Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m here to tell you that bullet points are OK. In fact, they’re more than OK.
Now, I’m not telling you to hand in your term paper with just bullet points. Don’t cite this episode of Grammar Minute in a paper just to prove your professor wrong … which I did … once … and it worked. [cough] Obviously, there are times when you need to present your thoughts in complete sentences. But there are also times when you don’t. Take an email, for example, where you need to make more than one point and you want to make sure your reader gets everything. Bullet points are perfect for this.
Which reminds me: Don’t try to infer tone from emails. Just don’t. Emails aren’t for writing love letters—they’re for communicating quick and dirty information. Everything else should always be done over the phone or in person.
That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.