Real-life stories from a serial awards judge!
If there’s ever a time when the saying ‘actions speak louder than words’ is true, it’s in an awards presentation.
You don’t need to be an expert to work out why some of these entrants didn’t take home the trophy after their awards presentations.
Donna O'Toole's Top 10 Award Presentation Fails
1) Walking in the room late and saying, “I haven’t prepared anything, I’ve been really busy.”
Uhh… What a coincidence, me too!… Next!!
2) Trying the old ‘reverse psychology’ trick of saying, “We don’t want to win this award. Really, we don’t need it, we’re already doing really well, give it to someone who needs it”
*Rolls eyes*… Next!
3) Spending 15 minutes trying to ‘role-play’ the judges into being your customers.
*CRINGE* awkward.
4) It’s the Team Leader category, and the team are trying to present why they REALLY want their manager to win.
Far-left of room: *team huddle together, looking terrified*
Far-right of the room: *the manager stands alone, glaring at the team!*
5) It’s the Best Team category. One lone presenter takes us through why her team is so brilliant.
*Presenter says ‘I’ 367 times*
There’s no ‘I’ in TEAM, my friend.
6) It’s a customer service category. Two lovely girls show us plenty of pretty images of their customers, colleagues, office dog etc.
Me: “So, do you have any actual measurements to show us? You know, numbers. So we can see how you have improved?”
Presenter: “Oh no, we’re not those type of people. I mean, we could do that, but it’s not in our spirit”
Me: “So how do you know that it’s working, then?”
*Presenter shrugs*… Next!
7) Best employer category. We ask questions about a particular image of a room.
“Well, it does get hot in the summer, once it was so bad, an employee threw up!”
8) Team of two presenting.
Presenter 1: *Works really hard to get their story across to the judges.*
Presenter 2: *Doesn’t speak. Slowly, but surely, picks the wallpaper off the wall behind.*
#teamwork
9) One presenter. Looks promising. Until he turns around, faces the presentation screen and reads off it like a script whilst blocking all view for the judges.
Me: “Umm… Hello…*talks to back of head* It would be lovely to see your face while you’re talking to us…”
The presenter turns around for a couple of seconds. Then turns back again.
10) Entrepreneur presenting for his own company. He has 15 minutes to tell us exactly why his business should win.
*Moans about competitors*
*Moans about recently sacked employee*
*Moans about not having a holiday*
*Moans about competitors again*
The End
Don’t be a presentation fail
If you want to know exactly what you SHOULD be doing to win, contact me. We’ll create a fabulous presentation for you AND I’ll personally coach you through the whole process.
What have you got to lose? Oh yeah, the award… well, losing’s not our bag. 9/10 of our clients win.
