White Paper World 47: September 12, 2024
- Quick tip: Make every bullet count
- This just in: How AI will affect writers
- New episode: White Paper Review on YouTube
- How to use AI to write white papers [$100 off]
7:30-minute read. 16-minute listen:
Quick tip: Make every bullet count
2-minute read.
There’s nothing like a set of bullets to make a list easy to scan.
But are your bulleted lists as sharp as they could be?
Here are four tips to help make every bullet count.
Tip 1: Order bullets for quick scanning
It’s obvious how to arrange a set of bullets, right?
You put the most important point first and the least important last. Right?
Nope.
In fact, years of research in eye tracking proved people don’t see lists the way writers think they do.
People reading on-screen skim, scan, and skip… often right past the middle bullets in a list! But they usually take in the very last point.
So it’s best to order your bullets to match the way readers process them:
- Most important point first
- Second most important point
- Less important points (readers may skip)
- Third most important point last
Tuck the weakest item in the middle, not at the end.
In other words, end your bullets with a bang!
Tip 2: Write every bullet in parallel
Bullets are most effective when every item is expressed in the same form. This is called parallel construction.
For example, consider this short list:
- Always do first things first.
- It’s important to do the second thing after the first.
- Last things should be left until last.
All the information is there. But it’s expressed in a disorganized way, so readers have to work extra hard to decode it.
This list works better when each item is expressed in the same way at roughly the same length:
- Do the first thing first.
- Do the second thing next.
- Then do the last thing.
See how the parallel version is much faster and easier to read?
Tip 3: Avoid the Russian Novel Syndrome
Did you ever read a story where everyone’s name starts with the same letter?
In War and Peace, there are characters with family names Karagina, Karataev, Kaysarov, Kochubey, Komarov, Kondratyevna, Konovnitsyn, Kozlovsky, and on and on.
It’s the dreaded Russian Novel Syndrome.
Avoid that in your bulleted lists. Make sure every item starts with a different word and even a different letter.
You don’t want to see a list like this:
- Conduct your inventory
- Create one thing
- Create another thing
- Count all your things
- Create that other thing
For anyone scanning through on-screen, all those words start to blur together.
That means none of your points stand out or are easy to remember.
Tip 4: Rewrite bullets, just like text
Your first draft of a list of bullets will not be perfect.
I know mine aren’t.
Even for this short article, I juggled the order of the bullets and added and subtracted items several times before I was done.
So don’t be afraid to rewrite and tweak your bullets.
It’s worth the effort. Even the busiest readers will likely take in the start and end of your list of bullets.
Source: Created with Dall-E3 via ChatGPT Plus
This just in: How AI will affect writers
3.5-minute read.
Here’s a question on every white paper writer’s mind: How will AI affect me?
Will clients still need human writers?
Or is the whole white paper business about to go bust?
I just came across an intriguing new source of answers.
The JobsGPT chatbot estimates how much of any job can be done by AI.
This GPT runs free from OpenAI. It was created by Paul Roetzer‘s new research company called SmarterX.ai.
Paul is one of us
Paul Roetzer, founder of
Marketing AI Institute
As you may know, I think Paul is one of the most well-informed and thoughtful voices in AI.
He’s one of us: He trained as a journalist, ran an ad agency for years, and then spotted AI on the horizon long before other marketing people.
Paul’s company Marketing AI Institute is an excellent source on the evolving world of AI, with a podcast, newsletter, courses, and events for writers and marketers.
JobsGPT is coming from a trusted source, not some fly-by-night outfit.
Using JobsGPT is simple
You just type in a job title. The AI breaks down that job into various tasks and then estimates how much each task is affected by AIs already on the market.
Naturally, I tried “white paper writer” and here’s what it told me.
| Task in a White Paper | Estimated Time Saved with AI |
|---|---|
| Planning and outlining | 30% |
| Researching industry trends and data | 40% |
| Writing and rewriting drafts | 50% |
| Incorporating comments from reviewers | 25% |
| Copyediting for grammar and style | 60% |
| Collaborating with a designer | 20% |
| Finalizing the white paper | 30% |
I think those tasks and how AI can save time are self-explanatory by now.
For example, to save 50% of the time on writing and rewriting a white paper:
The AI can generate content drafts, rewrite sections for clarity, and ensure the tone matches B2B expectations, significantly speeding up the writing process.
AI saves the least time—only 20% or 25%—on tasks that involve dealing with fellow humans: incorporating reviewer comments and working with a designer.
That makes sense.
The AI can’t do much for interactions with teammates, even though these are critical to get a good final result.
Those time savings really add up
When I asked the AI to total up all those time savings, it showed me its calculations and then this conclusion:
I would estimate the overall time savings for the end-to-end white paper process to be in the range of 35–45%.
Click the cover to see the PDF
And you know, I think that’s bang-on!
On the first white paper I ever wrote using ChatGPT 3.5 in February 2023, I saved one-third of the time.
