Note:This is a guest post by Loren Blinde of Writing Power.
The proposal format is one of the most formidable tools in the writer’s toolbox. Although normally relegated to the professional/business realm, the proposal is also useful in many academic and personal writing situations.
Its variability aside, the proposal’s real magic is that its effectiveness is not limited to written communication. With a little ingenuity, you can unlock the proposal format’s power and use it to accelerate your progress toward dreams and goals. Master the logic of the proposal, and you’ll get more out of your personal and professional interactions.
What is a proposal? At its most basic level, a proposal is an offer. You are offering something of value to a person or group in exchange for something you value, such as money or time.
Although specific proposal requirements can vary, they generally follow a simple structure. Let’s consider each part of the proposal structure separately and analyze how we can apply a proposal-style approach to getting more out of life.
1. Introduction.
A strong proposal’s introduction doesn’t mince words. Rather, the introduction clearly and concisely states what you propose to do.
For example, if an employee writes a proposal designed to negotiate a remote working agreement with his or her employer, the introduction should state that aim.
Living Proposal Style – Be Direct
The lesson from the Introduction – be direct – is simple to state but difficult to do. Yet think about how much of our communication could be streamlined if we all worked to be more clear and concise. It would change modern life dramatically. For proof, try the following for one week:
- State your precise reason for writing in each email’s subject line. The key here is “precise.” For example, instead of sending an email labeled “Party?” in the subject line, replace it with, “Invitation to Loren’s Housewarming Party on May 3rd.”
- State an opinion or a preference each time someone asks for one. For example, when someone asks you what you want to do today, don’t respond with, “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Instead, offer a suggestion. You’ll be amazed at how much time this saves. (For an entertaining primer on this technique, see Tim Ferriss’s book The 4-hour Work Week.)
2. Description of the Problem.
Before you can convince the reader to accept your proposed solution, he or she has to be convinced that there is a problem that needs to be solved. The problem section should vividly describe an undesirable condition; further, the problem section should highlight reasons why the reader should care about this problem.
Returning to our remote work proposal, the employer may not understand why the employee needs to work from home. To make the employer understand, the employee would explain the problems he or she has faced while working in the office: commuting stress, commuting cost, office distractions. But to make the employer take a serious interest in this proposal, the employee should also explain that these factors are decreasing his or her productivity and motivation. Considered from this angle, keeping the employee working in the office is actually costing the employer money.
Living Proposal Style – Adapt your Behavior to Suit the Situation
People can be stubborn creatures, intent on proving their perspective’s validity at the expense of another’s. Unfortunately, people also don’t like to be proven wrong. This means that the more rigidly one person defends his or her position, the more the other person is going to dig his or her heels in. Often, taking a less rigid tack would be much more effective. When it comes down to everyday interactions like these, would you rather be right or happy?
3. Solution.
After reading the problem section, the reader should be concerned about the problem you have described and motivated to do something about it. In the solution section, you describe the solution you have proposed in detail. A strong solution section will assure the reader that the solution will fix the problem. Moreover, the writer should provide details to give the reader confidence in the solution’s efficacy.
Continuing the above example, the employee should focus on how working at home will increase the employee’s motivation and productivity in this section. The employee should also provide some specifics to increase the employer’s confidence that the solution will work. The employee should not highlight how much more convenient or desirable it would be to work in his or her pajamas, even though that may be a significant benefit from the employee’s perspective.
Living Proposal Style – Step Into Someone Else’s Shoes
Writers in particular often struggle to communicate because they fail to step into their readers’ shoes. They don’t consider whether the piece meets the readers’ needs, focusing instead on saying what they want to say. Writers don’t always think about what would make it easier for readers to understand the message, and their writing suffers as a result.
There’s a simple, yet powerful, psychological reason that considering another person’s perspective works so well. People love to win. It doesn’t matter whether they’re winning an argument or a carnival prize. It just feels good.
When you highlight a plan’s benefits for others rather than yourself, it demonstrates compassion. A compassionate gesture, in turn, builds goodwill. And if a person feels goodwill toward you, they’re more likely to agree to your suggestion. And if they agree to your suggestion – that’s right – you win.
4. Plan of Action.
This section flows naturally from your solution. Your reader has many questions about how you will implement the solution, and you must convince the reader that you have the knowledge, skills, and resources to turn the solution from a good idea into reality. For example, the employee might explain how he or she would attend meetings, complete projects, and meet with clients from home.
Living Proposal Style — Concreteness Inspires Confidence
What prevents people from making changes in their lives or environments when they know that their lives would be better if they made the change? A common problem is that their desires are too abstract. The sentence, “I wish I could get organized” They are much more likely to make changes if they have specific, actionable steps to complete. This is one reason that many of us (myself included) never seem to tire of reading organizing and decluttering tips.
A concrete plan not only tells what steps need to be taken, but it also provides a clear vision of the result. It’s the vision that empowers change.
5. Costs.
Worry over how much it will cost to put the proposal into action is the major obstacle for most proposals. Like the other sections, this section needs to have specifics. Specific numbers give the reader needed information and help to convince the reader that your proposal is well researched.
