Oberman Group
Qlarify is the online learning environment of Oberman Group, a small agency in Amsterdam with a high degree of specialisation.
We teach the pyramid principle, instruct students how to master the technique, and help organisations implement it: by advising and supporting them in day-to-day application.
Roy van de Graaf is the first point of contact for clients. He studied Dutch language and literature at the University of Amsterdam, where he specialised in argumentation theory. He worked in journalism, mainly for de Volkskrant, before starting a career as freelance copywriter, editor, trainer and consultant.
Like the other teachers in Oberman Group – all versatile communication professionals – he does this work from the strong conviction that the pyramid principle is the best possible technique for learning to structure your texts better.
‘Everything should be made as simple as possible,
but not simpler’
- Albert Einstein
Christine Oberman was introduced to the method in the 1970s, through Barbara Minto, when both of them worked at consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Barbara Minto wrote a book about it in 1985, The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking; Christine Oberman introduced the method to the Netherlands and started its further development.
She laid the foundation for the solid, practical approach, from which students benefit to this day.
For Christine, a group training meant a three-week preparation period, during which she analysed documents submitted by all the course participants and drew them out on A3 sheets, sometimes several sheets sellotaped together. The training itself lasted two-and-a-half days, until eight in the evening, preferably in a remote conference venue, where the trainees could not be distracted in any way.
Anno 2024, we offer our courses in multiple ways, also online, which has become one of our specialisms. Blended learning, however, is our favourite way: combining different techniques to really make a difference in daily professional practice.
‘Easy reading is hard writing’
– Ernest Hemingway
For more information or a tailor-made approach, please contact:
Roy van de Graaf
rvdgraaf@obermangroep.nl
+31 6 54 2307 33
Oberman Groep BV
Nieuwendammerdijk 297A, 1025 LM Amsterdam
KvK Amsterdam 52644448
The writing course that sharpens your thinking - the thinking course that improves your writing.
For helping to make this website possible, many thanks to: Dale Volker (Durban, South-Africa), Mark Poysden (Amsterdam, NL), Lena Shafir (Amsterdam, NL), Wouter Haasnoot (Amsterdam, NL), Pieter Roozen (The Hague, NL), Rashod Chamikara (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Joseph Rézeau (Montfort sur Meu, France), Hennie Steenmetz (Amsterdam, NL), Marion Rhoen (Amsterdam, NL), Johan van Rijen (Grave, NL), Mehroz Anwer Khan (Karachi, Pakistan), BV52 (Tromsø, Norway), Avi Megiddo (Taiwan), Aret Boztash (Yerevan, Armenia), Olha Pashkova (Lutsk, Ukraine), Muhammad Omar Akram (Lahore, Pakistan) and everybody who provided feedback. Photo Christine Oberman NRC Handelsblad 11 December 1997, © Freddy Rikken.