Technical Writing for USAID Proposals

8.6

(42 ratings)

5 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Learn the process for writing responsive, compelling, and technically rich proposals for USAID.

Technical Writing for USAID Proposals

8.6

(42 ratings)

5 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Learn the process for writing responsive, compelling, and technically rich proposals for USAID.

Hosted by

Jordann El Dorry, Susanne Barsoum, Joanne Moore, and Deborah Aker

Proven technical writers who are ready to share their secrets for success

Course overview

Write winning proposals

Taught by master proposal writers with dozens of winning USAID bids under their belts, this class takes participants through each section of the technical volume to write compelling, winning proposals. Let us show you how to become a great technical writer!

Who is this course for

Business development teams that want to win more USAID proposals

Experienced writers who want to level-up their skills with proven best practices

New Partners looking to work with USAID

Business development teams that want to win more USAID proposals

Experienced writers who want to level-up their skills with proven best practices

New Partners looking to work with USAID

Technical staff who want to meaningfully contribute to proposal development

By the end of this course you will

Optimize your time

Knowing what to do and when to do it is key. We'll teach you how to maximize your time during the capture phase and how to break down the proposal into manageable pieces once it is live.

Understand proven best practices

To put it simply, you'll learn what works in writing winning USAID bids. Our course is grounded in tested methods for successfully writing USAID proposals that have been honed over decades.

Outline like a champ

You'll learn how to outline for success, a foundational skill for any writer. Through instruction and hands-on exercises and activities, you'll sharpen your ability to outline responsively and be in complete compliance with solicitations.

Level up your writing

You'll learn the secrets to making your writing more persuasive and compelling.

Meet your instructors

Jordann El Dorry

Prior to joining Keylime, Jordann was a successful business development director at Chemonics International, USAID's largest implementing partner by volume. During her 11 years at the company she consistently exceeded corporate win rate and sales targets, bringing in more than $600 million in USAID work. She is excited to share some of the tools and strategies she employs to make technical writing a little less painful and a lot more fun!

Susanne Barsoum

After a career as a business development director at Chemonics International, Susanne founded Keylime to make business development more fruitful for everyone through courses like this one. She has worked on hundreds of proposals with a strong win rate. Susanne finds proposal writing the most challenging and intellectually stimulating proposal role. Her experience and networks are primarily in the Middle East, but she has also worked and lived in Nigeria and Haiti, and done assignments globally.

Joanne Moore

After 13 years successfully working in and leading business development and project management efforts at USAID implementing partners Chemonics International and Population Services International, Joanne started JoMoConsult LLC and has been providing similar consulting services primarily to USAID IPs for nearly a decade. Joanne loves creating and delivering training and sharing her experience, expertise, and epic mistakes all in an effort to support others on their professional journeys

Deborah Aker

Deborah is a professional editor and over the course of her 25+ year career has edited more than 500 USAID proposals. Deborah developed and co-facilitate sessions on persuasive writing. She draws on her experience as a proposal editor, good and bad examples from proposals, and the insights of communication professionals to help participants unlearn the complex, wordy, and often over-the-top writing that earned them high marks in school. Sessions include brainstorming to improve sample text, critiques of proposal graphics, and discussions of pain points as participants seek ways to keep their writing compelling and readable.

Free resource

Tactics to Cut Clutter, Not Content

We've all been there. You're writing a proposal, and you're over the page limit. Maybe by a lot. And a deadline is looming. Don't panic, Keylime Academy's got you covered! Sign up below and get our proven tactics to conserve space and maximize your proposal's score.

Developed by Deborah Aker, an expert editor for USAID proposals and one of Keylime's course facilitators, this guide will help you cut clutter, not content.

Bonus offer: When you download our free resource, you'll also get first dibs when Keylime's Technical Writing for USAID opens up.

Get this free resource now!

Course Schedule

2-3 hours per week

Tuesdays and Thursdays
9:00am - 10:30am EST
We will meet twice a week for live classes over Zoom.
Homework
1-2 hours per week
We'll assign homework each week to put your new skills into practice! You'll get feedback from your instructors on your submissions and will have the opportunity to discuss in class.

Course syllabus

The Role of the Tech Writer in Capture

We'll cover what exactly a technical writer should be doing during the capture phase and how to maximize your prep time.

Reading an RFP and the first 48 hours

Here we'll cover what milestones should be achieved in the critical first 48 hours of a live bid. Participants will also learn how to effectively read and analyze an RFP.

Fundamentals of Outlining

Participants will be immersed in the foundational skill of outlining - why we do it, when we do it, and how to construct general and detailed outlines.

The Background & Context Section

We'll learn how to maximize these introductory sections to frame your problem statement and proposed technical solutions.

General Approach

Participants will gain an understanding of the components of a strong general approach and strategy, including project logic, win themes, methodologies, and more!

Detailed Approach

We'll dive into the various types of detailed approach sections and best practices for crafting these complex sections.

The Review Process

Reviews can be intimidating! We'll cover what to expect and how to manage proposal reviews as a technical writer to get the feedback you need to succeed.

Ask a Contracting Officer

Our favorite session! Participants will have an unstructured Q&A session with a USAID Contracting Officer.

MEL for Tech Writers

What do you need to know about MEL as a technical writer? We've got the answers.

Persuasive Writing

Participants will hone their persuasive writing skills and learn tactics for concise and compelling writing.

See what people are saying

If you're new to the details of technical writing, this course will give you the right context and helpful tips for breaking the process down.

Anna

Jordann and team do a fabulous job of bringing together experts ideas and experiences to this 10 week course held in weekly sessions. Thoroughly enjoyable! Thank you!

Cathy

I really enjoyed how this content was presented and how the course was structured. Having a small group of people over many weeks allowed us to learn together but also the individual homework was really helpful for me to understand how these things were working together and get honest feedback back.

Kate

This is a great introdcutory course to technical writing for USAID. The course was effectively structured, the content was compelling, and all instrcutors provided useful examples to reinforce key concepts.

Mark

Overall, it was a really useful course and helped delve into very important topics for business development and technical writing in general. The ability to be able to effectively analyze and respond with a compliant and compelling proposal is a real skill. I have been in BD a long time, but this was a really important skill to keep working on.

Krystle

The course provides a lot of great insight into the process, even for someone who is already relatively familiar with the basics of being a tech writer. It was helpful to see how others approach the process.

Allison

The course was a great way to brush up on my skills and learn new ones! I highly recommend this course. The teachers are experienced, dynamic, and passionate.

Yassica

I highly recommend this ten-week course from KeyLime Academy for business development folks or technical writers looking to sharpen their skills. I found many of the concepts applicable to writing for other donors as well.

Carissa

I hadn't expected that every sentence would be wise and helpful, but it was!

Betsy

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