Episode 15: DECA Executive Summary - Lessons from an Event Judge

0:00 Hey, hey, hey, hey, very EdVenturous Educator. I am coming to you today with an interruption in the schedule of my fashion movement series to bring you a bonus episode. So I had the pleasure of being a judge at the DECA District 11, CDC last week, and let me tell you, it was very interesting being on the other side of the fence. So the reason why I want to bring you this episode is because I was judging written projects, the written documents for the business operations research event. And the two events within that because it has several industries within that event. Were the sports and entertainment operations research in the buying and merchandising operations research. And yeah, I noticed that there was a disparity in the information that should have been provided in the executive summary. So I'll go into a little bit about that in this show. So what we're going to be talking about in this episode is that what the need is why you need an executive summary, with a written document like a business plan, marketing plan, or any kind of document that you're presenting related to your business. And then like, explain to you why it's important, give you the framework of writing one, talk about the assessment of the executive summary, and how you can get others to review it. And then I'm going to provide to you a special resource access to a special resource that will go take you into a deep dive with the executive summary so that your students can prepare for the next level we've already finished with district I know some other schools and districts are going to their districts right now before we get the state, but we still have stayed in nationals. So there's time to correct this ship with the executive summary. All right, let's go.

2:13 You're listening to Marketing EdVenture, the hub for business, fashion, marketing, and other CTE educators who integrate marketing into the learning experience. I'm your host, Jackie Walker. Each week, I'll cover marketing, education concepts, strategies, tips, trends, frameworks, and other information to equip you to connect your classroom to digital natives while cultivating an engaged learning environment. So come on into the room, where your favorite beverage snacks and even your cell phone are all welcome.

2:53 Okay, let's get into this. So as I said, in the opening, I was in church at the local district 11, DECA competition. And I was really excited. And I'm still excited about that opportunity and really look forward to being a judge in the future. But what was really just sad to me, and I don't want to just harp on the sadness of it. But I just want to bring this forward to just, it's where my heart is, with DECA, I love DECA. And it's where my heart is. And I love to see students who put in their time and effort, and they're eager to come and present to you and tell you what they did for their project. And, you know, in the excitement of them winning and moving on to the next level, state or even ICDC, for DECA. So anyhow, I had an opportunity to review, I had four, I mean, let's just talk about this right off the bat, students do not like writing. So I only had four written projects. For two events. One event had one project in it, that means that that person had no competitors. And then the other event had three projects in it. So there were three competitors in a event. Now, I don't recall what the exact number is. But I do know that there's probably about six slots in each event for the students to go to the next level to state. So with that being said, there was no competition. So these students if they scored the minimum score on their documents, and along with their presentation, they were going to stay and that's great for them because that's an experience but it's not fair for them because As they're inadequately prepared. Okay, and so let's, what do I mean by that? So, as I was reading, the way that is set up for competition in you know, more recently, the written documents that the students create are digitally uploaded to a website. And those are scored by virtual judges. In the past, it used to be that, okay, they were bringing their physical documents, you know, the student or the teacher returning the physical document to the district. And then those documents were given to the judges. On the day of the competition, the judges had an opportunity to review the documents. And then when the students came in to do their presentation, the judge had a full understanding of what the student was going to be talking about. But none of the documents are uploaded to a website, the only thing that the judge who is evaluating them on the presentation and in the past, the same judge who read the document was the same judge who evaluated the student on their presentation. But now, again, there's virtual judges for the upload of the document to read those and score them. And then there's a different judge who's in person who is evaluating the presentation of the information. And so the only thing that the church who was evaluating the presentation has is the executive summary, that is the only thing that they have to be able to gain some understanding of what the student is going to present. And then, you know, have their session with the student who is presenting their information. With that being said, the executive summary is very key, the executive summary has always been key, because I'll get into in just a moment, the executive summary is the one thing that if the if the person that you're giving your document to if that's the only thing they're able to read at that point in time, that executive summary needs to capture their attention, and get have enough information in it for them to make a decision about what you're presenting to them.

