How To Choose the Right Pageant System For You

With so many different pageants to choose from, how do you pick the right one for you? Arriving at the answer for you will take answering these eight questions.

• What is the highest level title you desire? Do you want a local, state, national, or international title? Do you want to compete at a national pageant? Which one?

• What are you hoping the title will bring into your life? Are you wanting the prizes? Maybe you’re doing this just for fun. Or perhaps you’re wanting to use it as a gateway to a new career opportunity. You need to know what you want from pageantry so you can decide which pageants to enter.They all have different focuses and commitment levels.

• What is your current level of experience? If you are new, start with the small pageants that don’t require you to advance to the next level. Not only will this be a safe place for you to gain confidence and experience; but also discover if this is something you really want to pursue.With that being said, if you are a highly experienced contestant, meaning you have won a major title or two and consistently wins, don’t compete in the smaller pageants. You’re taking away opportunities from  girls who are only able to do one or two pageants a year. You need to continue to raise the bar and compete with contestants at your level.
• How much time do you have to prepare? If your goal is Miss America, you have to start years before you enter your first preliminary to be competitive on the Miss America stage. Talent development,interview skills, and sculpting your swimsuit figure are not created within a few months.The pageants taking the least amount of preparation are festival pageants and pageants that only require evening wear competition and an onstage introduction (minimal speaking).
• How much money do you have for pageant experience? The cheapest expense you will have in a pageant is the entry fee. There are numerous expenses involved when competing in a pageant. It is better to have the money secured first than to compete in a pageant, win the title, and discover you need an additional $3000 within a month to compete at the next level.
• How much and how far are you willing to travel? In almost all cases, you will be financial responsible for getting to the pageant so you need to factor in airfare, ground transportation from the airport to the pageant location, food, hotel accommodations, gas and toll expenses. If you don’t want to deal with that, then choose pageants that take place within the distance you are comfortable driving.
• Should you win the title, how much time and resources do you have to fullfill the appearance obligations of the pageant system? Once you win the title, you have an obligation to the system to promote it through public appearances and social media. Each pageant has different requirements and restrictions. Make sure you understand them BEFORE you compete. Do not enter a pageant thinking “I’ll never win so I don’t need to worry about that.” This is the very thought that gets people into trouble when they unexpectedly win.
• Identify pageant systems that score high in areas where you are strong.I am a purpose driven person. For me, time is just too precious to waste. Take the time BEFORE you commit to something to evaluate if the opportunity will lead you closer to or further away from your desired goal.

  The pageant world is small and the pool of qualified judges is even smaller. Your best scores will come from judges who see you compete for the first time. If you do every pageant there is, you are going to have judges who have seen you competed before. If they have not seen any marked growth in you from the previous time or have strong feelings about you, it may hurt you. Likewise, if you hold multiple titles within the same calendar year and your judges know this, it may hurt you. Take time to think things all the way through. If you are going to invest your time and money into this endeavor, do it wisely. This is an example of a conversation you would cover in a coaching session. A highly skilled coach will not only help you choose your wardrobe, complete your paperwork, and develop your interview skills, but also with the first and most important step, creating YOUR plan.