BLUF (communication)

Bottom Line Up Front, or BLUF, is the practice of beginning a message with its key information (the "bottom line"). This provides the reader with the most important information first. By extension, that information is also called a BLUF. It differs from an abstract or executive summary in that it is simpler and more concise, similar to a thesis statement, and it resembles the inverted pyramid practice in journalism and the so-called “deductive” presentation of information, in which conclusions precede the material that justifies them, in contrast to “inductive” presentation, which lays out arguments before the conclusions drawn from them. Bottom Line Up Front is a standard in U.S. military communication whose aim is to make military messages precise and lucid. It differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and considerations of facts. The BLUF concept is not exclusive to writing since it can also be used in conversations and interviews.