Chapter 24: Proposals

Proposals are a form of persuasive document that persuades a given audience to take some form of action. Like any other document, you'll want to consider your audience and purpose when constructing your proposal. Your proposal will involve the following basic tasks (Lannon, pg. 583):

1. Spell out the problem (and its causes) clearly and convincingly.
2. Point out the benefits of solving the problem.
3. Offer a realistic, cost-effective solution.
4. Address anticipated objections to your solution.
5. Convince your audience to act.

The main purpose of your proposal is to convince your audience to accept whatever plan you're proposing. A report is usually written before a proposal, and a basic proposal can be summarizing simply: a plan is offered for something that needs to be done.

Proposals can either be solicited or unsolicited. Solicited proposals are those that are requested by a manager, client, or customer, while an unsolicited proposal is one that has not been requested. Also, proposals may be informal or formal. Informal proposals can be either emails or memos (within the organization), or a letter (sent outside the organization). Formal proposals, however, are much like formal reports, which were discussed in the previous blog post.

All proposals, no matter what the type, will have one of three basic purposes: planning proposals, research proposals, and sales proposals. A planning proposal is meant to provide solutions for a problem and make suggestions for improvement. A research proposal is often a request for approval and funding for a type of study-- these are written mainly by agencies. The goal of the project is carefully laid out in these proposals. Sales proposals typically offer a product or service.

Effective proposals will often have the same elements, and reviewers will evaluate your proposal on the following aspects. Your title should be forecasting of what your proposal will include. You should also include a brief background section if your readers are already familiar with the context. A description of your solution should be next, and it describes your plan to solve the problem. You should also have a clear focus on benefits, and relate those benefits directly to your client's needs. Also, only provide honest and supportable claims-- basically, you should promise only what you can deliver. Appropriate detail is vital, too, in addition to your document being easily readable.

You should also use a tone that will allow you to connect with your readers-- you should be confident and encouraging. You can use visuals to your advantage, and tailor your page design so your document is easier to read. Supplements can also help when you have a diverse audience. However, it's important to properly cite your sources and contributors because your proposal will rarely be all of your own work.

Like every other document I have written about, your proposal will have an introduction, a body section, and a conclusion. Your introduction will be where you house your description of the problem and an immediate objective, in addition to any details that will help the reader understand the problem. The body section will include how the plan will be implemented and what costs and personnel are needed to solve the problem. Your conclusion section will reemphasize your need and encourage action to solve your problem.

Group Discussion Question: Is there an air of bias in proposal writing? Why?