A guide to the Minto Pyramid

As a product manager, you need to have great communication skills so that you can articulate your product vision, requirements, and results. To help with this, you can use communication tools.

Communication tools remove the guesswork by providing you with an adaptable framework to apply to a range of use cases. One of these, the Minto Pyramid, presents ideas clearly and logically. Barbara Minto developed the Minto Pyramid in her 1985 book, “The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking.”

This article explains the Minto Pyramid in detail, covering the main components, when and why to use it, and challenges you may face.

What is the Minto Pyramid?

The Minto Pyramid helps you structure communications. It has you start with the conclusion, before working through more detailed, supporting arguments, and further information.

When visualized, this information appears as a pyramid:

How is the Minto Pyramid structured?

The Minto Pyramid approach structures ideas hierarchically, starting with the main idea at the top and breaking it down into sub-ideas or supporting arguments below.

As you progress, you group information into categories that summarize your data, making it easier to understand overarching themes.

The 3 main components of the Minto Pyramid

The Minto Pyramid relies on three main components:

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The main idea

The main idea serves as the central message or key point that you cover with your content. It sits at the top of the pyramid and should be clear to an audience without having to dive deeper.

You can think of this as a great headline, title, or a statement. For example:

• Next year will be the year of AI for our product
• The growth of AI will be key to our customer experience improvement
• Our expansion into social media sales will double our next year revenue
• The next quarter will see a product focus on operational excellence

The supporting content

Supporting content contains the primary arguments or explanations that support the main idea. They expand upon the main idea and form the second layer of the pyramid.

These could be key areas that led to your conclusion. For, “Our expansion into social media sales will double our next year revenue” the supporting content might include:

• Our TikTok following has increased from 50k to 250k in the current year
• Instagram ecommerce customers have increased to 130 million
• WhatsApp now has over 2 billion users

By understanding these supplementary points you would feel more confident about doubling your social media sales, as the indicators point toward success.

The data and the detail

Finally, each element of supporting content should be backed up by specific data and evidence. These make up the lower layers of the pyramid and in the example might demonstrate specific areas of social media that could be targeted. For instance, you might say:

• Our current TikTok revenue stands are $20k per week, with three posts per week. Publishing daily content with an SKU per day is targeted to deliver $20k of additional revenue per day
• Our current Instagram revenue is $10k per week, however, cross-publishing out TikTok content can drive a further $15k of additional revenue per day
• Setting up our WhatsApp business account can provide a new channel for our products and targets are $20k per week in the first year

As you go down the pyramid, there should be a logical flow of arguments with detailed information gathered to support previous arguments.

When to use the Minto Pyramid

The Minto Pyramid can be used in a variety of situations to help deliver information in a clear, concise, and logical way. Some of the most common use cases include:

• Presenting strategies, roadmaps, business plans, or project updates
• Delivering reports to provide clear and structured analysis and recommendations to clients
• Writing memos, emails, and documents that are easy to understand and follow
• Breaking down complex problems into manageable parts and developing clear solutions

Challenges in using the Minto Pyramid

As with any principle or framework, challenges can emerge. In the case of the Minto Pyramid, these tend to be:

Rejection of the main idea

Because the Minto Pyramid leads with the main idea, the audience can end up rejecting an idea without hearing the rest of the information about it. If the report or presentation were reversed, an audience member may agree with the majority of the supporting information but might differ on the main point raised.

Leading with the main idea helps weed ideas quicker, however you also run the risk of giving up on something prematurely. A lot rests on the effectiveness of how you describe your main idea.

Limited collaboration

Again, by starting with the main idea, you may have a limited opportunity for the audience to collaborate and help determine a solution.

Any suggestions made by the audience might also be difficult to implement with limited group involvement.

In summary

By employing the Minto Pyramid, you can enhance your ability to convey complex information in a clear, concise, and compelling manner. To help you out, remember these basics:

Good luck and comment with any questions you may have!

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