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Retired grant writer here. I tried to write the beginning of every proposal as a picture caption: brief, descriptive, and full of action. And I always tried to keep the tone conversational, imagining myself telling this story to a reader.

This first sentence tells me, a panelist, - what the proposal is about (tool X) - why it's important (it's widely used) - what the work will achieve (adequately scoped improvement for accessibility) - what the outcomes are I have the full roadmap to navigate the full 40 pages of the application.

A single sentence in and I am fully primed to interpret every single element of the application. When I first read it, I thought it was much clearer than the other proposals by an unreasonable margin. And it clicked when I read the first sentence again.

And the lesson I am drawing from this is: context can wait, start with the punchline. This helps a presumably very tired panelist stay engaged in your proposal from the beginning. And crafting that perfect first sentenc ia a great way to figure out what is the core feature of your proposal!

Thank you for saying this out loud. Sharing with my AP Research students tomorrow who are skeptical of the value of writing for a real audience seeking clarity and understanding.

Do they ever see any other examples rewarded?