Opportunity brief
Overview:
The Visual Persuasion Relay is a data storytelling competition built around one question: can you make your insight impossible to miss - and can you get better when your audience misses it? It is not a contest for the prettiest dashboard. It is a test of whether a team can take a hidden business conclusion buried inside a dataset and make it so clear that a cold audience - seeing the data for the first time - arrives at the same conclusion on their own.
Every team experiences both sides of a data-driven decision: the analyst who has to communicate a finding, and the executive who has to act on one without any background context. Misunderstanding is not treated as failure - it is treated as feedback that teams use to sharpen their story and try again.
Registration:
- Opens: 29/09/26
- Who can join: Only teams of 2–3 members; students can be from any MBA specialization or a mix of 1st and 2nd years, but all from the same B-school.
- No individual entries: Team up or miss out!
- No inter-college teams: All team members must be enrolled in the same institution.
Gear up - The Visual Persuasion Relay isn't just a competition; it's an adventure in deduction, creativity, and quick thinking!
Eligibility Criteria:
Eligible:
- 1st and 2nd year MBA students from any specialization at recognized institutions across India.
Not Eligible:
- Those enrolled in distance or correspondence programs
- Non-full-time students.
Event Description:
The Visual Persuasion Relay is a data storytelling challenge that puts one simple question at its heart: can you make your insight impossible to miss - and can you get better when your audience misses it?
Every team receives a hidden business conclusion buried inside a dataset. Their job is not to build the prettiest dashboard - it is to make the right insight so clear that a cold audience, seeing the data for the first time, arrives at that exact conclusion on their own.
Rounds & Format:
Qualifier - Online on Unstop:
A shortlisting quiz testing structured thinking and quick judgement. Teams that clear it advance to the on-ground event.
Live Relay - Semifinal & Final:
Each round pairs two teams:
- Analysts receive a hidden conclusion and a fixed time to build a visual data story.
- Audience gets a 2-minute dashboard walkthrough, without knowing the answer, and states what they believe the data shows.
- If the audience gets it right, the presenting team scores. If not, they receive direct feedback on where the story failed and get a short window to fix it before presenting to a fresh team.
Teams rotate roles, experiencing both sides of a data-driven decision: building the story and interpreting it.
The event has three stages - Qualifier, Semifinal, and Final. A single wrong read does not eliminate a team; every team gets a complete two-way learning cycle before the field narrows. The key skill is how quickly you improve, not just whether you get it right the first time.
Why Participate?:
Turn data skills into a practical business skill: making your thinking clear to someone who wasn't in your head. The event rewards clarity over decoration and adaptability over perfection, with prize money, recognition, and a fast-paced, hands-on experience.
Prize Money:
Total prize pool: ₹8,000
- Winner: ₹5,000
- Runner-up: ₹3,000