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The First Rule of Professional Writing: Don’t Bury the Lede

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If you’re a content creator, it’s essential to also be a heavy consumer of content.

To write authoritatively and informatively, you need to stay current with what thought leaders, influencers, and industry experts are talking about, and that means consuming content – whether in the form of news articles, industry journals, social media, videos, or whatever channel you prefer.

As an avid content consumer, one of the most common, easily correctable mistakes I see is known as “burying the lede.” (The term began being spelled as “lede” at mid-20th century newspapers to avoid confusion with references to the printing press, which was made of “lead” metal. It doesn’t seem all that complicated to me, and it makes you wonder how often the two terms were used interchangeably that it really became that much of a problem, but we’ll move on.)

Stated succinctly, the “lede” is the most important, newsworthy part of the story. It answers two critical questions that every reader asks themselves, whether consciously or subconsciously, when beginning to engage with any piece of content: What is this about, and why should I care?

When writers bury the lede, they test their readers’ patience and increase the likelihood that readers will bail out before reaching the end.

The MLA Style Center offers this example of a buried lede: Say that two people died in a house fire, but the article mentions the location, time, or cause of the fire prior to the occurrence of the deaths.

The lesson is just as applicable to health IT thought leadership as it is to basic journalism. Maybe you believe Medicare Advantage needs to be expanded because it offers seniors a low-cost way to access non-traditional medical benefits that can improve health outcomes. Alternatively, maybe you think Medicare Advantage is a government-sponsored corporate giveaway that large insurers have exploited to fraudulently inflate their profits by billions. 

Either position is defensible. Simply stake your position out, concisely explain why you feel that way, and do it while you’ve still got the reader’s attention.

In other words, say it clearly, and say it early. (This is also known in writing circles as the “nut graf” and if you’re sensing an unfortunate trend in these naming conventions, you’re not alone.)

“Burying the lede” isn’t a topic that lends itself to the blog or listicle format of “X Helpful Tips.” Just be aware that the problem is real and rampant, remain conscious of it, and don’t do it.

Simply answer the two magic clarifying questions – “What is this article talking about and why should anyone care?” – at or near the top of anything you write, and the problem is solved.

AI Prompt Ninjas Of The World Unite!

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Now that some of the initial hype and hysteria surrounding generative AI has ebbed, perhaps it’s time to take a clear-eyed look at what the technology really means to marketing (and specifically, the content creation community).

I was on a call with a client recently and, just like so many of these conversations with those in healthcare IT go these days, the conversation turned to AI. “No one is losing their job to ChatGPT,” he said. This made me think back to the flurry of coverage that stemmed from a Washington Post article published a few months ago telling about a young content writer who claimed she lost her job to ChatGPT.

In the following weeks, when the alarms were sounded predicting the demise of human-generated content, my BS meter’s needle pegged into the red.

If you hear “content” and think “long-form thought leadership” or “white paper” or “contributed byline article” or “executive presentation” then you’re not alone. But all too often, these forms of true content are lumped in with the mountains of text blurbs, Google ads, and meta descriptions that command much of the time of “copywriters.” This “stuff” isn’t really content; its main purpose is to spur search rankings. It’s marketing spam.

Whether it’s Perplexity.ai, ProWritingAid, QuillBot, WordTune, Claude.ai, Jounce, Copy.ai, or the good old instigator, ChatGPT, you can find a platform that will readily churn out passable short-form stuff. Some can even produce a serviceable low-level (read: throw-away) press release. That said, they all still require a degree of handholding and some level of prompt savvy to pull off it on the first or second try without a lot of editing.

But when it comes to the longer stuff –– the content that requires thoughtful, deliberate *human* writing –– these tools have a long way to go. Will they get there? Maybe. However, in our lifetime they will still require some form of human assistance.

Sure, you could lay off your internal writing resources, fire your agency, and disband your freelance corps, but to ensure that the new AI replacements are doing what they’re intended to do, you’ll probably need to hire an entire new crew of specialists to keep things above board.

First, you’ll need a stable of AI Prompt Ninjas –– folks who are conversant in all platforms’ prompt quirks and shortcuts. Solid generative AI prompts that result in semi-decent copy are sometimes as long as the end result itself. Think about that. Generative AI prompts are now a bona fide cottage industry.

