ADVANTAGES OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS

The use of oral presentations has the potential of significantly reducing the time and costs associated with the source selection process. Such benefits can be realized by both Government and industry. Oral presentations avoid the trappings of lengthy written marketing pitches and essay writing contests. In addition, certain types of written proposal information, particularly in the technical and management areas, are costly to prepare and time consuming to evaluate. Many technical and management processes often may be better conveyed and understood when explained orally or demonstrated visually.

The use of oral presentation techniques also allows for greater "face-to-face" interaction between buyers (the Government requirements personnel) and sellers (the offerors) during the proposal evaluation and selection processes. Through an oral presentation, Government evaluators, focusing more on personal interaction between the proposed key personnel, often gain a view of the offeror's key personnel by witnessing how they present themselves, how they work together, and how they communicate technical information to Government personnel. Where key personnel, such as the Project Manager, are critical to the success of an acquisition, it allows for essentially a "job interview" of the proposed individual. An additional advantage is that the oral presentation process may provide a more level playing field for offerors with expertise in satisfying the Government requirement, but less experience in government proposal preparation. In the words of one agency contracting officer, the use of an oral presentation is one way "to 'ferret out' the proposers who know their stuff versus those who have great writers," or as one industry representative put it, "it substitutes real technical content for pizazz."

Agencies have reported meaningful improvements in acquisition leadtimes and resource savings in their initial efforts to use oral presentation techniques. For instance, the IRS realized an 18 day reduction over standard leadtime. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates that it saved 5 days in the award process. At the Federal Aviation Administration, contract award was made within 6 months from the solicitation release date and an estimated 500 staff hours were saved through the use of oral presentations and other streamlining techniques. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing experienced an estimated $58,000 reduction in administrative costs due to the use of oral presentations. In an absolute sense, such leadtime and resource savings may appear minimal; however, their true value must be viewed in light of the vast number of transactions processed by these agencies annually.

ADVANTAGES OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS

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