7:07 Okay. So in this competition, I had four presenters. Now, only one of those executive summary documents was three pages, and fully contained the information that was written about it because the executive summary for DECA can be three pages, it used to be at one time where it all had to fit on one page, they updated that. And now the exact executive summary can be three pages, and they shortened the length of the document that used to be 30 pages, they shortened them to 20 pages. So they realize the importance of having a full summary of your document in your executive summary, and how hard it is to convey that into one page. And so they updated that a few years ago, to where it's a three page document. So there was only one project that had the full three pages and nice executive summary and everything. Unfortunately, that particular person was a no show competition. That's another story. All right. But the other three documents only had one-page executive summary. And the executive summary was missing a lot of information about the project. So I had mentioned that there were only four documents and mentioned about, you know, kids don't like to write. And it was very evident in the lack of information that they put in their executive summary. I was turning in my paperwork and all of that I was saying, you know, I really wish there were more kids that are participating in a written event. Because in the written event, you control what you're presenting with the roleplays, you don't know what your scenario is going to be, you have a 10 minute time limit on reading that scenario and coming up with their information that you're going to present to the judge. But with the written you have, you know, all your time for this fall semester up until the time he had to turn a document in to develop your presentation. So the lady that was coordinating that event said that, you know, even with herself, she doesn't really do them. She doesn't really do written documents, because there's just not enough time to read all the documents and evaluate them before they go to the competition. And some because some teachers who really care, you know, read their students documents, review them, give them back to them to update and all that kind of stuff so that they present our turn in a will written document or competition, and some teachers don't, they just let their students you know, do the the event and turn in whatever, which is kind of what I received on a couple of those documents that returned in. And the students that I had the opportunity to talk to, you can tell that they really didn't have a review by their, by their advisor, and or anyone. So I just feel compelled to bring this to you, because I want to help advisors. Because under understand from being a teacher, the limited time that you have with your students, and especially when it comes to doing extracurricular, like DECA, because DECA is not, you know, a part of many classroom curriculum, but you can make it a part of your curriculum, and you can incorporate it into what they're learning what they're doing in make it great, you know, a great and a great book, let me tell you, because from when I was teaching, the DECA project, Canada's a project rate and a task grade, and the oral presentation of their DECA presentation was a was a test grade as well. And go into DECA competition, I put it in a great book, okay. So all of that it can be incorporated into, it could incorporate it into the classroom. But understand, you just need a little bit of help. And I'm here to help you. So I'm helping you with the executive summary today.

11:39 What is an executive summary? An executive summary is, as I stated before, a summary of the complete document. So if even if you're not doing deck a competition, if you're presenting a business plan, if you have a marketing plan, whatever type of document that you have to put together, related to your business, an organization, or a project, or whatever it is, that document, you know, entails all the details about, you know, whatever research, you've done, whatever the problem is, whatever you're solving, whatever it calls for in that document. But at the front of that document, there's going to be an executive summary, which can be a one page document, or however many pages you choose to make it in your real life situation. But for DECA competition, it can only be three pages. And so in that executive summary, the reason why you have that executive summary is because you want to outline the information in very short summary, but very specific information, what your project is about, because it's called an executive summary, because this is what the executive of a company or an organization would read, because their time is very limited. And sometimes they have to read a lot of proposals, or what have you. And they just need to get the snippet of what this project, this proposal this plan is about. And so when you put it in the executive summary, you're giving it to the executive so they can skim over it really quickly. See what it is, understand the who, what, when, why, where and all that is and make a decision. So if you're asking them to give you funding, they'll be able to say yes or no, based on your executive summary. If you're asking them for further support, they'll be able to make a decision. So it's something that they can read, just very quickly in five minutes and say, Okay, I want to know more information, or Okay, no, this is a no, I'm not I'm going to pass on that. Or, Yes, let me go ahead and give you whatever support you're asking for. So that is what an executive summary is about. It was created for the executives to have a high level view, whatever the document is about high level, and summary, and specific, you know, so that's what the executive summary is all about.

