Blog
May 23, 2017
Building from a Solid Foundation – Additional Information
by Kevin A. Switaj
First, I want to thank everyone who attended my webinar, presented by APMP-NCA, on 9 May. I really enjoyed the experience, and hope the attendees got relevant, actionable guidance out of it.
I am putting together this post to be “show notes” for the webinar, and to answer the questions from the attendees that we did not have time to address.
Logistics (links are for APMP-NCA members only)
Link to the webinar slidedeck only
Link to the webinar recording
Things Mentioned During the Webinar
During the webinar, I mentioned several items. Here are links for each one:
APMP Resources
Link to the APMP Journal issue with my article on the Hybrid Approach
Link to my APMP-NCA presentation on applying the Pixar Brain Trust model to proposal development
Link to APMP Body of Knowledge
Link to APMP-NCA Body of Knowledge
Adam Grant
Adam Grant’s “Six Ways to be an Original” is part of the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders series, which provides great insight from leading minds in business. Here is a link to the audio only, and here is a link to the full talk as a video.
Creativity, Inc.
I mentioned how I was inspired by the “Brain Trust” model put forth by Ed Catmull in his book, Creativity, Inc. Click here to purchase a copy of the book through Amazon as either an eBook or a paperback.
Webinar Questions
These are the questions that went unanswered in the webinar, with my answers.
1. What is the difference between “win themes” and “discriminators”?
Win themes are the central ideas around which you build your response. They include a feature, a benefit, and substantiation. A discriminator is something that sets you apart from the competition, a key idea or concept that you want to propose that adds value to the client. Discriminators can be your features in your win themes.
2. What can I do as a technical writer to help support writing themes? Is there particular training I can attend?
As a technical writer, there is a lot you can add to the process. You know what goes into writing a good section! Therefore, you should know what themes and solution points do you need to be successful. As part of each session, pay close attention to how the ideas and concepts would be pulled into proposal narrative. If you think they will be issue, ask for points of clarification. If they won’t work, make it clear how difficult it would be to make them part of the narrative.
As for training, I covered this in my webinar – there are lots of training options out there for people wanting to learn more about win themes and solutioning.
Final Notes
Thank you again to everyone who attended the webinar, or have listened to it since. Remember, I tweet regularly about Government contracting and other topics at @DrSwitaj.