Daphne Gray-Grant

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Oct. 10/06

Getting the message of the Venn Diagram

How a math concept you learned in grade 5 can dramatically improve your writing

Are you selfish? Do you tend to think your problems are more important than those of other people? In conversation, do you often try to turn the topic back to yourself?

I ask not to help you channel your inner Cosmo girl or Esquire guy, but to help you improve your writing. That’s because if you answered yes to one or more of these questions, your writing is less effective than it should be. Why?

It's not all about you

You don’t see things from your reader’s point of view. Lost in the fog of your own concerns you write from your own, limited perspective. When you plan an article or report, you approach it from the view: “Here’s what I want to get across. Here’s what I think is important.”

It’s all I-I-I, me-me-me.

But I know you’re not really and truly a selfish person. You just need your head turned around (gently!) So let me do that by reminding you of a very simple math concept you probably learned back when you were in short pants or pig tails.

Think back, think waaaaaaaaay back, to grade 5. Do you remember sitting at your desk for arithmetic? Perhaps on a day much like today, your teacher  Ms Jones or Miss Francis or Mr. Brown walked to the blackboard and drew two circles on it. You may even have nudged the kid sitting next to you. “Hey,” you said. “Teacher made a mistake. Those circles are on top of each other.”

The wonder of the Venn Diagram

Then your teacher turned to the class and said “Children, this is a Venn Diagram. Can you say Venn Diagram??”

In case you’ve lost Venn Diagrams to the recesses of time, let me remind you that they show the intersection between two groups or ideas. For example, circle A may represent all the food that human beings eat. And circle B may represent all the food that horses eat. And the part where the two circles come together (called AB) represents all the food that BOTH eat – you know, stuff like corn, oats and apples.

When I teach people to write, I often ask them to think of a Venn diagram. Part A is what they want to write about, part B is what the reader wants to read about, and part AB is where those two interests overlap.

But let’s make it simpler with a real-life example or two. Let’s say you’re a human resources consultant and you want to write an article about a special tool you’ve developed for increasing employee retention.

Why you should talk about the other person first

Of course you want to talk about your tool (and nothing but your tool). But wait! Aren’t your readers more likely to be interested if you begin by describing the problems they face? If you can paint a picture of the true costs of losing employees (and, in graphic detail, all the pain involved in that), you’re much more likely to engage them because they’re going to feel you really understand their point of view. Then, and only then, will they be receptive to hearing about your tool.

Or here’s another example. You want to write about a new type of backpack your company has just launched for kids (circle A). What are your readers interested in? Well maybe they’re worried that little Johnnie and little Janie are developing back problems from all the heavy books they’re carting back and forth to school (circle B). So “AB” is an article about how back injuries have become a serious problem for children, and how your pack’s special strapping system helps prevent these problems.

Writing to win

The main thing to remember, is that AB is about satisfying both needs. It’s about win-win.

When you write, think Venn Diagram, think AB, and no one will ever call you selfish again.

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