14:04 So why is it important, as I stated before, is so that executives can make a informed decision very quickly, without having to read through the book of information that you're you've put together in your document, because for decades, you know, it's probably the most pages is going to be 20 Pages for a document, but in real life. Business plans can be, you know, a lot of pages 50-100 or whatever. So, the executive summary has to be able to tell the story in a very high level format. So, the executive summary is important. And let me tell you what the executive summary does. The executive summary is a summary of the document itself. It exposes the greatness or the weakness of your document. If you can't outline what you have in your document, are you missing information that maybe was in your document or, you know, if you have outlined your whole document, and there's still information missing, then that lesson arrived back that your document doesn't have what it needs to really present a good look at what you're asking for or talking about, or what have you. But if your executive summary is outlined, and it has all of the pertinent information, very specific, there's a clearer picture painted, then that lets them know that, hey, this is a really good, you know, document, let me read further. And they'll start skimming through the document because it has enough information to grab their attention, and pull them in and make them want to know more. Okay, that's why it's important.

16:05 Okay, so as I get into the talking about the framework of the executive summary, I just want to pause a minute and save your little baby screaming, or you hear some Toddlers talking, I have a full house right now, such as the life of a Grammy. Okay, so I just wanted to let you know.

16:23 Anyhow, as we talked about the framework of the executive summary, I want to point you back to Episode 11, when I actually talked about the project prep, for DECA, and I mentioned the project, outline overview, and I talked about project phases. So the framework is going to contain these project phases that every DECA project falls into. So I'm gonna link at the end, the description in my show notes, the DECA project phases overview, and the DECA project timeline overview so that you can have access to that resource, it is totally free. But what I've done is I've taken the framework for the project phases, and I've put it into a resource for the executive summary, so that you can see how to frame out the executive summary, and have your students to put it in a nice, concise format, for presenting with their project, or their written document for DECA or any CTSO for that matter. Or even if you're doing a business plan or entrepreneurship plan, it's still a great outline for students to use in creating their executive summary, if they don't already have a format with their curriculum that they should be using.

17:57 Alright, so let's get into it. So the phases that I have are the introductory planning and execution, segmentation in channels, details and control, money in metrics, closing in evidence. And those are all of the phases. The six phases of a project, regardless of what their project is all about. These projects have those six phases in them, they may not be in that order. But they all have those six phases. And so when you're looking at the Project Phases Overview that I have, and it lists all of the tasks for every DECA project, and I've broken it up to where, regardless of what the project is, there, they have something that's in the introductory phase. And so I've listed those tasks, all the projects in that introductory phase. And then for the planning and execution, I've listed all of the tasks from any of the DECA projects in the planning and execution phase. And it goes on for the other four phases as well. And so when you're looking at this Project Phases Overview, it will have the task with the suggested length that that information should be and then it gives you some ideas of how you would word the task information like introduces the project or business objective or introduces the product. So it gives you the wording that helps the students formulate what information should this should be in that particular phase. All right, so what saying that I took the executive summary framework, and I've incorporated those phases into the executive summary framework, and I've put them into this equity from executive Summary framework, because your executive summary is a summary of your project, the complete document. And if your complete document has those phases, then you want your executive summary to have those phases as well. But it's only giving the key points from those phases in the executive summary, because remember, your executive summary is concise, is specific, and has very, you know, the detail specific information.

20:37 Okay, so the framework of this executive summary is going to consist of the very beginning the grab, this is how you get the attention of your judge of the person that you're talking to. And then it's going to go into the phases, the introductory phase, planning and execution, segmentation and channels, details and control money in metrics, and then closing in evidence. And then at the end of this framework, you're going to do the ask, or the call to action, that you would like the judge, or the person that you're presenting this information to, to buy Intune, you're going to ask them to fund your project, you're going to ask them to support you, you're going to tell them to go out and do this in the community. You know, whatever it is that the project is about, there has to be an ask or a call to action. And so then that concludes the framework of the executive summary. So I just want to quickly touch on this because I can't go into the full thing here, because I'm really trying to keep this short and sweet. But if you go to the resource that I am providing, you will be able to see the whole framework of the executive summary.

