Wise counsel from Richard Lauchman, author of Punctuation at Work: Simple Principles for Achieving Clarity and Good Style:
When you use a colon to introduce a list, make sure to write a complete thought first. In other words, don’t write something like this:
“Next year we must increase crease our marketing in: the West, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southern regions.”
Instead, your lead-in should be a complete thought, like this:
“Next year, we must increase our marketing in three regions: the West, the Pacific Northwest, and the South.”
Notice how the complete sentence does a much better job of helping the reader anticipate how the expression will end?
A few more examples:
• Today we will discuss two topics: executive compensation and shareholder rights.
• She visited four countries: Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy.
• We have only three options: reduce the bid, increase the scope of work, or abandon the proposal.
How to Use a Colon to Introduce a List
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The only style books I need are Lauchmman's. When I'm unsure whether to write in a way that "is" right or a way that "sounds" right," I ask myself, "What would Lauchman do?" And the answer, usually, is "Damn the rules: Do whatever you must to be clear without being distracting."
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