WHAT IS A PROPOSAL?

The general purpose of any proposal is to persuade the readers to do something, whether it is to persuade a potential customer to purchase goods and/or services, or to persuade your employer to fund a project or to implement a program that you would like to launch.

Writing a good proposal is a critical skill in many occupations, from school to business management to geology. The goal of a proposal is to gain support for your plan by informing the appropriate people. If it captures their attention, you'll get your project or suggestions approved. Knowing how to write a persuasive, captivating proposal is essential for success in many fields.

The most basic composition of a proposal, as with any other written document, is simple; it needs a beginning (the Introduction), a middle (the Body of material to be presented) and an end (the Conclusion/Recommendation).

The INTRODUCTION presents and summarizes the problem you intend to solve and your solution to that problem, including the benefits the reader/group will receive from the solution and the cost of that solution.

The BODY of the proposal should explain the complete details of the solution: how the job will be done, broken into separate tasks; what method will be used to do it, including the equipment, material, and personnel that would be required; when the work will begin; and, when the job will be completed. It should also present a detailed cost breakdown for the entire job.

The CONCLUSION should emphasize the benefits that the reader will realize from your solution to the problem and should urge the reader to action. It should be encouraging, confident and assertive in tone.

Proposals are informative and persuasive writing because they attempt to educate the reader and to convince that reader to do something. The goal of the writer is not only to persuade the reader to do what is being requested, but also to make the reader believe that the solution is practical and appropriate. In persuasive proposal writing, the case is built by the demonstration of logic in the approach taken in the solution. Facts must lead logically and inevitably to the conclusion and solution presented. Evidence should be given in descending order of importance, beginning with the most important evidence leading and the least important at the end. Any questions that the reader might pose should be anticipated and answered in a way that reflects the position of your proposal. It is important that the writer, also, considers all sides of the argument---providing other alternative solutions to the problem, but showing how the one chosen is superior to the others.

Planning Your Proposal

1. Define your issue. It is clear to you what the issue is, but is that also clear to your reader? Also, does your reader believe you really know what you are talking about?

By setting your issue properly, you start convincing the reader that you are the right person to take care of it. Think about writing this part as a checklist such as:

·         What is the situation this issue applies to?

·         What are the reasons behind this?

·         Are we sure that those, and not others, are the real reasons? How are we sure of it?

·         Has anyone ever tried to deal with this issue before?

·         If yes: has it worked? Why?

·         If no: why not?

Once you cleared this out, your reader knows that you do understand the whole situation, and will trust you more when you move on to defining your solution.

2. Define your solution. This should be fairly straightforward. Once you set the issue you're addressing, how would you like to solve it? Get it as narrow (and doable) as possible.

Your proposal needs to define a problem and offer a solution that will convince uninterested, skeptical readers to support it. Your audience may not be the easiest crowd to win over. Is the solution you're offering logical and feasible? What's the timeline for your implementation?

3. Think about your audience. For starters, who are they? You need to make sure that you think about your audience and what they might already know or not know about your topic before you begin writing.

What do you want your audience to get from your proposal? Is there an overall vibe to your proposal? How do you want them to emerge from it?

Refine your tone to meet your audience's expectations and desires. What do they want to hear? What would be the most effective way of getting through to them? How can you help them understand what you're trying to say?

4. Keep elements of style in mind. Depending on your proposal and who'll be reading it, you need to cater your paper to fit a certain style. What do they expect? Are they interested in your problem?

Think about the level of jargon you can employ. If the readers are educated, it can be a lot.

How are you going to be persuasive? Do you have a topic that can use ethos, pathos, or logos? You want to touch on their emotions, but remain credible by using only facts.

5. Make an outline. This will not be part of the final proposal, but it will help you organize your thoughts. Make sure you know all of the relevant details before you start.

Your outline should consist of your problem, your solution, how you'll solve it, why your solution is best, and a conclusion. If you're writing an executive proposal, you'll need to include things like a budget analysis and organizational details.

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