One of the “hats” that I love to wear to advocate this profession is my “Judges Hat”. Wearing this hat, I get to work with other industry experts, to meet with talented professionals across the country and to attend awards evenings (gladrags on and champagne ready!) where the atmosphere is always super-charged and positive.
So with my Judges Hat on, what do I believe makes a standout winner? If YOU were a finalist about to meet me and fellow judges, what advice would I give to you?
Here’s my Top 5 for you:
1. Be authentic. Be yourself and it’s okay to show vulnerability… I know you want to “say the right thing” and to include those buzz words and that’s great…I also want to see some personality and also some honesty and vulnerability that shows your human side is absolutely fine!
If you’re feeling nervous when you enter the meeting room (whether that’s in person or virtually), let us know. I can assure you, as Judges we want to put you at ease.
And, I personally read and interpret the fact that you’re nervous as an indication that you want to do well and this matters to you.
2. Be targeted in your communication.
What question has been asked? Repeat back the question to remain “on track”.
It sounds simple and logic but it can be easy to go off at a tangent if you don’t start your response off correctly…and if you’re quite “wordy” in your conversation, you could be taking up valuable time with words that aren’t giving the Judges the response they need to give you top marks…
So, if I were to ask you “What top 3 skills do you believe you’ve developed over the last 18 months?”, an example of a fantastic response would be
“The top 3 skills I believe I’ve developed over the last 18 months are firstly my organisation skills, secondly my event management skills and thirdly my communication skills”. Then you would expand on these with evidence and examples..which leads me to number 3
3. Provide evidence and examples of any claims you make.
So,
“I’ve developed my organisation skills over the last 18 months. I’ve done this by reading some fantastic articles and books on prioritising your workload – like Stephen R Covey’s 7 habits which is one of my favourites. I know you need to have clarity on what tasks are urgent and what task are important. I’m often juggling lots of priorities and I’m super proud that I get comments from my Executive that I remain calm and in control of everything, even though sometimes I can totally relate to the serene looking swan gliding gracefully across a pond when in fact it’s little webbed feet are flapping ten to the dozen!”
(btw – there’s that vulnerability and honest thing again!)
4. Be prepared.
There’s a fantastic quote that “failing to plan is planning to fail” so plan how this judging session is going to go for you and be prepared.
What time are you meeting the judges? If it’s in person, ensure you know how to get to the venue and how long it’s going to take you to get there. You could do a practice run to the venue and that familiarity when you do it “for real” will make it feel more comfortable and easier.
And remember, if you’re using Google maps to tell you how long it will take to get somewhere, always make sure you check the travel time at the time you will be travelling for real! I had a classic “oopsie” moment where I worked out timings for arrival at a clients based on it being 6pm when I researched it. I was actually travelling at 8am and hadn’t factored in commuter traffic! “Oopsie” indeed!
Arrive early if you can so you don’t arrive flustered (but not so early that you start overthinking things of course).
Consider power posing a la Amy Cuddy (best done in the toilets/private space – we don’t expect you to fly into a room in person like Superman or with hands on hips like Wonderwoman of course!).
Employ creative visualisation (it sounds very fancy and complicated I know but read the link here – it’s an effective and EASY thing to practice!).
If the judging session is virtual, decide which room it’s going to be best to join from – where is the wifi connection strongest? Are you going to use a virtual background? Should you ensure pets, children, partners, colleagues or your Executive are aware that you would prefer they don’t appear on screen with you (flashback to the news reporter during lockdown?! – the answer’s “yes” to this question by the way!)
Is your audio “up” and working? Are you centred on the video screen? Have you got water to hand (it’s amazing how dry your mouth can get when you’re talking and possibly nervous too!). Do you have notes/cue cards ready that you can refer to (and don’t be afraid to let us judges know you’ll be looking down at your notes – this shows you’re prepared!).
5. Enjoy this experience! Be proud of YOU!
Breathe. Smile.
This is YOUR opportunity to share all the stuff you’re excelling it and that you should be immensely proud of. You’ve made the finals and you’ve been given this time to share the reason why.
