Your main points: one message and two or three supports
Name the audience, write one main point and two or three supports with their sources, and time the main point at your own speaking pace.
Start here Essentials
At minimum, name the people who read, hear or watch the outlet, write one sentence that is your main point, and back it with two supports that each have a source. Then time the main point at your own pace. Everything marked Go deeper can wait.
- Write who reads, hears or watches this outlet, as one specific group, not "the public" (name your audience).
- Write your main point as one sentence, with the bottom line first (write one main point).
- Add two supports, each with one fact or example and where it comes from (add supports).
- Read the main point aloud and time it with the answer timer (answer timer, time it).
- Cut words until it fits one breath at your pace, and write the seconds on the message sheet (message sheet).
Minimum time: about 25 minutes. Done when: the message sheet shows the audience, a main point, two supports with sources, and the main point's timed seconds.
1. Name your audience Understand
Before you say yes gave you a request. This chapter turns it into something to say. You say it to a reporter, but the audience is the people who read, hear or watch what the reporter makes. Terms in this chapter are in the glossary.
The audience is one specific group of people. COMPASS, a nonprofit that trains scientists to communicate, builds its Message Box around one audience at a time and advises against building a box for the "general public" (COMPASS, The Message Box). A group such as "Courier readers in the Dayton area who read local features" tells you what words to use and what they might care about. "Everyone" tells you nothing. One practitioner's method
How to find the audience
You already asked "which outlet, and who is its audience?" in Before you say yes. Add to the answer with what is public:
- Read or listen to three recent stories by the reporter or on the outlet. Notice who they seem written for, and what the writer assumes the reader already knows.
- Read the outlet's own description of itself, if it has one.
- Write the group in one line, with one thing it probably wants from the story. Mark it "assumed" until the reporter confirms.
SciLine notes that national, specialty and local outlets have different audiences and aims, and that local outlets are generally highly trusted and favor practical news. NC State's media office says editors ask, "What is it?" and "Why should my readers care?" Your audience line is your answer to the second question before the reporter asks it.
Name the issue in a few words
The issue is the topic in the words a person might type into a search engine. COMPASS suggests a couple of words or a short phrase. For Dana's tool library the issue is "borrowing tools." It is not "community-based resource sharing." The issue line keeps you on the story the reporter is writing, and it is the first field on the message sheet.
2. Write one main point
A main point is the one thing you want the audience to take away, in one sentence. Everything else you say supports it. Supports are the two or three facts, examples or numbers that back the main point (the next section).
Bottom line first
Scientific papers run background, methods, results. AAAS, in its Communication Toolkit, tells scientists to reverse that for public audiences: bottom line first, then why it matters, then the supporting detail (AAAS, Communication Toolkit, last updated 2022). NPR Training notes that listeners get one chance to hear each sentence. If your answer starts with history, the history is what the reporter hears first, and the point arrives late, if it arrives. Convention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adds a reason from stress. Its messages chapter says stressed people struggle to take in and remember large amounts of information, and that first messages should be short and skip the background (CDC, Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication manual, Messages and Audiences, 2018). An interview is a stress for most people the first time, and for the person across from you it is a fast, interrupted conversation.
How many points
Several guides give a number. SciLine says to write down three points and keep them in front of you during the interview. NC State and the University of Florida's extension service say two or three. UTSA says three key messages, practiced as short sound bites. These agree on a small number written down, and they do not agree on an exact one. This manual uses a shape that gives you something to come back to: one main point and two or three supports. If you say only the main point and one support, nothing is lost. Our convention
Why it matters to this audience
COMPASS calls the "so what" the core of the Message Box, and says it changes from audience to audience. Say it for your audience in one line. For Dana, "so what" for Courier readers is that a person can finish a weekend project without buying a tool first. If you cannot say why this audience would care, the main point may be about you, not them. Try again with the audience line in front of you.
What people can do
If there is something the audience can do, say it as an action. The CDC chapter advises giving action steps in positive form, such as "boil drinking water," not "do not drink the water," because "no" and "not" are easily lost when emotions run high. It adds that some actions can only be stated as negatives. For a project or a service, the action may be as plain as "Come on a Saturday morning and sign up." The message sheet has a field for it. Leave it blank if there is none.
Plain words
Write the main point so a person outside your field can say it back. Plain-language guidance from Digital.gov, a site run by the US General Services Administration, tells writers to use active voice so it is clear who does what, and the simplest verb forms (Digital.gov, Plain language: writing). SciLine says to avoid acronyms, abbreviations and jargon, and to use analogies, visual examples and anecdotes. NPR's training advice for writing for the ear says to use fewer clauses than in print, keep sentences short, avoid words you would not use in conversation, and test a sentence by reading it aloud: if you run out of breath, it is too long (NPR Training, Tips on writing for your voice). Guidance from several sources
Three edits cover most drafts:
- Replace an abstract noun with the action. "Provides access to tools" becomes "lends tools."
