Thursday, September 29, 2011

INFORMATION

The best way to communicate informatively is to use the pattern taught in journalism classes.Start with the fact or set of facts that is more important to the reader.In journalism,there is often who, what, when, where, why, and how? Then go to the next most important fact. Then the third level of importance. The fourth, the fifth, and so on, until there is nothing left to say. The challenge in writing informatively is to figure out which fact is most important to the reader. The most common mistakes are writing chronologically,usually leads to wordiness, or starting with facts that matter to the writer but not to the reader ,which usually leads to confusion of false emphasis.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Move out of the Comfort Zone to Persuade Effectively

we have to move away from the kind of writing that's easy for us(factual, technical) and into the style that's effective(persuasive,clear), as Figure 4-1 shows. So let's distinguish among the primary reasons people write in a business setting and look at how those different purposes require different approaches. When people present facts that other people need to do their jobs, they're to inform. The goal of informative writing is to be concise and accurate. The focus should be on transferring the information quickly and easily. The communication fails if the reader does not undastand the facts or, worse yet, misunderstands them. When people present facts that other people need to do their jobs, they're to inform. The goal of informative writing is to be concise and accurate. The focus should be on transferring the information quickly and easily. The communication fails if the reader does not undastand the facts or, worse yet, misunderstands them.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

The Structure of Persuasion

Most people are comfortable providing information. That's a writing or speaking task you probably feel good about. Evaluations are a little tougher for most of us, and if they involve touchy material, as a performance appraisal might, we may actually dread doing them. However, for the majority of people, persuasive writing is by far the most difficult communication task. It involves a step-level increase in complexity and difficulty over what the other types of communication require. Most people are comfortable providing information. That's a writing or speaking task you probably feel good about. Evaluations are a little tougher for most of us, and if they involve touchy material, as a performance appraisal might, we may actually dread doing them. However, for the majority of people, persuasive writing is by far the most difficult communication task. It involves a step-level increase in complexity and difficulty over what the other types of communication require. Unfortunately, when we're short of time or feel uncertain about our readiness to proceed, we're likely to revert to the type of writing we find easiest. For most writers, that's presenting information, usually to an audience that's about as knowledgeable on the subject as we are. For prposals, that's a lethal combination. Factual information presented at a high level of technical expertise not only doesn't persuade, but may actually alienate the reader.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Emphasize your differentiators and explain how they add value for the customer

You have to read the previous post to follow suit. Third, find out what kind of outcome the key decision maker thinks is most important for his or her company. Is it increased revenue? Regulatory compliance? Elimination of downtime? Whatever the customer thinks is important defines the value proposition. If we provide the right information in the right way, one that corresponds to the processes our customers use to make decisions, our chances of winning business will soar. And, after all, winning business is what writing proposals is all about.

Monday, September 5, 2011

How can we help them use the estimation heuristic to our advantage?

The fact is that when people are making decisions on behalf of a group, they instinctively want to make a decision that gives their organization the best possible ROI. They'll even buy something more expensive and complex if they're convinced it's the best choice for their company. How can we help them use the estimation heuristic to our advantage? First, every proposal should include calculations and graphic displays of ROI, total cost of ownership, payback period, productivity improvements, speed of delivery, or other measures of gain. Second, provide your decision maker with case studies that show how other customers got big rewards from selecting your products or services. Quantify the impact your solutions had for those customers whenever possible.

These Researchers even went so far as to calculate the Calories

The experts who contributed to Simple Heuristics have come up with an answer. Their research suggests that one of the built-in decision heuristics people use is an innate capacity to calculate the "rate of return" for their efforts, particularly as they pertain to the group as a whole. In other words, hunting or a whale or a wooly mammoth has a bigger ROI for the tribe than hunting a Rabbit does. These researchers even went so far as to calculate the Calories required to kill a whale compared to the Calories the community will get from that animal, then calculated the Calories expended versus the Calories obtained for other prey. The result:The whale was by far the best investment of the tribe's energies. Leave a comment and also follow my blog.

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