77. …To get to the other side.

In meetings, presentations, and reports, it pays to start with the punch line. Give your conclusions before you launch into a detailed explanation. It tells your audience why they should be paying attention and what to look for in the rest of your presentation. Don’t make them guess.

Take a look at the last report or review you prepared. Circle the first time you made your point directly. If that circle isn’t somewhere in the first two sentences, you waited too long. The only information that should precede your punch line is a short background statement. For example: “During last week’s team meeting, you asked me to research new phone-service options.” The very next sentence should be “After analyzing the top three options, I recommend that we consider a contract with XYZ vendor for their Premium Plus package.” Then lay out your case.

Offering a conclusion after making your case is a bad habit we all picked up in school. In the real world, people want the bottom line up top.