Myth #5 - Put your conclusion at the end

This is the fifth and final article in a series in which we clear up some common myths about business writing. Here we talk about where to put your conclusion.

Myth — put your conclusion at the end.

Reality — make your point upfront.

If Manchester United beat Real Madrid 2–1 in last night’s game and made it to the Champions League finals, where do you want to see that information — upfront in the opening paragraph, or at the end as a conclusion?

At school, we were often taught to put our conclusion at the end after taking the reader through a line of reasoning; and that was okay, as we were being taught how to structure our thinking, and we knew our teachers would painstakingly go through it. But when it comes to business writing (and newspaper articles), you are competing for people’s attention; and it’s important to realise that they might choose not to read it.

So, make your point upfront, preferably in the first three lines. Use headlines and summaries. Make your writing breathe. Help your reader to decide what to read. It sends the message that you value their time.

This ends our series about clearing up the most common myths of business writing. Let’s now summarise it all.

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