Brevity Bootcamp

The 4 Pillars

1 · Structure — BLUF

Bottom Line Up Front. The ask or conclusion goes in sentence one. Context follows. From US Army Reg 25-50 and Churchill's 1940 "Brevity" memo.

An email isn't a novel — no need to build suspense.

2 · Cut — Paramedic Method (Lanham)

Run this after drafting:

1. Circle the prepositions (of, in, for, to, with…)
2. Box every "to be" verb (is, are, was, were)
3. Find the buried action → make it the verb
4. Make the doer the subject
5. Cut slow wind-ups ("the point I want to make is…")
6. Cut redundancies
7. Cut "there is / it is"

LARD FACTOR = words cut ÷ original Target 30–50%.

3 · Numbers — Boomerang (40M emails)

Lever	Target
Email body	50–125 words (sweet spot 75–100 → 51% reply)
Subject line	3–4 words
Reading grade	~3rd–8th (≈36% more replies vs college)
Text msg	≤ 3 sentences

Too short backfires too: a 25-word email replies about as poorly as a 2000-word one.

4 · Automatic — Behavior Science

• Implementation intention: "When I hit Reply, I type the bottom line first."
• Habit-stack the daily drill onto an existing routine.
• Deliberate practice: rewrite + compare (Ben Franklin's drill).
• Never miss twice.

4-Week Progression

Wk	Focus	Rule
1	One-Line Rule	Every email opens with the BLUF ask.
2	The Cut	Full Paramedic pass; ≥30% lard cut.
3	The Numbers	Subject ≤4 words · body 50–125 · drop grade.
4	Automaticity	Lock the trigger · 90-sec send-ready reply.

Daily 5-Min Engine

1. Pick one message to send.
2. Draft naturally.
3. Run the 7-step Paramedic pass.
4. Move the bottom line to sentence one.
5. Check the meter (Workbench tab).
6. Log Lard Factor + streak.