore how the humble news lead can offer valuable insights to corporate communications. We'll analyze an example from The New York Times and discover how corporate executives can frontload information, use strong verbs and heavy nouns, and provide context for their audience.

The Power of a Strong Lead

Newspaper leads are the opening sentences of a news article that convey the most important information in a concise and captivating way. In a traditional inverted pyramid structure, a newspaper lead gives readers all the information they need upfront while still compelling them to read on.

For example, consider this lead from The New York Times:

"Donetsk Region, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Russian forces traded fresh blows on Sunday near Sievierodonetsk, military authorities and analysts said, as Moscow renewed its push toward the city, one of the last major Ukrainian strongholds in a key part of the east."

This lead is full of excellent stuff. The strong verbs like "traded" and "renewed" and the action-packed nouns like "blows" and "push" convey a sense of urgency and physicality that draws the reader in. It's a dense brick of information that's still easy to read and captivating.

By attributing the information to military authorities and analysts, the lead gains credibility, and the mention of Sievierodonetsk as a major Ukrainian stronghold in the East provides geographical context and significance. By providing this context, the reader can understand the significance of the conflict and its place in the broader narrative.

Frontloading Information

Frontloading information is crucial for engaging your audience and keeping them interested. As William Zinsser once said, "The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn't induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead." This is because the first sentence sets the tone for the rest of the communication, and can make or break the reader's interest.

Frontloading information isn't about handing out spoilers or revealing the punchline too soon. Rather, it's a confident assertion that your content is strong enough to keep the reader engaged, even when they know where you're headed. It's like serving the most delicious appetizer that's so satisfying, your guests can't wait for the main course.

This strategy is a nod of respect to your audience's time. It bypasses the fluff and filler, setting the agenda right from the outset. By diving straight into the heart of your message, you honor your reader's attention, inviting them to stay engaged throughout your communication.

Neglecting to frontload can risk losing your audience before you've even delivered your key message. By taking a leaf out of the journalist's book and leading with the important details, corporate leaders can better engage their audience. This approach not only fosters stronger brand recognition but also enhances your reputation in the eyes of stakeholders, signaling that you value their time and attention.

Using Strong Verbs and Loaded Nouns

Let’s go back to that New York Times lead and pretend it was written instead by a less experienced reporter. It could have read:

"Donetsk Region, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Russian forces experienced an exchange of hostilities on Sunday near Sievierodonetsk, according to military authorities and analysts, as Moscow continued its push toward the city, one of the last major Ukrainian strongholds in a key part of the east."

In this weak version, the verbs "experienced" and "continued" are vague and don't convey much energy or momentum. The nouns "exchange of hostilities" and "push" are also weak and lack impact. This version lacks the dynamism and urgency of the original version, and is less engaging and compelling as a result.

Corporate language is especially prone to using weak verbs and abstract nouns that don't lend themselves to a relatable visual in the reader's mind. Consider the following example:

• Weak: "She will oversee a transformation of the department."

• Strong: "She will transform the department."

The verb "oversee" is a common culprit of weak corporate language. When paired with a noun like "transformation," it creates an awkward construction that lacks energy and impact. It's like putting the brakes on a fast-moving train.

However, when we free the verb that's hidden dormant in such nouns, we can create communication that's more engaging and memorable. In the case of "transformation," the verb "transform" is the hidden gem that we can unleash to create a more dynamic and engaging sentence. By doing so, we can create a sense of energy and action that draws the reader in and keeps them interested.

• Weak: "We need to strategize on how to increase our market share."

• Strong: "We need to seize more of the market."

In the weak example, the verb "strategize" is vague and abstract, while the noun "market share" is a technical term that doesn't convey a sense of action or momentum. In contrast, the strong example uses the verb "seize" to convey a sense of urgency and action, making it a more compelling and relatable sentence.

Contextualization

Contextualizing is the process of giving your communication a frame of reference, so that your audience can understand the significance of what you're saying. This is particularly important in corporate communications, where there is often a lot of jargon and technical terms that may not be familiar to the average reader.

Jargon is an in-language full of cliches and empty phrases that we take for granted, and whose meaning has been stripped away and forgotten over time. Using jargon in corporate communication can be a way of demonstrating expertise and knowledge, but it can also be a way of alienating your audience and making them feel excluded from the conversation.

As Haruki Murakami reflects in The Guardian, learning to write in a second language can be a powerful way to shed the burden of cliché and jargon in your native tongue. "The language had to be simple, my ideas expressed in an easy-to-understand way, the descriptions stripped of all extraneous fat, the form made compact, and everything arranged to fit a container of limited size,” he says about writing in English.

To be truly effective, corporate communication must be empathetic to the needs of the audience. This means putting yourself in the shoes of the reader and considering what they need to know and how they will receive the information. Let's be real, without the New York Times identifying Sievierodonetsk as one of the last major Ukrainian strongholds in a key part of the east, it's a fair bet that very few people would have any idea where in the world it was, let alone its position in the broader context of the war.

In corporate communication, it's important to give your audience concise but effective context to help orient them. By doing so, you can make sure that your message is understood and appreciated, and that your communication goals are achieved with greater success.

By taking these lessons to heart, corporate communications can become a more effective tool for organizations to communicate with their stakeholders and achieve their goals. Remember, don't worry about spoiling the ending. Your audience will thank you for getting to the point quickly and effectively.