EIB Champion of Champions – Tips to Help with Your Entry
Each team/individual entering the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions Final is required to submit three items – a Business Model Canvas, a poster and a video. Each item will be examined by our judging panel. We know that you will want to make your entry stand out, both in terms of the content and presentation, so we have prepared these tips to assist you.
Explaining your idea succinctly and clearly to new people is very important. To help you, we have outlined some useful tips to consider when you are thinking about preparing your entry.
Planning is key. Take time to carefully plan so that you can make the best presentation possible. You may have a wonderful idea or innovation but if you are unable to explain it clearly and concisely to the judges, your brilliant idea may not make the impact that you would like.
Links to previous prizes winners’ videos and posters are included in this article. They are different in the way they explain their innovations, but they have one thing in common, they are clear and engaging. These are just examples; your story will be different, so do be unique and as creative as you wish.
1. VIDEO LOGISTICS
Plan your content
Your video presentation is your big opportunity to tell your story using your words. It is important that you talk about your idea and, just as importantly, tell the story about how an issue is being tackled through your innovation. Using examples which show the real benefits of your product will grab attention and bring your story to life.
Show your product or prototype
It may seem an obvious point but if you have a prototype, include it in your video (and poster). If people can see how your product works, they will be able to understand your story faster and more fully.
Make a checklist
Ensure that your video covers all the elements on which your entry will be judged. Tick them off one by one to make sure that you have not left anything out. It will also help you structure your video content and provide clarity for your storytelling.
Think about your team
If you are part of a team, consider involving the team members in the video. It may make your production slightly more complex, but it will also make your entry more vibrant and inclusive. If other team members are presenting, they should each have a distinct role so that their presence is relevant. If yours has been a great team effort, it makes sense to showcase this.
Learn your lines
If you, or the chosen speaker, will be presenting the innovation to camera, take time to prepare your story and practice it until you know it inside out. Reading to camera straight from a script will make your presentation stilted and unnatural. If you can tell your story as if it is coming from the heart you will immediately become more engaging and inspiring.
Practise makes perfect
Rehearse your video to make sure that it is slick and no longer than the maximum length of 4 minutes. It can be difficult to gauge time on screen, so it is worth practising your story a few times with a timer running before you start filming. Practise will also make you more confident of what you are saying. If you can tell your story in less time, that is fine! You won’t be marked down if your video is shorter.
Assign your camera person
We strongly suggest that you do not film yourself presenting your idea (ie self-video). Your video will look much more professional if you can ask a team member or find someone with filming experience to do the filming. Ask around to see who might be the most suitable for the job. If your university has a media centre, you may find them useful in providing advice and equipment.
Consider your camera, background and lighting
If the person handling the filming plans to use a mobile phone for the recording, make sure that they hold the phone horizontally. Using landscape orientation and not portrait while recording will avoid the two distracting vertical black bars appearing on either side of your film. Landscape filming will make your video more aesthetically pleasing and, you will capture more in the video framing.
Seek out a bright and attractive background for filming. If the background is particularly relevant to your innovation, that will help to make your presentation more cohesive. You might choose to incorporate your poster into your film if it helps to illustrate your ideas and thoughts. To ensure that your presentation does not detract from your innovation, for example, avoid overcrowded backgrounds especially those with irrelevant images and/or objects. Good lighting is also essential.
As mentioned, here are the links to two prize-winner’s videos from last year’s competition submitted by Rapid Bio-Labs and Sustainable Water which you can view on the 2019 Finalis page of this website . Both are good examples of imaginative and well-thought out video entries.
2. POSTER LOGISTICS
Plan your content
Your poster should promote your innovation. Take time to explain why the innovation is needed, who it is aimed at, how it will impact/make a difference to the target audience/society. You won’t have a lot of space so be sure to identify the key points that you wish to present.
Include key information
Remember to Include all the key information requested by EIBC: the team leader’s name, university name and email address as well as the name of the innovation/project, and any branding you have developed.
Think about your design
As with your video, it is important that your poster is visually appealing. It is a lot easier to read and understand something if it looks good. Again, ask around your team or friends to find the best person for the design job. Above all, avoid dominating your poster with dense text. Try and be as concise as you can – summary and bullet points are your watch words!
Consistency is key
If possible, try to have consistency of look and feel between your poster and your video. Both are important benchmarks for the judges and consistency in presentation will make your whole project more coherent and accessible.
The poster from Kate Walker, ExpHand (on the Finalists page of this website) helped her to be shortlisted for the Awards Presentation. This is an example rather than something to replicate. Please be as imaginative and creative as you like!
3. BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS (BMC)
You may have used the Business Model Canvas within your course/competition to develop your business idea. If so, you simply need to use your previous experience to prepare this for your entry. You may be as creative as you wish in preparing this.
If you have not used the Business Model Canvas before, it is a way of detailing all the vital components of your business in a single document. It’s a great strategic planning tool which allows you to really focus on what matters. For example, it succinctly covers the product/service value proposition, infrastructure, customers, distribution channels and finances. Here is an example of the inforamton required in a Business Model Canvas (this is not a downloadbale document, you will need to create your BMC).
You can include text and images in the BMC – but you will need to be very focused to include all the key information.
Ensure that whatever you include in your BMC corresponds with the story you tell in the video and on the poster.
Here are a couple of links to YouTube Videos explaining the BMC: BMC Example 1 and BMC Example 2.
4. FINALLY
The 10 shortlisted candidates will have their videos and posters displayed on this website.