Teaching a Workshop on Proposal Writing

On August 4th, 2010, I am teaching a workshop at the DC Procurement Technical Assistance Center on how to write a winning proposal.  I am very excited because I haven’t done any public speaking or training for over a year.  It’s funny how it works.  I’m usually extremely nervous before I have to speak in front of a group of people.  However, when I get up there, I smile and just do it.  The only thing I really focus on is not talking too fast because I tend to do that when I get nervous. 

Proposal writing is a passion of mine. I love doing it (I know, weird), and I love teaching others, so I know that it will be a good time had by all. I’m going to try and get a collection of cheat sheets or an E-Book together, so I can distribute it to the attendees. 

Below is my tentative workshop plan:

Workshop Plan for Writing a Winning Proposal

The first workshop is going to be small.  It will be 35 business owners attending, and I am happy that I actually have filled the slots. One thing I love about a small workshop is that you are able to answer more questions and interact with everyone in a more personal level.

If I am successful, I am planning on turning this into a web-based workshop. Wish me luck!

You vs. Me in Proposals

Writing proposals is something that many people don’t really care to do.  It can be tedious because you have to ensure that the intended party can follow what you are saying while selling yourself at the same time. Also, that you address all the points that they mentioned in their Statement of Work.  

One of the mistakes that I see many companies (especially the big ones) make is thinking that by boasting about themselves, the organization that they are trying to win the bid from is going to think

“Wow, they are so amazing. We HAVE to give them the task order.”

Sorry companies, it doesn’t usually work out that way. There is a section called “Past Performances” where you can talk about yourself and why you are the best individual (or company) for the job.  It makes me cringe when I see the company talk about they handled this and that in the Management and Solution areas without even discussing how they are going to fix the problem for their potential client.

I’ve sat in pre-proposal work meetings where all people talked about is what bits and pieces they were going to take from old proposals, so they could win this new one.  Of course, if an old proposal has the information that you need, by all means, use it.  However, this is going to get you about 15% of the way to winning the work. 

You > Me

One of the things that will help is count how many times you mentioned time, and how many times you mentioned the potential client in old proposals.  If you see that the number of times your names pops up is more than theirs, then you know that you need to stop doing this.  Your potential client should be mentioned five times to ten times (I prefer ten) more than you talk about yourself. Even in the Management section, you should try to slant it so it shows that your management approach is successful because of the following:

1. You did the research to learn more about them
2. Tailored your management approach so that it works for both of you
3. You have an understanding as to how their organization functions

What works for one organization will not work for another one.  Remember that lesson.  Your potential client should feel like you understand the problem they are trying to resolve, and that you really paid attention to the issue they want you to solve.

Formal or Informal

A proposal starts looking tacky when every sentence has “Company A Technologies, Inc.” and “Government Agency B.” You don’t have to be so formal when writing a proposal.  The best proposals that ever left my hands were the ones that had “I” and “You” in place of the organizations’ names. It flows better and gives it kind of a conversational tone, instead of the dry, formal “Company A Technologies, Inc.” and “Government Agency B.”

Just remember: Your potential client is the star; not you. Try not to outshine them in your proposals.

July 10, 2010 Interesting Links

• How to Avoid Loneliness When Working From Home

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• A Viral iPhone Video Annoys Best Buy

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• US writers dominate Frank O’Connor award shortlist

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• How 16 Great Companies Picked Their Unique Names

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• NTP sues Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft and Motorola – CNET

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• Technical Writing Tips You Learn from the World Cup

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• So You Want To Be A Time Traveler?

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• Darth Vader and Steve Buscemi Get Embroiled in Some Frightful Body Art

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• 6 Top iPhone Apps for Voracious Readers

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• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird soars up the charts

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• How to Create Blogging Business Cards

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• We Are All One Giant Wiki

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• Who is likely to become a bully, victim or both? New research shows poor problem-solving increases risk for all

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• Google Expects China License Renewal

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• 5 WordPress Themes for Freelance Writer Websites

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• Fireflies’ Synchronous Flashes Are Booty Calls, Study Shows
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• Print v iPads: books win!

July 8, 2010 – Each participant read their story using four different devices – a printed book, a PC, an iPad and a Kindle. While on average the stories took 17 minutes and 20 seconds to read, the Kindle experience was 10.7% slower than print, and the iPad was 6.2% slower.

Mentors Are Chicken Soup for Your Writing

When I attended this conference a few weeks ago, one of the people in the audience asked about how to find a mentor. It was something that I was also interested in, so I definitely paid attention when the panel answered.  They said that a mentor can give sound and wise advice because he/she has been there. Also, you can bounce your questions off that person, and he/she can tell you if you are heading in the right direction, or you might consider rethinking a few areas.

Having a mentor is something that many smart business people recommend, especially in the writing field.  I know that I would love to have someone who I can discuss the problems and successes that I find happen every day.  In college, there were many professors who I would have loved to have been my mentors.  I remember one professor in particular who had written over ten books.  She was in her seventies, confident, and very wise. Even though she was tough on me, I knew that it was because she knew that I could do better.  I learned so much from her, and I wish that I could bounce ideas off of her because I know that she would have been able to steer me in the right direction.

Even if you are an “expert” in your field, I think having a mentor or a fellow peer you respect is just as important as when you are starting out. I have been in the technical writing arena for over eight years (almost nine!), but I would love to find fellow Technical Writers where we get together once a month.  It would be like the movie “Thank You for Smoking” where they would sit and chat about what was going on in their hectic jobs. Some of the best advice was given during those casual meetings.

Humans are social creature, and even if you are in the most solitary career, you still need at least one person who you can talk to about the excitement of freelancing life.