Writing Proposals

One of the core tasks of many office jobs is writing proposals on any number of topics. You may need to request funds for a project, suggest new ways to distribute or market your product, or even pitch a whole new concept to a board or team. By having a command of the English language and the rules of style and grammar, this can be less of a chore and more of a pleasure.

The key to writing proposals is clarity. Usually, writing proposals involves persuasive speech, which requires your complete mastery of the topic. After all, you can't rightly convince someone to adopt your policies or change their views if you can't articulate what you want. That said, put aside the flowery language, the elaborate metaphors, and the overblown style and concentrate instead on connecting your thoughts in a logical and meaningful way.

The Finer Points of Writing Proposals

As with many other forms of writing, proposals require an interconnectedness of ideas. Whether we realize it consciously or not, we all expect good writing to flow in a certain way. We entrust our writers with giving us the most important points up front, then gradually descending to lesser points. The introduction of new ideas is generally marked by a new paragraph or heading.

Writing proposals follows the same format. You want to state your ideas clearly in "topic" sentences, then use the space after them to substantiate your claims. This may be by presenting facts, illustrating supporting points, or asking relevant questions. If done properly, the structure behind this form of business writing should be completely invisible.