We start with getting Clarity on your proposal, including why clarity is lost and often difficult to recapture.

Module 1 introduces the Grant Story Pivot - a Step by Step tool to identify the "core" of your Grant Proposal Story, around which the rest of your proposal will be organized.

•  Reduce guesswork and iteration by organizing your Story around the Pivot
  
• Stories and Frames - and how those greatly impact your process (and results)
  
• "Deconvoluting" your stories to produce insight on what your reviewer wants
  

Often, problems with writing/story construction stem from a deeper lack of real clarity about how your science fits into your community. Surprisingly, most people learn an “ad hoc” approach to this in graduate school, leaving them frequently without a means of repeatably arriving at all-important clarity on their research.

In this module you will learn the PARLEZ approach to getting deep clarity on your research and how it fits with your field.

• Save time on your proposals 
  
• Establish yourself as a leader in your field
  
• Discover why your field’s confusion and misinterpretation is often your window to success
  

The Research Strategy is the critical center of any research proposal. In this module, you will learn the structure of a compelling Research Strategy that works for all proposal types (including non-NIH). We will cover how all the parts and pieces fit together - building an outline easily from your Specific Aims.

• How to allocate your space so that the pieces most important for reviewer enthusiasm are maximized
  
• The Key Frames and Their Supportive Frames: where they map in your proposal
  
• Common misconceptions about this part to avoid
  
• Why spending too much time and space on your Approach will backfire
  
• A simplified Figure strategy
  

Many writers struggle with this part, leaving it too short, too confusing, and without lasting impact. In this module, you will learn how to connect with your reviewer's desires, to generate enthusiasm and leave a lasting (positive) impression.

• Avoiding the “tyranny of how” that loads readers down (and makes your writing a chore)
  
• The “waffle word” buzzkill
  
• Stacking Leverage: how to avoid the typical traps and what to do instead to get interest
  
• Why not to create “lit review” doldrums, and what to do instead
  
• Building the multi-layer “cake” that will have your reviewer hungry for more
  
• Avoiding the preliminary data trap that will sink your chances
  

The Innovation Section has received a lot of attention recently, but what is it the NIH (and other funders) are really looking for here?

In this module, you will learn the simple, no hassle way to convey the innovation of your research.

• How to identify your innovation, even when it doesn’t feel innovative
  
• The Pioneer vs the Maverick - how to self identify and play to your strengths rather than weaknesses
  

Module 6 is all about how to meet these relatively new NIH requirements without headaches. 

• Know exactly what to do - and what not to do
  
• Leverage the work you’ve already done in the prior modules to easily address these requirements
  
• Why the NIH cares about “contrast” and how you can make sure to give it to them
  
• A checklist of key items to include
  

This might seem like an "easy" section to write, but the way most people write this section can lead to the common problem of reviewers overlooking key facets. In Module 7, you will learn what to do instead. We will cover how to build strong desire for the aims you propose to do - while also maintaining trust that you and your team “know what you’re doing” (rather than killing it, as so often happens).

• How to logically design aims to test hypotheses and meet research objectives
  
• How to build the “how” of your proposal, with what and why still layered in to remind your reviewer
  
• The possible and likely objections of reviewers: building your approach for trust
  
• How to meet the new NIH requirements as you write, rather than as an afterthought
  
• What to do for other proposal types
  
• Detailed examples from funded proposals

What about all those other sections of your proposal: Biosketches, Budgets, Data sharing plan, Multi-PI Plan, etc?

Module 8 addresses how to make sure your other sections fit with and strengthen your Grant Story, including:

• Why Human Bias can render certain instructions moot
  
• Why letters of support are so important, and how to get them
  
• The pitfalls of seemingly simple budget decisions
  
• Negotiating with collaborators
  
• Using your personnel justification to strengthen your story