Three Considerations for Developing Bullet Points

It is rare that you find a writer or reader who does not appreciate the value of bullet points. They can make an email or document easier to read and be a lifesaver if you have a limited time.

However, they are like any other part of writing and certain considerations need to be taken if you want them to be readable. Here are the top three things I think about when I use them.

• Follow the “three to five” rule: There are few sadder things in a document than a lone bullet point sitting by itself like Old Man Schwamp on The Andy Griffith Show. That is why I do not use bullets unless I have at least three items. On the flip side, too many bullets can make your writing look like a manifesto, so I try to limit them to no more than five.

• Make sure they are uniform: Bullet points are intended to make your piece easier to read and that means they all need to have the same style to flow. For example, if you start one bullet with a present-tense verb, do the same with the rest of them.

• Keep them succinct: A four-sentence bullet point is not really a bullet point. It is an indented paragraph with a bullet in front of it. Try to keep each point to one to two sentences and never use more than three.

I write this knowing that these rules may not be applicable to certain documents like legal contracts and request for proposals (RFPs). But for most other pieces, following these rules will help make your bullet points pop.

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