Back at my days at McKinsey I was taught that every item in a list should start with a an “action verb”: “Agree next steps”, “Build customer list”, “Sell unwanted subsidiary”. I am no longer sticking to this principle:
- In many case you need to invent a verb that just add words and line breaks to a text box without adding meaning. If the viewer will understand it without the verb, it is OK.
- Worse: this search for action verbs is a major cause of consulting speak with repetitive use of similar verbs: highlight, identify, uncover, map, etc. etc.