Training Day XV
Keynote: At a Glance
We live in an “at a glance” society. Proof is everywhere we look: social media, advertising, books, television, email, in signs, software and websites. Audiences no longer expect information to be succinct and clear—they require it. If we fail to embrace at a glance communication, we will lose more. This interactive keynote shows how to use the new communication paradigm in your proposals (and other support materials) to significantly improve win rates. If needed here are three takeaways...- Change your paradigm and get a new way of seeing proposals
- Learn the right way to respond to RFPs, RFQs, RFSs and all customer or prospect requests
- Learn “G.A.M.E.” time to make winning proposals faster
Mike Parkinson, CPP APMP Fellow
Mike Parkinson is a geek. He is a CPP APMP Fellow, 1 of 34 Microsoft PowerPoint MVPs in the world, is an internationally recognized communication and proposal expert, best-selling author, and professional trainer. He is a partner at 24 Hour Company, the premier proposal creative services firm. Mike has spearheaded multi-billion dollar projects and helped his clients win billions of dollars. Mike’s keynotes, training, books, and tools (www.BillionDollarGraphics.com and www.Build-a-Graphic.com) help companies succeed while saving money and time.IMPROVing Communications: “Whose Proposal is it Anyway?”
The ability to communicate effectively is essential to rapidly developing a high performing team; Essential for successful proposal development. And keeping things light hearted and playful goes a long ways to reducing the stress typically associated with proposals. In this informative, engaging, highly interactive, and sure to be entertaining session, participants will have an opportunity to develop and improve their communication skills. They will be introduced to and have a chance to participate in exercises drawn from improve theater. Participants of this session are sure to leave with improved communication skills, greater teamworking skills and a smile on their faces.
BJ Lownie, CPP APMP Fellow
BJ Lownie is truly “Passionate about Proposals”. In his 30+ years’ working on proposals, BJ has worked on 100’s of proposals, has trained 1000’s of proposal professionals and has presented at countless conferences. He is a recognized thought-leader on proposal development and is a founding member, an accredited Professional and elected Fellow of APMP. BJ is the co-author, with Jon Williams, of the recently published Passionate about Proposals: The Very Best of the Proposal Guys Blog and Proposal Essentials: Win More Win More Easily (available on Amazon). BJ Lownie and the Strategic Proposal team are credited by numerous individuals and organizations for significantly improving their proposal quality and capabilities.Winning Proposal Writing Tips
Is proposal writing more like writing a novel or a newspaper article? How can I write persuasively and still stay in the page limits? The solicitation instructions make no sense and don’t allow me to tell a story; should I organize my writing around my story or around the proposal instructions? We’ll tackle these and other questions, including a discussion of best practices in proposal writing for competitive procurements.
Jeff Leitner, CF APMP
Jeff Leitner is Director of Consulting for Red Team Consulting. He leads the company’s proposal, capture, and growth strategy consulting support, working with Red Team’s clients and consultants. He also lead’s the company’s proposal best practices and develops and delivers proposal training. He has worked in proposals, capture, and business development for over 30 years across the public sector. His first proposal experience was as an author on a $1B bid to the FAA in 1988. After proposal submission he hit his head on a rock, which clouded his judgment, resulting in a career in proposals.It's a Sin to Bore an Evaluator
We write a compliant and graphic rich response. Our Capture Plan was strong. Our solution was a perfect fit. We sit back and wait for the award announcement. What could go wrong? We have put the evaluators to sleep with a solution focused response that never gets them excited. They are bored and merely evaluate your response with minimal endorsements. This presentation will give us a significant number of ideas that will elevate your response in the eyes of the evaluator and get them excited to read more and score your response with conviction.
David Bol, CPP APMP Fellow
As Sr. Vice President of Business Winning Services of Shipley Associates, David Bol has over 25 years as a Senior Proposal Manager helping client’s win nearly $200 billion dollars of revenue. He has co-authored three books for APMP that still influence winning business development practices today. Mr. Bol is APMP certified at the Professional level, is an APMP Fellow and co-founded the Rocky Mountain APMP Chapter. He has held every international APMP Board position including being CEO of the Board of Directors in 2009. Mr. Bol has presented at numerous annual APMP conferences.Hollywood to the Rescue
To help differentiate its mission proposals from its competition, JPL has looked beyond common proposal best practices. This includes:- Teaming with Disney Animation to assist Capture Managers with developing pitches for their proposals, which are used to improve themes and executive summaries.
- Embracing writing methods like Pixar’s six-sentence outline and the Hero’s Journey narrative pattern to develop story strategies.
- Engaging movie concept and storyboard artists to create proposal covers and graphics.
- Working with fiction writers and journalists to refine prose.
- Using talent and approaches from creative industries such as media and advertising could give you the competitive edge you need.
Christopher Guethe
As Proposal Methods Lead within JPL’s Innovation Foundry, Christopher Guethe leads proposal process improvement and training across the lab. This includes providing coaching and strategy support to JPL’s scientists and engineers in developing and proposing on mission concepts in support of the robotics exploration of the cosmos. In addition, he serves as Capture and Proposal Manager on proposals for the lab’s Solar System Exploration Directorate. He has worked state and local, federal civilian, defense, intelligence, and commercial proposals for the last 20 years. Prior to JPL, he spent ten years at CACI as a Proposal Manager for strategic new business.Proposal Generations: A Conversation (Panel)
By its nature, training and mentoring tend to operate in one direction, from senior to junior. This deprives us of opportunities for junior people to set the agenda and guide the development of successful proposal operations and fulfilling careers. In this hour (and perhaps continuing into happy hour), we will get perspectives from junior and senior proposal professionals on workplace and career dynamics, and APMP’s role in building effective intergenerational teams. Topic areas include:- Standard operating procedures: working hours, dress codes, headphones
- Technology and connectivity on the clock and off
- Knowledge transfer: how know-it-alls can share without seeming like know-it-alls
- Expectations for mentoring
- Expectations for advancement
- What’s missing in the generational relationship?
- What role can APMP play in making new generations successful?
Mitch Boretz, APMP Fellow (Moderator)
UC Riverside
Ashley Beane
UC RiversideDavid Bol, CPP APMP Fellow
Shipley Associates
Kenadie Cobbin-Richardson, CF APMP
Kengen LLC
Evelin Gutierrez
Burns & McDonnell Engineering
Justin Sarkis, CF APMP
Clean Energy Fuels
Anita Wright, CPP APMP Fellow
Northrop GrummanWatch a video of this session: