Write a Prize Entry – How to Win:: This time of year, we’re shoulder to shoulder at award shows, primarily for customers but sometimes for ourselves. Best Digital Advertising at the Cornwall Business Awards, you say? This article is about how we write a winner. In our experience, it is generally beneficial to keep the following in mind. Beat dead judges (metaphorically, with words)
Stay Focused.
Most of the time, you only have a few words to tell the jury why your candidate deserves the award. Wasting time talking about Steve’s qualities in Magic: The Gathering wouldn’t do us any favours, so we won’t (we’d need 300+ words for that anyway).
Instead, we prioritize what makes our contribution unique, innovative, and engaging and proudly present it from the start. (With persuasive language, with an active voice.)
Provide Evidence For Everything.
Our clients may like what we do, but if we can’t back up our grandiose claims with cold, hard statistics, then we stick to the humble truth. If we’re the best (maybe even the only) B2B technical writing agency in the Southwest, you can bet we’ve got the data to prove it. Nobody likes a blogger.
Wild and unsubstantiated statements undermine the credibility of everything else in your application. So if you can’t prove it, don’t say so.
Tell A Compelling Story.
Who wants to read endless lines of smug gibberish? Well, maybe it’s the judge’s job to do that, but let’s relax. Instead, we tell a compelling story that grabs their attention and keeps them on our side.
Especially when you know that the evaluation process involves committee discussions, it helps to have a concise and meaningful “He did THAT” statement.
Of course, explaining why the candidate is so good is always important, so it’s worth breaking it down into an edible beginning, middle, and end. For example: How were these goals achieved? And what amazing things happened? The judge should be able to explain in two seconds why you should win.
Follow The Labeling Scheme.
The more we know about how the decision is made, the better.
Sometimes it’s obvious. When a question is worth double points, that’s the question we know. The above often means being tactical; We may be itching to talk about an exciting development, but in many cases, it’s worth replacing heavy weapons with higher-rated questions.
If the scoring process is primarily numerical (each scored answer is a ten or a five), then it’s a matter of marginal gain: finding enough relevant things to say in each one to get a scoring advantage here or there within reach.
But if it is a group of people deliberating about each entrance from one place to another at a table, then it is advisable to take the best photo as soon as possible at the entrance. It’s simple behavioral science: if they quickly get the impression that this input is good, they’ll see each subsequent point as a confirmation.
Also Read: Hello Veeru – The Most Happening In India (Hyderabad)
Check, Check And Check Again.
It might be tempting to post the first draft for review (you need to meet that deadline), but chances are we’ll find a quick way to scrap it. At Radix, we value quality: no rush orders, no jargon, no typos. Not that there are good grammar and spelling points, but you have to sound like a competitor if it’s a gut decision.
So we’ll try, we’ll get a second opinion, we’ll try again. Then maybe (just maybe) we’ll ship.
The most important thing is that you meet the registration deadline. (Yes, we know that most rewards extend the “by popular request” deadline *cough*, but don’t count on that.)
It is not uncommon for a price list to be 2,000 words or more. So if you want it to be good, you’re going to have to set aside a good amount of time.
Of course none do. The above list is perhaps why one B2B ad agency notes that late January tends to see a sudden influx of urgent writing requests. If we have ten writers in a room, we can do things pretty well and change quickly.
Team member personally writes the above-written article of TECHEVENTUAL.
Please do contact me for any issues.