Chapter 16: INFORMAL PROPOSALS

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Chapter 16INFORMAL PROPOSALS

• Technical Communication TECB 213

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THINK of A Problem You Had to SOLVE????

• How did you solve it?
• Did you have a plan?
• Solving by talking VS solving by writing?
  Differences? Similarities?
• Time taken? Length of Message? Needs of the
  AUDIENCE? Effect of Message?

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PROPOSAL

• Proposals are persuasive documents that offer a
  solution to an identified problem or need
• RFP?
• Solicited proposal?
• Unsolicited proposal?

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What is a PROPOSAL?

• Proposals are persuasive documents that offer a
  solution to an identified problem or need
• Sometimes sell an idea, product or a service, a
  new concept or plan
• May be brief or long
• Proposal is a request either oral or written, for
  support. (eg. Financial support, permission or
  approval)

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What is a PROPOSAL?

• A successful proposal persuades the AUDIENCE to
  accept your offered solution and to invest in
  your idea, product, plan or service.

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What is a PROPOSAL?

• A proposal is a type of report that can be very
  empowering.
• A proposal provides a professional means of
  presenting ideas for change within the system.

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AUDIENCE Who Reads INFORMAL PROPOSALS?

• Decision-makers in many different positions in
  business and industry
• They read the section/s of the proposal that
  deals with their areas of interest and expertise
• Readers evaluates and votes to accept or reject
  the suggestion based on the data presented in the
  section he/she reviews

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4 categories of proposal

• Internal vs external
• Informal vs formal
• Solicited vs unsolicited
• Sales, Research,Grant and Planning
• A proposal could contain several categories eg
  informal, unsolicited and internal planning
  proposal

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Internal Vs. External
external
internal

• Outside the company
• longer
• Unfamiliar audience
• More dressed up
• Organized according to standard elements of
  formal, researched-reports, cover page,
  transmittal, title page, table of contents, list
  of illustrations, executive summary, body
  discussions, divided by headings and subheadings,
  appendices, glossary and bibliography

• Within a company
• Briefer
• Doesnt require background information or
  explanation of problem
• Flexible organization plan
• Less formal in language use
• Can be presented as a letter or memo
• Sometimes can be written for external audience
  but requires less explanation to offer simple
  solution

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Solicited Vs Unsolicited
unsolicited
solicited

• Depends on the audiences role in its initiation
• Reader asks writer to create the proposal
• Eg. A manager sees a problem asks executive to
  write a proposal to propose a solution/solutions

• Depends on the audiences role in its initiation
• Discovery proposal independently written to help
  offer explanations and solutions after a problem
  is identified

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Prewriting

• A proposal begins with a problem or a need
• Once a problem has been identified, you should
  develop a plan to solve your problem
• Develop a research plan and carry it out to use
  your time efficiently
• Research is needed to collect information
• Long, involved project in the library or the lab.
• Research could also be observing, questioning and
  experimenting

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Prewriting

• Informal proposal requires a minimum research
• Formal proposal requires a more in-depth
  investigation.
• Generating solutions should involve a CREATIVE
  process
• Obvious solutions are not necessary the best
  solutions
• Sometimes the most improbable ideas work best

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Prewriting

• With a long list of possible solutions, use your
  critical thinking to find the best solution/s
  that will solve the problem or meet the need.
• Consider the ve and the ve aspects of each
  solution and narrow down the list.
• Analyze each solution in term of feasibility and
  do-ability
• PMI method of decision making

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Prewriting

• Create a chart that draws 2 columns and list down
  the things that the audience need and want in a
  solution
• Explain how your plan will fulfill that want or
  need
• Thus, you have the tools of persuasion ready to
  compose your proposal

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• Proposals can be developed in
• Letter format for an external audience
• Memo format for an internal audience
• Manuscript format for distant or multiple
  audience
• Manuscript format for very long documents

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals
(Manuscript)

• Start with the title page
• Title page contains the title of the report
• The name of the person or group who will receive
  the report
• The authors name
• Job title
• Company
• Date

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• Condensed version of the proposal known as an
  Executive summary or Abstract
• Summary (1 to 6 paragraphs) is placed on a page
  alone with the heading Executive Summary or
  Abstract at the top of the page
• The heading is often typed in all caps
• Headings and subheadings should be used to
  enhance readability and comprehension

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• You could also vary your technique such as
  underlining, bold facing, or highlighting
• Just be consistent once you made your choice
• The organizational pattern should consider the
  busy decision makers
• Open the proposal with what the reader needs to
  know the most
• Thus, the organization of information is arranged
  according to the priority

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• Proposal gives information about the problem and
  the solution at the beginning of the report
• The informal proposal follows the introduction,
  body and conclusion organizational pattern
• The introduction presents the problem, the
  solution and background that the reader needs
• The body is the main section that covers the
  facts, the specific evidence to convince the
  reader that the plan is worthy
• The conclusion wraps up the report and tries to
  spur the reader to action

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• The specific information and the headings used in
  each section (intro, body and conc.) may vary
  from situation to situation depending on the
  needs of the problem and solution being proposed
• The writer decides which subsections to include
  and which to omit.
• (See pg. 319)

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FORMATTING and ORGANIZING Informal Proposals

• Long or short, the proposal must be carefully
  composed to convince the reader to accept the
  proposers request
• Have you considered the AUDIENCE throughout the
  writing process?
• Are you answering the readers questions and
  doubts?

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Drafting the Summary

• The summary or the abstract is designed with the
  busy decision-maker in mind.
• This section of the informal, short proposal ,ay
  appear on the title page or as the first
  paragraph
• It provides a brief ( 1paragraph) overview of the
  essential ideas presented in the proposal.

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Drafting the Summary

• The summary should include
• a statement of problem,
• the objectives of the proposed work,
• the plan of work
• Cost is also discussed in the summary
• the summary is the most important part of the
  proposal and it must give the important ideas in
  the report thus write the proposal before
  attempting to write the summary

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Drafting the Introduction

• The introduction of the proposal answers the
  WHY in the readers mind
• It explains why the proposal was written
• Identify the problem being addressed
• Statement should be clear, but brief.
• Explains the objectives or what you hope to
  accomplish and makes clear the value of work (why
  is it a worthy investment)

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Drafting the Introduction

• Requires a brief historical background of the
  problem
• It also explains the need for a solution to the
  problem
• It also emphasize that you and the other
  personnel are qualified to solve the problem
• It also describes where you are going to seek
  information to help solve the problem
• It also defines the limitations and the scope of
  the proposal

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Drafting the BODY

• The body of the informal proposal becomes more
  specific about your plan of work
• The facts, the figures, statistics, dates,
  locations, costs are the elements to persuade
  your audience

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Drafting the BODY

• Methods
• Scheduling
• Capabilities
• Materials and Equipment
• Expected Results
• Plan for evaluating results
• Feasibility
• Budget
• Justification ( see pg 321)

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Drafting the Conclusion

• The conclusion should be straightforward and
  brief
• It might include a summary of key points
• It should call the audience to take action
• (see page 332 for composing strategies with a
  Model)