4.3 Using Lists

Lists are an easy way to show readers the connections between ideas. Bullet points often draw the reader’s attention, so they’re the perfect organizational aid for helping a reader to see the next steps or important recommendations. Lists also remove the need for awkward transition words like ‘firstly’ and ‘secondly.’ To write effective lists:

• Use parallelism: Again, if you start a pattern, you should continue it.
• Keep between 3 to 6 bullet points: Too many bullet points are hard for readers to follow.
• Punctuate the list effectively: If you’re using a paragraph list, put a colon after the topic sentence, then capitalize the first word.

When you write your list do not forget to include a sentence or phrase introducing the items in the list as done in Activity 4.2.

^{Activity 4.2 | Using Lists}

Learn more about how to punctuate bulleted lists from Plain English Campaign.