How a skilled journalist can elevate your content.

If you need powerful insights to get people on board, read this first:

It’s tempting to cut corners in the race to get content online, especially insights and thought leadership articles.

With the rise of ChatGPT and other AI tools, speed is everything. Quantity is winning over quality and even basic journalism skills can be overlooked.

This is dangerous.

Rushed or poorly put together content is not a good look. At best it’s banal and wastes everyone’s time. At worst it could be riddled with inaccuracies from unreliable sources. This could turn people away and damage your brand and reputation.

The basics

Creating powerful insights and thought leadership requires careful planning and high-level journalism skills.

It’s not just about writing in a certain way. It’s about being original, interesting, and most importantly, useful.

To add value, it’s important to cast your net wide, delve deep into respected information sources, and be compelling.

To elevate your content above the norm, the writer needs to:

• Conduct thorough research

• Speak to subject matter experts

• Identify story hooks

• Create compelling arguments

• Include quotations, stats and sources where necessary

• Highlight the benefits you need to get across

What to avoid when writing insights

The problem with a lot of content masquerading as insight or thought leadership is that it’s unoriginal.

There’s a tendency to rehash words and ideas that are already out there rather than asking an expert for a new take on things.

AI is the main culprit but humans do it too. Content becomes ‘samey’ and nothing stands out.

This doesn’t add value.

Be original

To engage people, and compel them to take positive action, you have to provide information they need and write about it in way that resonates and captivates.

This takes careful research to uncover golden nuggets of information and statistics your target audiences will find useful. And relating this to the benefits you want to get across.

That’s just part of the story.

The best way to stand out and beef up your content is to tap into the knowledge of subject matter experts. CEOs, managers, visionaries, geeks, disruptors – anyone who knows the subject inside out.

These people often don’t have the time or know-how to turn what’s in their heads into compelling content. But they do have time for a conversation with a skilled writer.

Beef it up

The challenge the writer faces is to:

1. Convince the subject matter expert it’s worth their while.

2. Steer the conversation to the most juicy bits.

3. Extract the most interesting comments – and use them to beef up the article (with the approval of the source).

This requires tact, diplomacy, interview skills and an eye for a story.

If AI is used, it requires a thoughtful approach, using relevant prompts to structure or edit articles rather than relying on AI tools to do the actual writing.

As an experienced journalist and insights writer, I’ve spent more than 30 years having conversations with subject matter experts. I’ve gained a unique peak into the minds of super-talented people in sectors as varied as tech, finance, construction, engineering, energy, luxury marinas and mental health.

I couldn’t possibly know everything these people know. But I know how to tap into their knowledge, extract valuable information, and package it.

The sponge effect

A good insight writer is like a sponge. We absorb all the good stuff and squeeze it into original and compelling content.

We source information and turn it into something valuable.

For original insights, thought leadership and writing support, contact me today.