Presentation Event Judging: A Student Guide A successful product is - - PDF document

Presentation Event Judging: A Student Guide

A successful product is more than just a great design. To garner positive attention, you must present the product in a persuasive and credible way. You must be able to convince others of the product’s merits and why it should be developed, manufactured, sold, and used or re-used. Presentations are typically given to different groups of people during various stages of product

• development. These groups may include your product team, managers, other executives, and potential

investors and customers. Each group will have its own priorities. This means that you must understand the various groups so that you can highlight the areas that are meaningful to each and present

• accordingly. In short, you must know your audience and speak directly to them.

To give a credible presentation, you must:  Look the part by dressing professionally and sound the part by speaking clearly  Know your facts so that you can present with confidence  Understand what motivates your audience  Rehearse until you are so confident in the material that you don’t need to refer to notes  Be able to answer questions completely. If you are unsure what the judge is asking, request that they restate the question or turn the question over to a teammate You presentation must motivate the audience to take the action you suggest. Clearly differentiate your product from your competitors’ and, for this presentation, explain why this is a worthwhile investment. Be specific about what you want the investors to do whether it be to provide seed money for a manufacturing start-up, acquire a design, invest in further R&D, or a combination of these actions. The Presentation Each team has 10 minutes to make a business presentation to a group of judges who should be approached as potential investors. The presentation will be stopped at precisely 10 minutes. This is why teams are strongly encouraged to rehearse multiple times to ensure they can present the most important information within this time frame. Your objective is to convince the judges to fund the development, manufacture, and marketing of a new class of amateur racing vehicles based on your design. Using information gathered through your market research, you should be able to explain the features and benefits of your design that make it desirable to your target market. You will need to provide investors with information on the manufacturability, sustainability, and cost-price-margin. You should have a plan for your market roll-out strategy. And, you should be prepared to provide the judges with the exact amount of investment required. This will be based on an estimate of costs of goods sold, expenses, sales and revenues, breakeven point, and anticipated Return on Investment [ROI]. Your presentation will be judged on how well you can build the case for investors financing your product rather than another. To prepare a compelling presentation, we recommend you consult with a professor from your College’s business school and collaborate with a business/engineering management student to help create and deliver the presentation for your team. Study any Formula Hybrid presentations you can find on YouTube, and watch episodes of the TV show Shark Tank.

Guidelines for Turning Your Technical Achievements into a Viable Product

Presenters Dress as a team. Select a team spokesperson to introduce the team members, provide a brief description of their roles, and introduce any “understudies” for next year’s presentation. [Understudies should be seated at the back of the room]. Mission Explain your mission and goal. Peak the investors’ interest. Product Description Describe your product and its key features. Product Benefits What makes your product uniquely suited to the desired market? Why is it superior to your competitors’ products? Market Research Explain what questions you were trying to answer. Describe the research you performed and with whom. Market Results and Size Describe the results of your market research which will include a description of the market and your target customers. It will include the size of your market and how you arrived at that figure. Based on your research, describe the key product features your customers’ desire. List them in order from most desired to least. Who are your competitors and what are the products they are offering? Sustainability of Product Describe your product’s sustainability features: MPG, life cycle measures, recyclability and reusability of the components, manufacturing sustainability,

• etc. Sustainability is also important to brand building and marketing. Reiterate

superior features of your product compared to competitors’ products. Mfg Process and Building Design Describe how the product will be manufactured and the type of facility needed to facilitate manufacturing. Describe any special requirements. Mfg Cost-Price- Margin How much does the product cost to make: parts and labor? How much money will be needed for sales and marketing, administrative overhead, etc? Are any price/cost breaks realized with volume? If so, what are they? Based on your market research, how much will the market pay for the product? Sales-Marketing Methods How will you take the product to market? Explain why your method is the best way to market this product. Be prepared to convince the investors how and why someone other than you and your teammates would buy the product. Business Model Spreadsheet Show expected sales ramp up over time, revenue projections, cost of goods projections, and other expenses. State the investment needed and show the breakeven point and the ROI. Mission Restatement Restate the mission, your product’s unique suitability, and the projected sales trajectory. Ask for Investment Restate the investment needed and projected ROI. Ask for the investment.

The Judges

To make the best possible impression on the judges, it is imperative to understand what they will be critiquing and to tailor your presentation accordingly. The following will help you assess your presentation from the judges’ perspective. Questions How well did the presenters answer the questions? Did each presenter participate equally in answering the questions? How well did the answers support the mission for investment? Graphics How well did the presentation graphics support the topics and objectives? Were the graphics easy to understand? Were there any special touches? Handouts Were handouts included? If so, how readable and supportive were they? Were they referenced in the presentation? Presentation If a PowerPoint presentation was made, did the presenters tell a story with the slides, or just read the text from the slides? Organization How well did the presentation flow from topic to topic? How well suited was the presentation to the objective? How well did the presenters include one another when presenting and when answering questions? Effectiveness Likeability - Were the presenters relaxed, likeable, believable, efficient, committed to the project, and team oriented? Demeanors How passionate, knowledgeable and convincing were the presenters? How close were the presenters to getting the investors to invest?

Final note

Even if you have “understudies” observing, it is advisable to videotape the presentation. Share the judges’ comments and what you learned from the process with future teams. Include information on your strengths, weaknesses, and omissions to help those replicate areas where you were strong and avoid areas in which the judges noted shortcomings.