How Small-Circle Writing Leads to Big-Circle Reach

When they sit down and attack the blank page, most writers imagine an arena. The lights go up, thousands of readers stare back, and the blinking cursor mimics the staccato drum of their heartbeat. That’s a recipe for stage fright.

The fix is smaller: write to one person.

The Core Idea

Warren Buffett’s annual letter is the canonical example. He drafts it as if speaking to his sisters—“Dear Doris & Bertie”—then removes the salutation before publishing. The result is plain English, zero fluff, and durable insight.

When you aim for everyone, you write for no one. 

When you aim for Doris and Bertie, you write something clear enough for the many.

Why Narrow Wins

• Cognitive load collapses
  • Writing to “the internet” forces abstraction and hedging. Writing to one person forces specificity and story
• Voice emerges
  • Talker’s block doesn’t exist. If you can explain it over a pint, you can capture it on the page. Email or dictate now and then polish later
• Specific > Universal
  • Paradox: the more precisely you help one reader, the more people feel seen. Precision scales; vagueness doesn’t

The Bar Test (A Plain-English Filter Powered by Pints)

The Ideal Reader Playbook

• Name: Doris
• Context: First-time manager; reads on her phone between meetings
• Problem: Can’t get her team to adopt new habits
• Desired outcome: Simple steps she can use this week
• Forbidden moves: Jargon, theory without examples

• Open an email draft to your Doris. Subject: “Does this make sense?”
• Or record a 2–3 minute voice memo explaining the core idea aloud
• Transcribe, then clean up the sentences, but don’t erase your humanity

• Circle 1 (Doris): Is this useful today?
• Circle 2 (Peers): Will three of Doris’s colleagues forward it?
• Circle 3 (Adjacent): Could a different function (e.g. sales, ops) apply it?
• Circle 4 (General): Does the headline make sense to a smart outsider?

4) Install Two Guardrails

• The Highlighter Test: If Doris can’t highlight one line she’d quote to a friend, keep tightening
• The Jargon Swap: Replace every term-of-art with a concrete noun or verb. (If you must keep one, define it in fewer than ten words.)

Templates (Steal These)

Doris—You asked how to get a team to adopt a new habit without nagging. Here are three moves that worked for me last quarter, and the one mistake that blew up a sprint.

One-Paragraph Promise

This is a short guide to ___. If you’re ___, you’ll learn ___ and avoid ___. It should take 10 minutes to read and 30 minutes to try.

Voice-Memo Prompt

“Explain it like I’m Doris on a noisy sidewalk: what to do Monday, what to avoid, one story.”

Common Failure Modes (and Fixes)

• Writing to Impress, Not to Help
  • Fix: Start with a before/after—“You’re here to do this and it will get you there.”
• Scope Creep
  • Fix: One promise, one path, one page. Everything else goes in a follow-up
• Platitudes
  • Fix: Replace generalities with a named person, time, and place.

A Quick Diagnostic

• Can a first-time reader restate your point in one sentence?
• Could Doris try a concrete action within 24 hours?
• If you removed three “clever” lines, would the piece get clearer?

Do This Today (10 Minutes)

1. Write a name atop your draft
2. Type one paragraph to that person explaining your main idea
3. Send it—as an email, DM, or voice note—to an actual human
4. Ask: “Where did you slow down? What would you try first?”
5. Edit only what their answer points to. Nothing more, nothing less.

Small-circle writing is not playing small. It’s the entry point to precision, voice, and usefulness. Hit the bullseye for one person, and the rings around them will take care of themselves.