Another post in my series to help consultants improve your business English. I know that these take time to read, and more time to use in your writing. But do practice. Your writing will be easier to read, easier to understand, and ultimately more effective.
That is, if you want to influence your next prospect. Otherwise, by all means, skip.
Time and a place.
Ok. My views on Bullet Points in Presentations? They don’t belong! However, in documents and in blog posts, bullet points & numbered lists are imperative for clarity. Where people go wrong is with consistency in two areas:
1. Grammar.
Mixing tenses (past, present, future), voices (active, passive), and moods (imperative, indicative) confuses your writing. This is usually a dead give away that you’ve copied content from elsewhere.
If you’re listing instructions, common in technical writing, then use the Imperative mood. E.g.:
- Select the text.
- Copy, then paste this into the form.
- Press the [OK] button.
If you’re describing benefits, then the Indicative mood can work. e.g.:
Engaging ACME Consulting will allow [Client] to:
- Achieve business goals within 2 months
- Use internal resources on the project
- Minimise development infrastructure costs
Note: When using bullets, put as much of the common part of the sentence in the main clause. In the previous example you could use each bullet point as part of the initial sentence. A common mistake is to begin each bullet with the same word, e.g. “To”, or phrase, e.g. “Allow [Client] to”
Apart from a waste of words, and slowing down reading, this quickly becomes annoying.
2. Punctuation and Structure.
Other common mistakes include:
- Numbering inconsistency. Ensure that the numbering scheme you use (Roman Numerals, Decimals, brackets, full stops etc.) is consistent throughout the entire document. This principle applies equally to bullet types in bulleted lists.
- Tabbing inconsistency. Again, ensure that the tab spaces are consistent for every list.
Finally my favourite, punctuation! Without even worrying about grammatical correctness (chances are if you’re unsure about the correctness of punctuation, so are your readers) just go for consistency. If you don’t punctuate the end of bullet points, then don’t. If you use comma’s on all points and a full stop on the last, then do this in every list.
It seems crazy that something as small as a comma or colon would affect readability, but it does. Unconsciously your reader notes something amiss, which slows down their comprehension.
Your Turn.
Time for you to take your latest report or proposal and edit your lists. See if you can achieve numbering, tabbing, punctuation, and grammar consistency throughout your document.