50 Words, Phrases, and Techniques that Save Proposal Space
One of a typical proposal writer’s biggest complaints is that the proposal is too page-constrained. Having a 50-page statement of work (SOW) and a 25-page proposal limit is not unusual, leaving writers struggling to explain their solutions sufficiently. As we review each recommendation in this blog, we specify how many characters and spaces you can save. At the end of the blog, we recommend how to use the savings to strengthen your proposal.
20 Words that Save Proposal Space
An easy way to save space is to substitute a word with many characters for one with fewer characters. As Table 1 shows, you save 96 characters by substituting a smaller word without losing meaning.
Table 1: Use words that save space
| Big word or phrase | No. characters | A little word with the same meaning | No. characters | Characters saved | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Advantage | 9 | Benefit | 7 | 2 |
| 2 | Assistance | 10 | Help | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Considerable | 12 | Large | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | Correlation | 11 | Link | 4 | 7 |
| 5 | Demonstrate | 11 | Show | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Essential | 9 | Vital | 5 | 4 |
| 7 | Exclusive | 9 | Sole | 4 | 5 |
| 8 | Extraordinary | 13 | Exceptional | 11 | 2 |
| 9 | Fundamental | 11 | Basic | 5 | 6 |
| 10 | Groundbreaking | 14 | Innovative | 10 | 4 |
| 11 | Immense | 7 | Large | 5 | 2 |
| 12 | Initiate | 8 | Begin | 5 | 3 |
| 13 | Leverage | 8 | Use | 3 | 5 |
| 14 | Paradigm | 8 | Model | 5 | 3 |
| 15 | Singular | 8 | Only | 4 | 4 |
| 16 | Subsequent | 10 | Next | 4 | 6 |
| 17 | Substantial | 11 | Large | 5 | 6 |
| 18 | Terminate | 9 | End | 3 | 6 |
| 19 | Voluminous | 10 | Huge | 4 | 6 |
| 20 | Wide-spread | 11 | Common | 6 | 5 |
| Total | 96 |
20 Phrases that Save Proposal Space
We often unconsciously add common phrases to proposals that increase the number of words and characters. Table 2 shows how you can save proposal space by removing unnecessary wordy phrases.
Table 2: Reduce wordy phrases to save space
| Wordy phrase | No. characters with spaces | Concise word or phrase | No. characters and spaces | Characters and spaces saved | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | At the same time as | 20 | Concurrent | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Considering the fact that | 25 | Considering | 11 | 14 |
| 3 | Due to the fact that | 21 | Because | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | For the reason that | 19 | Because | 7 | 12 |
| 5 | Has the ability to | 18 | Can | 3 | 15 |
| 6 | Has the opportunity to | 22 | Can | 3 | 19 |
| 7 | In anticipation of | 18 | Before | 6 | 12 |
| 8 | In order to | 11 | To | 2 | 9 |
| 9 | In reference to | 15 | About | 5 | 10 |
| 10 | In the event that | 17 | If | 2 | 15 |
| 11 | In the interest of saving time | 25 | Saving time | 11 | 14 |
| 12 | Is in the position to | 21 | Can | 3 | 18 |
| 13 | It is crucial that | 19 | Must | 4 | 15 |
| 14 | It is incumbent upon | 20 | Must | 4 | 16 |
| 15 | It is possible that | 20 | May | 3 | 17 |
| 16 | Subsequent to | 13 | After | 5 | 8 |
| 17 | The possibility exists that | 28 | Might | 5 | 23 |
| 18 | There is a chance that | 22 | May | 3 | 19 |
| 19 | There is a need to | 18 | Must | 4 | 14 |
| 20 | Under the circumstances | 23 | If | 2 | 21 |
| Total | 295 |
10 Techniques to reduce proposal space
Eliminate fluff and provide more specific details using the techniques and examples listed in Table 3. Additionally, remove widows and orphans from the end of paragraphs and pages to save an entire line.
Table 3: Use editing techniques to save space
| Technique explained | Wordy example | No. characters and spaces | Examples | No. characters and spaces | Characters and spaces saved | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don’t spell out commonly used acronyms or just spell them out once | Information technology | 23 | IT | 2 | 21 |
| 2 | Eliminate “the” and “that” when applicable | We offer customers both the protection and the surveillance options that safeguard operations | 93 | We offer customers protection and surveillance options to safeguard operations | 78 | 15 |
| 3 | Eliminate pairings that duplicate meaning | We offer an innovative AI program that is groundbreaking | 56 | Our AI program is innovative because…(explain precisely how it is innovative) | 36 | 20 |
| 4 | Reduce or eliminate lengthy sentence transitions | As a result of monitoring the budget carefully, we completed the work under budget | 82 | We completed the work under budget because of our daily monitoring | 66 | 16 |
| 5 | Eliminate words that don’t add to the meaning | Our team was successful in completing the project to the delight of the customer | 80 | Our team completed 100% of the project requirements ahead of schedule | 69 | 11 |
| 6 | Kill “will” unless you are discussing a future situation | The team will submit the deliverable on Tuesday | 47 | The team submits the deliverable on Tuesday | 43 | 5 |
| 7 | Substitute adjectives and adverbs with a number or amount | The customer obtains substantial savings using our product | 59 | The customer saves 10% using our product | 40 | 19 |
| 8 | Use active voice, not passive voice | The deliverable is submitted by the team | 40 | The team submits the deliverable | 32 | 8 |
| 9 | Use bullets instead of sentences | AI tools can accelerate workflow efficiency | 43 | AI tools accelerate efficiency | 27 | 13 |
| 10 | Use symbols instead of letters. For example, use > rather than the words “greater than” | The team has greater than twenty-three years of experience | 59 | The team has >23 years of experience | 36 | 23 |
| Total | 151 |
Using the tips from this blog, we reduced the total character count (with spaces) by 542 characters and spaces. Given the average word has four characters and one space, you just eliminated 108.4 words or the equivalent of a small paragraph. If your proposal has multiple instances of “wordy” writing, it’s easy to reduce .5 pages of space without changing the intent of the writing using these techniques. You can use the extra space to highlight your proposal strengths or add a visual to improve your proposal score.
This blog is part of a series on Lohfeld Consulting’s website that includes:
- 50 words and phrases that call attention to your benefits, strengths, and discriminators
- 50 words and phrases to use in resumes
- 50 words and phrases that support past performance development
- 50 words and phrases to ghost competitors
- 100 words that kill your proposals
By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow
Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
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