The Proposal
A proposal is an attempt to get the reader to accept the
writer's idea. External proposals are basically bids for a
contract. Internal proposals are mechanism to lure a co-worker or
administrator to accept an idea or enact a policy.
Planning the External Proposal
- Consider the Audience (address their needs, explain how
your proposal fills their needs, explain the relevance of
any technical data)
- Research the situation (Both Their needs and the features
of your response)
- Use visual aids
Writing the External Proposal
- Executive Summary contains info designed
to convince the executives that your company should get
the contract. Clearly abstract the contents of the
technical, managerial, and financial sections.
- Management Section Tells who will be
working with you on the project and outlines their
expertise as well as you success with previous projects
and your willingness to train their employees, service
your solution, and provide technical assistance. This
also includes your proposed schedule of implementation.
- Financial Section Breaks down the cost
for every item in the proposal.
The Internal Proposal
Planning the Internal Proposal
- Consider your audience
- Know how involved your audience is with the
problem already. This dictates how much you need
to tell them and how persuasive you need to be.
- Know your audience's knowledge level.
- Know the level of authority that your audience
has.
- Use visuals
- Organize the Proposal around these four
questions: (1)What is the Problem?; (2)What is the
solution?; (3)Can the solution be implemented?; (4)Should
the solution be implemented?
- See Outline of Three Main Points
for Persuasive Presentations for more detailed
explanation of the four issues above.
Writing the Internal Proposal
Introduction
Your introduction should introduce the reader to the proposal.
Briefly address the following:
- Explain why you are writing and if this was solicited or
not.
- Explain your credibility
- Define Problem
- Explain Background of problem
- Explain significance of problem
- Explain solution
- Preview parts of proposal.
Discussion
This is where you persuade them to accept your proposal. You
must cover three areas:
- The problem (fully explain...see Outline of Three Main Points for
Persuasive Presentations for full details of what
should be covered in a problem point).
- The solution (again, see the outline
page)
- The context which includes schedule for
implementation of your solution, the personnel involved,
and the solutions you tossed out.
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