Four strategies for persuasive writing
by
Tim North, http://www.BetterWritingSkills.com

Most folk don't enjoy having to write proposals, memos, reports
and the dozen other things that seem to get in the way of their
*real* work. Nonetheless, if it's your job to do it, you need to
be able to do it well.

To do this, we need to look at how to construct a persuasive
argument. To write persuasively, you need to answer four key
questions before you start:

1.  HOW ARE YOU PERCEIVED BY THE PERSON READING YOUR PROPOSAL?

    If you received a stock-market tip as an unsolicited e-mail
    message would you take it seriously? Of course not. What,
    though, if you received a tip from a long-time friend who was
    a rich and successful investor? Would you take *that*
    seriously? Almost certainly.

    The differences here are *credibility* and *trust*.

    How likely is your proposal to be successful if it lacks
    these qualities?

    So, before you start to write your proposal, you need to know
    in what regard you're held. Do you have an existing
    reputation for credibility, or will you need to establish
    one?

2.  HOW CAN YOU SHOW THAT YOU'RE PROVIDING WHAT THE CLIENT NEEDS?

    You must overcome the natural suspicion that you're proposing
    something that's in your own best interests. If you're really
    more interested in getting the  grant, increasing your
    budget, selling a product or lessening your workload, it will
    be very difficult to establish a persuasive argument to the
    contrary.

    It is thus vitally important that you really *are* submitting
    a proposal that will solve the reader's problems. It's no use
    submitting a pie-in-the-sky proposal and hoping that the
    reader won't notice that you're the main beneficiary.

    You need to come up with a win-win proposal that makes such
    good sense that the reader would be a fool not to accept it.

3.  IS YOUR PROPOSAL PRESENTED WELL?

    There's more to a good presentation than just putting your
    proposal in a nice binding. Indeed, an overly elaborate
    binding  can backfire. You run the risk that your proposal
    might be seen as having more form than substance.

    Here are some things you need to consider. Will it stand by
    itself, or will it be accompanied by an audio-visual
    presentation? Will it be the only one on the client's desk,
    or will it be one of a dozen? What length is the client
    expecting? Does is contain a clear summary of the problem and
    your proposed solution?

4.  WHO IS THE MESSAGE DIRECTED AT?

    It helps to understand a bit about the preferences of the
    person (or persons) reviewing your proposal. What type of
    information do they like to receive?

    For example, let's suppose you knew that either John or
    George would read your proposal. John is a real "numbers man"
    -- he likes to receive pages and pages of technical details
    and return-on-investment analyses. He likes charts and data.
    George, on the other hand, is an "ideas man" -- he goes with
    his gut. He'll carefully read your executive summary and
    recommendations, flip through the rest of the pages then make
    his decision.

    Would knowing which of these two people was going to review
    your proposal change the way you wrote it?

    Sure it would. Here then are a couple of questions to ask
    yourself about the person (or persons) who will evaluate your
    proposal:

    * Do they focus on details, or do they prefer the big
      picture?

    * Are they willing to act unilaterally, or are they
      consensus-oriented?

    * Are they willing to take risks, or are they conservative?

    * Are they technically adept, financially adept or both?

    * Are they the ultimate decision maker, or do they have to
      bump your proposal up the line?

   These may not be the easiest questions to answer, but armed
   with this sort of extra information, you're in a better
   position to construct a persuasive argument.