Writing for Executive Attention

Executives have the smallest attention budget and the highest decision authority. The brief that reaches them must compress maximum signal into minimum words while maintaining credibility. The constraint is brutal: if the executive cannot extract the finding, the implication, and the recommended action in under ninety seconds, the brief has failed — not because the analysis was wrong, but because the communication was inefficient.

## EXEC BRIEF: [One-Line Topic]
[Date] | Confidence: [HIGH/MED/LOW] | Action Required: [Y/N]

FINDING: [One sentence — what happened or what will happen]

SO WHAT: [One sentence — why it matters to this executive]

EVIDENCE: [Three bullets, each ≤15 words, each with source]
• [Signal] — [Source]
• [Signal] — [Source]
• [Signal] — [Source]

ACTION: [One sentence — what to do and by when]

[Full analysis available on request]