With the final live judging day for this year’s B&T Awards just a couple of sleeps away, we thought we’d give the finalists participating a few pointers on how to go about their presentations – courtesy of our esteemed judges, of course!
For the lucky shortlisted finalists in the major categories, please remember that the live judging day is this Friday (3 November) at The Portside Centre (Level 5, Symantec House, 207 Kent St, Sydney).
If you were a finalist in the secondary categories, you can breathe a litter easier, as you won’t need to front up this Friday to the live judging day, and instead wait for the industry’s night of nights to find out if you’re among the best of the best.
Once again, we’re bringing the B&T Awards to Melbourne, with a right proper knees-up on Friday 1 December at The Peninsula. And if that isn’t a cracking excuse for all attendees to score a trip on the boss, we don’t know what is.
SCORE YOUR TICKETS TO THE B&T AWARDS HERE NOW TO AVOID MISSING OUT!
Now, on to the hot tips from this year’s judges for our major category finalists:
- “Pitch like this is the first time we have seen your agency.”
- “Assume nothing.”
- “Don’t be arrogant – there’s nothing worse.”
- “Build your presentation to align with the judging criteria. It can be tempting to launch into everything that you’re doing as an agency’ but as a judge, we mark against the set criteria for the category, so make it obvious what relates to which category as you progress through your pitch.”
- “Be receptive and non-defensive about questioning.”
- “Don’t bring people that have nothing to contribute and don’t speak.”
- “Tell us in one to two sentences, succinctly, why you should win.”
- “Let your espoused agency culture show through in your presenting team. If you have stated diversity as an important value, please rethink an all-white male contingent to front up for your agency.”
- “Be respectful of the time allocated and make sure you are prepared.”
- “Don’t assume the judges will remember everything from your written entry.”
- “Do NOT tell the judges how you’ve always been a bridesmaid so deserve to win this year.”
- “If you quote numbers, make sure they can be contextualised.”
- “Make sure your technology is going to work. Lots of presentations have come undone here.”
- “Enjoy the process. You’ve come this far, which means there is something special about your agency.”
Best of luck to all the finalists presenting this Friday, and thanks again to our B&T Awards judges and sponsors.
