--- title: 'Template: flyer or leaflet' url: https://propagandaarchive.org/write/template-flyer/ description: 'A flyer gets a glance: often under ten seconds at a door, a noticeboard or a school gate. It has one job, which is to get one action from one audience.' section: Write --- ![Illustration: a dossier collage of an intelligence briefing room with case files and behavioral-analysis notes on a chalkboard.](https://propagandaarchive.org/static/generated/hero-learn.jpg) [Write](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/) · Templates # Template: flyer or leaflet On this page A flyer gets a glance: often under ten seconds at a door, a noticeboard or a school gate. It has one job, which is to get one action from one audience. Everything that doesn't serve that job comes off. **Best for:** doorsteps, events, noticeboards, letterboxes. **Length:** under 100 words on the front. **Pairs with:** [Template: social media posts](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/template-social/) (same message, same image). ## The structure The layout follows AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action), a sales formula attributed to E. St. Elmo Lewis around 1898 and still the standard for short persuasive print. `┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ [HEADLINE: your core message, ≤ 8 words] │ ← Attention │ │ │ [ONE IMAGE: a real person, place or thing │ │ your audience recognises] │ │ │ │ [SUBHEAD: the problem or promise in one │ ← Interest │ concrete sentence, with a number] │ │ │ │ • [POINT 1: fact + source in brackets] │ ← Desire │ • [POINT 2: fact + source] │ │ • [POINT 3: a real, named endorser] │ │ │ │ [ACTION: one verb, one date, one place] │ ← Action │ [HOW: web address, phone, meeting place] │ │ │ │ [WHO WE ARE / PAID FOR BY: name, address] │ ← Credibility └───────────────────────────────────────────┘` ## Fill-in notes | Slot | Write | Technique it uses | Keep it fair | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Headline | Your core message from [Messaging](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/messaging/). Concrete, contrastive, ≤ 8 words. | Messaging, [Framing](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/framing/) | No virtue word without something checkable behind it ([Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)). | | Image | A real local scene or a real supporter, photographed with permission. | [Narrative](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/narrative/): one person beats a crowd | No stock photo presented as a local resident; no AI-made "resident" ([Synthetic media](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/synthetic-media/)). | | Subhead | The problem or promise, with one number and its comparison. | [Emotional appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/emotion/): hope or worry, honestly sized | The number needs its denominator ([Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)). | | Points | Three facts, each with a short source. | [Evidence and credibility](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/evidence/) | Only real, named endorsers ([Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)). | | Action | One verb: vote, sign, come, call. Date, time and place. | Efficacy: fear or hope needs a way to act | One action only. | | Who we are | Name, contact, and "paid for by" if applicable. | Credibility | Check the imprint rules where you publish. | ## Filled example: for *Invented case: Riverton's Measure 12, a half-cent sales tax for buses every ten minutes.* > **BUSES EVERY TEN MINUTES. YES ON 12.** > > *[Photo: a parent and child at the Route 4 stop on Elm Street, used with permission.]* > > Right now the Route 4 bus comes every 40 minutes. Measure 12 makes it every 10. > > • Six routes, every ten minutes, from next September (Measure 12 text, section 3) • About $X a year for a typical household (Riverton fiscal note, p. 4) • Backed by the Riverton Parent-Teacher Association > > **Vote YES on 12, Tuesday 3 November.** Polling places: riverton.example/vote > > *Paid for by Riverton Families for Transit, 12 Elm St. Not authorised by any candidate.* ## Filled example: against > **KEEP MAIN STREET FAIR. NO ON 12.** > > *[Photo: the owner of Harlow Hardware in her shop, used with permission.]* > > Measure 12 would make Riverton's sales tax half a point higher than the next county's, two miles away. > > • Three Main Street shops closed last year (Riverton business licence register) • The county transport grant could fund two of the six routes with no new tax (county grant schedule, 2026) • Backed by the Riverton Chamber of Commerce > > **Vote NO on 12, Tuesday 3 November.** Council meeting on alternatives: Thursday 14th, 7pm, Town Hall. > > *Paid for by Main Street First, 40 Main St. Not authorised by any candidate.* Both are invented, including every figure, name and address. In a real flyer, replace each placeholder with a sourced fact or cut it. ## A real one to study The 1978–79 UK Conservative poster "Labour Isn't Working" (Saatchi & Saatchi) is a well-known one-glance piece: a three-word headline with a double meaning, one image of a queue, and a line of copy. The queue was staged with Conservative volunteers, which today's fair-play check would ask you to disclose. Compare the archive's US wartime government posters, such as [Loose Lips Might Sink Ships](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/loose-lips-might-sink-ships/) and [We Can Do It!](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/we-can-do-it-1943/), which use the same one-image, one-line structure. ## Before you print Run [Before you publish: the fair-play check](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/before-you-publish/). ## Related - [Messaging](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/messaging/) - [Emotional appeal](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/emotion/) - [Before you publish: the fair-play check](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/before-you-publish/) - [Template: social media posts](https://propagandaarchive.org/write/template-social/)