評委揭秘創業大賽拿獎竅門

練習、練習，反復練習

????要想在演示時鎮定自若，一氣呵成，辦法很簡單，那就是反復練習。“它可以完全克服信心問題，”斯特稱。“對材料做到滾瓜爛熟，閉著眼睛都能說，就能讓你做出更有分量的演示。”

比賽不只是為了大獎

????得獎固然是好事，萊斯大賽的優勝團隊有時候能捧走幾十萬美元的獎金。但拿獎不是參加創業大賽的唯一理由。“關鍵是推出一家公司，”InContext Solutions的首席執行官、前萊斯大學決賽入圍者鮑勃?吉勒斯派稱。“不是說得獎了拍張照片就完了。關鍵是要有一款可行的產品，打造一項業務。這不是得不得獎的問題。”

????那么，評委們有沒有提到的一個得獎的關鍵因素？參賽者的闡述要清晰自己的想法，要讓評委和潛在投資者了解并相信它是一個可行的創業理念。你可以大出風頭，博得觀眾一笑。但如果講不清要賣什么、怎么賣，那你只不過是站在臺上的一個演員，而不是一個真正的創業團隊。從今天的非正式演示環節看，進入決賽的團隊仍有很多地方需要完善和提高。

????譯者：老榆木

Practice, practice, practice

????The best way to cool your nerves and smooth the edges of any business pitch is practice, plain and simple. "It will totally replace all of the confidence issues you have," said Seet. "Being comfortable with your material that you can do it with your eyes closed, will come across as a much more powerful presentation."

It's not only about the big prize

????Winning is great, and at Rice, some teams go home with several hundred thousand dollars in tow. But landing a prize is not the only reason to enter a business plan competition. "The point is to launch a company," said Bob Gillespie, CEO of InContext Solutions and a former Rice finalist. "It's not to get your picture taken because you won a contest. The point is to have a viable product and grow a business. It's not to win."

????One key to taking home a prize that was not mentioned outright at the winners panel? You need to deliver a crystal clear message, the kind of pitch that judges and potential investors can not only understand but believe in as a viable business concept. You can put on a great show and get some laughs from your audience, but if you don't communicate what you are trying to sell and how you are going to sell it, you are just a player on a stage, not a business team. Judging from the performance at the practice-round presentations today, plenty of finalist teams have their work cut out for them.