1. The key word in this speaking and writing situation is proposal. What is a proposal? In a dictionary, look up both proposal and propose. Define these terms in your own words.
2. Have you ever been involved in an organization and tried to get that organization take some sort of action or solve a problem or to make some sort of organizational change? Describe that situation: the organization, your role in the organization, and the action or solution or change you were promoting. And then describe how you proposed that action or solution or change (what form the communication took). Were you successful? Why or why not?
3. In general, what do you think the purpose of a proposal is? Who is it that makes formal proposals? And what kind of situation sparks the need for proposals?
4. Who is typically the audience of a proposal? What is that audience supposed to do with a proposal? What kinds of decisions and/or actions is the audience expected to take?
5. Students are sometimes asked to write project proposals for a class. What reasons might they be asked to do so? Of what value is such a proposal for students? What role does the professor play in this situation?
6. Imagine that you are employed by MegaCorp as a research scientist. You have an idea that you think could make the company lots of money, but bringing your idea to fruition will cost the company a lot of money and will require a lot of time, yours and many others'. You know that in order to get your project funded by management, you need to do an effective proposal, both in writing and in a formal presentation to your supervisors. What kinds of information does your audience need to know about the project and about you in order to fund it?
7. Now it's time for you to prepare the proposal. Given all that you know about proposals, what do you have to do to get your project accepted? What kinds of information do you include? What kinds of supporting arguments do you need to make? What kind of image of yourself do you represent to your audience? And how do you create that image?
Why is effective communication necessary in this situation? Proposals arise because there is a need to apply principles and theories to a specific problem or case in order to solve it, shed new light on it, explore a process, come up with a procedure, develop connections and relationships, and so on.
Where does the need for communication come from?
You develop a project proposal when you have a good idea for a project that
meets one of the needs above (or you are assigned to come up with such an idea)
and you must get approval for it as well as the resources to do it i.e money
and/or time. So the problem in this situation is defined by the gap between your
good idea and the approval and resources that must come from elsewhere.
What is the purpose?
The main
objective of the proposal, then, is to gain approval and resources. As a result,
the primary argument is going to be one of value. Your goal in the proposal is
to persuade the audience that your project will produce value that is going to
be a fair exchange for the value of the money and/or time that you are asking
for. In a classroom situation in which you are assigned a project proposal, the
objective will also include convincing the professor that the project is
relevant to the goals of the course, and that you have fully thought through the
project, know what it will take to complete it and have a good chance of
completing it on time. You must also convince fellow students that the proposal
is worth any time that they spend paying attention, providing feedback and
assisting you if you ask them to do so.
What is the audience's relationship to you? What role
is the audience playing?
The professor may play one or more of the
following roles. If the assignment is designed to mimic the job situation, she
or he will take on the role of manager or client. If you are assigned to make a
proposal for a class project (without any pretense that it is for a job), then
the professor serves as a gatekeeper, making sure that you have a good enough
understanding of the project to pull it off. Professors also serve as
evaluators, determining and applying criteria for assessing both the value of
the proposed idea for the class but also the extent to which a student
demonstrates competence (knowledge and skill) through the proposal.
Fellow classmates may serve one of two main roles. If the assignment is designed to mimic a job or some other non-academic situation, they may be called upon to play a particular type of audience (clients, managers, etc.). If the assignment lacks such artifice, then the students themselves become the key audience of learners and decision-makers, determining the value of the proposal for themselves.
As a secondary audience, you also play the role of learner. The process you go through to develop and deliver the proposal will clearly indicate how well you have thought through your project and what kind of work lies ahead.
What do you know about the audience?
Because class projects often serve an important purpose in a course (and form a large part of your grade), the professor will be listening carefully so as to clearly understand what you hope to do in the project, to judge whether or not it is worth doing, and to judge whether or not you have the capacity for doing it. The clearer you can be about the project goals and your plan of action for achieving them, the better able your professor will be to give you valuable comments and ideas about how to organize your project as well as where to look for resources and information.
In terms of your classmates as audience, you must keep in mind their motivations and interests so as to tailor your proposal to them. Why are they interested in this topic? And if they are not inherently interested, how can you motivate them to be interested? How much your audience knows about the topic will also give you a good sense of the kinds of research you need to do as well as the key questions your project will need to address. Getting feedback from classmates before and after the proposal will give you good information on what aspects are clear and interesting and what aspects need more work.
Be sure to ask yourself some key questions as you develop the proposal: Why is this project a good idea? What do I hope to accomplish? What benefit will I get from doing it? What benefit will my classmates get? If you know you are not interested in the project from the outset, it is not worth doing.
Similarities between oral and written proposals: The goal and the parts of the proposal as identified under written proposals are basically the same for oral proposals. Differences arise in three areas: Introduction/Problem Statement, Objectives and Performance.
Introduction/Problem Statement
In an oral proposal, the introduction must make a strong appeal to audience interest as well as clearly introduce the overall topic and the specific purpose of the project (the specific purpose is covered under Objectives, see below). It is probably best, therefore, to begin the oral proposal with a memorable, vivid statement of the problem or gap that this project will solve or narrow. There are several ways to do this including the following:
Identification with the audience -- Draw upon what you have in common with the audience to help them see why narrowing the gap or solving the problem would be of interest to them.
