How to write every kind of narrative — graded, honestly.

Air Force OPB/EPB

The Officer Performance Brief (OPB) and Enlisted Performance Brief (EPB) are the narrative statements that anchor an Airman or Guardian's official performance record.

Army NCOER bullet

The NCO Evaluation Report (NCOER) is the Army's formal record of how a noncommissioned officer performed against the Army leadership requirements model.

Navy/Marine FITREP

A FITREP (Fitness Report) is how the Navy and Marine Corps formally evaluate their people, though coverage differs by service and paygrade.

Military award citation

An award citation is the narrative that justifies a specific medal or achievement award — it's different from a performance report because it centers one feat (or a tightly bounded body of work), not an entire rating period.

Promotion/award package bullet

A promotion or award package bullet argues sustained performance across time — the case for why this person, over their peers, is ready for the next rank or a higher award.

Civilian / employee award

A civilian or employee award write-up — Employee of the Quarter, a spot bonus nomination, an industry recognition submission — is the narrative that makes the case for why someone should be recognized above and beyond their peers.

Performance review bullet

A performance review bullet turns day-to-day work into evidence your manager (and their manager) can act on — for a rating, a raise, or a promotion case.

Civilian self-assessment

A self-assessment is your first-person account of a review period — what you set out to do, what you actually did, what happened because of it, and what you learned.

Résumé bullet

A résumé bullet is the most compressed form of your work — one line that has to carry a strong verb, what you did, and a quantified result, for a reader (or an ATS) who spends seconds on your résumé before deciding whether to keep reading.

Cover-letter opening

The opening line of a cover letter decides whether the rest gets read.

LinkedIn About

Your LinkedIn About section is often the first real writing sample a recruiter, client, or future teammate reads about you — and it's the one place on the platform where you're not fighting a rigid form format.