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Deconstructing the Challenge Proposal part I: Peer Voting Synopsis and the Executive Summary

From the feedback and questions I’ve received it seems like the teams are all working hard on their innovative concepts and have taken their stance on what the Challenge question can mean. (Tricky of us to have an open, forward looking Challenge question isn’t it? That makes for the most fun innovation!) I thought I would tackle the proposal template for you to make sure you can spend more time on your idea and have less to worry about in the write up. Unfortunately we can’t post the contents of prior years’ proposals. I can go through the proposal section by section in the next few posts, giving you some insight into what should appear there.

Today I’ll write about what in effect are the final sections to write, the Peer Voting Synopsis (PVS) and the Executive Summary (ES). I think you should understand these sections first, complete the body of the proposal with an eye to these two front sections and then come back to complete the PVS and ES.

Peer Voting Synopsis:

This is a departure from most formal business proposals or cases. Since there is a pretty good chance that your team may be chosen for peer voting you have to have an “elevator pitch” prepared for the audience of the Challenge. Imagine that you are in an elevator with a group of top Executives and you have only a few minutes (or in this case 250 words) to give them enough insight into your idea that they would want to give you the time for a full presentation or even better ask for a copy of the proposal on the spot. What you say has to be tight, compelling and to the point. Remember, in this case it’s your peers reading your PVS and sending your team in for a chance at $20,000.00! Final tip: Have a couple of people who know nothing about your proposal read your PVS and then ask them a) to tell you what they think your concept is and b) if they would vote for you.

Executive Summary:

This is a key section in a complete proposal. It’s called an executive summary for a reason. It really is an…. EXECUTIVE…. SUMMARY…. In the real world you have about a page to hook and Exec into wanting to spend the next ½ hour with your proposal. If you don’t hook them, they won’t read further, unlike the academic world where the ES is more of a primer as your reader/Prof/TA has to read your proposal. In our judging everyone does read the proposals completely but your ES is the first impression.

- State your problem and assumptions clearly and succinctly. Tell us exactly what you are tackling, why this is important and in what context it’s important.
- State proposed results and outcomes. Cliffhanger endings are for TV and movies. You want an executive to read on? Jump them ahead to the AMAZING result, and tell them if they read deeper they can find out the exact details. Readers want to hear “what’s in it for me” early. Dedicate about a paragraph or two to this.
- State anything that is really special or stands out about your idea. One or two lines about what we’ll find in your idea that we won’t find anywhere else is very compelling. Your audience will read on for fear of missing out on something great!
- Avoid giving a team bio or long winded explanation of how you came up with the idea, unless it is absolutely essential for some reason. If you must, keep it very short and indicate more details are in the body of the proposal or appendix.
- Summarize, summarize summarize. This is not the place for the whole plan to be laid out. Tell the reader you have a plan and the details in the briefest way possible. Indicate the full plan is in the body of the report. Summarize the ES once, then reread it and see if you can summarize more. Repeat. A masterful ES is a tease that makes the reader want those plan details.
- Final tip: Just like the peer voting synopsis, have a few people read your ES and then ask them (without reading it from the ES) to tell you what they think your idea is and what the outcome of implementation will be. If what they say sound substantially different from what you think your idea is you need a rewrite on the ES. Ask the reader if your ES makes them want to read on and find out more.

Posted by Tim on November 19, 2008 4:00 PM

Comments (2)

nadia :

Does the executive summary count as part of the body word count?

Posted by nadia

Tim :

Yes Nadia, the Executive Summary is part of the 2500 word limit, thanks for asking. The Peer Voting synopsis, however, is not counted in the 2500 words and neither are the appendixes.

Posted by Tim

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