Then you’ll need a few Veracity Verifiers to, well, verify the veracity of the end products. These AI platforms are notorious for their hallucinations, mistakes, and outright baloney. If you want a great example of how off-base the results can be, simply ask any platform to write an executive bio about you. The results are often hilarious.

And don’t forget a team of editors who can paraphrase the AI-generated copy to not only make it sound human (these things are devoid of creativity), but to blur out any potentially plagiarized passages from existing content that the AI models were trained on. And finally, while you’re filling out new-hire requisitions with HR, the in-house legal team will require the services of at least one specialist trained in the fine art of plagiarism defense.

While it may seem that generative AI has “arrived” and will usurp its human overlords in their vocations, the truth is that it remains a tool. In many applications, it’s an amazing tool. But it has a long way to go, and much to learn from us before it conquers the content universe.

Writing For Humans And Search Engines Like Google Is Not Mutually Exclusive

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When I served as Content Marketing Director for a telehealth startup, I learned a lot. Mostly, I discovered it’s possible to write great content for people’s enjoyment, education, and readability, while also writing for search engines like Google. This was during the pandemic, and telehealth was taking off in a big way as a crucial and safe solution for patients to connect with their providers. 

At the time, everybody was searching for answers about telehealth – office managers at independent physician practices, IT leaders at the largest health systems in America, and consumers of all ages, from teens to seniors. It was this big telehealth pivot that provided new insights about creating readable-yet-searchable content.

I recognized it’s possible to address human readability while ensuring high-ranking content. In fact, it’s not only doable, but also necessary so that people searching for answers can find helpful, readable content.

Earlier in my career, I was told you couldn’t do both — that writing for humans and Google were mutually exclusive. That’s not true, and content creators can deliver engaging and easy-to-understand content for readers that is optimized for search engines to drive traffic to your website and raise awareness for your brand. The trick is generating high-value information that answers the top-of-mind questions from your target audience and provides easy-to-understand content incorporating relevant keywords in the storytelling. To achieve this content “holy grail,” writers should have a basic understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices, especially for on-page SEO must-dos.

When you balance SEO with the reader experience, you can generate powerful results. All this is truer with thought leadership communications, in which content strategies aim to establish a company or brand as an expert – and “trusted authority.”  

Here are some tips to help writers create content for both humans and Google:

  • Survey Your Target Audience: If you can, conduct a quick survey of your target audience to ascertain their most urgent, burning questions. If you can’t, get with those closest to your customer/prospect organizations – such as sales leaders or customer success experts — and interview them to learn what they believe the top-of-mind questions might be.  Answering these questions can drive your content plan.
  • Create a Working Title: Draft a working headline that strategically differentiates your company or brand and succinctly articulates the storyline you believe is essential to tell your target audience. Headlines are powerful as they deliver — in a short bit of copy — the strategic intent of the story. As you write working titles, know they can and usually will improve, especially with feedback from content reviewers and experts included along the way in your collaborative review process.
  • Conduct Keyword Research: Good writers conduct thorough keyword research using tools like MozPro, SEMRush, and others to identify the keywords and phrases readers most frequently use to search for answers online. Doing keyword research for content is different than for paid ads, where you may look at the competition and identify costs for purchasing those keywords. For organic content, SEO research is inspiring because you can see which keywords are popular and used most often for searches, as well as which may hold “white space” and could be ownable.  This should be conducted for each strategic piece of content. This research helps ensure the content you are creating is relevant and of value — optimized for search engines people use every second of every day. It’s essential to limit to 1-2 keywords or phrases that make the most sense per each content piece, given the strategic intent of your storyline and your working title. This research phase also can change your working title and probably should!
  • Naturally, Incorporate Keywords. Use keywords in the content, but use them strategically and sparingly. Keywords should fit naturally in the heading, subheadings, and the first 100 words of the piece. Make sure you incorporate the keywords in a way that helps both the human reader and the search engine. After all, when we are all Googling, we want to be served up the most trusted and easy-to-review content that answers our questions. Remember to use keywords in the file names of images you post with the copy, in the alt text, and the meta tag. 
  • Think About the Reader’s Experience. As you pull your content together, focus on creating an engaging, informative, and easy-to-understand story. Use visuals like photos, infographics, and even videos embedded within the content for a superior reader experience. Keep it tight, though, as nobody has time to read 2,500 words. Go for the sweet spot of 800-1200 words, if you can.
  • Optimize for Search. Google rewards those who do this best! Your content should have internal and external links to trusted sites. Ensure that the content is well-structured and easy to navigate.
  • Deliver High Value. Make sure your content is valuable and informative for readers. You will  know when you read it and when you write it. And if you are creating Thought Leadership content, infuse a bold point of view with authenticity. As you read your first draft, ask yourself, is this insightful and useful information? Will a reader enjoy reading this? Does this content make an impact?

