Jerry Neumann on Writing for Business

Jerry Neumann’s guidance on business writing — lead with a firm recommendation, bottom-line up front (BLUF), read it aloud, cite rather than assert. Captured from his thread plus the linked doc on April 17th, 2020. The three follow-on links he cites were split into wiki/articles-to-read/.

Notes

• Jerry Neumann on Writing for Business
  • https://twitter.com/ganeumann/status/1227044247964176384?s=20
  • Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PqbdAnYM79tLvO3yWCt2QH2T1HuQ58poNUsM7QzuE-c/edit
  • Have a firm recommendation and analysis of an issue your reader needs to act on. Do not ramble, insert extraneous detail, or stray from the point. You do not need to entertain: a clearly and concisely stated opinion with analysis to back it up is already interesting.
  • Put your bottom-line up front  (the military calls this BLUF).
  • Re-read your writing. Read it out loud: this forces you to read what’s on the page, not what’s in your head.
  • Citations are much more credible than your own opinion unless you are acknowledged as an expert on the subject. Citing credible sources makes your writing more credible.
  • The Pyramid Principle - #articles-to-read Writing for Business
    • https://medium.com/lessons-from-mckinsey/the-pyramid-principle-f0885dd3c5c7
  • How to Improve Your Business Writing - #articles-to-read Writing for Business
    • https://hbr.org/2014/11/how-to-improve-your-business-writing
  • Sequoia YouTube Investment Memo - #articles-to-read #Investing
    • https://drive.google.com/file/d/14iMO6M_R6o8x8zRi95b7pAQfhsU1-amJ/view

Connections

• Jerry Neumann · Writing for Business
• Follow-on reading: The Pyramid Principle, How to Improve Your Business Writing, Sequoia YouTube Investment Memo
• Read on April 17th, 2020.
• I took your comments on… (tweet) — the source thread, saved verbatim with both images.