But the crux of this section is rhetorical, not economic. Whatever the specific costs are, the cost section should aim to convince the reader that the proposal’s benefits are well worth the implementation cost.
Living Proposal Style – Consider Both Absolute and Relative Costs
When considering an expenditure of any kind, it’s easy to focus on the price tag alone. But this is only half of the information: you must also consider whether its cost is reasonable given its value to you. I am not suggesting that you use the concept of relative cost to rationalize unneeded expenditures or a wasteful lifestyle. But “frugal” and “cheap” are not the same thing. Being frugal means getting the maximum value, use, and joy from each dollar you spend.
6. Conclusion.
A strong proposal concludes with a stirring call to action. The writer wants to propel the reader out of his or her chair. Passion for the outcome is a proposal writer’s secret weapon.
Living Proposal Style – Passion is Everything
Modern life can wear anyone down. Many of us have forgotten what it is like to have dreams. Too often, we trade the-sky’s-the-limit dreams for five-year plans. If there is one thing to learn from the proposal, it’s that it is never too late to recapture our excitement for life. The time is now. The proposal has concluded; now, get out of that chair.
This is a guest post by Loren Blinde of Writing Power. Loren teaches college English and helps people enrich their lives by improving their writing. Her recent articles include Seek And Destroy Your Writing Style Enemies and Well Dressed Writing: Tips For Effective Page Design. Feel free to contact her at loren@writingpower.net
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译文:
运用怎样的建议书，才能更加有效的达到目标呢？
标注:这是由作者Loren Blinde 向 Writing Power所写的报道。
提议的关键所在，是提议者获得成功所能采用诸多工具中一个非常强大有用的工具。虽然在通常情况下，提议与专业，即商业领域有关，但是，这在许多学术和个人写作情形中也是非常有用的。
提议其本身具有可变性，而提议其本身的魔力在于它的作用并不会受到写作信息的局限。只要用上一点点独创的创意，你就可以充分发挥出提议形式的魔力，并以之来推进梦想与目标实现的进程。只要掌握提议的逻辑性，我们就可以在个人专业的交互作用中获得更多的东西。
但是，提议究竟是一个什么东西呢？基本来说，提议就是一种交换意图，通过向某个人或者某个群体提供一些有价值的东西来换取一个对于你来说重要的东西，比如说是金钱或者时间。
虽然组成提议的特殊要件视情况而改变，但是，他们都基本遵循一定的基本结构。让我们独立的审视每一个提议结构的要素，好好分析，怎样来运用一种合适的提议形式，才能更顺利地得到成功。
1. 介绍
一份具有说服力的提议介绍部分决不会是破字破句的，而应该是清晰、简明的陈述了这个提议的目的。
比如说，如果一位员工想要通过一份建议书向他的老板达成在家工作的协议，那么在他的建议书介绍部分就要陈述这种目的。
建议书关键之一 ，就是要直接 建议书的介绍部分要直接，虽然说起来简单，但是做起来却很难。想想看，如果我们都尝试把所有的建议书都做的清晰而简洁，那么，有多少信息需要得到修改，而这也会导致我们所生活的现代生活发生翻天覆地的改变。为了证明这一点，请试着坚持一个星期的时间来做到如下几点：
- 试把邮件的标题用一些精准的理由来陈述，而在此的关键是“精准”。比如说，不要用简单的“聚会”一词来命名一份邮件标题，而是用“诚挚邀请出席5月3日在罗恩家所举办的聚会”。
