Focus on your project and your plan. Identify the most critical elements of your research project. Determine what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. Identify the kinds of sources you plan to use, such as books, articles or interviews. At the college level, for example, the best research projects involve a combination of what are known as "secondary sources" and "primary sources." Books and magazines normally qualify as secondary sources because you are using someone else's research. Interviewing a field professional or looking up original historical documents qualify as primary sources because you are doing the research directly.
Recognize the limitations of a one-page requirement. In double-spaced typing or word processing, that is approximately 250 words. Weed out any non-essential aspects of your presentation so you can keep the proposal to a single page. Businesses can have strict parameters of this sort; it is good to develop good habits in college or earlier in that regard.
Understand the basics of such a proposal. Research proposals of this sort typically have certain standardized sections. Identify the potential sections applicable to your project and build your proposal around that. Some possibilities would include sections such as "proposed activity" and "considerations. "Proposed activity" should outline the sources you plan to consult; "considerations" should include things like backup plans if your sources fail to materialize.
Spend as little verbiage as possible on "how you plan to develop" your project. You should in fact not know this at the proposal stage in most disciplines. If you know this at this stage, it indicates built-in bias. Focus more on the research avenues you plan to pursue.
Compose your proposal using active voice structure. This can cut down significantly on excess verbiage. Frame your proposal in terms of standard sections such as "proposed research sources" and "considerations."
Write your introductory section last; you cannot introduce something when you do not know what you are introducing. Pull the general "lay of the land" out of your other sections, such as "proposed research" and "considerations." As you prepare to write your introduction, the remainder of your sections should present as approximately three quarters of the page. Hone and edit those sections as necessary until they have a three quarter-page status. If you find you cannot reduce to that and the information you have included has a critical nature, you may have the option to use a smaller font to bring the proposal to one page. You do not want to go irritatingly small on font size, however, or violate any font size regulations your instructor has set.