As content creators today, we should think about humans and about the search engines like Google that can ultimately deliver your content to a broader readership (of humans). Addressing both forces will result in online content best worthy of answering questions from top searches and telling an engaging story.

Adaptability Is Key To Surviving In The Changing Media Landscape

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Blink and the media landscape changes: a magazine goes out of business, one company acquires another, a podcast launches.

Blink again and something else has changed.

In the nearly 20 years since I founded Amendola Communications, the media landscape for healthcare and healthcare technology has changed dramatically. Publications that I assumed would last forever are long gone while others have sprouted in their place. The dominant medium has shifted from print to digital and the lead time for news has shrunk from days and weeks to, well, almost nothing.  

The number of journalists covering healthcare is also greatly reduced. The big publications once had mastheads with multiple editors and reporters; now, most have only a few and they’re juggling podcasting and social media duties along with reporting and writing.

I hate to see any media outlet vanish. That’s partly for selfish reasons; fewer outlets means fewer places we can pitch. But it’s also because I love journalism and I love helping clients get their news out.

But nostalgia is an indulgence, not a business model.

That’s why, amidst all the change, Amendola Communications remains focused on the constants: the need for companies to spread the word about their products and services and the interest in them among the industry. While there might be fewer media outlets now, there is more healthcare news and content than ever before and it’s just as important to get it seen.

So we’ve adapted our approach. Rather than primarily pitching media interviews, we now do a lot more content development where we conceive a story idea, pitch it to a media outlet, and then have one of our writers create a draft that is vendor-neutral and publishable.

Another example of adaptability is how we’ve had to change our approach to media interviews at key trade shows, such as HIMSS, HLTH and others. Instead of only relying on in-person interviews at the shows, we have been super-aggressive in securing more podcast and video interview opportunities for our clients as well as focusing on pre-and-post show news coverage.

We also now operate in a world where clients are less dependent on third-party outlets. Companies have acquired the ability to speak directly to customers through their own blogs, emails, websites, social media, webinars, podcasts and, in some cases, publications. Indeed, consumers now expect a more direct link with and greater insight into the companies they work with and those businesses can no longer depend on third-party media to provide that.

This good news is that this allows businesses to be more creative, comprehensive and in control of how their images are presented and how their stories are told. A big part of what we do now at Amendola is creating content for our customers and advising them on the best format for that information.

In an ever-changing environment, the greatest necessity for ourselves and our clients is adaptability in how we craft and deliver our messages.

The Real Secret to Creating Great Content

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Probably the greatest single piece of advice I’ve ever heard about content creation didn’t come from a college class/professional course, or a boss/mentor, or any other supposed expert source. Instead, it came from the movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” Here it is:

Yes, it’s said in anger and frustration as part of a much longer rant. The whole piece is brutally painful as well as brutally funny.

But within the comedy is a true pearl of wisdom: Try having a point. 

Death of a story

We see this all the time. Someone at an organization recognizes that they need to produce content to demonstrate the organization’s expertise so they can gain a competitive advantage.

The organization’s subject matter experts (SMEs), who are very knowledgeable and have strong views on the topics in their wheelhouses, share their ideas and experience with the marketing team and PR agency. They have the makings of a great story that will capture attention and position the organization as a leader in the market.

The content is produced, and it captures the passion and expertise of the SMEs. Then the review rounds start, and by the time the organization is done scrubbing the content what was once a fat, juicy steak has been sanitized until it is reduced to a piece of limp broccoli that will be of interest to exactly no one including an editor.

Sometimes it takes the form of genericizing the content until it sounds like something a high school senior would turn in for a composition class after the grades have already been posted. It’s serviceable, grammatically correct and decently organized, but it no longer conveys the fire that the SME felt for the topic.

