Depending on the writing situation, your proposal may need to include other specialized elements as well. Your supervisor might ask you to include in your proposal any of the following:

Audience: Describe the audience of the final report (which may be different than the audience for the proposal). You may need to discuss for whom the report is designed, their titles and jobs, their technical background, and their ability to understand the report.

Information sources: List information sources; make sure you know that there is adequate information for your topic; list citations for specific books, articles, reference works, other kinds of sources that you think will contribute to your report.

Graphics: List the graphics you think your report will need according to their type and their content. (If you cannot think of any your report would need, you may not have a good topic—do some brainstorming with your instructor.)

Outline: Include an outline of the topics and subtopics you think you will cover in your report.

Chapter Attribution Information

This chapter was derived by Annemarie Hamlin, Chris Rubio, and Michele DeSilva, Central Oregon Community College, from Online Technical Writing by David McMurrey – CC: BY 4.0