LEAF
 

Have a plan

Before you write any article, paper or blog, know the audience you want to reach and the key messages you want them to take away.

Who is your audience?

Target your information to the audience you want to influence with clear key messages.

Where is the best place to share information for your audience?

Different audiences are reached through different outlets. Online articles need to be written in a different style to a print article. For tips for online writing, see "How to write online".

Outlets include:
  • Academic papers/ Journal articles
  • General press release/ article
  • Farming press
  • Website news
  • Blog
  • Social media
We have more information on this topic in our Know your audience section.
What are your three main messages?
Identify your 3 main messages.
  • what do you want people to take away from the article?
  • what do you want people to change or do differently?
  • what information is of most interest to your target audience?
What examples and photos can you share?

Add photographs of your crops or trials to help further explain your research or work and provide context to the written text. Graphs can also be used to further explain main results.

Make sure photos and graphs fit with your target audience’s familiarity with the subject (for example, do not use overly complex graphs in general press articles).

Download our PDF template to help you plan and write your written resource.

See the sample flow chart for LEAF’s online article ‘Boosting Business Success through Biodiversity’ and our annotated blog highlighting the key messages from the article is available to download below.

Resources

  1. Have A Plan Template Flowchart [.docx, 195.049 KB]

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  2. Have A Plan Completed Flowchart [.docx, 199.342 KB]

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  3. Understand The Structure Of An Online Article [.pdf, 4.172 MB]

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