Pyramid Principle book Barbara Minto

["W words" <wongword -at- ozemail -dot- com -dot- au>]

Communicators all

I'm just starting to read "The Pyramid Principle" by Barbara Minto, 1987. It
is subtitled "the international bestseller on logic in writing and
thinking". I assume that is is still a good seller because there is
generally a copy always available in book shops here in Sydney.

It was written while she was at McKinsey and she worked with consultants. I
cannot find a web page for her or her own company. I understand she teaches
this principle.

I can only find 2 references to this in the archives and both were from the
same person. I can't find any other reviews of it. I first heard about it
from  a speaker at our annual ASTC (NSW) conference some years ago. I don't
remember what she said about it except that it was hard to read /heavy going
(or something like that). I don't even remember in what context it was
mentioned.

Have you read it? How relevant it is to our work? It seems more relevant to
report writing rather than writing help.

My initial reaction, and I've only just started the book, is that I do
structure my writing this way. (Creating a table of contents has been one of
my most useful tools in writing as well as in editing.) However, I know that
she goes into much more detail than this later in the book.

What should I be particularly looking out for in this book? ie any warnings
or any gems to seek out?

Any comments you have would be most welcomed. I suggest you post them to the
list. In view of the fact that this book doesn't seem to get mentioned among
us, this may be a good opportunity for all of us to hear your reviews.

Regards
Irene Wong
Sydney