The proposal was strong. The report was thorough. The deck was detailed.
And yet the decision still did not go the way it should have. In most cases like this, the writing was not actually the problem. The structure was. Readers do not dig. If they cannot find the point quickly, they move on, or they make a decision based on whatever they managed to get through before something else demanded their attention.
WHY THIS PROGRAM EXISTS
Most written communication is built for the writer, not the reader.
When I review proposals, reports and presentations for clients, the quality of the thinking is almost never the issue. It is the way the thinking is organised. The key message is buried on page four. The recommendation arrives after twelve slides of context that the reader did not need before the recommendation. The executive summary runs to three pages and summarises nothing.
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Readers in organisations are busy, skeptical and have seen a lot of documents. If the point is not clear early, they will not wait for it. And the frustrating thing is that the person who wrote it usually has something genuinely worth saying. It just is not reaching the people who need to hear it.
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This program changes that, by teaching people to write for the reader first and everything else second.
"If they have to work to find your point, they probably will not."
THE WORKSHOP
Let's Write Effective Presentations and Winning Proposals
A one-day program for anyone who writes proposals, reports and presentations as part of their role and wants their written work to do more of the heavy lifting. Built around the Logical Planner and the Power of Three, it gives participants a practical, immediately applicable approach to producing written communication that is clear, compelling and easy for the reader to act on.
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For groups of 5 to 15 people. Completely tailored to the organisation's industry, written communication challenges and real examples brought by participants on the day.
Who this is for
Proposal Writers
Consultants, account managers and business development professionals whose proposals need to win work rather than simply document the thinking that went into them.
Report Authors
Analysts, researchers and managers who produce reports that decision-makers need to read, understand and act on quickly, rather than save for a quieter moment that never arrives.
Presentation Builders
Anyone who puts together slide decks for leadership, clients or stakeholders and wants them to land clearly rather than prompt the question "so what are you actually recommending?"
Teams With Inconsistent Written Standards
Groups where the quality and clarity of written communication varies significantly depending on who is doing the writing, and where a shared approach would lift everyone to a higher and more consistent standard.
WHAT WE COVER
Five practical modules covering the written side of business communication.
Audience is ace: How to understand different reader expectations and tailor your content accordingly, including what to include, what to leave out and what order to put things in so the reader stays with you.
The Logical Planner for written communication: Applying the framework to proposals, reports and presentations, so the argument is clear and the structure serves the reader from the very first line.
Presentation aids: When and how to use slides, video, handouts, stories and case studies to add interest and depth without losing the clarity of the central argument.
The Power of Three: How to accentuate key messages so they are remembered long after the reader has put the document down, rather than dissolving into everything else they read that week.
Practice and feedback: Participants apply the frameworks to their own real written work, with coaching from Elaine and structured peer review throughout the day.
WHAT YOU GET
Participants will learn
01
A structure for any written communication
The Logical Planner applied to proposals, reports and presentations, with a repeatable approach that works regardless of the topic, the audience or how long the document needs to be.
02
Significantly reduced preparation time
Because when there is a clear process for structuring written work, the blank page becomes considerably less terrifying and the first draft considerably more useful.
03
Written work that is reader-focused
Documents that give the reader exactly what they need to understand, decide and act, rather than everything the writer needed to include to feel they had covered it properly.
04
A shared written communication standard
When a whole team goes through this together, the quality of written output lifts across the board and tends to stay lifted because everyone is working from the same foundation.
THE DETAIL
Let's Write Effective Presentations and Winning Proposals
Delivered as a one-day face-to-face program for groups of 5 to 15 participants. Completely tailored to the organisation's industry, written communication challenges and real examples brought by participants.
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Pre-session: participants are asked to bring a real proposal, report or presentation they are currently working on or have recently completed. Working on something real makes the feedback considerably more useful than working on a hypothetical.
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Available in Melbourne and across Australia/NZ. Virtual delivery available for distributed teams.
If your team's written work is not converting the way it should, that conversation is probably long overdue.
Let's talk about what clearer, more compelling written communication looks like for your people and your organisation.