I am writing this article as a follow-up and expansion of the ideas expressed in the recent episode of the same name of the Contracting Officer Podcast. The point of the episode is that communications involving contracts, especially in terms of proposals and their various volumes, need to carefully prepared and considered. Moreover, it is critical to be concise rather than verbose, which is the most challenging aspect – how to be thorough and complete in as few words as possible. This article discusses why this concept is so important.
The reasons that crisp, efficient writing is essential when drafting proposals are many and varied. First and most obvious is that in most cases, proposals are limited in terms of pages, and sometimes in terms of word count. Along with specific instructions about font style, font size, and spacing and paragraph mechanics, size and length limitations make it challenging to fit everything into the constrained format. Exceeding the limits negatively impacts the proposal, whether by truncating the proposal down to the posted limit by simply deleting the excess pages, or in some cases, more severely by rendering the proposal “non-responsive” and therefore disqualified from consideration.
A second reason for brevity in proposal narratives lies in the area of style and effectiveness. If the writer is trying to clearly make a point, he or she can easily overstate the case and thereby weaken the narrative. A simple, straightforward assertion backed by clear, concise factual statements is more effective, and easier to comprehend, than flowery, lengthy statements that tend to dilute the reader’s attention. Excessive language tends to distract the reader and ultimately weaken the writer’s case. Therefore, it is a better approach to write sparingly, which makes the task more difficult. As quoted in the podcast episode, Mark Twain once wrote to a friend, “If I had more time, I’d have written you a shorter letter.” That brilliant, eloquent statement captures the essence of the point: to write well requires more time and concentration, not to expand the passage, but to trim it to the most impactful, efficient dimensions.
Closely related to the previous reason is the possibility that by inserting additional and extraneous commentary, the writer may detract from the point of the proposal. While it is tempting to impress the reader with effusive claims and repetitive, overlapping proof, that can also backfire, in two significant ways. First, excessive content increases the chances of misstating the truth and submitting a factually inaccurate document. Even unintentionally, a false statement in a proposal, which is an official document, can have some damaging consequences. Additionally, experienced evaluators quickly develop a healthy skepticism of what is being proposed. This skepticism draws on conventional wisdom and truthful aphorisms, such as the venerable “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bull—-,” well, you get the point. Basically, in short order, proposal evaluators come to regard lengthy, overblown proposals as so much hot air that invite closer scrutiny and greater skepticism.
And the last reason to be clear and brief when writing a proposal is the human factor. The readers and evaluators are people, after all, and very few people enjoy reading lengthy, blustery passages that amount to a certain degree of braggadocio. When confronted with a pile of such proposals, and the arduous task of reading and evaluating them all, the average person would tend to regard a short, effective and well-written document more favorably than the longer, slogging submissions.
In summary, for a variety of reasons, the smart and most effective strategy for preparing a winning proposal is to follow the dictum, “less is more.” It is a challenging task to thoroughly state your case in a brief passage or treatise, but it is critical to do so.