Description

You will learn the science of proposal persuasion through creating a mental picture in Government evaluators’ minds, and telling different types of stories appropriate for proposals to make a dry proposal medium come alive and capture their imaginations.

The class will explain the differences between good and bad proposal language and cover detailed self-editing techniques, including editing automation. You will learn how to write better and faster and overcome the pesky writer’s block. You will improve proposal readability and will practice speed writing in class using tools many proposal writers don’t know.You will acquire techniques and tools that will transform even the most reluctant non-professional writers into prolific and effective proposal writers. You will be able to bring this information to your company to provide just-in-time training to your Subject Matter Experts (SME) to produce better proposal sections, reducing the time you spend on rewriting proposals and reducing your stress.

This workshop is 40 percent lecture, 50 percent exercises, and 10 percent discussion. The workshop exercises will double your proposal writing speed, and will drastically improve the quality of your proposal content by giving you more time to polish it. The results will be astounding, making technical writing easier, less time-consuming, and even enjoyable.

The experts who teach our course are highly experienced, currently practicing proposal professionals whose decades of successful experience in Government acquisition and training allow them to offer valuable insights to our students. Our instructors can answer tough questions as they come up during the course. They can also tailor the material to their students’ specific challenges, and share their experience based on the most current realities. Check our instructor’s bios on our About Us page.

Course Curriculum

Learning Objectives

Upon course completion, the participants will have learned and be able to put into practice:

Understanding the goals of proposal compliance and persuasion.
Analyzing the RFP requirements applicable for your proposal section.
Determining writing focus.
Infusing persuasive argument structure.
Annotating a proposal section.
Shifting the unhelpful beliefs about proposal writing.
Positively impacting proposal team’s and individual performance psychology.
Brainstorming and planning a section in a group and individually.
Speed-writing proposal sections.
Successfully managing writer’s block.
Understanding the elements of proposal persuasion and how to apply them effectively.
Being able to develop at least one of the 11 types of proposal story.
Applying four steps for developing a metaphor.
Editing proposal section for content, structure, grammar, and spelling.
Applying readability metrics to your proposal sections.

Day 1 Highlights

Module 1: Introduction

Introductions and learning objectives.
Importance of compliance and persuasion in proposal writing.
Class roadmap.

Module 2: Detailed Outlining Within Sections

Understanding compliance at the section level.
How to analyze RFP requirements for proposal section.
First steps of outlining proposal sections to be compliant and compelling.

Exercise: Analyze the requirements for the practice section, determine section focus, and identify key components.

Module 3: Infusing Flow for Higher Persuasion

Annotating proposal sections.
Understanding proposal content flow for higher persuasion.
Infusing proper proposal section flow to form a compelling argument.
8Ws and their order.

Exercise: Annotate a proposal section outline.

Module 4: Proposal Speed-Writing System

Three elements of the proposal speed-writing system.

Module 5: Overcoming Unhelpful Beliefs about Government Proposal Writing

The psychology of performance.
Questions to uncover self-limiting beliefs about writing.
Myths and truths of Government proposal writing.
Seven techniques to resolve specific psychological hang-ups and overcome self-limiting beliefs.
Where dealing with psychology fits in the proposal process.

Discussion: Apply concepts learned in class to the unhelpful personal beliefs and discuss ways to overcome them.

Module 6: Stage 1 of the Correct Proposal Writing Process

Correct writing process to write better and faster.
Stage 1 of the correct writing process, and where it fits in the capture and proposal process.
Intelligence gathering to answer the 8Ws.
Three steps for successful group brainstorming.
Helping your group become more creative in generating ideas.
Tools and techniques for brainstorming individually and preparing to write.

Exercises: Brainstorming in a group. Brainstorm individually and plan the actions.

Module 7: Stage 2 of the Correct Writing Process

Stage 2 of the correct writing process.
The main secret to writing Government proposals fast and well.
Writing rules.
Speed-writing tools.
Where Stage 2 fits in the capture and proposal process.

Exercise: Speed-write the proposal section.

Day 2 Highlights

Module 8: Beating the Writer’s Block

Elements of proposal writing procrastination.
Four categories of methods to break free from the writer’s block and help your proposal team.
How to manage writing time.

Discussion: Methodologies participants will use to deal with their writer’s block.

Module 9: The Dark Art of Proposal Persuasion

The dark art of proposal persuasion.
Proposal language: what sells.
The anatomy of proposal persuasion.
Understanding Government evaluators’ individual drivers.
Proper structure of the argument for better proposal persuasion.

Discussion: Integrate the material learned in the module and apply to the specific customer situations.

Module 10: Use of Story in Proposals

How to use story that makes boring proposal writing come alive.
Elements of a strong proposal story.
Eleven story types appropriate in a Government proposal.

Exercise: Develop a story for the practice proposal section.

Module 11: Harnessing the Power of Metaphor

Types of metaphors.
Metaphor rules.
Four steps for building an effective metaphor appropriate for Government proposals, and useful during the capture process.

Exercise: Create a metaphor for the practice proposal section.

