Presentations matter, tips to get on the bestsellers table of presentation champions. Image created by ChatGPT requested by Peeter Jakobson, M.D. (fictitious authors and book names)

What I’m Learning About Getting More Presentations of My Stories Lately

Ten Practical Changes I Plan to Make Before My Next Submission

I used to think the main problem on this platform was getting more views.

That sounds logical until you look at the stats more carefully. A view means someone landed on the story and stayed long enough to count. A read means the person spent more meaningful time with it. But Medium now gives writers another number that may be even more useful at the beginning: Presentations.

Medium describes a Presentation as a number of times when the platform presents your story to a reader in a trackable way inside Medium. That can happen in places such as the home feed, search results, topic pages, publications, recommended reads, your profile page, email notifications to subscribers, or lists.

That matters because a new writer has to separate two different problems.

Sometimes the essay is shown, but readers are not clicking.

Sometimes the essay is barely shown at all.

Those require different fixes.

Think of this writing platform as a large waiting room. Your essay may be sitting there with a neat title and a good idea, but the question is whether anyone is being invited to pick it up. Presentations help answer that question.

Here are the ten changes I plan to make before my next submission.

1. Write for one clear reader

A vague reader is no reader at all.

When I write for “people interested in writing,” I am already in trouble. That could mean a novelist, a technical writer, a retired physician, a poet, a bored accountant, or someone trying to sell Canva templates on Gumroad. Those people do not have the same problem.

A better reader target is much more specific.

A new Medium writer who published several essays and saw almost no traction.

That person has a problem. He pressed publish and expected at least a small response. Instead, the article sat there quietly, like a parked car with the lights off.

That is a reader I can write for.

Before my next submission, I want to be able to finish this sentence:

“This essay is for the reader who is trying to understand __.”

If I cannot finish that sentence, the essay is probably still foggy.

2. Make the title useful before making it clever

A title has to carry weight.

It has to tell the reader what the article is about, why it matters, and whether it is worth opening.

Medium’s public help material warns that clickbait titles and images can hurt performance because readers may not read the story after clicking. Medium says those stories are less likely to be recommended in the future.

That makes sense. A title that tricks the reader is borrowing attention at a high interest rate.

Here is the kind of title I want to avoid:

My Journey So Far

That may be honest, but it gives the reader no reason to care.

A better version:

What I’m Learning About Getting More Presentations

The better title addresses the reader instead of me, the writer. It also tells the reader that the essay contains useful information.

3. The subtitle should narrow the promise

The subtitle should not repeat the title.

If the title is:

What I’m Learning About Getting More Presentations on Medium

Add something useful:

Ten practical changes I plan to make before my next submission

New writers do not need another promise of overnight success. Most of us have seen enough of that. What we need is a practical way to improve the next piece.

4. Begin you’re essay with the actual problem

Every writer knows the feeling when you publish a new essay. You check the stats too often, and the numbers barely move.

At that moment, it is tempting to think the piece failed.

Maybe it did. Maybe it did not. The stats need to be read more carefully.

Medium’s stats define Presentations as the number of times Medium suggested your story to readers on the website or app. Views count when readers access the story. Reads count when readers spend at least 30 seconds with it.

That means a weak result can mean several things.

The story may need a better title. The opening may be losing people. The topic may be too broad. The publication may be wrong. Or Medium may not yet have enough signals to know where the story belongs.

That is the real problem. The opening should get there quickly.

No long driveway. Get to the house.

5. Choose topics like shelf labels

Medium lets writers choose topics. I used to think of topics as tags. I now think of them more like shelf labels in a large bookstore.

If the label is wrong, the right reader may never walk down that aisle.

For a medical essay, I should not chase whatever topic seems popular that week. If the article is about kidney function, the topics should help Medium and its readers understand that.

Possible topics:

Health

Medicine

Aging

Kidneys

Patient Education

For an essay about AI and writing:

Artificial Intelligence

Writing

Technology

Publishing

Creativity

The goal is not to reach the largest theoretical crowd. The goal is to reach the right reader, the person who is likely to click, read, and remember.

