An award trophy is a great way to recognize the excellent performance of sports teams and other groupings that have been in a competition event. Typically awarded to the highest performing team, some events will have smaller personalized trophies for those that came in subsequent positions or to reward a different sort of achievement.
Once you have the trophy prepared and the ceremony to present the award is organized, you have to consider how best to make the presentation. Here are some helpful ideas for whoever is assigned the duty of presenting an award trophy to recipients.
Award Trophy Anecdote
While some people may want the awards ceremony to move along faster, they are often in good mood at this point and looking forward to a nice finale. To make the experience more meaningful, try to come up with an anecdote or story that will entertain the audience. The more personal it is to the event or the particular team, the better. For instance, if you know the history of how they managed to climb to the top, you can share something related.
Award Trophy Rehearsal
Once you have an anecdote in mind, take time to practice how you will retell it. Do this several times till you have all the facts and punchlines engraved in your mind and can later repeat them naturally. Also, take time to learn the names of the recipients you will be announcing and ensure you have the pronunciation correct. This is a memorable event for them and you would not want to embarrass them by mispronouncing their names.
Work with the MC
Whoever is hosting the event as the master of ceremony should help in ensuring the recipient of the award is suitably close for when you announce their name. This is if you are supposed to wait for them to reach the podium rather than announce while they are still seated. There should be cues or signals that allow you to know when you need to end any storytelling and move on to the next section of the program. Working out these signals before the ceremony will avoid the embarrassment of having the MC or other person come up to whisper in your ear.
Personalize Trophies Positioning
When presenting the award to the recipient, remember this is an important photo opportunity. Be sure to position your body well, facing the cameras and smiling as you hand over the award. Pause for a while when doing this handover so good images can be captured. Ensure the trophy is facing forward so whatever attached plaque or other markings are visible.