Module 12: Stage 3 of the Correct Writing Process

Stage 3 of the correct proposal writing process.
Where Stage 3 fits in the proposal process.
OST’s four-part proposal editing checklist.
Exercise: Apply editing checklist parts 1 and 2 to the proposal section draft.

Module 13: Copy Editing and Editing Automation

How to configure and apply proposal editing tools.
Readability and its tools.
How to avoid sentence bloaters and reduce wordiness.
Enemies of clear proposal writing.
Language that kills proposal persuasion.
Configuring MS Word for editing.
Writing efficiencies in MS Word.
Additional editing tools and techniques for proposal editing automation.

Exercises: Configure MS Word. Watch the editing demo. Apply editing checklist parts 3 and 4 to finalize the draft.

Module 14: Summary and Recap

How It All Maps to the Proposal Process.
Summary.
Recap.

Meet Your Instructor

Olessia Smotrova, CF.APMP Fellow

Olessia has more than 25 years of experience in business development. She led winning bids for four out of the top five Government contractors, winning more than $26 billion over the course of her career in single award contracts. She is an AI developer and strategist, pioneering the use of generative AI in Government contracting. She has created and implemented AI tools for business development processes, proposal strategy formulation, and competitive analysis. She is an AI super-user and thought leader in the practical application of generative AI in synthesizing complex data, generating innovative solutions, and driving decision-making in high-stakes Government BD environments.

She is the author of the book How to Get Government Contracts: Have a Slice of $1 Trillion Pie and seven other books. She has taught a graduate course for the Stevens Institute of Technology, and she provided training to Treasury and NASA. She has served for 2 years as the President of the National Contracts Management Association (NCMA) Bethesda/Medical Chapter and for 2 years as the President of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) National Capital Area Chapter.

Olessia is recognized as an APMP Fellow for her contributions to the field of capture and proposals – the highest honor in the business development profession. Her skills span every aspect of business development, sales, and marketing. Prior to supporting Fortune 500 companies and small businesses as a proposal consultant and growing OST, she worked as a business developer for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin and wrote for the Financial Times of London.

Student Reviews

Anthony Needam
12/10/2024
				This was new to me. It was very I formative. We received our packets late. I was not aware of how interactive this would be.
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Nao Gamo
11/07/2024
				I highly recommend the "MASTER AI TO ENHANCE BD, CAPTURE AND PROPOSAL PROCESSES" course! Not just a high-level overview of AI and its capabilities, the course is full of practical tips that you can apply immediately. All the courses I have taken with OST Global Solutions have been well worth it!!
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Francisca Celmer
11/07/2024
				The "Master AI to Enhanced BD, Capture, and Proposal Processes" class given by OST Global Solutions was truly outstanding. The instructor was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging. She made the material easy to understand and directly applicable. I highly recommend this class.
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Jay Yudof
11/06/2024
				The BD and capture using AI course what is comprehensive and effectively taught.
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andre downey
11/06/2024
				The class taught alot of useful information on ai & working it in to our proposal development process
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Lilliana Reyes
9/20/2024
				Great course! Clear information and great pace.

The information was very helpful for someone getting started in the proposal world or someone just trying to learn how to easily transition from InDesign to Microsoft Word.
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Aislinn Berge
9/20/2024
				Took the full day training on Desktop Publishing For Proposal Writing with Phillip Pettet. I learned so much! Phillip was fantastic at explaining things and gave lots of tips and tricks for using Word. Thank you!
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TC Phil
8/28/2024
				I recently completed the year-long Business Development Apprenticeship with OST Global Solutions, Inc., and it exceeded my expectations! The program is comprehensive, covering BD, capture, proposal skills, and so much more. It’s clear that OST is the best in the business—they have addressed the real skill gap in this field.



Their curriculum, aligned with Department of Labor standards for Federal Government Business Development, is TOP-NOTCH and the first of its kind in the nation! The training was practical, directly applicable to our business, and provided the expertise needed to succeed in this competitive industry. I highly recommend this apprenticeship to anyone looking to advance their career in Business Development. I plan on taking many additional courses over the next few years as they continue to stay ahead of the curve. Thank you, OST!
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George Franz
6/13/2024
				Great course from OST Global Solutions!  Olessia's vast experience in this area shines through and the course is chocked full of tips, tactics, and information sources to consider to perform competitive analysis and determine price to win for opportunities.
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Tiffany & Jay Jackson
4/29/2024
				I've taken multiple classes with Olessia of OST Global Solutions and the classes are always well-structured and informative. The lastest course on AI is phenomenal - highly recommend it if you're looking to enhance your BD, Capture, and Proposal processes via AI!
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LaKeisha Thomas
4/25/2024
				Alexia was a very engaging instructor. The AI class was mind blowing! The capabilities using AI to assist with BD processes are endless. I'm looking forward to implementing all of these new tools.
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Erica Blue
4/25/2024
				Olessia did a wonderful job of teaching how to use AI for all stages of the Biz Dev process. She had practical examples and hands on practice. Helped change my perspective of AI overall, including its capabilities and limitations.
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Writing Persuasive Government Proposals (On Demand)