28
My boss in Cincinnati told me my reports were impossible to follow
She pulled me aside after a meeting and said, 'Reese, I need the answer in the first line, not buried on page three.' I started putting a one-sentence summary at the top of every document, and it cut my revision time in half. Anyone else get a piece of feedback that completely flipped a work habit?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
sandra91612h ago
Was that your first job out of school? I got that same note from an editor years ago, and it stung at first. Learning to put the main point right up top is such a simple but huge change. It feels obvious now, but someone had to point it out to me.
2
susan4889h ago
Honestly that advice always bugged me. Sometimes you need to build the story and set the scene, not just dump the point in the first line. It makes everything sound the same, like a boring news report. Readers aren't dumb, they can follow a good lead. That old school rule kills creativity for no real reason.
4