Basically, any sense of personality has been removed. That’s bad enough.

Worse are the reviews that take an interesting, informative piece and convert it into a blatant marketing piece for the organization. That might work on the organization’s website, but it won’t fly if you’re trying to get it past an editor for earned (read: non-paid) media.

Of course, even if you could make it past that gatekeeper, there’s really nothing in it for the reader. If they wanted to read marketingspeak they would have gone to your website.

Healthcare’s special challenge

Healthcare organizations have a special challenge because our industry loves us some jargon. It seems like healthcare as a whole never met a technical term or three-letter acronym (TLA) it didn’t like.

It’s almost as if the goal is to make the content as difficult to read as possible, like it requires some sort of book cipher to read it. Which of course goes against the most basic rules of successful selling, where you want to convey information in the easiest-to-understand language to reach the broadest audience possible.

Making content effective

The most effective content is the content that has a point to make and makes it convincingly. It doesn’t just convey information. It grabs the reader or viewer by the lapels and says, “Sit down and listen, because I’m going to tell you something you need to know.”

It then does just that: focuses on what the reader/viewer needs to hear rather than only on what the produce of the content wants to say. But it does it in a way, as Steve Martin’s character says, that is much more interesting for the listener.

In many cases, that means telling a story that has a beginning, middle and end. As humans we are wired to understand information presented in story form. It’s part of our survival mechanism.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker approach

Take urban legends. The point of an urban legend isn’t to get you to believe in the legend itself (although social media may have changed that intention). The point is to warn you that something bad could happen if you’re not careful about certain behaviors, like teenagers parking in a remote area to do the things teenagers do.

But even when we’re not warning about the dangers of parking near insane asylums when a resident with a hook for a hand escapes, stories help give us context we can use to process information and ultimately take an action. For marketing that means becoming interested in our product or service.

That doesn’t mean every piece of content must tell a story. But unless it’s a data or spec sheet, it needs to be interesting enough to capture and keep our attention, especially when so much else is competing for it these days.

The point is…

If you make your content bland, or plain vanilla, it’s true you’re unlikely to offend anyone. But you’re also unlikely to persuade anyone either.

If your goal is to capture hearts, minds and ultimately sales leads, be sure your content has a point. It’s so much more interesting for the listener/reader/viewer.

4medica Reengages Amendola Communications for Content Creation and Public Relations

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MARINA DEL REY, CA and SCOTTSDALE, AZ Nov. 1, 2017–Amendola Communications, an award-winning healthcare marketing and public relations agency, is pleased to welcome back 4medica, the market leader in moving clinical data in real time across the healthcare continuum, to its customer family. Amendola has previously served as 4medica’s public relations agency of record. In this newest engagement, Amendola will produce quality content and provide additional public relations support.

The reengagement is a timely one as 4medica pivots from being identified largely with its top ranking laboratory and imaging connectivity solutions, to broader recognition as an expert in real time clinical data integration and data management accuracy with its highly patented and innovative Big Data MPI.

“We know from experience there is no agency better suited or more familiar with the healthcare IT space– to help amplify our positioning than Amendola,” said Gregory Church, President, 4medica.

Church added, “Jodi Amendola and her team also have a strong commitment to client service that has proven to help us quickly act on important opportunities.”

Beyond static electronic health records to true clinical data interoperability

In a diversified health IT field, 4medica has earned its position as one of the leading clinical data exchange vendors. The company has seen firsthand the need for the fluid flow of data throughout the healthcare organization, without sacrificing data accuracy, quality and security.

To that end, 4medica offers an expansive portfolio of solutions for health systems, hospitals, laboratories, imaging centers, health information exchanges (HIEs), accountable care organizations (ACOs), health plans and other diagnostic care organizations. These solutions include:

  • ClinXdata, a powerful platform for clinical data exchange
  • 4medica Big Data MPI, which performs patient identity matching at unprecedented speed and scale
  • Revenue cycle management services to make lab orders management a revenue-generating function

All 4medica solutions reside in a highly secure cloud environment that adheres to HIPAA’s stringent data security and privacy standards. This is of particular importance for healthcare data that is rapidly becoming digital.

