The art of award-writing

Here’s how we do it:

1. Carefully consider the categories - mull over the criteria. Can you evidence everything it’s asking for? Could another category actually be more relevant? Remember results matter most so you need to showcase clear objectives that circle back to any supporting stats and materials. Strongly consider this from the start so you have time to gather the all-important detail that will help to strengthen your submission.

2. Be prepared to put the time in - it usually entails a good day's work getting your entry just-so...not forgetting the time it takes to get input from other people across the organisation. Respect people's schedules and give them a reasonable deadline to provide feedback. Allow a good few weeks and aim on getting it in before the deadline.

3. Think like a winner - look at past winners and view their submissions to get an idea of what resonated with the judges and how they structured it.

4. Tell a story - spare a thought for the judges who have to slog through submission after submission. Try and bring your entry to life without going overboard on superfluous and flowery language.

The key is to keep it real by being human and candid. Don't be afraid to show vulnerability and weakness by acknowledging previous shortcomings you have then gone on to address. This will make your entry more relatable, believable and impactful.

Lastly, check for spellings, literals etc as attention to detail matters. A badly written, unpunctuated submission is harder to unpick and frustrating for the reader.

5. Don't shy away from sharing sensitive information - just make sure you're clear that the content is for the judges eyes only if you don't want it getting into the public domain.

6. Ditch confusing jargon- don't use a load of industry acronyms nor assume any knowledge on behalf of the reader. The likelihood is your brand is little known to them and they won't want to go into the ins and outs of the organisation. It’s very easy to slip into internal thinking - always consider why the reader/ audience should care? Who does the initiative impact and why?

7. Break it up & be succinct- keep paragraphs short and use headings and bullets to break it up. Think about whether what you're including really matters and never go over the wordcount. It’s also smart to use the same wording as in the criteria so judges can clearly see you’ve responded to each of the points set out.

8. Ensure your evidence is meaningful- it’s better to provide benchmarks like industry/category comparisons or % increase rather than just figures. It's hard to know what ‘good’ looks like without any context.

9. Gather supporting materials - think just as carefully about any supporting materials as the content itself. A picture paints a thousand words (and if you get shortlisted the organisers want some good visuals as a backdrop). It’s better to have a range of multimedia assets.

10. Start with a bang - this may seem like a strange point to end on but it should be the very last thing you do: come up with a punchy title! The organisers want some intriguing/ novel headliners to capture attention and it can be harder than what you think to distil your initiative down to no more than five words!

Lastly, don’t beat yourself up if you’re struggling to get it together. There is undoubtedly a bit of an art to award writing and there’s no shame in admitting it's simply not your bag. See if you can call on some support from within your team or perhaps an agency that has a track record in securing those shiny gongs that are so great for team morale and business development.

Any other pointers? Share away!