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This is part 7 of a 16-part blog series designed to help you win government oral presentations. To read the previous blogs, click here to find the index with individual blogs. In this blog, we’ll explore the "homework" I give the team before we start rehearsals. To kick it off, I’ll cover a common scenario I see as a coach.  

A Common Scenario

It is our first full rehearsal as a team, and everyone had been briefed on the opportunity, given their slide assignments, and assigned homework the week prior. There are 13 people in the room, including three executives, two experienced program managers, and eight individual technical experts assembled to cover the entire static presentation. My client is easily spending easily spending over $1500/hour in salaries to hold this meeting, not to mention all the lost revenue because they aren’t billing their clients.

After a quick check-in, I learned that over half have not prepared their speaker points. We reformat the rehearsal to develop individual speaker points per slide, while those who came prepared work on their “day job” in the background. We lose a whole day to practice together, with no way to make it up. 

Study, Preparation, Practice, and Rehearse 

In the SEAL Teams, I learned an alliteration that has served me my whole life. “Prior preparation prevents piss poor performance.” 

This wisdom applies to SEAL Platoon training when lives are on the line and equally applies to proposal presentation teams when hundreds of millions of dollars and the jobs of your teammates are on the line.

Simply put, the team rehearses together, and each presenter practices on their own. Practicing includes studying the relevant information (aka “the homework”), preparing their individual speaker points, and practicing their slides using a voice recorder before team rehearsals.

Be Prepared 

Before they can rehearse as a team, each presenter must prepare individually and practice their slides. Prior preparation makes for easier and more productive practices and doesn’t waste the team’s time dealing with others’ lack of readiness. After the initial homework is completed, the next steps are to develop their individual introduction, gather examples that apply to the presentation, establish anchor points and speaking points, and develop slide and speaker transitions. I'll dive into each of these areas in more detail in future blogs. This blog focuses specifically on homework for the team before exploring the other topics in subsequent blogs.  

Do Your Homework 

For a static proposal presentation, I first assign the team homework to ensure they understand the opportunity they are trying to win and any technical, management, or past performance submitted as part of the written response. Most likely, members of the capture and proposal team will already know this information. Anyone brought in from outside the proposal team to present will need to study to catch up with the rest of the team. (New presenters can also watch a recording of your Rules of Engagement briefing as well.

Here are some examples of homework assignments I give based on the presentation's structure and the individual and group experience. Of note, each presenter may focus on what is relevant to their part of the presentation, especially when the scope of work is large and time is tight. 

• Read the sections of the Request for Proposal (RFP) applicable to the oral presentation. Often, the team will divide up and memorize the different parts of the Statement of Work (SOW) based on their individual expertise.
• Read the written proposal focusing on the relevant experience, technical approach, methodologies, and technologies that apply to the oral presentation. If your oral presentation is also the submitted proposal, study the presentation in the same way you would a written proposal.  
• Read each other's resumes to learn more about each other’s backgrounds and experiences (this includes your teaming partners), or schedule time one-on-one with other members of the team if you don’t know them or have never worked with them directly. 
• Learn about any relevant corporate experience of the prime and subcontractors on the team. Often, this is documented in the Past Performance volume or in the capture materials.
• Learn about the relevant stakeholders, regulations, references, processes, and other technical information required in the RFP and especially in the SOW.

Presenters who do their homework can begin crafting their presentations using the relevant information from the submitted proposal and RFP. These true professionals are more productive in their individual practice sessions and are ready for rehearsals.  

Expert Positioning Starts With Introductions 

Doing your homework is a critical first step to being ready for practice and rehearsal. With a solid foundation in place, it is now time to develop an introduction that stays in the context of your role on the contract and positions you as an expert. 

In part 2 of this topic, I’ll dive into Individual Introduction Development and how to position yourself as the expert the evaluators want on their team.  

Trident Support

Our orals coaches work with federal contractors at every step, from individual pre-work through final team delivery. 

We’ll equip every presenter to command their slides, deliver irrefutable examples, and engage the government with credibility and passion. 

• Explore our Oral Presentation Coaching services and winning frameworks. 
• Contact Us to ensure every member of your team is individually and collectively ready to win. 

Don’t miss blog 8: Individual Pre-Work Part 2: Developing Your Individual Introductions

Written by Jeff Everage

Jeff is the President and Founder of Trident Proposal Management. As a GovCon Oral Presentation Coach for more than 15 years, Jeff has coached more than 100 teams to success. His insights into oral coaching, gained from the trenches of coaching, are designed to support you and your team in your efforts. As a Navy veteran, Jeff resides in Southern California and provides support to clients worldwide as part of our globally dispersed team.