I recently finished the book "Leave Your Mark" by Aliza Licht and I loved it! In the book, Aliza talks about job interviewing, so I thought I would share some of her tips here with you...in a paraphrased form and tailored to pageant interviews. Enjoy!
1. Do you sound cocky or confident?
Cocky: "I'm the best person on my team."
Confident: "I've been fortunate to have been able to lead a team on several projects this year."
Cocky: "I can do everything well."
Confident: "I am an experienced multitasker who works well under pressure."
Do you see the difference? Cocky is not likable, but confident can be! A smart person will admire someone who is politely confident, but it is highly unlikely that anyone will like someone who is cocky. So in your next interview, feel free to promote your skills and positive attributes without making the judges want to get your interview over with. People generally want cocky people to fail; just remember that.
2. Are you a good communicator of your strengths?
You might be great at certain core competencies, but if you cannot communicate examples of how you use those skills well, it will just end up sounding like a lot of noise. Be prepared with 3-5 examples where you can show, not just tell, how well you know your stuff.
While you are at it, take a second to download "50 Things The Judges Wish You Knew"...it is a FREE e-book I made to help you prepare to communicate the BEST you in all phases of competition: http://bit.ly/BV50Things
3. Show that you know the pageant system.
Demonstrate that you know what the pageant system has been doing and that you have been following the brand. And please, know which system you are interviewing for! For example, what you say about International Junior Miss is not what you would say about Miss American Coed; they are two very different systems. When in doubt, check out the personal web pages and social media for your pageant system; those items should be clear tellers of what your program values and finds important.
4. Eye contact is key.
When you are having a conversation with a friend, you look them in the eye. Not to the point where it is creepy, but you hold eye contact with your friend while chatting. If you are in a group, you likely bounce your eyes from one person to another, so no one feels left out. The same holds true in your pageant interview. If you are in a panel interview, every judge is in the conversation, so do not ignore them.
5. Facial and vocal expression are the other keys.
No one wants to speak to someone who looks or sounds like a bored zombie. So please, use your face and voice to express your personality and emotions. Stop with the zombie face already!
6. Know your content.
You do not have to know everything, but you should know a little bit about a lot of things. The most common topic, believe it or not, is YOU. Your likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, personality, accomplishments and more. Also, your resume may have to be condensed for the judge into one or two pages, but you have so many more accomplishments and things to say. Practice weaving these ideas into your answers; I highly doubt your whole life can be summed up in 1 page, so be prepared to say the items you may have left out.
If you are ready to get organized for the interview and improve overall, download your FREE ebook to get started right away: http://bit.ly/BVImproveInterview
Interviewing can be difficult...if you are not prepared. If you are interested in developing your interview skills, set up a FREE chat with me via Skype or Facetime to discuss some possibilities! You won't regret it! Just go to www.BeVictoriousPrep.com and click on "Book A Session" in the top right corner of the page.
