The most powerful strategy we can use to improve the coherence of your paragraphs is known as the “old-to-new” sequence. Learn how to use old-to-new sequencing to engage your audience and maximize comprehension.
People aren’t always “internally consistent” and “logically coherent,” to borrow from the lexicon of the Chicago School of Economics. The way that human brains perceive reality largely depends on circumstance and our relation to the people around us.
One of the primary reasons why many policy analysts struggle to write clearly and concisely is that they don’t have clarity about whom they’re writing for. Before you analyze your data, you’ve got to get a clear understanding of who your reader is, what they want to achieve, and how you can help them achieve it. To figure out what your reader needs, you can ask yourself six questions—the answers to which will help you know what research questions to ask, what kinds of data to collect and analyze, and how to communicate the results of your analysis in an interesting and persuasive way.