Structure That Carries
Pyramid, SCQA, PREP — scaffolding for any message.
- ✓Group supporting points under one governing idea
- ✓Use SCQA to frame a problem before proposing a solution
- ✓Reach for PREP when you need to be persuasive on your feet
Clear thinking shows up as clear structure. Three reusable scaffolds — the Pyramid Principle, SCQA, and PREP — let you organize any message so the listener never has to hold loose pieces in their head.
The Pyramid Principle
Start with a single governing message at the top. Beneath it, group your supporting arguments into a small number of buckets (ideally three). Each bucket is itself supported by facts. The reader can stop at any level and still have a complete, coherent thought. Avoid lists of ten parallel points — group them.
SCQA for framing problems
Situation (what's stable and agreed), Complication (what changed or went wrong), Question (the question that complication raises), Answer (your recommendation). SCQA earns buy-in because the audience agrees with your framing before they hear your solution.
PREP for speaking persuasively
Point, Reason, Example, Point. Make your claim, give the reason it's true, ground it in a concrete example, then restate the claim. It's a fast, repeatable shape for answering a question with conviction instead of rambling.
Working memory holds only about three to four 'chunks' at once (Cowan's research), so grouping support into ≤3 buckets — the 'rule of three' — is far easier to hold and recall than a flat list. SCQA and the Minto Pyramid Principle are the structuring tools taught in MIT Sloan's management-communication courses and McKinsey's writing training.
Before & after
We have a lot of issues — support tickets are up, the app is slow on Android, churn ticked up, the new pricing confused people, and engineering is stretched thin.
Our retention problem has three drivers: a degraded Android experience, confusing new pricing, and slower support response. I'll take each in turn.
I think we should move to quarterly planning. It would help a lot of things and I have a few reasons.
We should move to quarterly planning (Point). Annual plans go stale by month three in our market (Reason). Last year we re-forecast revenue twice and re-cut the roadmap once — work we'd have avoided with shorter cycles (Example). Quarterly planning keeps us honest without constant churn (Point).
Practice
Write a response, then get coached. Revise and re-score as many times as you like — iteration is the point.