State the importance of the topic -- Convince the audience re: the importance of the proposal before revealing what the proposal is (this introduces an element of suspense )
Startling statistics or claims -- Present information or claims that the audience will find surprising and that clearly indicate the need for the work you propose to do Telling a story -- tell an anecdote that clearly sets up the problem Making a key comparison -- familiarize the audience with this problem by comparing it to some other problem or gap with which they are familiar
Posing a rhetorical question -- this is a question for which no answer is expected but which seeks to get the audience thinkinf about the problem the project will address
In an oral presentation, the objectives of the project need to be understood within the context of the project's purpose. In addition, in order to be clear about your purpose and your objectives, you need to analyze your audience to determine the extent of the gap/problem and, thus, which purpose is most appropriate for this particular audience .
The following seven purposes give a sense of the kinds of purposes your project might accomplish. Once you have determined your purpose, you can come up with your objectives by figuring out what you have to do to accomplish the purpose.
1. Agenda setting -- the purpose of your project is to cause listeners to be aware of and think about a topic that had previously escaped their attention or that is unfamiliar to them
2. Providing new information or perspective -- the purpose of your project is to provide detailed information to the audience regarding a topic they may know generally, OR to alter their perspective regarding a topic they are accustomed to thinking about from a certain point of view.
3. Strengthening commitment -- the purpose of your project is to increase the intensity of the audience's commitment to a product, idea, solution, etc. Weakening commitment -- the purpose of your project is to reduce the intensity of the audience's commitment to a particular belief, product, idea, etc. (get audience to acknowledge doubts)
4. Conversion -- the purpose of your project is to get the audience to stop believing one thing and start believing another
5. Creating positive or negative feeling -- the purpose of you project is to leave the audience with either a positive or negative feeling about a company, policy, etc.
6. Inducing a specific action -- the purpose of your project is to get the audience to take a specific action.
Unlike a written proposal which an audience can look back at or go over several times, an oral proposal is ephemeral -- it is given only once and is difficult to recover afterward. Therefore, you need to do as much as possible to enable the audience to remember key information and to maintain interest and attention.
Memory aids:In the introduction, provide a brief preview of what will occure in the rest of the speech through the use of key words/phrases, listing, etc. Then use those key terms, phrases or that list during the body of the speech to help listeners determine/remember where you are in the proposal. You can also use visual aids such as an overheads with your objectives and/or the key resources you plan to use to help the audience remember. The best way to help an audience remember key information in an oral setting is through repetition. Don't be afraid to repeat key concepts, terms, categories, etc.
Maintaining audience interest and attention:
Sustained eye contact, an easily heard, clear voice with varied pace and pitch, appropriate movement, appropriate visual aids and compelling stories and language are all ways to achieve audience interest and attention.
Check it out! More on
written project proposals!
How do I put all this information into action so that I can speak or write effectively in this situation?
Your goal: to convince your audience that your project has value and that you can complete it successfully and on time.
Because of the gravity of the proposal, it must be presented in a relatively formal style, maintaining a suitable distance between you and the audience. You can use "I" and "we" but don't overuse them; the subject is not you but the project. Present your material with the confidence you expect you audience to have for it, but don't exaggerate your knowledge or your ability to complete the project. It could come back to haunt you later in the semester.
There are certain basic questions about value and ability that your audience will bring to the proposal and must be answered in order for the audience to make a positive judgment. Those questions help to determine the structure of the proposal.
What is this proposal about? Briefly describe the project that you have in mind. Save the details for later. A short paragraph or two should do the job.
What is the problem or gap that this project responds to? Projects don't come out of nothing. They arise out of a situation in which there is a need for the project, a problem that must be solved. Describe the problem situation. One way of doing this is to think in terms of a lack or need or insufficiency in the situation. But remember: you must convince the audience that the problem is important for the audience and therefore deserves to be addressed.
What will be the results of the project? The audience needs to know what outcome they can expect. Describe in very specific terms what the goals of the project are, what you will produce or what tangible changes will take place. Sometimes a list is appropriate, especially if there are several outcomes. Be sure to show how your objectives will directly address the problems that you identified in the previous section.
What procedures will you use to achieve the goals of the project? In empirical research projects, this is where you will describe the actual research you are proposing to do. In other kinds of projects, give a plan of action for producing results. It is important that your method do two things: it must convince the audience (1) that you have an effective means of achieving the stated objectives and (2) that you have a full understanding of how to manage the project.
What will you need in terms of time and/or money and facilities to complete the project? This is where you make the case for the resources that you need from the audience. You should make a list of the resources and show how they will be used. In complex projects, you should include a detailed budget. In school projects, however, the purpose of this section may be just to demonstrate to the professor that you have a clear understanding of what you will need to do the project and how you expect to meet those needs.
Do you have a reasonable plan for completing the project on time? Even in classroom proposals, it is helpful to present a schedule. This gives both you and the professor a way of judging whether or not the project can be finished by the end of the semester. It also gives you a set of expectations to gauge your progress through the project.
Do you have the qualifications to compete the project effectively? It is important to address the experience and capabilities that the person or the project team will bring to the project. If it is one person, then elaborate on the qualifications that you possess that fit the project. If it is a team effort, present the qualifications for each member, especially showing how individual members have special skills or knowledge that can contribute to the project's success. It is also a good idea to append resumÚs to the proposal.
Do the benefits of the project outweigh the costs? If you think it is appropriate, you could conclude your proposal with a brief statement of benefits versus costs. You may have financial data that could persuade your audience that the expected benefits outweigh the costs. But more likely, this will be a general argument of the worth of your project. This is your opportunity to make a final point about the value of what you are proposing.