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This is good advice for all types of email; especially work email. When an email really does need lots of detail, I’ve made a habit of always including a BLUF,

This is good advice for all types of email; especially work email. When an email really does need lots of detail, I’ve made a habit of always including a BLUF, or “bottom line up front” - kind of like a TL;DR but more focused on identifying the key things I want the reader to know if that’s the only paragraph they read. I also try to structure and label my emails to make it obvious which parts are “please read all of this” and “the rest is here in case you’re curious”. The trouble is that saying less often takes far more time, and people don’t bother trimming things as a result. But this “saved” time almost always gets spent later anyway when that email that no one read now requires a meeting since the transfer of information wasn’t successful.

SoftTalker 2y ago
I find an explicitly identified "BLUF" section to be annoying. I can read. If you want to put the most important information or request up front, just do that.
- haswell 2y ago
  To be clear, I’m not putting a section literally labeled “BLUF” at the top of every email. This is more about a mindset going into the writing process, and ensuring that I always take time to include the most important information in the first paragraph. I do use section headings later in long emails to help visually break up the content and help the reader skim/find what they’re looking for. It would be annoying to begin every email with something labeled BLUF. Although I personally wouldn’t care if it would help more people actually put the bottom line up front.
vlachen 2y ago
I've never thought of it that way, but that's how I've come to write technical responses or evaluations. I know that I can be loquacious, especially when it comes to engineering analysis, so I've taken to write the part that makes everyone say "oh shit" at the top. Then I spend a few paragraphs detailing my methods and results, backing up my "we're screwed" statement.

SoftTalker 2y ago

I find an explicitly identified "BLUF" section to be annoying. I can read. If you want to put the most important information or request up front, just do that.

haswell 2y ago
To be clear, I’m not putting a section literally labeled “BLUF” at the top of every email. This is more about a mindset going into the writing process, and ensuring that I always take time to include the most important information in the first paragraph. I do use section headings later in long emails to help visually break up the content and help the reader skim/find what they’re looking for. It would be annoying to begin every email with something labeled BLUF. Although I personally wouldn’t care if it would help more people actually put the bottom line up front.

vlachen 2y ago

I've never thought of it that way, but that's how I've come to write technical responses or evaluations. I know that I can be loquacious, especially when it comes to engineering analysis, so I've taken to write the part that makes everyone say "oh shit" at the top. Then I spend a few paragraphs detailing my methods and results, backing up my "we're screwed" statement.