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The Bid and Proposal Tip of the Week provides short and insightful tips, guidance, and advice on navigating the complex world of bid development. Each week, our President and CEO, Kevin Switaj, shares his thoughts and ideas on how to improve proposal processes and deliverables.
Welcome to the bid and proposal tip of the week brought to you by BZ Opportunity Management. Each week, we provide you with advice and keys to being successful in the complex world of bid and proposal development. Now here's BZ President and CEO, Kevin Switaj, with this week's tip.
Kevin Switaj:Hi, everyone. Kevin Switaj back with your bid and proposal tip of the week. How can I make sure my message resonates with the client during an oral presentation? That's the focus of this week's tip.
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Kevin Switaj:This is the 3rd in the series on winning oral presentations. Previously, I discussed the key unwritten evaluation factors your evaluators are considering and how important a coach can be to a winning oral presentation. Today, I want to get into how we can make sure key messages come across during our presentations. First, let's define a benefit statement. Per the APMP Body of Knowledge, a benefit statement is a declaration that highlights the advantages or positive outcomes that result from a feature of a product or service addressing a customer's specific needs or problems.
Kevin Switaj:As with any proposal, it is critical for us to speak to who the client is, what they need, and why they need it. Then the benefit statement allows us to clearly articulate the value of our solution and approach in a way the evaluator can easily understand. But how can we do this in an oral presentation? There are two main methods I coach my teams to consider. First, each slide should have a key benefit statement on it.
Kevin Switaj:Many times, our slides can be dense and full of words, especially those that are for FedSIM proposals. Therefore, we need to make sure that the benefit statement is clearly identifiable. I coach teams to have a color ribbon along the bottom of every slide with the benefit statement included. This statement should be no more than a sentence that summarizes the key benefits of the client of what is on the slide and, where possible, also includes measurable value. The fewer words you use, the better.
Kevin Switaj:This allows you to keep the slide from being too wordy and ensures that your statement is hard hitting, easy to understand, and memorable. Secondly, the benefit content you placed on a slide also needs to be expanded upon in your talk track. To do this, I always coach my teams to make it personal. Unlike in a written proposal, an oral presentation allows you to speak directly to the evaluator. Therefore, you should use the word you when defining and articulating your benefit statement.
Kevin Switaj:It makes the experience personal to the evaluator and often brings any audience members who have been mentally wandering back to the presentation. Using phrases like, what do you get from this approach? Or what value does this bring to you? Helps resonate with the audience and recaptures their attention. Making sure you clearly articulate your benefits to the client in an oral presentation on both the slides and your talk track is your bid and proposal tip of the week.
Introductory Voice:This tip has been brought to you by BZ Opportunity Management, a family owned provider of comprehensive bid and proposal consulting services to government contractors of all sizes. For more information please visit bzopportunity.com or email us at info at bzopportunity.com.