Winning your industry’s Oscar – why it matters and 10 steps to prepare your award submission
IVAA’s Managing Director, Matthew McHutchison (second from left) and team accepting the highly coveted ANZIFF Service Provider to the Insurance Industry of the Year Award, a submission Foundry helped prepare.
Everyone wants to win an Oscar – don’t they? You get to dress up and celebrate your hard work, right? Probably the most famous industry award, the Academy Award of Merit – better known as the Oscars – were established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927 – a new group, setting out to highlight their practitioners’ achievements and protect the welfare of their young industry.
Are your own business and industry awards any different? Well, why then, when it comes to submitting an entry for yourself, your project or your team – are so many people hesitant to get cracking and get involved? Foundry reveals our 10 steps to industry award success!
1. Give yourself plenty of time
No one likes writing submissions, least of all one that is due the next day! So, as soon as you know about your industry awards, block out some time in advance – as early as you can – to sit down and map out your draft answers. This will help make the task less daunting and easier to face as the deadline looms.
2. Read the fine print
Check the entry details and T&Cs. And if you really don’t qualify – for example, citizenship requirements, years in business, or any age limit – then don’t waste your time writing an application that won’t be accepted.
3. Get into the right mindset
An award submission is NOT a CV. The award entry is most likely to be project or industry specific and does not have to include your whole work history – only the parts that are relevant or that add interest to the overall story. For example:
if you are afraid of heights yet built your career in window-cleaning skyscrapers – it’s relevant
if your first job was in delivering parcels and you moved on to own a fleet of a corporate vehicles, it’s relevant.
If you are uncomfortable promoting yourself and your achievements, consider this – all corporate awards events are designed to promote your industry – so by promoting your success, you are contributing to your immediate company’s profile, and you are also playing a part of keeping your business sector alive and thriving.
4. Talk to an industry peer, client or award writing expert
It’s difficult finding the time to sit down and write an award submission. It can be boring going over the details. So, block out some time over lunch to talk to someone on your team, an industry peer, a client or an award writing expert about it. By explaining your project’s success with someone objective, you will find that you: see things from a different perspective, explain in plain language why your projects or services was a success; articulate the obstacles you had to overcome to succeed; and the dramas and hurdles along the way.
Start with bullet points – don’t try to do too much writing to start with. Jot down bullet headings to cover the themes and key points you want to include. Tell yourself, you don’t have to write anything, but don’t be surprised if you are inspired to write more than you planned. That’s fine – keep it on file. Put it aside and come back to it with a fresh mind.
5. What is the real story?
Think about what would make you continue to read if you were on the judging panel. Why would the awards panel consider your project for an award – as a finalist or a potential winner?
There is a certain amount of back story to consider – so, first of all, you’ll be telling them about yourself – what is your unique story that has brought you to this point in your career? Then you’ll explain your work project in terms that anyone can understand.
Think of your overview like an ‘elevator pitch’ or the first paragraph of a press release – you want to get all the important information into one or two paragraphs – even though you may have 500 words to tell your story, you’ll want to include the key points in the first 100 words and grab the reader’s attention.
6. Don’t assume any prior knowledge
Don’t assume that the judges know your project, work department or industry. If your industry has a special challenge, don’t be afraid to spell that out to the judges. For example:
jewellery insurance is a challenging niche for the insurance industry, but our solutions have helped staff understand the customer issues and streamline the work flow
deliveries are notoriously difficult in our vast, regional location but our courier service developed an innovative tracking system that lets customers know exactly where their delivery is at any time
health and safety does not have a high profile in our craft sector because it is not as visible as in larger industrial areas, but our company sourced Australian-made products with less hazardous ingredients.
7. Write a first draft
Go back to your original bullet points and revise. Add or subtract content headings based on the story that you now want to tell. Use sub-headings to map out the content for your first draft. You can always delete them afterwards – but they are a good starting point to keep your content on track. You’ll have a word limit to work with – but don’t worry if your first draft is way over the limit. Keep it on file for future reference – or to use as content for your website or brochures later.
8. Edit, edit, edit / trim, trim, trim
The best way to edit the first draft of your submission to fit the word count required is to set it aside. Block out some time the next day and come back to it. Cut out any repetition, anything that’s just not relevant, or details that don’t add to your main story. Be ruthless. If you can’t face it yourself, ask for help.
9. Proofread and check facts
Once you are happy with the content, pass it over to someone capable to check all facts and spellings for style consistency. The judges may love your story, but if it comes down to the wire and you are neck and neck with another contender, you may find yourself subconsciously in the ‘reject’ pile if you’ve mis-typed the Awards name or date, included last-year’s state premier, misspelled the sponsor’s name, or inconsistently spelled industry terms throughout. For example, is it your ‘workforce’ or ‘work force’? Your ‘timeframe ‘or ‘time frame’? Do you employ a ‘financial advisor’ or an ‘adviser’? The judging panel are busy people too, and the distractions of typos could have repercussions that you’ll never know about. Don’t risk it.
10. Allow time for the submission
Don’t wait until the last minute on the last day to submit your application. Wifi connections can fail and corporate websites crash or be down for IT maintenance over weekends. Don’t get caught out – always submit your application at least one working day before the due date and never on a weekend. That way, if something technical happens and prevents your application being received properly, you’ll have time to phone and check with the IT department and sort out an alternative delivery plan.
Take it seriously, but – most of all – have fun. Make time for your award submission, enjoy it and celebrate your success and credit your co-workers. For more ideas, contact El Blaney from Foundry Productions and let our award writing experts help you succeed.