Welcome to the Forum for InventorSpot.com, the most popular invention related website in the world. Read our welcome message.
Moderators: Michelle, Scrupulous, citizen
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Advice on EE Audition
by Ben Tex » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:28 pm
- Ben Tex
- White Belt
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:24 am
- Location: San Antonio, TX
I plan to audition for Everyday Edisons in Dallas. I've already been through an American Inventor audition and want to be better prepared. For those of you who have been through the EE audition process, or are familiar with it:
1. Given the two minutes you're allowed to talk about your invention, would you suggest a) a simple approach using an effective oral presentation, perhaps a prototype, but minimal other props, or b) would you suggest developing a laptop slide show to use in conjunction with the oral presentation, the prototype and numerous other props? I guess another thing I'm asking is, is two minutes all you get, or is there some dialog afterwards between you and the judges which allows you to further discuss and elaborate upon your invention?
2. I have already had an engineering company develop CAD drawings of the current version of my invention. Would revealing this, and even showing them at the audition, discourage the EE folks because they would consider the product too far down the line to develop. In other words, might they feel that much of the value they add has already been added by someone else and therefore pass on it for that reason?
I appreciate any input.
1. Given the two minutes you're allowed to talk about your invention, would you suggest a) a simple approach using an effective oral presentation, perhaps a prototype, but minimal other props, or b) would you suggest developing a laptop slide show to use in conjunction with the oral presentation, the prototype and numerous other props? I guess another thing I'm asking is, is two minutes all you get, or is there some dialog afterwards between you and the judges which allows you to further discuss and elaborate upon your invention?
2. I have already had an engineering company develop CAD drawings of the current version of my invention. Would revealing this, and even showing them at the audition, discourage the EE folks because they would consider the product too far down the line to develop. In other words, might they feel that much of the value they add has already been added by someone else and therefore pass on it for that reason?
I appreciate any input.
by Gunners04 » Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:35 pm
- Gunners04
- White Belt
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:19 pm
Stick to the verbal presentation. Any visuals you can bring to help explain your idea more clearly would be beneficial, but I would recommend against the format of a slide show on a laptop. Bring a few images on paper to hand to the judges perhaps, but the most important thing...and they will tell you this at the casting call...is to say "my invention is...".
A lot of people make the mistake of giving their back story first. Or explaining how or why they came up with the idea. I'll give you a hypothetical. If you invented the car. For the sake of everyday edisons, you would want to go in and say "my invention is a vehicle with four wheels that is powered by gasoline to be used to transport people from point to point blah blah". A lot of contestants tend to make the mistake of the pitch. For example, they would come in and give the "raise your hand if you like to go from one place to another. raise your hand if walking makes you tired. Well, I agree. And one day, while walking to the grocery store, I came up with the wonderful idea of the motormaster 5000."
Stay to the point, tell them what it is and what it does. As soon as the fully get your idea, they'll ask you questions about how you came up with it and more specifics about the product if they have them.
A lot of people make the mistake of giving their back story first. Or explaining how or why they came up with the idea. I'll give you a hypothetical. If you invented the car. For the sake of everyday edisons, you would want to go in and say "my invention is a vehicle with four wheels that is powered by gasoline to be used to transport people from point to point blah blah". A lot of contestants tend to make the mistake of the pitch. For example, they would come in and give the "raise your hand if you like to go from one place to another. raise your hand if walking makes you tired. Well, I agree. And one day, while walking to the grocery store, I came up with the wonderful idea of the motormaster 5000."
Stay to the point, tell them what it is and what it does. As soon as the fully get your idea, they'll ask you questions about how you came up with it and more specifics about the product if they have them.
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1