Persuasive communications conform to five fundamental organizational principles (listed below and shown in figure 9): • Organize information as directed or according to the customer’s needs. Customers expect you to follow instructions for organizing your proposal response. They are interested in what benefits their organization, so organize based on instructions, and focus on customer needs and benefits, not just your solutions. • Group similar ideas. Paragraphs should only address a single idea. The alternative is greater complexity, length, and confusion. • Place your most important messages first. Readers assume the first items discussed are most important; make it so. Do not bury your persuasive message. • Keep setups short. Setups are a short introduction to a proposal section and help the reader establish context. However, the longer the setup, the more readers you might lose. • Use headings to guide readers. Like a road with clear sign posts, headings help keep readers on track, improve clarity and understanding, and enable readers to jump to any topic of interest.
Organize according to customer’s needs
Group similar ideas
Use headings to guide readers
PERSUASION
Keep setups short
Place most important messages first
Figure 9. Effective Organization Improves Readability. Five guidelines govern organization in proposals. Essentially, each supports the larger purpose of helping the customer find and interpret necessary information.
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See Organization in the Shipley Proposal Guide .
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