Marriotts Ridge’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is participating in the regional competition on January 6. The competition is to be held at Mount Hebron High School, with various categories for students to compete in as both individuals and as groups. Some of these categories include accounting, finance, communications, cybersecurity, sales presentations and many others. For many members of the club, the ultimate goal is to make it to the national competition, which is preceded by the regional and state competitions.
“Our deadline to turn in the presentation to Mrs. Miller is December 15, which is only two weeks. It can be difficult to finish by the deadline because I have so much stuff to balance. Still, sales presentations can be a really fun category,” junior Risha Basatwar emphasized.
With stricter deadlines compared to last year, Risha Basatwar and junior Aadit Shah are working as a two-person team to compete in the Sales Presentation category of the regional competition. This category allows participants to demonstrate their ability to sell merchandise through an interactive presentation, which the two will make using Apple Keynote. The pair will present a sales pitch of a product or item of their choosing to a panel of judges who may ask questions during the presentation. The presentation is strictly timed with three minutes to set up equipment, a seven-minute time allotment to complete the presentation, and a potential five point deduction if participants are late or unable to follow the dress code. If participants do well in the preliminary round, they will be able to advance to the final round for a chance at the state competition.
“FBLA is a great tool for professional development. In the real world when you go out to work after college you need to have these interpersonal skills, like soft skills,” Shah stated.
As suggested by the title of the club, FBLA prepares members for the professional business work field that many will soon dive into. Many members often agree that FBLA allows them to develop the necessary skills to succeed in the future.
“I have better speaking skills in front of an audience and I have developed skills to make nicer presentations,” Basatwar agreed.
Shah and Basatwar agree that they both have developed important skills, which they hope to utilize in their sales presentation. As they represent the school’s FBLA club in the sales presentation category, they are striving to perfect and refine their presentation skills. The pair will turn in their presentation in mid-December to Mrs. Miller, the sponsor of FBLA, who will then check and make suggestions to better improve their performance. While the work for FBLA may seem grueling, the team asserts that the work they put in is more than worth it.
“Stay on top of deadlines and don’t be shy to put yourself out there. Even with people you don’t know, form a group and you might end up having fun,” Shah encouraged.
Both Shah and Basatwar have become better as a result of participating in FBLA, with new skills that they are sure to find useful in the future. The two will hopefully continue from the regional competition to the state competition, although they express that their ultimate dream is to reach top ten in the national competition. With the skills gained from FBLA, this team and the many other Marriotts Ridge competitors are sure to pursue this ultimate dream across all categories.