If you're telling a joke, directing a screenplay, or writing a TV sitcom, your audience will give you a few minutes to interest them before they walk away, walk out, or flip the channel. Business colleagues aren't always that patient.

Audiences for your email, your briefing, or your proposal want your bottom-line up front for several reasons:
" It's difficult to understand the details if you don't have a summary of the message first.
" Attention wanes quickly. You'll need to grab listeners fast before they exit, fall asleep, or check messages on their iPhone, Treo, or Blackberry .
" People expect applicable messages. With more than 500 TV channels, 1800 newspapers, millions of ezines, and blogs popping online faster than popcorn, people make quick decisions.

Whether good news or bad, competent communicators understand the value of getting to the point.

The first words from the moon: "Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

The first words of Winston Churchill after the fall of France during World War II: "The news from France is very bad."

The first words from President Bush's address after 9/11/2001: "This is a difficult moment for America&.Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country."

Summarize succinctly. Then follow up with the details.