Busy readers may not read a whole document.

It’s not that they are lazy, it’s just that they are pushed for time and may stop reading when they think they have all they need from your document. There’s a danger there, because they miss some even more important information that you’ve placed later in the document.

So, for nearly all documents, it’s best to organise your content so the most important information comes first – where it is most likely to be read. And if some readers don’t read the rest, it may not matter too much.

Structuring content point first also provides readers with a context for what follows, and that can help them understand your message more readily.

This idea of writing point first works at the overall document level, at sections within the document, for paragraphs and even when writing sentences.