22:05 Now, because I am trying, I'm really trying to keep this episode at 20 minutes or less. But I think I've probably already surpassed that, but we'll see. So with this executive summary framework, I'm not gonna go into the details, because there is so much information in the resource that I have available for you, it really takes a deep dive into the framework of this executive summary. But I do want to let you know that you're able to score the students using the rubric that's provided, and give this back to them so that they can see where they are with their information. The next part of this is the assessment. So like I said, Before, I know I've said this in another episode, I used the executive summary from my students' projects as an exam grade. Why an exam? Because it really is a test for them to take the information from their document, and put it into a proper format in the executive summary, for use in their project. And also for presentations when they go to competition or if they're just presenting in class. It really is a great assessment of how they're able to organize their information and prepare it for presentation. So use your students' executive summary as a test grade. I don't think it's really the document itself I use as a project grade. So that's why I only take the executive summary and use it as an assessment.

23:54 All right. So let's talk about your limited time, right. And that's totally understandable. So you're not able to fully read through all of the documents and really depending on how many students you have, that are participating in DECA, or even just in your class project that you may have. So, solicit reviewers, you can have other teachers, or an adult from the students family or a mentor of theirs are counselors. There are so many people that you can bring into this review process with you. And it's very simple because you are just giving them the executive summary. You're giving them the rubric, and you're allowing them to read it, score it, jot down some feedback and send it back to you and that can take all of 15 or 20 minutes per session. An executive summary. So don't take on this load by yourself. I mean, even if there are college students who could, you know, review the student's work, but find some other reviewers who can look at this work. And it takes, not only does it take the load off a year, but it gives a fresh set of eyes to the information. So yeah, and you may even learn something from the reviewers notes or anything like that. But yeah, definitely don't take on this work by yourself.

25:40 Okay, so I hope that you were able to really gain some information, insight to the executive summary, I know, I didn't go into the very details of the phases. But again, you have access to that resource. And let me tell you about the resources. Okay, so this resource that I have available on my website, and on my TPT store, has the executive summary framework, all laid out. And then it has the executive summary rubric, this is what you're going to give the student so that they can use this guideline when they're creating their executive summary. So it has “below expectations”, “meet expectations”, and “exceed expectations”. And this is how their score sheet with DECA is laid out. And so I'm doing the same format that they use for DECA, but it's specifically for the executive summary. So they'll be able to use that when they're creating their executive summary. And it also has a page that gives them some tips and information, a little bit more information about, you know, to think about when they're creating their executive summary. There's also a score sheet in there for you, so that you can go back and score the executive summary, or give it to the reviewers to score the executive summary. And I'm including student examples. These are going to be for student examples, executive summaries. I'm also going to include the Project Phases Overview, which you have access to for free, but I'm going to include that with the resources as well. And then I'm going to this is the bonus, this is the one that you really want. And this is going to be video reviews and explanations of those four student examples. So I will go through each one of the executive summaries and score them so that you can see how to score an executive summary and the kind of information that should be an executive summary or shouldn't be, or how you know that information can be expanded upon. So all of that is going to be available in a bundle as a resource available on my website, or in my TPT store. And I will link that information in the description and in the show notes. So I really want this to be something that the students can use as they prepare for state because Texas State is in less than a month. It is in the middle of February, and then you have nationals coming up. April May timeframe.

28:40 Okay, so I appreciate you listening to this episode. And I hope that this is going to be very valuable to you and your students, not only for competition, but for any projects that you're working on in your classroom, and especially those who are teaching entrepreneurship and you have to do a business plan. Or if there's a marketing plan that you have to do for your marketing class, or any project that requires an executive summary. So thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a wonderfully blessed day. Thanks for listening to the Marketing EdVenture. Remember to subscribe, rate, review and share this episode with someone you think would benefit from the information shared here today. If you have any questions or want to connect with me, find me on Instagram at marketing adventure. All links and resources discussed this episode can be found in the show notes at marketingedventure.com