How to Prepare for the Interview Portion of a Pageant

When preparing for interview one must keep in mind, the time limits that the interviews are conducted in. These are usually 3 minute, 5 minute and 10 minute interviews. The longer the interview the more knowledge the contestant must have stored in her mind. The areas of interview usually consist of Attire, Appearance, Confidence, Articulation and personality. On top of all of these, the older contestant needs to be aware of local, state, and world politics surrounding her. Let's go through each one of these individually.

Attire must be appropriate for age, fit and style. The most common attire for any type of interview is a business style suit. Some say that a pantsuit is acceptable but very rarely do you find a contestant who wore a pantsuit, no matter how flattering it may be, in the top five. A contestant should always keep in mind that when doing an interview, she is in the act of interviewing for a job and therefore should dress accordingly. The outfit should be appropriately for the age. In the little ones ages 6-9, a nice Sunday dress is usually considered the most appropriate, although some girls will go the two-piece suit style, while others will go with a dress with a suit jacket. In the 10 and up divisions, a business suit is the most accepted type of attire, The contestant will be judged on how well the suit fits, it should not be too loose nor should it be too tight. It should be short enough to show the knee but not be so short that it would be considered indecent. This is especially true if you are sitting during the interview, one would not want the skirt to rise too far up the leg. The top of the suit should flatter the upper area of the body either minimizing certain areas or accenting other areas, Some young ladies need the lapel look, others a collar and others may need just a flat neck line. The choice of color, although left up to the contestants, should be one that accents the contestant's hair coloring and skin coloring. One should keep in mind that in choosing a bold color such as red or orange, even if these are outstanding colors, can many times give the impression to the judges that this is a strong, self confident young lady and may make their question based upon this impression. If you choose these colors, make sure that you are that self confident in your actions and wardrobe. On the other hand, too bland a color usually shows little or no personality. The usual accepted shades are blues, pinks, yellows and greens.

The final part of the suit is the accessories that you choose to go with it. Buttons should be small, and usually same colored, not big, and glitzy. Earrings should be simple pearls or colored to match the suit, not dangling or large hoops, as these are distracting to the judges eyes,. Shoes can be dyed to match or toupe colored shoes. If they are toupe they should match the skin tone as close as possible, keeping in mind that with a toupe shoe, the contestant presents a fluid look in her lines, as it makes the legs look longer and slimmer as compares to a colored shoe. Usually a two -three inch heel is acceptable. A flat shoe is too plain and a very high heel would be considered too dressy.

Although most of these things are simple it only takes a point here and a point there to be deducted and you could go home as first alternate instead of the titled holder.