Win A Pageant

10: Know Yourself Enough to Win

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As a titleholder, you are constantly in the limelight. People are watching you as an example. With great power comes great responsibility.

 

“I’m so thankful to God for trusting me with the honor of such a title.”
2014 Miss USA Nia Sanchez

 

The judges want to be sure they choose someone that is able to shoulder the responsibility of the title. You must be confident enough in your own standing so that if a wind comes, you aren’t blown off course. Another way of putting it is ‘if you stand for nothing,  you fall for everything.”

 

Pageantry uses lots of ways to discover your true character. There’s a fact sheet that asks things about what you like and your favorite memories and accomplishments. There could be an essay or a community service focus you can choose. You’ll likely have an interview with the judges and even an on-stage question that asks something about your favorite childhood memory.

 

All of these are ways to understand your priorities, values, strengths and character.

 

Once you understand where this is coming from, all you have to do is reflect on yourself until you know yourself enough to communicate your character enough to win!

 

The first thing you have to know is that you were Uniquely and Wonderfully made. That means, that the combination of things that make you you are unique – one and only. Plus, you are wonderful! So, you gotta own that! The women that believe they are unique and wonderful are true winners!

 

The process of reflection isn’t necessarily easy, but I find it to be tons of fun! I recommend drawing a bubble bath and pouring glass of sparkling sumpthin-sumpthin and turning on some yoga music and drag a pen and pad into the tub to reflect on the following questions:

 

1. What do you spend your time doing?

The answer to this question will help you discover your priorities in life. If you spend most of your time at the gym and planning your meals, and only a tiny bit of time reading the newspaper, you’ll have a clear glimpse of what you most care about. In fact, this is exactly the conclusion I came to in my bubble bath several years ago. I discovered that I hated reading the darn newspaper and watching the news. That’s when I decided I’d just give it up since I didn’t like it anyway. Now, I’m an expert worker-outer and able to announce without hesitation when someone brings up a current event that “I don’t watch the news. Tell me what happened.”

 

2. What informs your life the most?

This will help you discover the values you stand by. For some, it’s the repetitive motto from a parent or a magazine they read or a movie they love. For me, and maybe for some of you it’s the Bible. This informs my life and impacts the values I stand by.

 

3. What do you know you are great at?

These are your strengths. Don’t list everything under the sun. Instead, think about your top 3 things. They way I think of it is that if I had a friend that needed something and it was obvious to the entire group that I was gonna help, what would that thing be. For me it’s, speaking on camera, building confidence in other women, and not changing my actions based on what other people think of me.

 

4. What are you so bad at that if someone you loved asked you to do it, you’d spare them the embarrassment and hire someone else?

These are your weaknesses. This is the stuff you have to simply manage. For me, it’s cooking. I hate spices and cutting things up. So, I buy pre-cut veggies and only use olive oil. I’ve learned to survive and love it! It’s also cardinal direction. Knowing east from west kills me. I exit a store in the mall and can’t recall if I came from the left or the right. So, I have to manage it. I have to look for markers every time I go into a store and I take pictures of where I parked so I remember – Blue, level 4. I also have very little attention to detail. This is not good when you run a business, so I have to rely on systems to help me with the details I’m responsible for. When you are aware of your weaknesses, you can find a solution to manage them.

 

5. What do you enjoy so much you’ll never not have it in your life?

These are the things you like.

 

6. What are the things you can’t stand so much that you run from them?

This is the stuff you don’t like.

 

Here are a few more questions to reflect on:

7. What annoys you most?

8. What are you afraid of?

9. What success did you have that surprised you?

10. What adventures have you done/do you want to do (or: Craziest thing you’ve ever done)

11. What if you won the lottery?

12. What’s your personal slogan/motto?

13. Favorites (magazine, music, place, vacation, friend, etc)

 

 

After you reflect on these, start to practice answering questions with a story about each one.

 

Click here to listen to the “Story Telling” Podcast

 

You may consider keeping a notebook handy to jot a few other things that are unique and wonderful about you that may be fun to share during your pageant.

 

Keep this notebook handy so you can reference it when you are practicing for your pageant. It’ll be good to keep these floating around in your mind right before the pageant so you can whip them out when the time is right.

 

That, ladies is how you win a pageant!

 

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