- Replace a category with a thing. "Resources" becomes "drills."
- Split a sentence that has two ideas. One sentence holds one point.
3. Add supports, each with a source
A support is a short piece of evidence for the main point. Use a fact, an example or a number. Each one gets a source: where you got it, in a form you can name when the reporter asks "how do you know?"
| Kind | What it looks like | Source to name |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | "We open every Saturday morning, and we have for three years." | Your own records, the calendar, a published report |
| Example | "One member fixed a fence with a post-hole digger borrowed from us." | The person involved, who agreed you could tell it |
| Number | "We lend 410 tools to 260 registered members." | Your own count, with the date of the count |
SciLine says to back your points with data. Each support does a different job. A fact says what is true. An example makes it real, and a number gives its size. Two supports of different kinds usually work better than two of the same kind. Preference
What reporters tend to use
NPR Training's advice to producers is that a soundbite, the short clip of a person's voice used in a story, runs ideally 5 to 15 seconds. It also says to write basic facts into narration instead of using them as clips, and to choose clips that are emotional, genuine, clear, concise and memorable (NPR Training, Soundbite essentials). That is one newsroom's guide for its own producers. It suggests how to plan: expect a reporter to put your numbers into the reporter's own sentence, and to quote your plain judgment or your example. So say the judgment in your own words, then follow it with the number in a short sentence, and give the reporter the number on paper (Print and online). One newsroom's guide
Check every number before you rely on it
Before the interview, check each number against something you can name: your records, the organization's records or a published source. Write the source on the sheet, with the date if the number can change. A number you cannot source is a number you either leave out or say as an estimate ("about," "I haven't counted since March").
If a support depends on something not known yet, such as a test result due tomorrow, do not state a guess as a fact. Write "not known yet" in the source column and read Communicating uncertainty, which shows how to say what you know, what you do not, and what is being done.
A clear message is not a true one, and a clear message does not make a reporter use it. This manual does not check your facts. You check them against your records, your organization's records or the published source. A reporter may also choose another point from your answer, or none of yours. Preparing the message changes how clearly you say it. It does not decide what the outlet uses.
4. Time it at your own pace
Short answers are easier to use and easier to follow. The question is how short, and the sources give different numbers measured differently.
What practitioners recommend
| Source | Guidance | What it measures | Implied rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPR Training | Aired soundbite, ideally 5 to 15 seconds | A clip chosen by a producer from a longer answer | Not stated |
| University of Florida extension | Recorded TV or radio answer, 20 seconds or less | A whole answer | Not stated |
| CDC spokesperson chapter | Key point first, in 30 seconds and fewer than 90 words | The key point of an answer | 180 words a minute |
| Covello, message mapping (archived EPA copy) | No more than 3 messages, each 27 words or 9 seconds | One message | 180 words a minute |
The last two are rules from one practitioner's practice. The archived copy of Covello's document gives them with no cited basis, and the CDC chapter gives its 30-second figure as guidance (Covello, Message Mapping, EPA archive of January 2021; CDC spokesperson chapter). They are useful as reference lines. They are not standards. One practitioner's rule
Measure your own rate
A common figure is 150 words a minute. The National Center for Voice and Speech gives "about 150" for American English on an archived tutorial page, with no stated conditions. A 2006 study of American English telephone conversations measured between 164 and 236 words a minute, depending on how pauses were counted, and found that topic changed the average from about 152 to nearly 170 (Yuan, Liberman and Cieri, 2006, Towards an Integrated Understanding of Speaking Rate in Conversation). So the number depends on the person, the topic and the counting. Measure your own.
Baruch College's Tools for Clear Speech suggests this method (Baruch College, Speaking Rate):
- Record yourself answering a prompt for about a minute. Speech-to-text helps.
- Count the words and note the seconds. Words per minute equals words divided by minutes.
- Repeat with several prompts, because rate varies by topic.
The answer timer does the arithmetic. Nervousness affects rate, so expect to run faster in the real interview than in a quiet room. The CDC chapter says microphones and nerves make people talk faster. Practice answers shows how to check your rate again from a practice recording.
Trim to one breath
Paste your main point into the timer and read the seconds it gives at your rate. The timer also shows each source's reference line beside your number. It describes; it does not say a number is too long. If you want it shorter, trim in this order:
- Cut background and qualifiers that do not change the meaning.
