Making Every Point Count

A point is a claim — a statement that can be agreed with, disagreed with, or acted upon. "Climate change is important" is not a point — it's a vague assertion that no reasonable person would dispute. "We should ban single-use plastics in office buildings before the end of the fiscal year" is a point.

The test: can the reader push back? If they can't — if your point is so obvious or so broad that no one would object — it's probably a truism, not an argument.

Every paragraph in your document should either make a point or support one. Paragraphs that do neither are filler.

Vague: "Communication is really important in teams. When people communicate well, things go better, and when they don't, problems can arise. It's something every team should focus on."

Sharper: "Teams that write down decisions after every meeting spend less time relitigating them. When a decision is recorded — who decided, what, and why — anyone who missed the meeting can act on it instead of reopening the discussion."

The revised paragraph about recording decisions makes a specific claim someone could test or dispute, and explains the mechanism behind that claim. The revision is shorter than a padded version, and more useful.

• Inform: present new information the reader needs to understand the conclusion.
• Persuade: argue for a contested position.
• Illustrate: make an abstract idea concrete with an example or analogy.
• Transition: bridge two ideas that would otherwise feel disconnected.

Before writing a paragraph, know which job the paragraph is doing. A paragraph trying to inform, persuade, illustrate, and transition simultaneously usually fails at all four.

Back every point with evidence, reasoning, or an analogy — and make the link to your conclusion explicit. A bare claim without support is an assertion. It might be right — but the reader has no reason to trust it. Support can be evidence (data, examples, citations), reasoning (because, therefore, which means), or analogy (it's like...).

The reasoning is as important as the evidence. "Sales declined 20%. We should hire more salespeople." is not fully reasoned. Add the bridge: "Sales declined 20%, which correlates with reduced outbound activity — suggesting the shortfall is a capacity problem rather than a pricing or product issue."

Don't assume the reader will connect the dots between your evidence and your conclusion. Make the connection explicit every time.

In persuasive writing, open with your strongest point. Readers who stop early — and many do — should still meet your best argument.

In explanatory writing, order points so each builds on the last: basic ideas before advanced ones, causes before effects, the problem before the solution. A reader should never need a point you haven't made yet.

Group related points together. If two paragraphs about cost are separated by a paragraph about timing, the reader has to hold the first cost point in mind while reading about something else. Put them side by side.

Before revising, summarize each paragraph in one sentence. If you can't, the paragraph is probably doing more than one job, or no job at all.

Then read the one-sentence paragraph summaries in order. The summaries should form a clear argument by themselves. If a summary doesn't connect to the ones around it, that paragraph is in the wrong place, or it doesn't belong in this document.

Filler points are statements that are true but obvious, or true but irrelevant to your argument. "Writing is an important skill in today's workplace" at the start of an essay about corporate communication style tells the reader nothing.

Repetition disguised as depth: saying the same thing in different words across multiple paragraphs. If you can't tell whether two paragraphs are different points or the same point restated, merge them or cut one.

The discipline: if a point could be deleted without the reader noticing anything missing, delete it.

The same principles apply to slides, emails, and short updates, only more strictly. A slide should carry one point, ideally stated in its title. An email should state its point or request in the first two sentences. In short formats, readers have even less patience for filler, so every sentence needs to support the single point you are making.

If you have three points, consider whether you need three emails or three slides rather than one that tries to carry them all.