Memo Proposal

Memo To: Technical Writing Students

From: L. Brister, Instructor

Date: Spring 2020 Subject: Proposal Assignment (15% of course grade) Due: Sunday, March 1, 11:30 p.m.

To gain official and final approval for your formal report project, write a proposal for it. Use memo format and the structure following the divider line below. The information following each heading and sub-heading explains the purpose and expected content for the various segments. Each section should be developed fully; you are trying to “sell” the formal report project to me. The proposal will be 4-5 pages in length. RESEARCH SHOULD BE COMPLETE before writing the proposal so that you can discuss the following with enough detail that I am convinced that you will be successful.

PRINT THIS DOCUMENT!

The following is the structure for your proposal.

Right after the memo header and subject line, identify your memo as a report proposal. Provide appropriate forecasting comments. Be sure to state clearly the subject, purpose, specific audience and report type for your project. Example: “This memo proposes a recommendation report on ___ to____.” PROJECT OVERVIEW Introduce the purpose of the following material. (One sentence) Background / Problem (paragraphs+) Explain IN DETAIL the issue surrounding your focused topic and why your audience needs your information. Use multiple paragraphs if necessary. Organize it logically. I WANT DETAIL.

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Why are you writing about this topic? Why does it need to be written about? What is the problem? This is where you sort out what you have discovered about the problem from your interviews and research and put it into a logical, understandable order.

❖ I need to see whether you fully understand and have considered all aspects of the focused topic and your audience.

Goal/Purpose/Scope Use one sentence to present your goal/purpose for the report for your audience. What are you going to provide for your audience? Scope means every area or subtopic you will cover. A bulleted list works well, so use it. Always introduce a bulleted list. Don’t put a bulleted list by itself in this section. Also, make the space between the bullets and text 1/8 inch, NOT the default 1/4 inch. The subtopics you have listed for scope become the subheadings in the body of your report. So, in a recommendation report, your bulleted list would be every subtopic you will discuss to achieve your goal for the report. If you’re doing a feasibility report, your scope would be the things you are comparing. You will also need to add a bulleted list for the criteria you will use to evaluate the options.

❖ I want to see that you have thought about how you plan to present the research you have gathered for your audience.

Research Methodology and Sources Describe your research process to convince me that you had an organized, thorough research process. Where did you look? How did you keep yourself organized? If you conducted an original experiment or survey, provide all relevant info about that so that I can evaluate the quality of your process. Discuss the quality of your research material. I need to see a variety of source types (interviews, journal articles, books, surveys, government documents, etc.) Having only general internet sources says the wrong things about the quality of your research. Do not cite Wikipedia. You might also mention sources that you have eliminated for your report and why. For example, if you did not use an interview for your report, explain why. If you do have an interview, present the person’s name, title, prestige and how they will contribute to the report. Organize this section clearly and logically; do not use large paragraphs.

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In addition, mention a working bibliography that you will include at the end of the proposal (See end of this document). You should have a minimum of five sources, not counting your interview with your audience. You will probably need more than five, in case it turns out that you don’t use one of them.

❖ This research segment is crucial to the persuasive success of a project proposal. Do not rush through it.

Time Management Between the proposal and the due date for the report, you have several weeks. Under this heading, discuss how you will use your time, how you will integrate other activities and overcome any other roadblocks to completing the report on time. For example, if you have a child, how will you manage that responsibility during this time? What about a job or extra-curricular activities? Other course projects? I want to know that you have considered and addressed these things. To illustrate your time management of the project, add the completed Gantt chart, covering the general schedule for the project activities. All activities should have a shaded bar to show when you will be working on that part of the project and your expected finish date. Use the Caption command under the REFERENCES tab, to label the chart. Reference the chart in your discussion of your time management. Do not allow any chart or graphic to break between two pages. Place it further down in the proposal if necessary to keep it from breaking between two pages. If you have to place it on the next page, put a parenthetical reference like this (See Table 1.) after the place where you mention it in the text. Any blank space between the Time Management section and the Gantt chart placed on a new page would be filled with the continuing text. To see this illustrated, check any book. Qualifications Indicate your credentials here. Why are you qualified or interested in writing this report? Convince me that you are capable and/or committed to the project. Have you done other long writing projects? Do you have a special interest or commitment to the topic/issue/audience? What can you say that will let me know that I can trust you to do a good job on the report? Budget Here, a table would be the best strategy. Explanation of your expenses to prepare the report should precede the table. Leaving this section out is not acceptable. You should have some expenses. (Note: This is NOT your expenses to do anything that the report includes; it is expenses to produce the report.)

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REPEAT: Include a budget section which includes an explanation of what expenses you will incur to produce the report (phone, printing, travel, dinner for important interview, etc.) The explanation should be before or to the left of a budget table illustrating your projected expenses.

Expenses Costs

Travel $75.00

Phone $10.00

Copying $10.00

Binding $4.50

Total $109.50 Table 3: Budget for Report Project

Use the Word caption tool (References tab) to label the table appropriately. Note: You would have binding costs only if you bind the report for your primary report audience. You will not have to bind the report for me. Request for Approval Make your request to pursue the report project you are proposing. Sound confident and end the document courteously.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

On a separate page, provide a bibliography of the sources you plan to use in the report. Use MLA or APA documentation style. Use the Purdue Owl for correct style examples.

TITLE: “Working APA Bibliography” or “Working MLA Bibliography” NOTE: Use one of these titles above and follow the documentation style! These are the materials you will use to complete your report project. Adding to them or taking away from them is frowned upon. NOTE: After the proposal is accepted, you cannot change your topic. The proposal is your contract for a job. Make sure you have sufficient quality information that you can fulfill what you promise.

To make text sit on the bottom of the cell: select the cells, right-click, choose table properties, cell tab, and click on “bottom.” For a money column, right-align the column.

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NOTE: This proposal is NOT a letter. We are doing it in memo format. Do NOT sign the proposal like a letter. Some offices require an initial beside your name in the memo header, but you cannot do this since we are working online. Other Parameters:

• Before beginning your document, set your line spacing to single with 0 before and after.

• Use single-spaced, Calibri, 12 pt. font for text. Double space between paragraphs. NO paragraph indentations. Use the heading formatting that I have in this document.

• Use the memo header I have in this assignment, but change it for your purposes and remove the “due date” line. Watch your spacing, alignment and formatting in the memo heading. Memo Subject: Report Proposal

• Number your pages at bottom center, as in this document.

• Use ruler settings to put bullets closer to the text than the default placement, as I have done. (If you don’t see the ruler at the top of your page, turn it on. See View-ribbon.)

• Edit extensively—style, phrasing, spelling, punctuation, grammar. Note: Edit out all instances of “there” and a “be” verb. (there is, there are, there was, there were, there will be, there have been, etc.)

• Filename: lastname_proposal_3309xxx (change the xxx to your section number) THIS IS NOT A LETTER AND IT IS NOT THE REPORT ITSELF. You are trying to sell the report to me. I am your investor. You must have approval in order to proceed with the report.