Georgia FBLA has a wide variety of competitive events starting at the Region Leadership Conference as well as the State Leadership Conference. Some of these events involve speaking and presenting in front of judges, while others test your business knowledge in specific avenues. These writing and skills events consist of hour-long objective tests and are perfect ways to show your technical knowledge.
The State Officers this year have created a flowchart to help you identify which events fit into your interests and strengths. You can find the flowchart here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JvBwuOrLQzo95IM3w_iJZI6UQhRG_fqs/view?usp=sharing
To prepare for your event, here are a few competitive event tips for success:
1. Find resources.
Your adviser may have study material, the Internet definitely has flashcards, and veteran competitors have advice for you. It is your job to go hunt for those resources that may propel you to the next level.
For performance and presentation events, its useful to search online for videos of previous competitors.
Most importantly, check in with your advisers on what resources your chapter has to assist you.
Use the information listed on fbla-pbl.org and research on your topic so you can master the subject. You can find reports of national winners from the previous year.
2. Understand the rubric.
Make sure you don’t get penalty points: follow the time limit and meet the dress code expectations.
3. Resolve technical difficulties.
Technical difficulties can be nerve-wracking moments when presenting. All of your hard work may depend on a certain video/slide/picture and that may glitch the rest of your delivery.
- First, if you don’t have a backup, don’t stress out. Judges understand these mishaps, so brushing it off and briefly explaining what they’ve missed from the technical problem and moving on can be the best approach.
- However, you can plan ahead by having a backup. In case a presentation does not show up on a projector, show it on a laptop. And then have another backup, if you really need to. If the laptop suddenly restarts, have PDF copies of the slideshow/presentation for the judges.
4. Practice and more practice.
Give yourself and your team an adequate amount of time for practicing the final product.
- This will allow time for building chemistry with your partners, reviewing some technical difficulties, fixing mistakes, and memorizing for a smooth delivery.
- Practice your enunciation by sticking a pen between your teeth and reciting the speech. When you take it out, your diction will be clearer.
- Another fun way to know that you have mastered your product is saying your script backward with your partner. Saying the conclusion and then alternating your lines all the way to the introduction may seem odd, but it may make you and your team more comfortable with the lines.
- A good reminder when practicing is to never recite in a robotic manner. Every time you practice, your speed and intonation should reflect on how you will actually deliver. Keep it natural and fun!
5. Be proud!
Smile and be confident in yourself. You’ve put hard work into this project and you deserve to share it to the world.
I hope this serves you well and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!
To find out more about all competitive events, visit https://georgiafbla.org/competitive-events/.
