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Day #20602 2026-05-29 (UTC)
directness

Put the ask in the first sentence

Busy readers skim. If your ask is buried in paragraph three, it may not be read at all. Front-load: state what you need in the very first sentence, then provide context below. This is called BLUF — Bottom Line Up Front — and it's the single biggest readability upgrade you can make to your workplace email.

Before Hope you're well. Following our meeting last week, I wanted to share some thoughts and eventually ask if you could approve the budget by Friday.
After Can you approve the attached budget by Friday? Quick context below.

Try the Executive Summary tool →

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