Technical Communication Fundamentals Chapter 8 Proposals William Sanborn
Technical Communication Fundamentals Chapter 8: Proposals William Sanborn Pfeiffer Kaye Adkins Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 1 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Proposals and Feasibility Studies n n Guidelines for Informal Proposals Guidelines for Formal Proposals Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 2 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Proposals and Feasibility Studies n Proposals n n Written to convince your readers to adopt an idea, a product, or a service. Requests for Proposal (RFPs) n n Written by organizations seeking a product or service. Include guidelines for n n n What the proposal should include When the proposal should be submitted To whom the proposal should be sent Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 3 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Proposals Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 4 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Use Informal Proposals When… n n n The text of the proposal (excluding attachments) is no more than 5 pages The size of the proposed project is such that a long, formal proposal would appear to be inappropriate The client has expressed a preference for a leaner, less formal document Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 5 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n n n Plan Well Before You Write Use Letter or Memo Format Make Text Visually Appealing Use the ABC Format for Organization Create the Abstract as an Introductory Summary Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 6 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n n n Put Important Details in the Body Use a Problem/Solution Organization Focus Attention in Your Conclusion Use Attachments for Less Important Details Edit Carefully Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 7 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Plan Well Before You Write n n n Consider your purpose, audience, and organization Use Letter or Memo Format Make Text Visually Appealing n n n Use lists to highlight main ideas Follow your readers’ preferences as to font size, type, line spacing, and so forth Use headings and subheadings to break up blocks of text Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 8 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Use the ABC Format for Organization n Abstract n n Body n n Give the “big picture, ” including statement of problem and overview of solution being offered Details about what you’re proposing to do Conclusion n Main benefit and next step Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 9 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Create the Abstract as an Introductory Summary n Provide what the reader really needs to know n n Purpose of proposal Reader’s main need Main features you offer and related benefits Overview of proposal sections to follow Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 10 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Put Important Details in the Body n n n Description of problem or project Details of proposed solution or approach Personnel Schedule Costs Use a Problem/Solution Organization Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 11 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Informal Proposals n Focus Attention in Your Conclusion n n Emphasize a main benefit or feature of your proposal Restate your interest in doing the work Indicate what should happen next Use Attachments for Less Important Details Edit Carefully Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 12 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Informal Proposal Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 13 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Informal Proposal Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 14 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Use Formal Proposals When… n n n The text of the proposal is more than five pages The size and importance of the project is such that a formal proposal is appropriate The client has expressed a preference for a more-formal document Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 15 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Parts of Formal Proposals n n n n n Cover/Title Page Letter/Memo of Transmittal Table of Contents List of Illustrations Executive Summary Introduction Discussion Sections Conclusion Appendices Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 16 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Cover/Title Page n n Project title Your reader’s name Your name or the name of your organization Date of submission Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 17 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Cover/Title Page Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 18 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Letter/Memo of Transmittal n n n Use short beginning and ending paragraphs Use a conversational style Use the first paragraph for introductory information Use the middle of letter to emphasize one benefit Use the last paragraph to retain control Follow one of the letter formats described in chapter 5 Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 19 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Letter of Transmittal Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 20 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Table of Contents n n n Match wording of headings within the proposal text Check page references Keep all headings of the same order parallel in grammatical form Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 21 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Table of Contents Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 22 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n n List of Illustrations Executive Summary n n Avoid technical language Be as self-contained as possible Make brief mention of the problem, proposed solution, and cost Emphasize the main benefits of your proposal Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 23 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Executive Summary Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 24 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Introduction n n Use subheadings if the introduction goes over a page Start with a concise purpose statement Include a description of the problem Include a scope section Include a proposal format section Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 25 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Introduction Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 26 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Discussion Sections n n n Technical Management Cost Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 27 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Discussion Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 28 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n Conclusion n Restate a main benefit Summarize the work to be done Assure clients that your organization can satisfy their needs Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 29 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Conclusion Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins 30 © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
Guidelines for Formal Proposals n n n Appendices Resumes Organization charts Company histories Detailed schedule charts Contracts Technical Communication Fundamentals, 1 st Edition W. S. Pfeiffer and K. Adkins n n 31 Cost tables Options for technical work Summaries of related projects Questionnaire samples © 2011 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.
- Slides: 31