With no readings this week, I figured I’d
reflect on my SSHRC proposal. During the lecture Sara brought up the importance
of not underselling yourself in the proposal. As a student of bureaucratic methodologies and a believer that BBB (bullshit baffles
brains), I may have taken that bit of advice a tad too far in my early drafts;
as some of my statement induced chuckles and eye rolls from my proof-reader.
This makes me wonder what the norms are for how you rhetorically promote
yourself within grant work. Through my work opportunities, I’ve had the chance
to work with both management teams and technical teams. When I make statements
to the technical team that would pass unnoticed by the management group, the
frequently engender the same laugh and eye roll that my early SSHRC drafts got.
I doubt that saying different groups (technicians, managers, academics, etc.)
have different rhetorical norms for self-promotion (and different thresholds
for their BS meter) is controversial statement. But I wonder how an outsider
(me) can quickly learn the BS threshold for their target audience.
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