Formula Student 2012, Advice to Students for the Business Presentation Event Advice to Students for the Business Presentation Event Source Material You should study the FSAE rules and the Formula Student specific rules for the Presentation Event. Use the latest versions! The end-of-event Head Judges Debriefs are also useful. These are all available on the IMechE Formula Student website. Please use the ‘FS Question Database ’ to raise any specific questions that you may have. Objectives & Role Play The objective of the Business Presentation event is to convince a company (represented by the panel of judges) to invest in your project. The judging rules suggest that you treat the judges as the executives of an imaginary manufacturing company who are interested in entering into a business partnership to manufacture your car. Other role play options are possible but the ‘manufacturing company’ role play is probably the easiest. If you are using a different role play then make it obvious to the judges in your introduction or early statements. The judges will adopt the role play that you give them, as long as it is a sensible one. It is the quality and content of the presentation which is being judged, not the technical qualities of the car. Irrespective of the type of role play, the presentation needs to be based around a sound busin ess proposal. If you are familiar with the UK TV program ‘Dragons Den’ then this will give you some indication of the objectives. Scoring Categories Scores are awarded scores in 6 categories: Content (200 points) Sustainability Content (50 points) ~ 2012, new for all Classes Organisation (100 points) Visual Aids (100 points) Delivery (100 points) Question & Answers (100 points) Total = 650 points The total marks are normalised so that the winning presentation scores 75 points towards the overall competition score. A zero presentation score or failure to present will score zero towards the overall competition. Timing You have 10 minutes for the main presentation. If you take significantly more time or less time then you may be penalised, so please practice good delivery and time keeping. If you speak for less than 10 minutes you also lose the opportunity to score more on content. Please invite the judges to ask questions after the main presentation. The Q&A session will last approximately 5~10 minutes. Page 1 of 5
Formula Student 2012, Advice to Students for the Business Presentation Event Content You should think about the full lifecycle of a project starting with the initial concept and user requirements, set design targets, then design a prototype to achieve those targets, moving to larger scale manufacture, and then selling / distributing the car, and supporting it. You should be very clear who the customer is, what their requirements are and how the car meets those requirements. Amateur motorsports is a competitive market and you should explain how your product is positioned relative to its competitors. The presentation should include a sound business case that fully explains the profit potential of the project. The judges should be left in no doubt what the deal is and what you are proposing. When you have written your Presentation, ask yourself these questions: Will the Presentation convince the judges that you have minimised all aspects of technical risk? i.e. do you have a car that is well designed and can be manufactured and will be reliable / safe in use? Will the Presentation convince the judges that you have minimised all aspects of commercial risk? i.e. have you designed a car which meets the customer objectives, can be manufactured at the right price and in the correct production volume for the market size? Is the business proposal clearly stated? i.e. investment, return on investment, break- even point, profit vs. timescales, and the roles and responsibilities of the partnership? Finally ask yourselves objectively whether you would be convinced to invest a large sum of money in the scheme. i.e. is the business case sound? Sustainability Content This applies to all FS-UK classes from 2012 onwards. It is a relatively small fraction of the marks (7%) so you should cover it briefly and have back-up material to defend your project decisions and design choices. Aspects: the chosen drive-train technology; benefits (performance) vs. environmental considerations, including embodied CO2 and energy, choice of materials; benefits vs. environmental considerations, recycling, reuse, reduction. Organisation You are recommended to have a Scope / Agenda slide at the start and a Conclusions / Summary slide at the end. Make your closing comments memorable and relevant to the judging panel (e.g. the manufacturing company). Make sure that the presentation follows a logical order, starting with the initial concept, the customer, the market. Make sure that you cover the full scope of topics to allow the imaginary customer to make a decision about whether to invest. Make a note of how many minutes you devote to each topic and ask whether the balance is appropriate to the chosen role play. You should be telling the judges enough about the technical aspects of the car to convince them: Page 2 of 5
Formula Student 2012, Advice to Students for the Business Presentation Event That the car meets the customer requirements, That the car has been well developed and will be reliable in use, That the car can be manufactured, whilst also explaining which parts are manufactured and which are bought-in items. Be careful not to devote too much time to the technical aspects of the car. You have a lot of other material to cover and have only 10 minutes. Visual Aids Some general hints: Make sure that your slides are clear and can be read at a distance. Don’t overload them with detail and be careful with colour choices. Use graphs and images where appropriate. Include a photograph or image of the car. It helps convince the judges that the prototype really exists. A video of the car in motion is even better because it can show that the car can actually be driven! Give your slides a professional and consistent theme. Ensure that the slides are not boring... o Try to use some dynamic elements within the slides e.g. dynamic slide builds, moving images etc. o Use a variety of techniques (text , tables, graphs, diagrams, photos, moving images / graphics, sound etc) Avoid packing too much information onto visual aids. Consider handing out more detailed information packs to the judges. This shows you have addressed the project in more detail but that you are not going to take up the precious ten minutes by going into that level of detail. You can refer to this extra information in your Question & Answer session responses. There will not be provision to bring your entire car to the presentation (there is no space). You are free to bring along components or samples that aid the presentation message. Delivery You should practice the presentation in front of an audience. You should aim for a confident and enthusiastic delivery. The delivery should be smooth and at the correct pace. Please be aware of posture, body language and eye contact. If there are multiple speakers you should practice together to ensure a smooth handover between topics. Time your practice and modify the delivery / content to keep to the 10 minutes allowed. Question and Answer Session You will score well if you understand the question, and answer it confidently and concisely. This takes practice. Practice the Question and Answer session. Imagine the sort of questions that you could be asked and prepare answers in advance. Page 3 of 5
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