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First and foremost, a white paper should achieve its goals. Which would you rather have: an audience that reads a white paper in its entirety and then does nothing, or an audience that reads a portion of a white paper and then takes the action that the white paper advocates? Myth #2 may tempt writers to organize their white papers to encourage reading rather than to achieve goals. For example, to encourage an audience to read a white paper, a writer may hold off presenting the solution to a problem. The writer hopes that the audience will be curious enough about the solution to read the entire white paper. But audiences have many demands on their time. They want information quickly. A reader may examine the main points at the start of a white paper closely and then browse through the information that supports those points. This reader may overlook main points at the end of the white paper. Halfway through the white paper, another reader may be called away to other tasks. This reader may never finish the white paper. If the white paper makes its main points on the final pages, it will fail to achieve its goals with these readers. In some situations, presenting the main points at the end of a white paper may be the best strategy. But it's not gospel, and often it's not good. How do you determine the best place to present the main points? You identify strategies to achieve your goals with your audience, and you develop content based on the strategies. Go to the next myth: Never make assumptions about the audience's knowledge of subject matter. Return to:
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