Lazzic Local Case Competition Winners!

October 18 2019

I am honoured to announce that my team placed 2nd in the Lazicc Local Case Competition, sponsored by Forestors Financial. This 24 hour competition introduced to me the case competition scene in university.

The case focused on incorporating member health data into Forester Financial's underwriting, while respecting the privacy of members. Our idea was to utilize an evergrowing technology - chatbots. The chatbot can be accessed through three main avenues: SMS messages, an app, and Google Home Smart Devices. Chatbots provide personalized responses to customer's needs and act as a natural way of communication through mimicking real human conversations.

Key take aways from this experience:

1. Communication is Key

The ability to succinctly communicate an idea is a skill helpful throughout life. After my group had established our solution to the case, we spent the majority of our time deciding how we would communicate it to judges. We decided to include an app wireframe and video demo of our chatbot in action. We also critiqued each others speeches to ensure they were concise and compelling. Our slide show contained intuitive visuals that aided our verbal presentation.

2. Learn from the Best

Since I presented before the winning team, I was able to see their presentation. In my opinion, the distinguishing factor that made them stand out was the quality and flow of their presentation. The team had assigned roles to each member. One member was the narrator who said the introduction, conclusion, idea, and transitioned between member's speeches. The narrator was able to relate each section of the presentation back to the main idea which added to the persuasiveness of their recommendation. The team included professional vocabulary and business terminology throughout the presentation. It made their speech compelling and added another level of professionalism. I plan to incorporate these techniques in future case competitions.

3. Get in the Mindset

Before a presentation begins, it is often the case to be overwhelmed with adrenaline and stress. Although a little stress is needed, too much can cause you to choke. When it comes to public speaking, most of the stress stems from the fear of failure. The way I combat this is to walk in with confidence and block out any negative thoughts. Gaining such confidence comes with practice, the more you practice, the easier it will get.