“We are so pleased to be working with 4medica again, a company that has been at the forefront of healthcare data’s digital transformation. We look forward to helping 4medica create and promote content that memorably articulates its value proposition to a variety of healthcare audiences,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola.

Amendola will deliver a range of content from bylined articles and informative briefs to press releases and award application abstracts–that highlights 4medica’s thought leadership and expertise. Amendola will also provide public relations to promote 4medica’s newsworthy events and milestones.

About 4medica
4medica provides the industry’s leading SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) big data MPI, clinical data exchange and integration platform to help healthcare organizations of diverse types create a seamless view of the patient care experience and help further drive better health outcomes. The clinical data exchange platform integrates with and builds upon disparate systems to facilitate interoperable data exchange across various care settings to promote care continuity. The cloud computing model is scalable, lower cost, maintenance-free, easy to use and deployable in a few months or less, eliminating large capital outlays or resource utilization. This is especially critical for hospitals and physician health organizations of all types and sizes. 4medica connects hundreds of institutional facilities including hospitals, health systems, physicians, laboratories, radiology centers and pathology clinics. More than 35,000 physicians use its solutions every day. Learn more at www.4medica.com and www.bigdatampi.com.

Media Contact: Marcia Rhodes | mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com | 602-793-1561

Fire Your Inner Critic

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Most of us are our own worst critics. It’s easy to understand why. After all, no one knows us better than us. Who better to uncover and critique all our foibles, follies and failures than our own inner critic?

There’s a fine line, of course, between self-criticism and self-awareness. Maturity requires that we view ourselves with objectivity and correct those faults that can be corrected. The kind of criticism that comes of self-awareness and that leads to self-improvement is a prerequisite for happiness and love.

But when it comes to work, self-criticism can be crippling. Carl Richards, a certified financial planner, author, and regular New York Times contributor, makes that point in his fine article for the Times, “Free Yourself of Your Harshest Critic, and Plow Ahead.” Richards argues that we accomplish much of our best work when we stop critiquing and just do it.

“Think of how liberating it would be to free yourself from the role of being your own harshest critic,” he writes.  What might happen if you took all the energy that goes in to judging your work and put it right back into the wellspring of creating the work instead?”

Writer’s Block

Richards article mainly concerns writing, and the common experience of writer’s block. But he notes that letting go of your inner critic is good advice for “anything meaningful you do. Singing, painting, entrepreneurship, giving financial advice, museum curating, boat building, skiing, whatever.”

Like Richards, my own experience with the shadow side of criticism concerns writing. I was a journalist for 15 years before tackling PR. Most days, my livelihood, to say nothing of my self-esteem, depended on my ability to crank out large amounts of decent copy on deadline. As a newspaper reporter with daily deadlines you either get over writer’s block or you get out. There’s no time for self-criticism when they’re holding the front page for your story.

It was after I left newspapers to become a freelance magazine writer that my self-criticism blossomed. I blame my editors. I learned shortly after starting to freelance that deadlines mean something very different for magazine editors than for newspaper editors. Magazine editors give their freelancers early deadlines, days or weeks before they intend to actually edit the article. They do that to guard against precisely the sort of writer’s block that often crippled me.

Yet, ironically, it was because I knew that my deadlines were fake and therefor moveable that my self-criticism could work its evil. With several days to write, no beginning was ever clever enough. Writing is rewriting, as every good writer knows. But when you reach the hundredth rewrite of your lede, you know you’re in trouble.

The Godfather of Gonzo

I’m reminded of the story of Rolling Stone Books editor Alan Rinzler who, in trying to wrangle the manuscript for Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail out of legendary procrastinator Hunter S. Thompson, ended up chasing the godfather of gonzo journalism around a hotel room for 48 hours with a tape recorder in hand. Unable to write, Thompson literally dictated the bestseller.

I never reached that point. What saved me, every time, was a deadline. Faced with no alternative but to produce, the words flowed. In the end, I simply lowered my standards and trusted that what came out of my experience and craft would be good enough.

In his article, Richards quotes a letter from reader Chip Scanlon. Scanlon, a writer himself, recounted how he overcame writer’s block: “I do my best to not have any standards at all. I abandon my standards. I urge myself to write badly, and once I do that my fingers begin to fly, and the inner critic is powerless.”

Does your inner critic ever keep you from completing work? How do you overcome it?