I had the honor of training Navy SEALs in a recent writing class at Virginia Beach. One of the course participants has a habit of beginning his drafts with the acronym BLUF, which means “bottom line up front.” Example:
Special Operations requests three Toughbook laptops to facilitate communication during the Code X deployment.
Such statements establish the purpose of the document and immediately put the reader to work. The Navy has this concept down pat; business writers should follow its lead. Remember BLUF to focus your reader!
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