Battlecard: "This Sounds Too Blunt"

battlecard A stakeholder wants to soften a direct written recommendation. This sounds too blunt. Can we make it softer? Yes, we can make the rationale warmer. I would keep the decision visible in the first line, then add the reason, customer impact, and next step so it feels clear and fair. The response accepts the tone concern without sacrificing BLUF. It uses plain language to separate harshness from directness, then uses pyramid structure to put empathy and rationale under the decision. In persuasive-writing terms, the Minto pyramid principle keeps the claim visible, ethos strengthens trust in the writer and evidence,…

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