Can A Pink Sheet Help Make Your Writing Better? Let's Find Out

Ev Chapman
May 22, 2021

The world is full of people who have ideas but can't articulate them.

A few years ago, I sat in a seminar listening to one of my coaches. I was completely in awe of the way someone would ask him a question and he would always have the exact right metaphor or be able to draw the right model to illustrate his point.

I could never be as articulate as that, I thought.

Halfway through the workshop he revealed his secret. Every idea he taught was conceived on a pink sheet.

No, not a literal pink piece of paper.

The pink sheet was developed by another coach here in Australia, Matt Church. He used it as a way to develop his ideas and be able to articulate those ideas in different ways. It works like this...

First, your idea goes in the middle of the page. Think of this as your atomic idea.

Then you divide the page into four quadrants where you take the idea and turn it into:

  • A Model. A diagram that you could draw to illustrate your point.
  • A Metaphor. What can this idea be compared to that will help make your point.
  • A Study. Is there supporting evidence or stats to back up what you are saying.
  • A Story. Do you have a personal story you can tell.

By thinking through each of the four quadrants it allows you to illustrate your point in different ways for different people. As a creative person I love to hear stories and metaphors. But more analytical people might be drawn to a study or reasearch.

Next time you have an idea, try applying the Pink Sheet model to it and see how it transforms your writing process to use one or two different modes in explaining your idea.

If you want to setup your own Pink Sheet Library, download my free Notion Pink Sheet Library Template here.

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