Despite me having just learned to prompt, and the fact I had to re-research all the sources it made up.
Using today’s more advanced AI with better prompting, a writer can do even better.
I believe that with AI, a writer can now save close to half the time it used to take to do a white paper. That’s right: We can now finish white papers in half the time.
This is why I talk so much about AI
Today’s AI is a game-changing new tool that can radically accelerate the productivity of any white paper writer… if we understand what makes a good white paper in the first place.
As Paul Roetzer says, AI is not going to replace writers. But writers who use AI are going to replace writers who don’t.
This certainly applies to the white paper field.
How can anyone compete with someone who can finish a project in half the time? And thus charge half as much?
Look at this from a client’s point of view
Suppose a client gets two proposals for a white paper:
- Writer X bids $5,000 in six weeks without AI
- Writer Y bids $3,000 in three weeks with AI
Who would most clients hire?
Perhaps in some specialized field, Writer X has industry expertise that is irreplaceable and worth the premium fee and the extra time.
But are you sure all your clients see you that way? What about their bosses?
If you needed a subcontractor, which writer would you pick?
What writers can do
—If you’ve never tried AI, try it! Give the free version of ChatGPT a whirl.
—If you’re like most writers dabbling with AI, use it more often.
Every time you start a new task, ask yourself, “How could AI help me do this?”
If you’re not sure, ask the AI how it could help.
—If you have a document started or drafted, check it with AI.
Ask it to proofread. Ask it what you’re missing. Ask the AI how your ideal reader will react. Ask it how you can improve your draft.
With practice, you’ll get to know when and how to use AI.
And you can be that Writer Y who most clients choose.
—Keep on learning about AI.
This field is moving fast. To keep up, we all need to put some time and energy into learning as we go.
Reading this newsletter is a good start. I’m doing my best to bring you key insights about AI that matter to professional B2B writers and marketers.
And that’s always in the context of creating great white papers that stand out and get results.
The next two items feature two more learning resources: one free and one paid. Give them a try, and let me know what you think.
New episode of White Paper Review on YouTube
1-minute read.
Did you know I have a YouTube show called The White Paper Review?
I co-star with my colleague and buddy Brian Boys, an experienced copywriter with a strong interest in white papers.
The format is simple: In every episode, we show one white paper we think is great, and another we think is not so great.
The worst often come from the biggest, most established companies… and the best from smaller upstarts.
Along the way, we offer tons of tips and advice on how to make any white paper more effective.
There’s a new episode up, featuring a good white paper from online security firm Lokker and a poor one from Oracle. It’s a crisp 24 minutes.
The earlier episodes are evergreen, so they don’t go out of date. You can watch them in any order.
Please let us know in the comments what you think.
And if you come across any white paper you think is especially good or bad, tell us. We might feature your pick in a future episode.
How to use AI to write white papers [$100 off]
To help writers make the jump to AI, Brian Boys has created an excellent program called “How to Use AI to Write Copy that’s BETTER than AI.”
I’ve gone through it, and I quite enjoyed it. I can’t think of any other training in AI that’s more useful for content writers.
What’s in this course?
The course covers three areas: how to think about AI, how to use AI, and how to spot and fix poor AI writing.
It moves quickly through a basic orientation to AI and on to specific guidelines on using ChatGPT to write articles, case studies, and white papers.
I like how the content includes many formats:
- Videos
- Transcripts of each video
- Study guides to test your understanding
- Prompts to cut and paste into ChatGPT
The white paper section includes a basic template for each of the three flavors: backgrounder (vanilla), list (strawberry), and problem/solution (chocolate).
In a bonus video, you can look over Brian’s shoulder as he starts to write a white paper using ChatGPT.
He quickly sharpens his view of an audience, finds their pain points, develops a title, and begins to research that topic.
I find his approach to using AI for white papers rock-solid. It includes many tips and tricks for getting the best output from ChatGPT with the fewest prompts.
If you’ve been looking for some professional development on AI for your writing business, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this.
Save $100 on this AI training
Check out the course yourself at this link:
https://brianboys.podia.com/how-to-use-ai-to-write-copy-that-s-better-than-ai
The regular price is very reasonable at $199.
And Brian has offered all subscribers to this newsletter a special deal of 50% off or only $100!
I’d pay that much in a minute for this.
You’ll come away with a structured and sensible approach to save a ton of time writing the content clients pay for.
Enter this bonus code to get 50% off: GORDON-AI-ACCESS
That’s all for now
Please pass this newsletter along to anyone you think would appreciate it.
See all the previous issues here:
www.thatwhitepaperguy.com/newsletters/
Listen to the audio versions here:
https://thatwhitepaperguy.com/podcasts/
To get every future issue, visit: www.thatwhitepaperguy.com/subscribe/
And good luck with all your writing projects!
Gordon Graham
That White Paper Guy