- Replace long words with everyday ones.
- Move a second idea into a support.
Stop when you can say it in one breath without rushing, and write the seconds on the message sheet.
The timer observes. It shows how long your words take at your rate and sets published reference lines beside that. It does not decide that an answer is good enough, and we found no source showing that a particular length gets a statement used. A shorter answer is not automatically better. A shorter sentence that says nothing specific is a worse main point than a longer one that does.
The full Message Box
COMPASS's Message Box has five parts: Issue, Problem, So What, Solutions and Benefits. COMPASS says to build one box per audience, to fill the parts in any order, to expect over-long first drafts, and to cut each part down to a few clear sentences. The box is COMPASS's worksheet and this manual does not reproduce it; the blank is free for personal and educational use (COMPASS, Message Box blank worksheet). This manual's message sheet is a shorter version: audience, issue, main point, why it matters, what people can do. Use the full box if you will speak to several audiences, such as the press, a funder and the people you serve.
The message map
Message mapping is Covello's grid: a stakeholder's concern, three key messages, and three supporting facts under each. The CDC's Message Mapping Guide (released 2010) describes the method and says it is based on Covello's process published in the Journal of Emergency Management in 2006 (CDC and ORAU, Message Mapping Guide). If you speak often about the same topic to different audiences, a map for each lets you reuse the facts. For a single interview, one main point and two or three supports is a smaller version of the same idea.
Where 27 words, 9 seconds and 3 messages come from
The rule appears in Covello's archived document as the first of nine principles. The same document also says that graphics, analogies and stories raise recall "by more than 50%," with no source given, so this manual does not repeat that figure. The 27 words in 9 seconds imply 180 words a minute, faster than the 150 figure above. A speaker at 150 words a minute takes about 11 seconds for 27 words. Neither number says whether an audience understands the message. Use the rule as a reference line next to your own timing.
What the speaking-rate research says
Yuan and colleagues counted words three ways. Total words divided by total conversation time averaged 196 words a minute in one set of telephone calls. Counting only the time someone is speaking gave an average of 236. Counting by turns gave 164. People who know each other spoke about 10 percent faster than strangers. Older speakers were slower, and very short turns were slower than long ones. A 1990 study of British English speech rates (Tauroza and Allison, Applied Linguistics) noted in its abstract that a commonly quoted standard range rests on radio news announcers and does not fit conversation, interviews or lectures; this manual uses no figures from it. The point for you: the right rate is the one you measure.
The plain language guidelines
The Federal Plain Language Guidelines (2011, revised 2011) told federal writers to use short sentences with one idea each and active voice. They were removed from plainlanguage.gov in 2025, and the Center for Plain Language reports that the link now redirects to Digital.gov guides that, in its words, are not the guidelines (Center for Plain Language, The Federal Plain Language Guidelines are missing). Digital.gov's guide is the current federal home for plain-language advice. The advice above comes from Digital.gov, SciLine and NPR Training, which still publish theirs.
5. See it See it
Dana Ruiz drafts her message. Everything here is invented: the people, the newspaper and the quotes. It is Wednesday evening, and Dana (Before you say yes) has said yes to Jen Albrecht of the Miami Valley Courier. Known: the outlet, the story ("neighbors sharing instead of buying"), the time of the call. Assumed: that Courier readers are people in the Dayton area who read local features (Dana's reading of the paper's website; Jen settles it if Dana asks). Open: whether 260 registered members is current. Dana settles that by counting the sign-up sheet before the call.
Dana's first draft of the main point:
It has 15 words, and it says nothing a listener could repeat. She asks what she would say to a neighbor at the fence. Her second draft:
It has 19 words. It leads with the bottom line and names a tool. It uses everyday words. It makes a claim ("fewer people buy") that is her observation, not a count, so she keeps it as her judgment and does not attach a number to it.
| Field | What she writes | Status | Source or who settles it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audience | People in the Dayton area who read the Courier's local features | Assumed | Dana's reading of the paper; Jen can confirm |
| Issue | Borrowing tools | Known | The reporter's story angle |
| Main point | Anyone on the east side can borrow a drill for free, so fewer people buy one they'll use twice. | Her judgment | Dana |
| Why it matters | A neighbor can finish a weekend project without buying a tool first. | Her judgment | Dana |
| What people can do | Come on a Saturday morning and sign up. | Known | Her own hours |
| Support 1 (number) | We lend 410 tools to 260 registered members, and borrowing is free. | Open for 260 | Her tool list and sign-up sheet; she counts the sheet before the call |
| Support 2 (example) | One member fixed a fence with a post-hole digger borrowed from us. | Known | The member's own account; Dana asks permission before telling it |
Dana then measures her rate. She records three one-minute prompts on her phone and counts the words from the transcript her phone makes.
