Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them and tell them again!

Attributed to many greats, including Aristotle, I can’t remember who shared this philosophy with me many years ago. It’s something I learnt as a trainer back in the late 90’s, and you may have also heard this quote before…

“Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you’ve told them”.

And it’s something that stuck.

Putting together a lesson plan before delivering a programme, I’d set the objectives, tell my audience what they were going to learn, then tell them what I’d planned to tell them.

And, at the end, I’d summarise the information by telling them again. Thus, reinforcing the key messages.

It’s something to remember when putting together a training session or a talk, and it’s also good to consider when writing a book, as it will help your book to seamlessly flow from one idea to another.

Let me break this down for you.

1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them.

In last week’s email, I talked about your book hook. A good introduction will engage your reader immediately, capturing their attention in the first few seconds.

Plus, you’ll be telling them what they’ll get from the book, who it’s for, and why they should read it. Alongside the themes and ideas that you’re including.

But equally, when it comes to writing your individual chapters, being clear on the purpose behind each chapter is important. And telling your reader what you’re going to be covering.

When I was doing the aforementioned planning day, we made sure that every chapter had a key theme. Being a memoir style book, we focused on one concept at a time. Thus making it easy for the reader – and certainly important – making it easier to write!

2. Tell them

This is where you’ll share your relevant content that you’ve already introduced at the beginning of the chapter.

Knowing which order you’re going to share it in, so that it makes sense to your reader, is essential.

I was talking about this with another client last week.

I suggested she imagined she was standing in front of her ideal reader, without any two-way dialogue, and asked her to think about the order in which she would share the information.

What do people need to know first, second, third, fourth…?

And then one piece of information needs to logically link or segue to the next one. Which is why a good plan is important before you start writing.

3. Tell them what you’ve told them

Once you’ve told your reader what you want to tell them. And you’ve told them. It’s time to remind them what you’ve told them. 😊

For an information book, how to guide or self-help book, this could be a summary of what they’ve learnt, some top tips or actions. Anything that reminds them of the salient points that you’ve shared. The things they need to remember.

For a memoir style book, this may be the things you wish you’d known before that moment in time. Or the concepts that may help your reader now. Relatable to the theme of the chapter of course.

A good book takes your reader on a journey.

So, being clear on the flow, what you’re including and what you’re not, as well as finding out what they want to hear are all important things to consider.

What are you going to tell your reader in your book?

Have you remembered to tell them and tell them again?

There’s nothing I like better than making it easy to write your book. That’s why the Smart Author System shares my 10 principles to help you to write a book that flows and also helps you to build your business. Interested in finding out more? Click this link and you can join our growing community of authors who are successfully writing their credibility books and are already showing up in a bigger way!