Structure a long piece before writing a word

I'm writing a {{length}}-word piece for {{audience}} about {{topic}}. My thesis: {{thesis}}.

Before outlining, do this:
1. Name the reader's current belief and the belief I need them to hold at the end. State the gap in one sentence.
2. List the 5-7 things they must accept, in dependency order, for the gap to close.
3. Now give me three different structures that walk that path — chronological, problem-escalation, and objection-led — each as headings with a one-line purpose per section and a target word count.
4. Recommend one and say why the other two lose.
5. Flag which sections I will need original evidence for, because argument alone won't carry them.

No prose. Structure only.