How to communicate clearly & concisely

After reading this post, you’ll learn:

• What is the B.L.U.F method.

• Why it is a powerful framework.

• 3 templates to make you a rockstar.

Do you feel you're drowning in your emails? You're not alone. Per a McKinsey study, the average office worker:

• Gets ~ 120 emails / day!

• Spends ~ a third of their day reading & answering them.

It's a cluttered inbox out there. What's making it worse? Page - long emails with information and action needed hidden somewhere in them. This leads to wasted time, delays and frustration.

What if I told you there's a method which ensures:

• Your mail gets read.

• It cuts through the noise

• And it actually gets acted upon?

Enter B.L.U.F (bottom line up front). Your secret weapon in the digital age 💪 

It distills your message to it's essence. And delivers the crucial information right at the beginning - bam! It's not rude. It's about respecting the reader's time.

e.g. say your boss asked you to find the root cause of the problem. Your mail body would look like this:

Bottom line = the root cause lies in the variation of a critical dimension. I recommend controlling the manufacturing process.

Details = [go into the details here]

This way, your boss gets what he needs upfront. If they need more information, they will go through the details.

How to get started?

1. Email subject.

   Include a clear purpose of the mail. What do you want the response to be? e.g.

• ACTION

• INFORMATION

• APPROVE

• SIGN

• REQUEST

2. Start with the conclusion (BLUF)

   Address the 5 W's:

• Who

• What

• Where

• When

• Why

Some examples:

• [Project Name] on track for completion by [Date].

• Stuck on [Specific Task]. Can you offer some guidance?

• Your feedback is critical on the attached [Project Name] document by [Date].

3. In the mail body, provide supporting details. Be concise.

A good tip is to use active voice.

Because you guys rule 🤘 , here are a few examples of passive voice and active. See how active voice sentences are shorter?

Pro tip = use a service such as Grammarly, Hemmingway or ProWritingAid.

3 templates to make you a rockstar.

Subject: REQUEST – Feedback Needed on Presentation

Hi Sarah,

Bottom Line: I need your feedback on my presentation for the client meeting next Tuesday.

Can you take a look by Monday afternoon and let me know if the key points are clear and the visuals are engaging?

Thanks in advance!

Subject: ACTION – Order Confirmation Needed

Hi Michael,

Bottom Line: Please confirm the order for the 100 printers by Friday at noon.

The supplier needs this information to finalize the shipment, ensuring delivery by the project deadline.

Let me know if you have any questions about the order details.

Subject: INFO – Team Lunch Update

Hi Team,

Bottom Line: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the team lunch originally planned for Tuesday has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 1 PM in the conference room.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

The origin of B.L.U.F

This framework comes from a U.S Army regulation 25 - 50 (preparing and managing correspondence):

That’s it!

I hope this framework helps you crush your emails . A technique is effective only when you use it. So, experiment and let me know how this works!

If you found this helpful, share with someone who will benefit.

Further reading:

• How to write email with military precision.