Proposal is one of the forms of persuasive writing. Whenever we write a proposal, we want the readers to read and accept it. For this, the proposal should be made credible through research, qualification, accomplishments, presence, testimonials and recommendations. We want our audience to understand and accept the ideas we are conveying through proposal. But it is not certain that the idea will always come in the form of good news. So we need to carefully plan the placement of good and bad news in a proposal to persuade the readers and make them agree on our ideas (Benchmark Institute, n.d.). The placement of the news is highly dependent on the readers’ perception towards the news and the actions the news will result in.
Bad news refers to the messages that threatens one’s welfare, stability and reputation while good news portrays the possible as well as probable ideas. For a proposal to persuade the readers psychologically, the bad news should be placed as a stepping stone for good news. The bad news can be presented as the problem while the good news comes as the solution of the problem (Bell & Smith, 2006). However, we need to understand that good news get resistance.
Which news to give first: good or bad? is something we ask often when we have to give both the news at similar time. Since human tendency is to pay more attention to the negatives, we can start with bad news to draw their attention and then present the good news to clear the chaos and uncertainties created by the bad news. In general, people prefer to begin with a loss or negative outcome and ultimately end with a gain or positive outcome, rather than the reverse. That is, people tend to prefer improving sequences of events, sequences that increase in positivity or decrease in negativity (Legg & Sweeny, 2013). Presenting good news first may make them happy for a time being but do not support in behavior change. The negative closing may disappoint and demotivate the readers. But the reverse has high chance of eliciting the desired behavior.
For example: If an agent trying to sell insurance policy says all the positive benefits of being insured we may not be interested in the policy. On the contrary, if he starts by telling about the unfortunate events that may occur in our life anytime and present insurance policy as a tool to provide some relief in such circumstances, we are more likely to purchase the policy.
References
Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2006). Management Communication. New York: Wiley.
Benchmark Institute. (n.d.). Writing Tasks: Convey Good News and Bad News . Retrieved from Organizational Strategies for Business Letters : benchmarkinstitute.org/wc/ci/writi...
Legg, A. M., & Sweeny, K. (2013, October 13). Do You Want The Good News or the Bad News First? The Nature and Consequences of News Order Preferences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40 (3). doi:10.1177/0146167213509113
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Proposal is one of the forms of persuasive writing. Whenever we write a proposal, we want the readers to read and accept it. For this, the proposal should be made credible through research, qualification, accomplishments, presence, testimonials and recommendations. We want our audience to understand and accept the ideas we are conveying through proposal. But it is not certain that the idea will always come in the form of good news. So we need to carefully plan the placement of good and bad news in a proposal to persuade the readers and make them agree on our ideas (Benchmark Institute, n.d.). The placement of the news is highly dependent on the readers’ perception towards the news and the actions the news will result in.
Bad news refers to the messages that threatens one’s welfare, stability and reputation while good news portrays the possible as well as probable ideas. For a proposal to persuade the readers psychologically, the bad news should be placed as a stepping stone for good news. The bad news can be presented as the problem while the good news comes as the solution of the problem (Bell & Smith, 2006). However, we need to understand that good news get resistance.
Which news to give first: good or bad? is something we ask often when we have to give both the news at similar time. Since human tendency is to pay more attention to the negatives, we can start with bad news to draw their attention and then present the good news to clear the chaos and uncertainties created by the bad news. In general, people prefer to begin with a loss or negative outcome and ultimately end with a gain or positive outcome, rather than the reverse. That is, people tend to prefer improving sequences of events, sequences that increase in positivity or decrease in negativity (Legg & Sweeny, 2013). Presenting good news first may make them happy for a time being but do not support in behavior change. The negative closing may disappoint and demotivate the readers. But the reverse has high chance of eliciting the desired behavior.
For example: If an agent trying to sell insurance policy says all the positive benefits of being insured we may not be interested in the policy. On the contrary, if he starts by telling about the unfortunate events that may occur in our life anytime and present insurance policy as a tool to provide some relief in such circumstances, we are more likely to purchase the policy.
References
Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2006). Management Communication. New York: Wiley.
Benchmark Institute. (n.d.). Writing Tasks: Convey Good News and Bad News . Retrieved from Organizational Strategies for Business Letters : benchmarkinstitute.org/wc/ci/writi...
Legg, A. M., & Sweeny, K. (2013, October 13). Do You Want The Good News or the Bad News First? The Nature and Consequences of News Order Preferences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40 (3). doi:10.1177/0146167213509113