This is the final part of the three-part series on the things you need to know regarding the basics of pageant training…
What do you need to mentally prepare for a pageant? Today’s final blog post on the basics you need to know about pageant preparation and training covers three intangibles:
1. Q&A/ Interview
2. Personality development
3. Pageant etiquette
MASTERING THE INTERVIEWS
Have a Winning Personal Introduction – The personal introduction answers the common question: Could you tell us something about yourself? A winning introduction is one that describes who you are, what you are interested in or passionate about and what makes you qualified for the title. It is something short of a short but concise way of selling yourself to the judges. It should pique their interest so that they ask you more questions about yourself. If judges are asking you more personal questions, it means that they are interested with you.
Don’t Fake It! – Faking your answers during the interviews is one of the biggest mistake you can make. Always be truthful and honest when asked about your opinions but remember to be nice and polite when saying your piece. If you do not know the topic, you can respond telling them you don’t know much about the topic or ask to clarify the question. You can try to take contextual clues from the question itself. But if the answer escapes you, be honest that you have limited knowledge about the topic.
PERSONALITY & CONFIDENCE
Get to Know Who You Are – there is an exercise book used by a number of personal/ life coaches that can be useful for pageant girls. The book forces you to know yourself better on a personal, psychological & emotional level. Who are you? What values do you stand for? How would you describe yourself as a human being? How do you define your humanity? Those are just a number of tough questions you have to answer as you work introspectively on yourself. Knowing who you are is the best confidence building exercise you can ever do. It trumps any other cosmetic confidence booster as you are strong in your core foundations.
Practice Makes Perfect – commit to frequent and regular practice for interviews, walking, hair and makeup preparation, and training for physical fitness. Aside from the mental preparation, nothing beats the added boost of knowing you prepared physically for the competition at hand. This means that you bring yourself at your best for the pageant.
Stop Comparing Yourself to Other Candidates – there will be times when your confidence will be tested specially at the midst of competition. Stop yourself when you start comparing yourself to other girls. Stop yourself when you find yourself getting envious of other girls’ wardrobe or physical traits. Know that who you are is enough to make you win.
BASIC DO’s & DON’TS IN PAGEANTS
Be YOU – It pays to be professional in pageants without loosing your personality. If you are the quiet type, no need to put on an outgoing front just to get the judges and organization to like you. If you are the naturally outgoing type, then be just that, without making it appear that you aren’t taking the pageant seriously.
Etiquette and Attitude Matters – acting like a Diva or like God’s gift to pageantry will not get you anywhere. Do not act as if the world revolves around you because it doesn’t. Nowadays, pageant orgs have a hand in selecting the semi-finalist or even the winner. So if they see you as a potential problem to work with then you might not get the chance to even advance to the semis, much less to win the title. You have to go into the pageants with the mindset that you are competing with ladies who are just as qualified for the title as you. So do not think you are superior in any way. Learn a thing or two on basic etiquette so you don’t look out of place when you are dining or talking with sponsors, politicians, and judges.
That concludes the basics of pageant training. We here at Sashes&Scripts encourage pageant hopefuls to be selective with who they get as coaches and mentors. Make sure that the ones you work with are ones who you feel good working with and one who will make you take ownership of your pageant journey.
Re-read the entire series with these links:
1. Pageant Training Part 1 – Aesthetics
2. Pageant Training Part 2 – Pasarela & Posture
3. Pageant Training Part 3 -Attitude & Personality