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Discussion on: Good news and bad news and their psychological effect in a proposal

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ShantaMilan

The psychological effect is a vital part of three arms of a persuasive proposal. A persuasive proposal is comprised of a logical order, psychological order and strong evidence. As such psychological effects of bad and good news should be logically placed in a proposal as it gives a very strong persuasion to your proposal. Arthur Bell and Dayle Smith (2006) explains how skilled proposal writers influence the readers into wanting to agree with their idea by resurrecting their feelings and thoughts. Perfect timing of good news and bad news in the proposal are used to entice these feelings and thoughts. (Bell & Smith, 2006, p. 343) Therefore let us see about the impact of placement of good and bad news.

Placement of Bad news in a proposal

I am sure you have all come across or heard an insurance agents selling policies. They have a rather practical approach to communicating with the use of bad news. Presenting a presumable future where unforeseen circumstance like prolonged sickness or abrupt death, which are bad news, entices thoughts and feelings of panic and need for action to avoid such a mishap. The agents build up these scenarios which presents a need for action on the side of the listener. The same strategy can be used in a proposal. Building up a bad news is in fact a clever way of asking for a solution.

Placement of Good news in a proposal

Not all bad news are accepted in a similar way. In a financial proposal bad news are not always good. So starting with a good news leading to a bad one will give a better position for the writer to defend his actions of why there is a bad news and what can be done.

It is however necessary to be careful with placement of a good news as good news can also be interpreted as a problem. For example, if a proposal says car prices are higher and the proposed design of a new car prototype will be able to tap that market price. The higher management may question if people could afford such high prices. Thus good news should be placed with good timing. Good news should not lead to negative thinking to the reader but come as a beacon of hope and answer to questions.

Thus both good and bad news have strong psychological effect only when they are logically presented. A bad news can be a good news and a good news a bad one depending on the timing and placement of it in the proposal. A writer must therefore, understand who they are delivering this to and plan such news for the highest impact for persuasion.

Reference
Bell, A. H., & Smith, D. M. (2006). The Sales and Promotion Letter. In A. H. Bell, & D. M. Smith, Communication Management (pp. 340-344). Delhi: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.