| Prompt | Words | Seconds | Words per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tell me about the library | 138 | 58 | 143 |
| Who uses it? | 151 | 61 | 149 |
| Why is it free? | 129 | 51 | 152 |
| All three | 418 | 170 | 148 |
At about 148 words a minute, the 19-word main point takes about 7.7 seconds. The 12-word number support takes about 4.9 seconds and the 12-word example about 4.9 seconds. All three together are 43 words, about 17.5 seconds. Dana writes 8 in the seconds field. The timer shows NPR's 5 to 15 seconds and the University of Florida's 20 seconds as reference lines. Under these assumptions about her rate, the main point sits inside both lines. Her real rate on Thursday may run faster. If it does, the figures shrink and nothing is lost. If she slows to explain something, the figures grow, and she has room under the 20-second line.
Dr. Lena Ostrowski: a support with a number. Lena Ostrowski, a hydrologist at Kettle River State University (a fictional university), studies algal blooms. Her fictional data: in the past five summers, 2 of the 14 blooms on Pine Hollow Lake (fictional) tested above the state's recreational advisory level for toxins. A support that carries its own context reads: "In the past five summers, 2 of the 14 blooms on this lake tested above the state's advisory level for toxins. That's my own data." It names the count, the time frame and the source. Open: whether this bloom's toxin results are above the advisory level. The state lab's results settle that, and the state health department, not Lena, issues any advisory (Communicating uncertainty).
Free guides that show these ideas at work:
- COMPASS Message Box worksheet: a blank one-page version of the full box, free for personal use.
- NPR Training, Soundbite essentials: how a producer decides which clip to use, which shows what a short, clear answer looks like from the other side.
6. Practice Practice
Minimum: fill in the audience, main point, two supports with sources and the main point's timed seconds on the message sheet, for one interview. Time: about 40 minutes. Materials: your phone (to record), the answer timer, the message sheet, and any records for the numbers you will cite.
- Write the audience. Look at two or three recent stories first. Write one line and mark it "assumed" until the reporter confirms.
- Write the issue in a few words, then a first draft of the main point. Do not edit while you write.
- Edit the main point with the three edits above. Say it to another person or to the wall, and see whether you can say it in one go.
- Add two supports, a number or fact and an example if you can, and write the source for each. Check each number against your records.
- Measure your rate. Record yourself answering a prompt for about a minute, and count the words. Do three prompts. Put the words and seconds in the timer's rate tool.
- Time the main point. Paste it into the timer with your rate. Trim, then write the seconds in the "Main point, seconds at my pace" field.
Your work goes into the audience and main point sheet and the supports table. Both are essential. The names and numbers table comes in Print and online, and the bio sheet in Your media kit.
A second audience. If a second outlet has asked, or you will speak to a different group, repeat the audience, issue, "why it matters" and main point for that group on a second pass. Keep the supports if they still fit. Notice what changes: usually the "so what" and the example, not the facts. This takes about 20 minutes.
7. Your interview Your interview
8. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Is the audience one specific group, with a line saying whether it is confirmed or assumed?
- Is the main point one sentence with the bottom line first?
- Could a person outside your field say it back after hearing it once?
- Does each support carry a fact, an example or a number, with a source you can name?
- Did you check each number against a record or a published source?
- Does the sheet show the main point's seconds, measured at your own rate?
Worked example
Dana's sheet (fictional) names a specific audience and marks it assumed. Her main point is 19 words, with the bottom line first and everyday words, and it takes about 8 seconds at her measured rate. She has two supports, a number and an example, each with a source. Before the call she counts the sign-up sheet and finds 260 names; she writes the date of the count beside the number. Against the criteria she meets all six. One item is not settled: whether the audience is what she assumed. Jen settles it on the call, and Dana plans to ask.
Common mistakes
- An audience that is "the community." Notice it when you cannot name one thing they want.
- A main point that opens with background. Notice it when the sentence has a date or a history before the point.
- Three or four points. Notice it when you cannot hold them without the sheet.
- A number from memory. Notice it when the source column is blank.
- Timing a script instead of speaking. Notice it when you read the words in your head. Say them aloud.
What is still unresolved
This chapter does not settle whether your facts are right, which part of what you say the reporter will use, or whether a number is too uncertain to state. You settle the first against your sources. The outlet settles the second (How a story gets made). Communicating uncertainty covers the third. Practice answers turns the message into answers to likely questions.