The key to convincing others to take certain actions or to winning them over to your viewpoint is to organize your position before presenting your ideas. One successful way to do this is to follow the steps inherent in a complete "briefing paper."

• Subject: In three or four words state your topic or project.
• Current Status: Describe the present situation and the need for your proposed project.
• Goal: Be specific and include a target date.
• Proposal: Your proposal should follow logically from the present situation and should present a step-by-step plan for reaching the stated goal.
• Advantages: List the advantages of your proposal and tailor them to the interests of the individual or individuals to whom your presentation is directed.
• Disadvantages: The disadvantages section is crucial -- it adds credibility to the presentation and forestalls objections. If you can't come up with any other disadvantages, you can always use "time" and "money." It is important to anticipate all major objections, but always add a "however" or "but" clause to help explain away the objection.
• Action: Propose a specific activity that can be initiated within the next 24 hours. It should get the project started but should not commit the organization.

Tips on using the briefing paper

Take an objective look at your completed briefing paper (or ask a trusted critic to do so). If it convinces you (or your critic), you're halfway to selling your idea. If not, back to the drawing board.

If you get into the habit of using the format to organize your thinking, you'll internalize it and use it automatically. As a result, your ideas will be more thoroughly thought out, you'll sell more of them and you'll get better results.

The briefing paper can be used in group sessions to organize the good ideas that often are lost in the shuffle of brainstorming.