Good use of bullet points

Many bulleted lists could be improved by:

• turning the bullet points into a paragraph
• writing a more comprehensive introductory statement
• breaking items into groups
• using fewer bullet points
• using consistent styles — structure and punctuation.

Turning the bullet points into a paragraph
An example I gave in my previous blog entry would be more effective as prose.

Original version
After surgery:

• sit on the side of the bed initially
• transfer to the bedside chair
• walk to the bathroom
• walk freely around the ward
• progress should be gradual, no exertion.Original version

Rewrite
You need to move gradually after surgery to regain your strength. Start by sitting on the side of the bed and then move to the bedside chair. When you feel ready, you can walk to the bathroom and then walk around the ward.

Writing a more comprehensive introductory statement
A long list in my previous blog had a stem statement 'Following surgery', followed by jumbled instructions on bathing, sport, lifting etc. A possible rewrite conveying one of the main messages is:

Recovery from major surgery varies from person to person and may take four weeks to several months.

Breaking items into groups
The items in the 'recovery from surgery' list could easily have been grouped into categories, such as bathing, lifting, sport. Then each group could have been a separate list with a stem statement. If something needed particular emphasis, for example, not removing Steristrips, it could have come first.

Using fewer bullet points
Our eyes glaze over when we see a whole page of bullet points. We have no idea what is most important so we 'skim read' them, often reading only the first and last few bullet points. My rule of thumb is no more than seven bullet points in a list although I break this rule if eight bullet points makes more sense.

Using consistent styles — structure and punctuation
Structure: If your list is a run-on sentence (i.e. every point relates back to the stem statement), each bullet point should relate grammatically to the stem statement.
Punctuation: Styles have changed and semi-colons are not used very often in lists today.

Some guidelines are:

• If each bullet point is a separate statement, as in this list, use normal sentence punctuation.
• If the list is a run-on sentence, start each bullet with an initial lower case letter and just have a final full stop at the end of the last bullet point. You don't need a comma at the end of each point. (Unfortunately, Microsoft Word always wants to default to an initial capital.)
• If your list consists of single words or short phrases, you can use initial capitals and no end punctuation, i.e. no commas, semi-colons or full stops.

Labels: bullet points, business writing

posted by Unknown @ 9:22 PM