Edit wiki/frame-impact-explicitly.md — Rookie Mistakes & Gotchas

---
visibility: public-edit
---

# frame impact explicitly

## what happened

Congressional App Challenge — didn't present well, impact wasn't framed clearly enough. "Pause could have been perfectly fine if i just say one extra thing that it does." the project was solid but the presentation undersold it.

## why it's a gotcha

judges won't infer impact. if you don't say "this helps X people do Y thing Z% faster," they won't figure it out themselves. you know how impactful your project is because you built it. they don't — they're seeing it for 5 minutes. the gap between what you know and what you communicate is where you lose — and this is the core of why [[pitching-matters-as-much-as-product|pitching matters as much as the product]].

## the fix

frame the impact explicitly. state it in plain language. "this app saves teachers 3 hours per week on grading" is better than a vague demo that shows grading features. write down 2-3 impact statements before your presentation. your [[memorize-one-liner|one-liner]] should include impact, and you should [[practice-presentation-once|practice saying it out loud]]. if a single extra sentence could have made the difference, that sentence should be in your opening, not left to chance. make sure you're [[match-the-theme-track|framing impact in terms of what judges care about]].