An incredibly simple and effective technique I’ve been using to help when I’m reviewing a draft article.
When I’m doing my read through, I simply drop one of these three words in as I go: ‘Examples’, ‘Expand’, ‘Evidence’. By scrawling these simple words in the margins or as a note in a digital document I’m able to move through the entire document without getting caught up in the detail straight away.
Then I know I can come back and add the relevant content.
Here’s how I would use them:
Examples – some real world (perhaps anonymous) case studies or examples to illustrate the point I’m making
Expand – where I simply need to share more, give better guidance, or add more content. Often this includes frameworks, tools, and detail
Evidence – what provable evidence is there to back up my assertion? Are there papers or thinking I can use to clarify or prove a point. Do I need to find a statistic to underline my point?
Very neat approach that is helping me a lot.
If you’re working in a team, sharing this ‘examples, expand, evidence’ technique is a great way to give top line feedback on a document, which your content creator / Editor can then go away and work with.
Hope it’s helpful!
Andy.