When people think military, soldiers and battlefields come to mind. However, modern warfare is less about battlefields and more about a highly functioning communications engine. It’s one thing to yell orders over a radio, but when you’re trying to coordinate units or gather intel halfway across the world, information is as core to the military as their soldiers and weaponry.
Similar to how a business might operate, military branches also rely on emails to get their messages across – but unlike businesses who deal in money, wars are wagered in lives – hence the adoption of a no-nonsense email format that strays far from traditional business emails. From a civilian’s perspective, these emails are bizarre and oddly direct, but if you need something done right away, applying a militaristic coat of paint to your messages may evoke the right sense of urgency. Sounds interesting? Read on…
BLUF formatting and you
How would you write a standard email?
Saying hello, introducing yourself, explaining why you are writing and thanking the recipient for their time sounds like the industry norm, right?
The military has no time for pleasantries – they use something called BLUF formatting – or “Bottom Line Up Front” as explained by Jan-Erik Asplund of the Animalz content writing team.
The writer makes their request, demand, report or states what’s at stake (aka the bottom line) in the first few lines of the email. If lives are on the line, this is understandably the most efficient way to work – but even for those in the lowest rank of the military who are tasked with menial and clerical responsibilities, using the BLUF formatting shows respect for the recipient’s time, especially when writing to the top brass who have to juggle many responsibilities at once.
For those of us in business, being respectful of our recipients’ time is also an important virtue. Certainly, we see BLUF-esque emails all the time. How often has your boss sent an email like this?
Ron,
I want the report, the research and the project proposal on my desk by day end.
However, is being upfront all there is to BLUF?
“BLUF, if you apply it consistently throughout your writing, is a way of organising your thoughts and understanding the narrative that lets you yield your central points to your reader as quickly as possible,” explains Asplund.
A problem with the boss’ email is that it lacks precision and context. If you were handling multiple reports, research and proposals, which ones are the boss referring to? Having to waste time clarifying is inefficient – even in the most succinct of military reports, there needs to be some context to provide clarity. Here’s how a better email from the boss should look:
Ron,
I want the latest quarterly report, the research on the sudden decline of NFTs and the project proposal for Bepsi Cola on my desk by day end – I need the data from the report and research for a presentation later, and I want to go through the proposal before we submit it tomorrow.
Although bosses rarely have to explain their demands to their employees, it’s handy for the recipient to know the what and why. In our example, leaving the why empty may lead to assumptions that the boss is just a generic slave driver – but with the reasoning given, there’s less room for doubt and provides motivation to get the task done more quickly.
Now, what if we weren’t dealing with a boss, but a potential client instead? Bosses have the luxury to cut the fluff when addressing their employees, but when you’re trying to woo a client (or talking to anyone else for that matter) the fat-free directness of military-tier BLUF might scare them off. Instead, you need to pad that bayonet and adapt it for business settings, like so:
Hello Mr. Davis,
I’m reaching out to inform you about Broderick Marketing’s latest promotional package for small local businesses like your bakery. We understand that the latest COVID regulations may have adversely affected your operations, and as big fans of your bagels and doughnuts, we are eager to help.
For a bit more background information, Broderick Marketing specialises in helping businesses break out of the rut caused by COVID through exciting and tailored advertising deliverables – for both online and offline means. If you’re familiar with Pepe’s Pizza a few blocks down from your store, we’ve helped them to reinvigorate their business and customer flow.
May we arrange a call sometime over the next few days to better explain what our services entail and how they can help promote your business?
Please let us know if we may be of service and hope to hear from you soon!
Best regards,
Jim
“Sometimes we need to do more than convey a request. Sometimes we need to convey our excitement, or a sense of urgency, or a penance,” writes Asplund. “In these cases, you still want to BLUF and make the purpose of the email clear. Giving your email an emotional edge doesn’t mean putting extra processing time between your recipient and the point of the email.”
In addition to clearer emails, applying BLUF to general writing is a fantastic way to become more concise. Here’s how a wordy and poorly articulated paragraph can be enhanced:
Without BLUF
If there are constants in life, it’s that death and taxes are inevitable. We exist just to pay a mounting debt before being put away in a box below the dirt. What many don’t also consider is the process of getting to the end. At Broderick Marketing Co., we help your business shine – improving your brand’s reach and helping you earn more loyal followers. Although more income means more taxes, no one would say no to a couple more bucks in their pockets, right? So come on down to Broderick Marketing Co. today for a free consultation!
With BLUF
Broderick Marketing Co. raises awareness of your brand and helps you net more loyal customers – contact us today for a free consultation.
Even through our lives and livelihood aren’t (usually) on the line, we can all learn something from the military by writing more concisely. Give BLUF a shot, and maybe your writing will earn you that coveted communications medal from employers and clients alike!