Writing high impact proposals

Recap of Writing
Basics of business writing
Writing effectively for your audience
Writing concisely and accurately

Essential Business Writing

Skills
Writing is an integral part of all
business operations
One of the most valuable skills in the
workplace
Strongly determines how others will
evaluate you
Bad writing undermines effectiveness
of the individual and the organization

Characteristics of Good Writing

Completeness: all information needed is
provided
Correctness: relevant and precise information
Concreteness: support your argument
Clarity: reader decides what is vague,
confusing, ambiguous
Conciseness: get to the point
Consideration: anticipate the readers
reaction
Courteous: use the active voice rather than
the passive voice

The Writing Process

Planning:
Keep objectives in mind and research the topic
Think about the audience
Outlining helps organize thoughts

Writing:
Follow your outline, use your handbook
Inspiration is acceptable but must be carefully
reviewed
Use the interview approach to supplement the
outline(who, what, where, when, how)

Quality control:
Reread your work
Be critical of your own work

Good business document

A good business document should
always answer the following questions:

What is this document about?

Why has it come to be?
Who wrote it?
How is it organized?
What is it trying to accomplish
What supports the conclusion?
What problem or opportunity does it
address?

Know your reader, when you know:

Before you write, ask yourself these questions about
your reader:
How interested or involved in the subject is my
reader?
How knowledgeable is he or she on the subject?
What is my readers purpose for reading? To make
a decision? To be better informed?
Does my reader have special concerns or strong
views about the subject? What are they?
How does my reader regard me personally and
professionally?
What is my readers style of doing business?

When you do not know your reader

Skimmers are readers that are typically
very busy. Pressed for time, they often skim
documents in a rather short period of time.

The documents you prepare for skimmers

should:
State the main point clearly and up front
Place the most important information at the
beginning or ending of paragraphs
Highlight key dates or figures

When you do not know your reader

The second type of reader is a Skeptic. A
Skeptic is a reader that is cautious and
doubtful.
Skeptical readers will tend to read a
document carefully, questioning its
validity and the writers claims.

When you do not know your reader

In order to meet the needs of the
Skeptical reader, it is necessary to
support your statements with sufficient
details and evidence.
Provide specific examples, numbers,
dates, names, and percentages to meet
the needs of the skeptical reader.

Content
Some common methods that writers use
to help them determine content are:
Outlining
Brainstorming
Clustering

Content
Outlining: create a
hierarchy of your
ideas.
This will help you to
identify what your
main points are, what
supporting material is
available, and what
other information you
need to include.

Progress Report for January 2002

I. Background
A. Details of my being hired in Dec.
2001
B. My objectives the first month
II. Work completed to date
A. Developed a plan and presented it to
the necessary committee
B. Plan has been approved
III. Work to be completed
A. Plan will be initiated by March 2002

Content
Jan.2002 Progress
Report:
----Being hired: no
clear procedure for
handling mail.
---My plan: name of the
committee who
approved it??
---Madhu and I hope
the plan will be in place
by March 2002.

Brainstorming: write
down ideas, facts, and
anything else that
seems related to your
purpose.
Dont edit yourself as
you brainstorm.
When youre finished,
decide whats important
and what can be deleted
or revised.

Content
Work to do

Clustering: Write your

main point in the middle of
the page and circle it.
As you think of ideas,
write them down and link
them to either the main
idea or to another point.

Hired
in Dec.
My progress

Work
finished

Work to
do

Organization

The first step to organizing is to group like

information together.
Next, consider the reaction you are likely to get
from your reader.

Organization
If you expect a positive
response, you can use
a direct organizational
plan.
Present your
conclusions or major
idea first, followed by
the reasons or support.

I recently came across your

posting for aviation interns on
an employment opportunities
board. My organizational,
leadership, and problemsolving skills uniquely qualify
me for the position of
planning and development
intern at Phoenix Sky Harbor
International Airport.

Organization
You did such a good job of
explaining the merits of our
new Tuition Assistance
Program that I have
tentatively decided to apply
for the program myself. To
keep my options open, then, I
must ask you to select
someone else to serve on the
program committee. . .

If you expect a negative

response, you might
choose to use an indirect
organizational plan.
Present your reasons
first and your
conclusions after.
Even when using this
plan, be sure to state
your main point up front.

20-second test

Skimmers are likely to

spend 20 seconds or less
skimming a document to
decide whether or not to
read it more carefully.
Skim your document for
20 seconds, and mark
what stands out most to
you in that amount of
time.

After you are finished, see

if what you have marked
is able to convey your
message clearly.
Even better, have
someone else skim your
document before sending
it, and see if your
message is clear to them
as well.

PROPOSAL

What is a proposal ?
A proposal is a business document which
defines a problem and describes the
proposed solution.

Kinds of proposals
Research document
Project plan
Construction/design layout

Who will read your proposal?

Engineers and Scientists: to review
proposal and see if it is technically feasible
Managers: to check if the proposal is costeffective
Government officials: For project approval

What you need

Before you set out to write a proposal, you
need to have .good idea
SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM

Formula for a proposal

Heres the problem
Heres the solution
Heres what it will cost

What a proposal achieves

Do you understand the need your proposal
is trying to solve?
A proposal sells a particular product,
service or organization.
Addresses the decision-maker
Creates impact for project acceptance
Often it is the basis for decision-making

Format of a proposal
Title page
Introduction
Objectives
P.O.A
Management plan
Criteria for evaluation
Conclusion

The Title Page

Scope of online teaching in
Engineering Colleges
L. Surender Reddy
MSIT, REC Warangal
Carnegie Mellon University
October 21st, 2002

Pittsburgh

Introduction
This section will discuss the need for the
proposal reviewer to know the facts
contained in the paper
Purpose
Problem
Scope
Team

Objectives
State your objectives clearly to your
select audience:
I now propose to place before you the scope of
online teaching in engineering colleges.
Through this, I hope to achieve three goals:
a) Awareness of online education
b) Its relevance today
c) Benefits to the academia

P.O.A.
Your Plan of Action will discuss:
Methods & sources
Sequence of activities
Equipment, facilities, products
Evaluation & benefits

Management Plan
Gives details relevant to the management
in decision making:
Schedule & duration
Budgeting & costs
Qualifications

Criteria for evaluation

Management
Evaluation

Technical
Evaluation

Is it worth doing?
Does it arouse
awareness in the
reader?
Is it objective in its
approach ?

How unique is the

proposal?
Is it believable?
Does the writer justify
his claims?

Conclusion
Quick wrap up of the proposal

Heres the problemthe need

Heres the solutionwhat will be
achieved
Heres what it will cost the economics

Experts Exercise
Pick a company or business that you know
well. Now think of a customized product or
service that this company needs.Write a
proposal to the managers of the business
convincing them of the worthiness of your
product.

The End