by Lindsay Lamb
Something that I have often struggled with in producing a succinct and powerful one-pager is where to put technical information, a brief description of data used in the study, analyses conducted in the study, study design, survey questions, etc.
In a typical research paper, that information is generally presented first. Most of us come from an academic background, where we learned to write reports with Introduction, then Methods, then Results (which oftentimes are full of technicalities), then, finally the Conclusion – where the actual findings and interpretation lie.
The problem? It’s BOOOOORING. You’ll lose all but the most dedicated reader with reports that are designed that way, and in a one pager, it’s a killer. The conclusions need to be front and center.
But what about that technical info about how the study works?
Sidebar to the rescue
This is where the sidebar comes in. You still need to be succinct, but it is a way to break up the layout of your one-pager and go more deeply into a specific topic that is essential to your one-pager but does not need to be part of the overall one-pager narrative.
Here is the template we’ve shared with you in the past:
Still not sure what to use a side bar for? The sidebar can also include photos, data visualizations, description of program elements, survey questions, survey response rates, quotes from participants, anything that your audience should know, but can stand alone in its own section. Here are just a couple of examples:
Here are some key takeaways to help you become the master of the sidebar:
- Put information that is necessary to understand your report in the sidebar.
- Add icons, photos, or a data visualization that will break up the layout of your report.
- Keep it simple! Details belong in the report (or the appendix!)