A slideshow detailing methods that can be used throughout your bid writing to ensure that you are able to keep the attention of the evaluators and they read.

1. How to gain and keep the
attention of the
evaluators
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2. Seek first to understand,
then to be understood
According to Stephen Covey, the author of 7 habits of highly effective
people, to stand any chance of being understood, you first need to
understand. This is certainly true when it comes to submitting a bid for
Horizon 2020 funding. In order to ensure that the people evaluating your bid
application are able to get the full entirety of your proposal you must first
have an understanding of who they are.
Firstly they are all human, as such they have limits to their own
understanding, Not everyone will be a specific subject expert. Keeping this in
mind when you are writing your bid is vital.
Keep in mind the evaluators will come from two main backgrounds.
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3. Seek first to understand,
then to be understood
The Scientist
The subject expert, giving special attention to the scientific and
technical aspects of the proposal.
The Generalist and/or Businessman
Having general technical knowledge in the proposal area, relying
relatively more on a logical and clear structure of the proposal.
In his book “Writing effective EU proposals” Marc Hoffman tell us that there
are two types of evaluators.
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4. Seek first to understand,
then to be understood
He goes on to state that “for both types of reviewers the first pages and
the objectives of your proposal form the initial impression. In this stage the
proposal is already mentally rated and the remaining parts of the proposal
are read to confirm (or disprove) this first mental impression”
So there is a need to understand how these first impressions are
created in order to deliver a proposal that will “speak to” the evaluators
whilst gaining their attention and interest.
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5. Seek first to understand,
then to be understood
So first let us take a look at how the brain
works It can be split into three sections
 Academic
for self development and awareness
 Mammalian
for social interactions
 Reptilian
for the basic instincts
The reptilian part of the brain is by far the
most dominant by a large factor.
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6. Seek first to understand,
then to be understood
The reptilian brain as already discussed controls our
basic instincts, key things such as:
The 4 F’s of the Reptilian Brain
Fight
Flight
Fornicate
Feed
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7. The key is to stimulate these basic factors
The 4 F’s of the Reptilian Brain
Fight
Flight
Fornicate
Feed
Is it a benefit?
Is it clear?
Is it worth standing up for?
Is it attractive?
Is it a novelty?
It is colourful?
Is it too scary?
Is it too complex?
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8. Now you understand,
seek to be understood
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www.tcipathway.co.uk