On Jan. 25 and 26, some members of the St. Louis Park DECA chapter will compete in the district competition at the Marriot Southwest in Minnetonka.

DECA adviser Sophia Ross said students have been preparing these projects by reviewing guidelines, getting one-on-one help and researching their respective topics.

“Some of the things you can prep for and practice, other things are just impromptu when you get there,” Ross said. “The students prep on an individual basis, they can look at things that have been done in the past, but the scenarios change every single year.”

Forms of presentation include 30 page essays, role playing situations or mock interviews. All of these are presented to the judges and scored based on national curriculum and industry standards in marketing, management, finance and hospitality.

“We spend some time talking about how to best use your time when you are presenting because when you go in and present your idea you only have five minutes to present,” Ross said. “…Students learn to prepare themselves for the interviewing process [during competitions].”

Ross said she advises students competing to go over proper etiquette when conducting a mock interview or having any interactions with judges.

“I think it is really important for them to brush up on their communication skills like basic handshakes when they introduce themselves to the judge, waiting to be seated until being invited by whomever is interviewing you, how to organize your time during that presentation, and thanking them for their time,” Ross said.

Sophomore Alyssa Lemay is currently in her first year of DECA and is competing in the upcoming district competiton in retail merchandising and sales demo. She will be demonstrating dog collars from her current location of employment, The Urban Dog.

“I’m nervous but I am more excited than I am nervous,” Lemay said. “Sometimes I can be pretty quiet and I just want to throw that all aside for the competition and be more outgoing.”

This is not Lemays first experience in presenting in front of judges. Over the summer she attended a buisness and marketing camp called BestPrep.

“I really had fun with that and I’m hoping this experience will be even better,” Lemay said. “It helped me see that I can do this, I can get up in front of people or an audience and just talk and they will listen.”