For the person whose only exposure to beauty pageants is from what they see on television, it’s difficult to understand why anyone would choose to do a beauty pageant. After all, showcasing the benefits of doing a beauty pageant wouldn’t get the ratings that the drama does. But there are definite benefits or else pageantry wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar industry.

Of the many benefits to participating in a pageant, I’m going to share my top five reasons.

1. Recognition.

People feel valued and appreciated when they receive recognition for their hard work. Some pageant systems offer cash prizes along with on-stage recognition for optional areas of participation such as talent, speech, commercials, modeling, community service, scholastic, letters of recommendation, career achievement and creative arts through scrapbooking, ad pages and decorating contests .

1. 2. Personal Development.

   The more a person recognizes and understands their strengths, values, likes, dislikes, beliefs, and personality style, the greater fulfillment and satisfaction they’ll experience from their life. The greatest self discovery and personal growth can come from working with an expert pageant coach who understands in depth how to use pageantry as a tool to develop the excellence within you.

2. 3. Communication Skills.

   The ability of articulate ones thoughts into written and spoken words is priceless. We live in an age where masses consider quality communicate as texting or posting an update on Face book. The skill of having a meaningful face to face conversation with another human being is being greatly diminished by technology. As an expert pageant coach and judge, I regularly encounter contestants with poor writing and verbal communication skills. This is very apparent in the paperwork that is submitted. By developing your communication skills, the relationships in your life will also develop in a life giving way.

3. 4. Confidence.

   The ability to face ones fears and take action anyway develops great confidence. It’s common knowledge that speaking in front of a crowd is the number one fear of people. Well, in pageantry there’s plenty of opportunity to get in front of large groups of people on a regular basis and develop a comfort level with being on stage. Through the interviewing process and introducing yourself to many people, your speaking skills will blossom in this arena.

4.  

5. 5. Handling Stress, Pressure and Disappointment.

   These reactions are a part of life. Your attitude and thoughts around these reactions can either move you forward towards fulfillment or break you down. Stress, pressure and disappointment don’t have to be viewed as negative things. In fact, they can be powerful motivators to accelerate you to the next level. It all depends on how you look at them. In pageantry, you will experience these to the fullest extent, and with guidance, you can learn how to flip them to work to your advantage.

Recognition, personal development, communication skills, confidence and handling the stress, pressure and disappointments in life are the benefits you’ll take with you from doing pageants. And if you really enjoy modeling, hair, makeup and fashion, oh the fun you will have learning these life lessons.

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Take a moment to list the benefits you receive from each of the activities you participate in. If you struggle to come up with benefits, decide if that is an activity you want to be spending your time doing.

Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach and an iPEC trained personal development life coach. She created Winning Through Pageantry™, to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation and achieve winning results in life through pageantry. In the pageant world she has held multiple local, state and national titles. Rhonda graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors degree in Musical Theater from The Ohio State University and has performed on stage in 15 countries on the Asian, European and American continents. This mother of three home educates their children and has been married 21 years to her husband Stephen, is the former mayor of her community, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Virtual Academy. She and her husband perform original contemporary Christian music. Their music CD entitled Cana is available through www.cdbaby.com/cd/shappert or on her website . For more information on Rhonda, visit www.WinningThroughPageantry.com.

One of my favorite movies is The Sound of Music.  I just love the scene where Maria (Julie Andrews) asks the children to sing along with her, and their response is that they don’t know how to sing. Shocked at the very thought that anyone couldn’t do such a basic skill she “starts at the very beginning” and teaches the children the simple abc’s of music. Maria explains that these simple steps are the tools upon which all songs are built.

“When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything”. Within minutes, the children are singing beautiful songs with complicated rhythms and harmonies. But they had to master the basics first.

Pageantry is no different but it will take longer than a 3 minute song :).  For the most part, you can’t just grab a dress out of your closet, arrive at the pageant and expect to have a winning experience. There are basic steps that need to be addressed first before you move on to the more complicated areas.

So let’s start at the beginning with the A,B,Cs of what to do when you have made the decision to enter a pageant.

 

A -  Acquire Knowledge

There are two main areas where you’ll want to spend your time educating yourself.

• Knowledge about yourself at a deeper level
• Knowledge of the pageant system you have chosen to participate in

 

Self knowledge is the foundation for your on-stage introduction, personal interview and platform development. It’s critical to know WHY you are doing what you’re doing. To know why you do what you do means you need to know what you value in your life. And it’s not just enough to have a list of values. Your power comes from a prioritized list of values and knowing what means the most to you. This can take some time so allow plenty of time for this exploration.

 

Learning as much as you can about the pageant system you’re competing in will greatly increase your chances of obtaining your desired results. What are the areas of competition? How are they scored? What is the look for this particular pageant? What is expected of the winner?  These are just a sample of some of the questions you need to find answers to in order to feel properly prepared.

B -  Build a Plan

There are detailed logistics involved in preparing for a pageant and I cover these areas in my free special report 10 Insider Secrets to Winning.  The most important question you need to ask yourself is how much time and money are you willing to invest in this endeavor?  Once you quantify both the time and money you have, get to work and create a detailed plan of how to reach your goal.

C - Create a Team

The way you can keep yourself on task and prevent procrastination is to create your own dream team to help you in the areas where you need assistance.  They will keep you accountable to what you say you’re going to do. Let me ask you a question, which scenario are you more likely to follow through with an action.

• You verbally tell someone else what you’re planning to do, knowing that each time you see them, they’ll ask you for an update, or
• You keep your plans to yourself depending in your level of self discipline to make it happen.

Plus it’s more fun to celebrate with a group of people when you achieve your goal, and they can be your biggest cheerleaders when you encounter challenges.

This is where you benefit from working with a pageant coach.  A qualified coach can work with you to evaluate what your needs are, help you find professional services that you need and keep you on track. To receive the greatest benefits from your coaching experience, it’s very important you feel comfortable and connected with your coach.

I‘ll  be covering this topic in greater depth in my upcoming teleclass “What’s Your Focus?”  For more information, you can go to my website at www.WinningThroughPageantry.com or click here to  Register for the Class!  There will be plenty of time for Q&A so register now and come with all your questions.

Beyond The Pageant

The above ABC’s of pageantry are the very same steps to use when starting any new project in your life. Ask yourself the 5 following questions to get you started.

• What do I want from this situation?
• How would I benefit from the results of this activity?
• How am I going to make this happen?
• What is standing in my way?
• Who can help me achieve what I want?

About Rhonda