e use the word ‘daunting’ because the entry process can seem time-consuming with no guarantee of a return.
So how can you ensure your awards submissions stand out and capture the judges’ interest?
Here are eight tips to help you ensure your award entry is a success:
Captivate the judges
If the award is worth winning, the judges will probably have hundreds of entries to read through.
So your submission needs to stand-out. This means you need a strong opening to draw them in and encourage them to keep reading.
The key is to get to the really strong part of your entry early on and not leave it until the end of your submission.
Some journalistic principles also apply here to ensure interest and focus is maintained. Ensure sentences are no longer than 30 words and start each sentence as a new paragraph so that judges don’t face daunting passages of text.
Also, think about what makes something ‘newsworthy’ to a journalist and apply the same principle. For example, what makes your entry unusual? Is it because what you have achieved is a first, or the biggest, or the smallest? This will help you find that all-important ‘wow’ factor.
Storytelling
People love stories. They want to read and hear stories.
And your awards submission will be much more memorable if it includes a story.
Like all good stories, your tale will need a hero (you or your organisation) and a villain (the problem you have solved) and if it has an innocent victim (your customers) then it will be even stronger.
And it should have a beginning, middle, and end.
Get straight into your story in the submission - don’t feel compelled to introduce it by saying something like ‘here’s a story which shows that…’ or through a sub-heading called ‘our story’.
Put people in your story
People love stories that involve people, and including them directly in your award submission will help it stand-out.
Quotes from colleagues, customers, and stakeholders about the impact of what you have achieved will help bring the crucial human element into the entry.
Substantiate claims
It could be tempting to fill your submission with bold claims about your success.
But, unless you can back these up with facts, figures, and examples then they are just claims and ultimately are pretty meaningless.
Judges will be looking for evidence to ensure that claims are more than just rhetoric.
Show don’t tell
Do you always ‘put customers first’? Is your business ‘client-centred’, ‘visionary’ or ‘innovative’?
These tired adjectives are not only overused but they are also all rather hollow.
A much more effective approach in awards submissions is to show how you do these things, rather than telling us that you do them.
Show how you are putting your customers first and how you are being innovative. Examples, case studies, stories, quotes and testimonials will all help here.
Avoid the jargon
You may understand the technical language and acronyms used in your organisation and industry but there is a good chance it will not mean anything to the judges.
And that could cause them to lose interest.
Stick to everyday language that everyone can understand. Think about how you would explain what you have achieved to a friend or a colleague.
Paint a picture
A picture is a worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and that idiom is particularly true when it comes to awards submissions where there are often word limit constraints.
Images, tables and, infographics can bring entries to life and help make the complex easily understandable.
Proof
You’ve told your organisation’s story. You’ve got facts and figures to support your points and some strong quotes from customers and colleagues.
What a shame it would be then if all that work was undermined by typos, spelling mistakes, and punctuation errors.
The simple fact is that these mistakes make award submissions memorable for the wrong reasons and can ruin otherwise strong entries. Details matter.
We love helping our clients with their award submissions. Our journalist-led approach ensures all our content is interesting, engaging and informative so you gain brand awareness and engagement whether it is social media content, award submissions or a whitepaper.
At Thirty Seven, we offer content and design services to ensure your campaigns reach the right audiences at the right times. Our journalist led approach ensures your content is interesting, engaging and informative so you gain brand awareness and engagement whether it is social media content or a whitepaper.
Media First designs and delivers bespoke media and communications courses that use current working journalists, along with PR and communications professionals, to help you get the most from your communications plan.
