Amazon's 6-page memos, called "narratives," follow this structure: • Introduction • Goals • Tenets • Current state • Lessons learned • Strategy Meeting attendees get 20 minutes to read the memo in silence before discussion. Bezos explains:

Bezos banned PowerPoint at Amazon. Memos only. He said, "There is no way to write a six-page narratively structured memo without clear thinking." This is the Bezos Writing Framework (that you can steal):

Here are Bezos' 6 rules for great memos: • <30 words per sentence • Replace adjectives with data • Use the "So What?" test • No "weasel words" i.e. "nearly" or "significantly" • Use subject-verb-object sentences • Avoid jargon and acronyms and clutter words. Simple rules but there's a catch:

Following them means your memo will take days to write. Here's why:

Now, some examples of Bezos' writing rules in action: • Replace "in order to" say "to" • Spell out acronyms like "ROI" on first use • Instead of "Customers love Prime," say "Prime members spend 2x more than non-members" This letter to his shareholders is a work of art:

As Bezos says: "The great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind." Why does this matter?

Because Bezos wants a world-class writing culture at Amazon: • Focus on clear thinking • Avoid unnecessary meetings • Frictionless knowledge transfer across teams Here's how an Amazon employee describes it:

So, how do I apply the Bezos Writing Framework? 1. Choose 1-2 rules to practice 2. Set aside daily writing time 3. Start with a low-stakes setting (e.g. Slack messages) 4. Get feedback and repeat But you can't do this without building a daily writing habit:

If you're looking for a (proven) way to build a daily writing habit, read this:

Highly recommend using the Bezos 6-pager memo for your next meeting. Credit: The Writer's Kitchen.

That's it! The Bezos Writing Framework: • &lt;30 words per sentence • Replace adjectives with data • Use the "So What?" test • No "weasel words" i.e. "nearly" or "significantly" • Use subject-verb-object sentences • Avoid jargon and acronyms and clutter words.

Now you have the framework, it's time to put it into practice. How? By writing online. Here's a free 13,000-word Ultimate Guide with everything you need to get started. Join over 150,000 people who finally started writing after reading it:

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