- 当有人需要建议的时候，试着给人家一点建议或者选择。比如说，当有人问及今天你想做些什么的时候，请千万不要这么回答，说“我也不知道啊，那么你想做些什么呢？”在这种时候，我们应该给他一点建议，那样你就会惊奇的发现你们会省下不少的时间了。（如果你想获得娱乐活动方面的处理技术，你可以参看Tim Ferriss《工作周中的4小时》一书。）
2. 对于问题的描述
在说服读者接受你所提议的解决方案之前，必须要说服他们的确在他们的生活中存在一些有待解决的问题。问题部分一定要生动描述成已经到了令人深恶痛绝的地步，然后，一定要陈述一些理由，为什么读者要关注这些问题的所在。
再次回到那份关于不愿离家工作的协议建议书，对于这份建议书，老板可能不会理解为什么员工会产生离家工作的想法，所以，为了让老板能够理解这种想法，员工就要向他解释为什么他要在办公室里办公的原因了，这可能是由于抵偿压力、抵偿成本和办公室娱乐几方面共同作用的结果。但是，为了引起老板对于这份建议书高度的兴趣与关注，员工也可以这样解释说这些因素会导致他的工作效率和情绪的降低等等。从这个角度出发，继续放员工在办公室里办公则是在实际上耗损了老板的钱财。
建议书关键之二，就是要视情况来决定你的行为原因
人类是一种固执的生物，总是倾向于把自己的观点强加在别人的身上，总认为自己是对的，而别人都是错的。但是不幸的是，人们又总是承认自己的错误，尤其是在别人的纠正之下。这就意味着一个人越是坚持自己的立场，就越会受到他人的抨击。所以在通常的情况下，态度疲软一些、少坚持一些，就会更有作用一些。如果每天都会发生这样的争执时间，你是愿意坚持己见呢还是愿意每天快快乐乐呢？
3. 解决方案
在阅读了问题部分的材料以后，读者就会开始关注那些描述的并且可以改善的问题了。在解决方案部分，你就可以详细的描述一些建议解决方案的细节。一份有说服力的解决方案会让读者产生方法的确适用于解决问题的感觉。甚者，建议者可以提供一些细节，令读者产生方案有效性的信心。
继续以上述的例子来说好了，在这个部分，员工就要着重讲述在家里办公会如何提高员工的积极性和效率，员工也可以提供一些特别的证据来提高老板认为这个方案有效的信心。此外，员工绝对不能着重讲述在家里办公是多么的方便或者他想在家里办公的想法是多么的强烈，即使这些原因从员工的角度来说的确是非常重要的原因。
建议书关键之三，就是要按部就班的说到别人的心里去
有些作者通常觉得心有余而力不足，无法跟别人交流，那完全是因为他们没有说到别人的心坎里去。他们没有考虑他所说的建议是否满足了读者的需要，而是仅仅着重的表达了自己想要表达的东西而已。因为这些作者通常不考虑如何让读者更好的理解和接受这些信息，所以结果导致这些作品并不能深入人心。
从别人的角度出发处理事物会更加有效的推进事物的解决，这个道理虽然简单，但是却更加有效。人们都喜欢赢得胜利，无论是在争论中赢得了别人或者是赢得了一份假日礼物这都无关紧要，只要是赢了这感觉就很好。
每次当你强调一个计划是对他们而不是自己有效果的时候，其中同情因素主宰了一切。一份充满同情意味的表示，最终传达出了一份善意。而且如果有人觉得你很亲切很善意，他们就会更加的同意支持你的建议，同样，如果他们同意了你的看法，那么，不用说，你就赢了。
4. 行动计划
这个部分是从你的解决方案中很自然的产生的。对于你会如何执行你的解决方案，读者自然会产生很多疑问，而你，必须说服你的读者你有足够丰富的知识、技巧和资源，能够将这些方案从想法化身为现实。比如说，员工可以解释他会如何在家里参加会议、完成方案以及与客人见面。
建议书关键之四，正确的做法会激发信心的产生
即使知道只要稍做改变就能让生活变的更好，但是，是什么阻止人们不愿改变生活和环境呢？只能说，问题在于他们的意愿太过抽象了。人们常说，“我希望我的生活更加规范一些。”我想，如果确实有一些特殊的、实际的行动可以实施的话，他们也是愿意付诸行动的。这也就是为什么大多数人，包括我自己，总是乐此不疲的喜欢阅读那些关于组织性和安排性贴士的原因了。
一个具体可执行的计划，不仅要告诉大家应该要采取哪些步骤，也要提供给大家其可能产生的后果。我觉得，正是这些结果的预见会让大家产生动力做出改变。
5.成本
担心将建议付诸行动所花费的成本对大多数建议而言实在是一个主要的大障碍。正如其他建议部分一样，这个部分也需要一些特别的信息，比如说给予读者一些信息所需的特殊数字，以帮助说服他们你所提出的建议是经过认真调查的。
但是这个部分的症结所在并不是经济上的，而是语言上的。无论是怎样特殊的成本花费，这些花费都是在于要说服读者这个建议是物有所值的。
建议书关键之舞，就是要同时考虑绝对和相对成本
在考虑任何支出的时候，仅仅关注价格花费是很容易的，但是，这只是构成了所需信息的一半而已，因为与此同时，你也要考虑付出的价值是否等同与回报的价值。但是，我并不是在建议大家，用那些所谓的相对支出的理论把那些根本没有用处的花费或者奢侈的生活方式合理化，而且，“节俭”和“便宜”也不是一回事，所谓的节俭是指让每一分的花费都实现最大化的价值、用处和欢乐。
6. 结论
一份具有说服力的建议一定要包含一种激动人心的行动号召力，也就是作者要推动读者行动起来，而对于结果的渴求就是建议作者们的秘密武器。
建议书关键之六，就是要让一切充满激情
如今的现在生活让很多人都感到疲惫不堪，甚至很多人都似乎已经忘记了要怀抱怎样的梦想了。大多数时候，我们会把那些无尽想象的梦想用所谓的五年计划来掩盖。如果真的要从这些建议中来学些什么的话，那就是无论在什么时候，想要找回生命中的欢快总是不会感到时候太迟的。现在，建议书已经总结完毕，也是现在，大家该行动起来！
这是一篇由作者Loren Blinde给Writing Power所写的报道。罗恩平时教授大学英语，并且帮助人们通过提高协作来丰富生活。她最近的文章包括了 Seek And Destroy Your Writing Style Enemies 以及 Well Dressed Writing: Tips For Effective Page Design，如果你想跟她产生互动，你可以在loren@writingpower.net跟她畅所欲言。
如果你喜欢这篇文章，请在a thumb up in Stumbleupon留下观后感，非常感谢！