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June 12, 2019

How to Write a Winning Award Entry

How to Write a Winning Award Entry

You’ve had that five-star event or maybe you offer a top-notch product or service and you simply know you are the best. But just you knowing it is far from enough, isn’t it? It’s so much better if everyone knows about it. Winning an award is your chance to prove it and to gain the recognition you deserve for your hard work.Being convinced in your success, however, and underestimating the entry submissions is a mistake many participants make. A mistake that costs them the award they otherwise could have taken. Winning an award requires your attention and efforts.Take it as a new marketing campaign you have to do for a highly demanding target group-the jury. To help you write a smashing award entry that wins, we’ve put together 10 top tips for you to follow:

1. Read Carefully the Criteria and Questions

That advice might seem pretty obvious but you would be surprised how many participants just scan through the criteria and questions which results in imprecise and incomplete entries. No way you could impress the jury like that. So do your homework first and dip into the criteria and questions before you start writing your entry. After all, they are meant to guide and help you.

2. Start With A Straight-To-The Point Short Summary

It’s your elevator speech! You’ve got 2-3 short sentences (or about 30 seconds) to catch your jury’s attention and to make them crave more details. Just a short introductory paragraph and yet, it’s probably the hardest part of your entry. Make it concise, precise and straight-to the point. It should basically be the shortest “definition” of your event/product/service combined with pointing out of its standouts. It’s not that easy and you might spend more time on it than the remaining parts of your entry. But it’s worth the efforts.

3. Avoid Copy-Pasting

Don’t bluntly copy-paste your old copy from your website or from your marketing campaigns. You are writing to a completely different audience and for a completely different aim. So your copy should be specifically tailored to achieve its new purposes, namely-to win the jury’s hearts and the award. So start your entry from a scratch!

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Point Out What Went Wrong

A lot of people are afraid to admit the little faults or things that went wrong thinking that this might decrease their chances of winning. In the real world there is no perfection. And the jury knows that. No project ever proceeds absolutely smoothly without any hiccups. It’s how you coped with the problems and setbacks that is important and that could make your entry stand out from the rest.

5. Cut Off The PR Jargon And The Blunt Show-Off Speech

An entry should not be just a string of praises for your event like: “It was the most spectacular event ever created!”. The jury is quite experienced and it’s pretty sure they have seen some truly spectacular events. Its role is to judge the events/products/services of the year and decide which ones stand out among the rest. So instead of wasting your precious limited space for non-informative, show-off speech, try to point out your key strengths and achievements that will shoot you straight on top of your category.

6. Include Visual Supporting Evidence

No matter how experienced and imaginative the jury is (especially our jury at Eventex), they are not seers or time-machines able to picture your event, service or product without the help of videos or images. Without visual supporting evidences, your entry is not only lifeless but also quite unconvincing and let’s admit it –with far smaller chances of winning. After all, the camera was not invented for nothing. It changed the world, it has even changed history and it definitely changes the way we communicate today. Imagine what a video or/and some photos could do for your entry!

7. Don’t Be Sparse On Details

You don’t want the jury to think “This might be a great event but I wish I had more details.”. Trust us, even if curious, they won’t call you to ask for more explanations. They will simply award the entry which is better supported with facts, figures and evidences. So make it easy for the judges to make sense of your entry: provide context and background with the right kind of facts and figures.

8. Keep It Brief And Don’t Ignore The Word Count

The word count is there for a reason. You might want to write a 100 pages describing your great event, product or service but the jury won’t have the time to read it. That will be not only useless and disregarding the entry submissions guidelines but will also truly annoy the jury. Just keep it short and sweet.

9. Proofread

Never forget to leave yourself some time for proofreading. Even if your entry is masterfully written, there is always the possibility of having committed some lame typos that are so irritating and might make your entry look a little lightweight. Moreover, all copywriters and editors know that proofreading is essential for finding the best words, for tweaking a sentence to reach perfection or for completely deleting unnecessary elements. That could transform your entry from good to outstanding. And one more advice. Always do your proofreading at least some hours after finishing writing. It’s best to sleep on it.

10. Write Persuasively

Easier said than done, you would say. Actually if you follow the below given simple tricks that’s not such an impossible task:

  • Write in plain English.
  • Use mainly active voice.
  • Format your text: use bullets/numbered list; highlight the important data; leave space between paragraphs.
  • Think from the jury’s perspective: what information will be important for them to make their final decision.
  • And most of all: write with passion and enthusiasm. That always shows and gives a special vibe to your entry that the jury will feel and award.

Now make that jury want to give you the awards you deserve! Looking for the right place to shine on? Eventex Awards might just be the place for you. Check out the different categories you might become an “Oscar” winner in the world of events!

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