A mismatched reader does not help the essay. He leaves.

6. Submit to publications with a better fit

Publication submission is not just a ceremonial act.

Medium says stories can be distributed through publications, and publication editors can also feature stories. Featured stories are more likely to be recommended to publication followers via email digests or in-app notifications, and they may receive priority for curation review for possible Boost.

That does not mean every publication submission will matter. A poor fit still looks like a poor fit.

Before submitting, I need to read the publication like a writer, not like a tourist. What does it actually publish? What tone does it prefer? Are the articles personal, instructional, political, literary, technical, medical, or confessional?

An essay should feel as if it belongs there.

If the editor has to invent a reason to accept it, I probably sent it to the wrong place.

7. Give the reader value early

Some essays wander because the writer is still warming up.

Medium readers are not trapped in a doctor’s waiting room with old magazines. They can leave instantly.

That means the article has to give them something useful early. A distinction. A practical example. A clear explanation. A sentence that makes them feel the writer understands the problem.

For this essay, the useful distinction is simple:

Presentations tell me whether Medium is showing the story.

Views tell me whether readers are opening it.

Reads tell me whether they are staying.

That should appear near the beginning, because it helps the reader immediately.

Saving all the value for the end may feel dramatic to the writer. To the reader, it may feel like a long walk to a locked door.

8. Make the article easier to finish

This is where pride can get in the way.

Writers like their sentences. We polish them, defend them, and occasionally fall in love with the wrong ones. The reader has no such obligation.

A Medium article should be easy to move through. That does not mean childish. It means readable.

Short paragraphs help. Clear headings help. Concrete examples help. Removing repeated points helps even more.

A reader who finishes the article sends a better signal than a reader who leaves after the first few paragraphs. Medium’s stats page separates views from reads.

If readers arrive but do not stay, first look at the title promise, the opening, and the amount of wandering before the useful material begins.

9. Avoid turning the essay into a sales page

This is especially important for writers who have books, newsletters, products, websites, and grand plans. I include myself in that group.

The essay has to serve the reader before it serves the writer.

Most readers can feel a hard sell and the start of a funnel. The first paragraph can be the tell, and then you’ve lost as a writer.

That does not mean a writer should never include a link or mention a book. It means the article must stand on its own.

The reader wants something useful first. A relevant link is acceptable at the end of the essay or with the appropriate text within the essay. Then, near the end, an author's note is acceptable.

Trust comes before traffic.

10. Read the stats like a mechanic, not a wounded artist

A mechanic does not cry because the oil pressure is low. He checks the system.

Writers should try to do the same with stats.

Low Presentations may point toward a distribution problem. Medium may not yet know who should see the piece, the topic fit may be weak, the publication may not help, or the early engagement may not be strong enough.

The statistics given by Medium are very helpful.

Highly rated presentations with low views may point to the title, subtitle, or image.

Decent views with poor reads may point to the opening, structure, length, or a mismatch between the title and the article.

None of this should be treated as a perfect diagnostic test. Stats are signals, not commandments. But they are better than guessing.

As a retired radiologist, I spent years interpreting images. A shadow on an X-ray was not automatically a diagnosis. It was a finding. It had to be placed in context.

Medium stats deserve the same discipline.

My Working Plan Going Forward

For my next submission, I want to slow down before I press publish.

That is not easy. Once an essay feels finished, the temptation is to launch it and let the chips fall where they may. But a few final checks may give the piece a better chance.

Here is the question I want to ask before publishing:

Is this essay easy for Medium to categorize, easy for the right reader to recognize, and useful enough for that reader to finish?

That is the whole matter.

A writer cannot control Medium’s recommendation system. He can control the title, the subtitle, the opening, the topics, the publication fit, the clarity of the main idea, and the respect shown to the reader’s time.

That is plenty to work on before the next submission.

And for now, that is where I plan to start.