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PAASTUB Email Process-Step 7: BLUF-ing

PAASTUB Email Process-Step 7: BLUF-ing

This is my last preview post for my book, How To: Become and Email Ninja, $9.99 for the Kindle edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086XMJJ75. The posts on my blog describe each of the seven steps, but to get the strategies for applying them in specific circumstances with lots of examples and practice exercises, buy the book. I use the acronym PAASTUB to make the seven steps more memorable. Think of using the process to pay yourself for writing more effective emails.

The seven PAASTUB steps are:

Step 1: Purpose is Clear: a clear purpose (outcome in mind) is necessary for effective email

Step 2: Action: make it easy for readers to learn what you want

Step 3: Audience: keep the right people informed

Step 4: Subject as Art: make the content clear from the subject alone

Step 5: Take Out the Trash: make the message easy to read quickly

Step 6: Ugly Remarks Edited: keep yourself and others out of trouble

(you are here) Step 7: BLUF-ing: focus attention with a concise summary

This post describes the last step of the PAASTUB (pronounced “paystub”) email process. Step 7: BLUF-ing. It is the final post in overview of my book, How to: Become an Email Ninja. It includes:

  • The definition of the BLUF,

  • The key elements of the BLUF,

  • The value of using a BLUF in email messages, and

  • When you don’t need a BLUF

The Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) describes the essence of your email. BLUF-ing is not about fooling people with your email message, just the opposite. It is about immediately, ruthlessly getting to the point: what you want, why it’s important, and when it’s needed. Don’t beat around the bush or ramble at the beginning of an email. Busy people don’t have the attention span or interest. Use the BLUF to focus attention with a message summary at the beginning of each message.

The BLUF is a statement at the top of an email of the issue, the action you want, and when you need it in three, plus or minus one, sentences. A BLUF is like a summary or abstract of the email only much shorter. There is nothing special about “three plus or minus one” for the length of the BLUF, but in my experience anytime your BLUF exceeds four sentences you are rambling. A BLUF is not a Yelp review so don’t write it that way.

There are three elements to the BLUF.

• The first sentence identifies the issue at hand by answering the question, “What is this about?” In most cases, a single sentence is all you need to answer that question.

• The second sentence answers the question, “What is the action?” This is what you want the recipients to actually do about the issue at hand and when they need to do it.

• The third sentence answers the question “Why is this important?”

I have detailed instructions for how to compose a BLUF, examples, and practice exercises, in my book How To: Become and Email Ninja.

Some people might consider it rude or too abrupt to begin their emails with a BLUF. Perhaps, but getting right to the bottom line of the message reflects a focus on the reader, the fundamental principle of this book. You are actually helping the reader quickly understand what you need as well as being respectful of their time by quickly getting to the point. This is the same thing you want, but never get, from a telemarketer. No wonder people are cutting the cord in such large numbers.

You don’t need a BLUF in every message. When you are just responding to a few questions with brief answers, a 3-sentence BLUF is overkill. If your email is only three to four lines long (no rambling) and has no attachments, you can skip the BLUF.

Don’t worry about making the BLUF perfect the first time. Mine almost never are. To create an excellent BLUF, you need to revisit it after you have written the email to make sure it matches what you actually wrote. Editing and improving the BLUF and your email is recursive-both get better the more you do it.

If you want more details, examples, and templates for email etiquette, buy my book How To: Become and Email Ninja, $9.99 for the Kindle edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086XMJJ75. The book details my system of practices, strategies, and tools for better electronic communication both email and text. I designed the layout so the chapters are easy to scan quickly for the information most relevant to your needs. Each chapter of this book begins with a BLUF that conveys what the chapter is about, followed by an introduction to the key ideas, and finishes with a summary of those ideas after presenting them in detail. After detailing the Seven Steps for composing email, there are strategies and tactics that apply across all kinds of emails. There is an email etiquette guide that you can customize according to the needs of your organization or group.

HRO 9f Collision at Sea-Sequence of Events5

HRO 9f Collision at Sea-Sequence of Events5

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