BLUF meaning: bottom line up front
BLUF stands for bottom line up front. Your conclusion or your request goes in the first line, and the details follow. It's mostly a US military term, and it's now common advice for work email.
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What BLUF asks for
The bottom line, first
Bottom line up front means your first sentence says what you’ve concluded or what you need. Everything after it is backup.
BLUF in the Army’s writing rules
The US Army’s correspondence regulation requires BLUF. Putting the main point at the beginning, which the rule calls bottom line up front, is one of the two essentials of Army writing. The other is the active voice.
The ask in the first two sentences
Put the request, or the decision you need, in the first sentence or two, where the small talk would usually go. The background comes after, for anyone who wants it.
Why busy readers need it
Most work emails get skimmed in under a minute, so a request in paragraph four gets missed.
How to write a BLUF email
Three parts, in order
A BLUF email has three parts, and they always go in this order. Starting with a “BLUF:” label is optional.
- The bottom line: the decision, request or answer, with a date.
- The reason, in two or three lines.
- The detail, or a link to it.
The same email, before and after
Only the second version can be answered with one word.
- Before: “Hope your week’s going well. As you know, the warehouse move has had a few moving parts. The first company came back yesterday. Long story short, we may want to look at a second one.”
- After: “I need a yes or no on a second moving company by Friday. The first one can only take 30 of our 45 desks.”
Put the ask in the subject too
The subject line can say what you need as well, as in “Decision needed by Friday: second moving company”. If you send a draft marked WIP, put the feedback you want and the date you need it by in the subject.
Bad news, bottom line still first
Bad news goes first too. If the second moving company falls through, the email opens with the change: “The move is off for the 14th.” Next comes what that means for the reader, such as “Your desk stays where it is for now.” The reason goes last.
BLUF at the office
The ask in paragraph four
An email written without BLUF saves its ask for the end, like a request for budget sign-off at the bottom of paragraph four. Nobody reads that far, so someone books a meeting about it instead.
That meeting belongs in our game Meeting or Email, where every meeting could have been an email. You score more the later you send each one back.
BLUF in a meeting
Open a meeting with the decision it has to make: “We’re here to pick a vendor, and we leave with one.” If nobody names the decision, the meeting usually ends with a promise to circle back.
BLUF fixes the vague endings
Once an email opens with its question, it doesn’t need to end with please advise. An FYA email asks the reader to do something. That action is its bottom line, so it goes at the top.
A notice that leads with its point can end with NRN, no reply necessary. The reader got the news in line one.
BLUF and tl;dr
Tl;dr means too long; didn’t read, and it labels a summary. The earliest known use is a newsgroup post from December 2002.
BLUF is the rule that the summary goes first. It’s one of the few acronyms in the plain-English jargon dictionary that saves time instead of hiding something.
A BLUF email
Subject: Decision needed by Friday: second moving company
BLUF:The point: I need a yes or no on hiring a second moving company by Friday noon. The first one can only move 30 of our 45 desks on the weekend of the 14th. The quote is $2,400 and it’s attached.
BLUF in a sentence
BLUF, Gary: we need two more weeks.
Rewrite this with a BLUF, Anke. The ask is buried in paragraph six.
Subject: BLUF, approve the hire by Friday or we lose the candidate.
Our writing course teaches BLUF, so your three-page incident report is now one sentence.
Questions about BLUF
What is a BLUF in the military?
A way of writing that puts the conclusion and any recommendation first, so the reader can decide without reading everything. It's mostly an American military term, and it now turns up in advice on executive email too.
Is BLUF the same as tldr?
No. Tl;dr began as "too long; didn't read" and now also labels a short summary of a long text. BLUF is a rule that the main point goes first, in every message, long or short.
How to use BLUF in an email?
Put the decision or request in the first line, with a date. Then give the reason in two or three lines, and put the detail or an attachment last. Some writers open with "BLUF:" so nobody misses it.
What does BLUF mean in slang?
It means bottom line up front, the same as at work. Said out loud in a meeting, it's a polite way of asking someone to get to the point.
How do you use BLUF in a presentation?
Put the decision or recommendation on the first slide, then two or three reasons, then the detail. If the room has to choose something, say what and by when before slide two.