Mastering the Project Showcase Competition: Key Tips for Triumph
In the exciting world of new ideas and creativity, joining a project competition can be a thrilling journey. It’s a chance to show how clever you are and learn a lot along the way. Recently, I won second place in such a competition and picked up lots of useful tips. Come with me as we explore these tips for success in your next project competition.
Finding the Right Focus:
It’s important to pick a specific area for your project. While it might be tempting to choose something broad, it’s better to stick to something you’re really good at. For example: You want to work with Product Selling Application. Instead of working with huge field, you need to work with specific field like Bike or Cloth Selling Application. You can also specify what type of cloths you will sell. So, Main theme is you have to choose and specify a particular field.
The Power of Business Plans:
In today’s world, having a strong business plan is like having a map. It helps you figure out if your project works, who will buy it, and how much money it can make. Judges will be impressed if you show them not just a project but a real business idea. From my personal experience, Business plan plays a crucial role, if you have a good business plan, you are already 50% ahead of rest of the team.
Creating an Interesting Presentation:
Your presentation is how you show off your project. Spend time making it great. Use cool pictures, clear words, and a good order to make your presentation interesting. Create presentations interactive that can viewer co-relate. No need to write huge messages: write short message to show the theme, try explaining it in more detail when you present it in font of judges.
Adding Fun to Your Presentation:
Even in a serious competition, it’s important to make a connection with people. Add some creativity to your presentation so that judges remember you in a positive way.
We just added at little fun description in our presentation, and we were successful to bring a smile to the judges’ face.
Using Your Experience:
Your past experiences can be very helpful. Real-life experiences teach you things that books can’t. Use your experiences to make your project more real and interesting. The more you participate in competitions, the more you will gain experience of what to do actually. For example: Before this competition we also participated in a hackathon “Brain Station 23 Hackathon at the Orbitax SUST SWE Technovent 2023”, we learned so many things from that hackathon and applied all those learning in this competition. From my personal experience, nothing can beat experience.
I have also a blog sharing my experience on that hackathon. Check it out iif you want to know more: First Hackathon Experience and Some Tips for Beginners | by Sumonta Saha Mridul | Medium
Thinking Big:
To beat the competition, imagine your project as something amazing. Think about what questions judges might ask and be ready with great answers. Don’t narrow down your thinking. Think about the problem from different angles and combine those ideas to find the best solution.
Handling Criticism:
You might hear negative comments along the way. Stay strong and use criticism to make yourself better. Save your comebacks for when you win. For example, we faced lots of criticism like our idea is not enough, we cannot win, blah blah. So much demotivation we got in that journey. But We were strong, didn’t give a single attention to those and keep participating in competitions.
Being Patient:
Winning takes time. Don’t rush. Trust the process and keep making your project better.
Hardware vs. Software:
While software is popular in tech, don’t forget the power of real things. A well-made hardware project can be very impressive. Although if your idea is strong enough, nothing matters but combination of project that includes both hardware and software increases your possibilities to get ahead of others.
Solving Real Problems:
The best projects are the ones that solve real problems. Explain how your project helps people in real life. Choosing a real-life problem and its solutions helps you to get more attention from Juges.
Team-Bonding:
The more you have bonding with your teammates, the more your chance to get success increases. Luckily, I have two best teammates in the world: Promi Mojumder and Ridwan Siam.
Knowing Your Judges:
Just like superheroes have enemies, projects have judges with their own likes and dislikes. Learn about the judges and adjust your presentation to impress them. Key role of getting success in competition is to know your judges. For example, some judges like better business plan ideas, some judges just focus on the idea how realistic they don’t care about its business plan or implementation. So have to modify your presentation for that and focus the things that your judges like more.
Believing in Your Idea:
Confidence in your project is your best weapon. If you believe in it, others will too. This will get the attention of both judges and peers. If you have an idea, stick to your idea and continue doing it more valuable. It helps different when your own idea wins something. So, don’t lose hope: Trust your idea.
“Hope is the melody, trust is the rhythm; together, they compose the symphony of turning dreams into reality through your ideas.”
Showing Your Project’s Unique Side:
Show what makes your project special. It could be a cool feature or a new way of doing things. Highlighting this will give you an advantage. If you are solving a common problem, specify why it is better than other and why its unique.
In project competitions, winning isn’t luck; it’s the result of careful planning, creativity, and never giving up. With these tips, you’re ready to succeed. Remember, it’s not just about winning; it’s about learning, creating, and growing. So, face challenges, let your brilliance shine, and make your mark in the world of innovation.
“When the world questions your path, let hope be your answer and your unwavering trust in your idea be your shield.”
