BUS210: Business Communication

Watch this video, which focuses on copywriting, and introduces a writing structure known as the inverted pyramid, which focuses on addressing the "who", "what", "where", "when", "why", and "how" elements in a message. To become more familiar with this structure, read the first two paragraphs of a few news stories. By the second paragraph of most stories, the reporter will have identified most of the "5Ws" and maybe the "H". Don't lose track of this speaker's point: the inverted pyramid is an effective way to write sales messages, too, especially if you can't come up with a more creative way. Once you've examined some examples of news stories that use the inverted pyramid, choose a product at random, and describe its unique value proposition. As an exercise, describe the "5Ws" and "H" that would frame a sales letter about that product.