Tell a Story

People don't care about your products or features. They care about what your product enables them to do. The best way to communicate this value proposition is a story. History has taught us that one of the most effect ways of passing on information is to use a story. We have been learning from stories, ever since childhood.

The general elements of a story are the situation, complication and solution or resolution. Good examples of this approach are found in newspaper articles. Instead of building a long technical argument that arrives at a logical conclusion, get to your point up front and let the audience decide if they want or need to read on to get more detail.

Here is a short example from my current product:

"Every organization depends on the reliable movement of files, from batch integration, to the movement of large images or catalogs, to the synchronization of remote locations or disaster-recovery sites (situation). When organizations depend on unreliable FTP, valuable IT resources are used to answer the “Where is my file” question (complication).

In this new era of rigorous security and shorter processing windows, Connect:Direct is the point-to-point file transfer software optimized for high-volume, secure, assured delivery of files within and among enterprises (solution)."

Even better if you can get a customer to tell the story, which adds credibility and can provide a personal connection point for the audience.

To learn more about building your stories, you might want to slog through the Minto Pryramid Principle. (Long read but some good logic on how to make your writing clearer)