Hey Junkies! Happy Thursday!
So – For a few weeks now, I’ve been telling you about things you can be doing right now that will prepare you to be an amazing pageant contestant by the time your state title rolls around. If you haven’t picked up on the hints I’ve been dropping – the central theme is pretty much the same…
It’s what you do OFF-STAGE that prepares you for a stellar performance ON-STAGE.
If you think about it, if the judges only took into consideration your on-stage performance, they’d be evaluating you based on your Swimsuit presentation, your Gown presentation, your 1.5 minute Talent routine, and your 30 second on-stage question.
What is that? Like – 4 minutes??? LOL!
That’s what I mean when I say – You’ve got to do the Off-Stage preparation if you expect to succeed On-Stage.
The truth is, everything you do Off-Stage prepares you for those 4 minutes. And if you prepare in the right areas, you can make sure you score as high as possible during those 4 minutes on-stage… Here’s a few tips 🙂
YOUR INTERVIEW
During the Pageant Junkies Podcast, I love to ask former titleholders who’ve now served as a judge, what they wish they would’ve known when competing. The answer is always the same…
As a judge, when a contestant does well in interview, you’re actually LOOKING for her on-stage. You’re PULLING for her! You want her to do well in the other areas of the competition! Couple that with the fact that Interview is the “longest area” of competition (10 full minutes) and you can see why acing your interview is a big, big deal!
Most ladies prepare for their interview by trying to think of every possible question the judges could ask them… Which honestly, is kind of a waste of time. Yes, you need to be prepared for any question, but the reason why it’s a waste of time to think of every question on the planet is because – YOU DON’T NEED a specific answer for every question! Rather, you simply need to know what your core values are and how those values relate to different categories of questions (political questions, social justice questions, entertainment questions, personal questions, goal-oriented questions, etc.).
The best way to prepare for your interview, is to know what you believe. The best way for you to know what you believe, is to challenge yourself… Either by having discussions with people who disagree with you – or by simply asking yourself WHY over and over again. Then, you’ll know exactly where you stand. 🙂
YOUR PLATFORM
Platforms Matter. Yes, your state may have a strong list of elementary schools who enjoy having “Miss State” come through every year. But your job, isn’t to rely on your state to book you after you’ve won. Your job, is to book yourself BEFORE you win.
The best way to book yourself is to connect with audiences who are either supportive of, or open to hearing about, your platform. Then, you’ll get experience speaking in front of others, interacting with lots of different types of people, and learning how to handle yourself in public situations. That experience is INVALUABLE and will pay dividends long after your pageant days are over – but honestly, it’s great preparation for having a confident interview, and being fully prepared to do the job of Miss “Fill in the Blank.”
YOUR FUNDRAISING
I feel like fundraising has a tendency to get a bad wrap within pageantry. Some ladies tend to look at it like, “Ugh… Gotta figure out how to raise some more money…”
The truth is, the better you are at fundraising, the more excitement and passion you’ll have for this organization. When you see the difference your fundraising dollars can make, you’ll change the way you see yourself, and any fundraising requirements you have.
Lacey Sanchez, Miss Louisiana 2014 put it best in her podcast (which you can listen to right here)… Paraphrasing…She said, “I can’t control the outcome of my state pageant. But I CAN control how many children benefit from the dollars I raise for CMN hospitals…” And because Lacey saw the impact that her fundraising efforts made for these children, she never thought of fundraising as a burden or a chore.
If you want to show the judges that you are truly an advocate for CMN – Then you need to show that your interest in CMN, runs beyond the minimum amount required. Otherwise, I’m sorry, but – it’s going to be hard to believe you.
YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
You’d be surprised how many ladies have not yet “got the memo” about how important social media is to pageantry. SOCIAL MEDIA IS EVERYTHING. Your social media account should attract new contestants to the program, it should show how active you are in the community, it should show the benefit of participating in pageants, and much, much, more.
If you care about the future of this program – If you want other young ladies to experience the same benefits and rewards that this program offers (scholarships, personal growth, public speaking skills, poise and confidence), then it’s your job to communicate it to them. The best way to do that – WITHOUT QUESTION – is through social media.
When you harness the power of social media, you attract people to you. When you harness the power of social media, you prove that pageant contestants are more than parade-wavers. And because of the continuing explosive growth of social media, when you harness the power of social media, you actually have the ability to impact a greater number of people than any of your predecessors. That’s why, it’s a pretty big freaking deal.
WHAT AM I SAYING???
Here’s what I’m saying… You can work out at the gym all you want… You can search high and low for the perfect dress, the perfect shoes, the perfect accessories… You can be the most talented contestant in your state pageant… But all of that – is 4 minutes max.
And if you have nothing to say in your 10 minute interview, you may finish well, but you’ll rarely win.
Everything you do Off-Stage prepares you for your 10 minute interview, and allows you to be fully confident during your 4 minutes On-Stage.
And believe it or not, that’s the difference between ladies who do well, and ladies who wonder what else could I have done.
Until Next Week!
#BigJunkieLove
Carrie Lakey
To see more #ThursdayBlogDay posts like this one, just click here…
Carrie Lakey is kind of obsessed with Miss America…
So are 15,000 of her closest friends.
As an avid fan of the Miss America Organization, Carrie began
publicly predicting pageant winners over 10 years ago.
Now, she’s galvanizing an online movement of fans
known as “Pageant Junkies”.
Learn more about the Junkie Nation
by clicking here.
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