There’s nothing harder than selling yourself. Writers Who draw out the gold and shine a light on your achievements to help you stand out from the crowd with a raft of prestigious awards.
Writers Who’s Guide to Writing a Great Award Submission
There’s no better feeling than being recognised for your achievements through an award. In business, awards are a fantastic way to build authority and credibility in your industry. Entering and winning awards for individuals and businesses is an excellent marketing strategy to improve your reputation and potentially even secure new clients. Writing award submissions is an art form in itself.
Award submission writing inspiration
Writers Who have produced many award-winning award entries for our clients. We created entries for the most influential woman in real estate and agency of the year categories in the annual realestate.com.au awards for Remax's leading business. We produced submissions for the second-largest real estate brand in Australia for Major Network of the Year in the annual Real Estate Business awards. We provided award submissions for growing strata management firm, Vantage Strata, in numerous annual state and national industry awards with great success.
At Writers Who, we start by defining the subject's values, crafting a narrative around their success and aligning anecdotes and examples to that narrative. This builds a far more compelling submission that simply answering each question in isolation.
The 10 biggest mistakes nominees make in their submissions
Unfortunately, many people make mistakes when writing an award submission that can prevent them from being successful. Here are ten of the biggest mistakes people make when writing an award submission, and how to avoid them.
Here are ten of the biggest mistakes people make when writing an award submission, and how to avoid them.
Not reading the guidelines carefully: It is important to read the guidelines carefully and to make sure you understand the criteria and requirements for the award. If you are unsure about something, don't be afraid to contact the award organisers and ask for clarification.
Not tailoring the submission to the award: It is important to tailor your submission to the specific award you are applying for, and to demonstrate how your work meets the criteria and requirements for the award.
Not providing sufficient evidence: support the claims being made. It is important to provide concrete examples and evidence to back up your claims and to show why you deserve to win the award.
Not proofreading: proofread your submission to make sure it is free of errors and typos, and that it is easy to read and understand.
Not being concise: many award submissions are too long and rambling, and fail to get to the point quickly and effectively. It is important to be concise and to focus on the most important points.
Not providing context: provide background information to help the judges understand the significance of your work and why it is worthy of the award.
Not highlighting the impact of your work: It is important to show how your work has made a difference and to explain the impact it has had on the field or industry.
Not getting feedback: get feedback colleagues or mentors to make sure your submission is as strong as it can be.
Not following the format: adhere to the format and instructions provided by the award organisers, and to make sure your submission is easy to read and understand.
Not submitting on time: not submitting on time may prevent your submission from being considered for the award. It is important to submit your award submission on time, and to make sure it is complete and accurate. We work off a process of crafting and writing the nomination 3-4 weeks out, and editing and finalising details during the week prior to the deadline.
Writing an award submission can be a challenging and daunting task, but by avoiding these ten mistakes, you can improve your chances of success and make your submission stand out from the competition.
Tips for planning an award submissions
Read through the entry criteria and make sure that you understand exactly what the award is for, and how the winner will be determined;
Set aside ample time. Filling out an entry can take several hours, and it can be handy to do it over several days to be sure that you’ve accurately fit the criteria and added everything you want to include. Write your answers, and leave them for a little while; When you come back to it, you’ll likely want to edit your first attempt;
Gather all of the information that you’ll need to fill out the submission. Organise it into an order that makes sense and tells a story. You don’t want to overwhelm the judge;
Appoint an editor or proofreader to review your submission before you send it in.
Tips for writing winning award submissions
Ensure that your writing is plain and simple. Judges come from many different departments across a business such as finance, HR or even the executive team. Using language that is accessible to anyone is incredibly important;
Don’t assume that the judge will understand the industry lingo, so be sure to avoid using buzz words, industry jargon or acronyms. Ensuring that the entry is enjoyable to read by the judges is incredibly important;
Use bullet points. They help break up the entry and make it easier to read;
Continually return to the entry criteria, because the judges will be;
Outline the proof you have to back up why the individual or business deserves to win. Evidence and insights like hard numbers help measure performance;
Use testimonials from clients, colleagues and key stakeholders to build authenticity;
Stick to the word count. This gives the judging panel enough time to get through all of the entries. It also gives an even playing field to all entrants. If you overwrite a submission it could even cause a penalty.
Tips for finalising your award submission
Read through the entry criteria again and ensure that you have met all of the requirements. Once you feel that you’re finished with the award submission, review your copy and check for any errors or typos. Ask your appointed editor or proofreader to review your submission.
