Address the Criteria!!!!!! I know this may seem obvious but as a judge you are given the criteria and asked to grade each entry against it. Every judge will have their own style of scoring, but some may give you a number of points for each criterion you have addressed, if you miss one, you could be missing out on valuable points.

Be kind to us, when the entries come in we have a huge amount to read through, so heading each paragraph with the criteria you are addressing is very helpful.

Tell a story, take us on a journey, which has a human element to it, which we can connect with. Too much corporate speak and it loses the passion.

Don’t just say what you stand for, give true life examples that reflects it. Evidence of what you say is key to getting judges to buy into your entry.

When providing supporting testimonials, use the most appropriate one for the award you are entering. Using a variation of internal and external also adds more weight.

If you don’t have a marketing department to write an amazing entry for you, don’t worry, in fact when we can see the individual has written it, we connect with it more.

Don’t forget the sizzle! This should be one wow factor that will get our attention, like when you’re house hunting and it’s that one thing that stands out that the others don’t have, that makes you go yes, this is the one!