Control your Interview with Pageant Judges

What a beautiful day! Let me start off by thanking you for taking the time to read my blog…in fact, my very first blog ever! As a pageant interview coach, I spent some time thinking about what would be beneficial to pageant contestants if they were to read my blog. When I am blessed with the opportunity to have interview training with a young lady, one of the of things that we go over is the importance of the information they provide on the all-important judges’ biography or judges form. After spending time sharing my experience, they most times respond with “I never gave that a thought”. So I decided to dedicate my first blog post to talking about how crucial it is to spend time and thought on the judges form. You may or may not have heard people tell you that “you control the interview”. I remember the first time that was mentioned to me, I didn’t think that was possible simply because the judges are the ones asking the questions … so how could I possibly have any control over that?

The Importance of the Contents of Your judges Bio Sheet

The power your bio and the information you put on that sheet is often times, underestimated. We must think about what it looks like from the judges perspective. Their first impression of you and contact with you is via your submitted bio/judges form. Therefore, what you decide to tell them about you on that piece of paper is very important. The judges get a peek into your life, what is important to you, and what you are about. The start forming a picture of you based on that information before they even meet you. The judging panel has already made a judgment and/or opinion of you solely from your information sheet. Hence, it is critical that you pay close attention to its content.

In the interview room, judges are most likely going to ask a majority of their questions based on the information you provided. Anything you put on your bio is open season. If you are a political science major, you need to be ready for any and all questions having to do with the election, Donald Trump, the electoral college, current issues stemming from government, etc. Aspiring broadcast journalists should be prepared to discuss the press, journalists they admire, qualities they possess that would make them a good journalist, as well as defining “responsible journalism”.

Showcase Yourself

If you want the judges to ask you about your work with the homeless, your sorority, your career ambition of becoming a veterinarian, and why you want to be Miss Georgia, then make sure that you showcase those things on your judges form. Incorporate those items into your answers. Make sure to NOT answer a question in its entirety. Save your story and the specifics of your answer for the interview room. If the question on the form does not ask “why”, then don’t tell them why. Then when you are asked about it by a judge, you can give them the “why”. If you give the answer on your bio, then the judges are most likely not going to ask you about it because you’ve already answered the question for them. Sidebar here: if you do not feel comfortable talking about the passing of a loved one or a personal struggle, do not put that information in your bio. Again, if you put it on your bio, you automatically open yourself up to being asked about anything about that given topic in the interview room by the judge.

Please feel free to browse my website aqueensconversation.com to learn more about interview coaching, pageant prep, pageant interview techniques, pageant clients, testimonials, etc. I offer a different and unique approach to the interview at a more reasonable rate. Competing in pageants is expensive enough. My goal is to help you discover the magic within yourself without having to spend a fortune to do so. I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time….

-Jimmy