Five Rules For Interview Preparation

The interview competition will be an asset or an enemy. The sole factor that determines so is your preparation. If you do not prepare or you prepare inefficiently, then you will struggle during the competition. However, if you prepare for your interview properly, you can certainly succeed. Here are five rules for how to use your voice as a successful tool for your interview competition preparation.

Rule Number 1: Do not memorize your answers.

You could have the perfect interview answer memorized... wait, did I just say memorized? For any top pageant contestant, you should know that reciting answers to questions is the wrong way to go. You could rehearse your answers a thousand times to appear natural. However, this defeats the purpose of what the interview competition is all about. Yes, the content of your response is important, but only to an extent. The judges are really looking to see how well you can communicate with adults, respectfully announce your opinions, express your true personality, and they want to see that all happening in the moment. The judges want you to know what your opinions are, but they want you to vocalize them on the spot. However, this does not mean you would simply prepare just by knowing how you feel or what you believe about a particular subject.


Rule Number 2: Prepare by reading a good book aloud.

Read aloud. Pick up a book that you love with strong emotions or actions. Flip open to a random page, read a paragraph in your mind, and then read the same passage aloud. Did you read that paragraph in a boring, monotone voice? Or did you convey the proper intensity and volume needed for that particular paragraph? If you read that paragraph in a flat, emotionless tone, let me explain why that is an issue. Every interview question provides you with the opportunity to express your personality and your opinion. This is one of your few chances to shine for the judges! If your voice does not convey your passion or personality in your answer, the judges will not get to know the real you. That's why you want to make the most of every answer, even if you're answering a silly question about what fruit you would be or a serious political question as well. Keep practicing with reading from the book aloud, never reading from the same passage twice to prevent memorizing your answer. Try to read passages that express different kinds of feelings, just as you would answer a more casual question differently in comparison to a serious question.

Rule Number 3: Prepare mentally with easy-access index cards.

Write down some sample interview questions on index cards; one question per index card. You can take these with you anywhere. Now, if you have a few moments of waiting for a doctor's appointment or any time that you have a few moments to spare, pull out one index card and read the question in your head. Give yourself a little bit of time to compose your answer. Once you have created your opinion, read your response in your mind as if you were answering the question at the actual competition. At the real competition, you can give yourself about three seconds to think about what you want to say before you start to speak. Now, after you have answered in your head, reflect upon your answer. Do you believe that your answer would have provided you with a successful interview score at the pageant? Did you deliver your response with confidence? Were you comfortable with your opinion? If you answered no to any or all of those questions, write an 'X' in the corner of that index card. This indicates that you should work on this question prior to your pageant. You can erase the X as soon as you believe that you can answer the question properly. You can also take this one step further by figuring out new ways to answer your question while being true to yourself.

Rule Number 4: Practice your delivery with a knowledgeable friend or adult.

You want to choose a friend that you know as an effective communicator. They do not necessarily need to be involved in pageantry. You can also look for a willing adult; for example, I once contacted my local police department and asked them to help me prepare with a mock interview. They asked me questions about myself and my opinions, and provided me with constructive criticism at the conclusion of the interview. You want to arrange this according to your interview set-up. If the interview is in set up in an one-on-one format or in a private room with the judges, use a private room with just you and the interviewer. If the interview competition takes place on-stage, you can select a public setting (the people at this public setting do not need to observe, but you want to have the potential distractions around so you can learn to block them out). Try not to provide the friend or adult with a list of questions so that they are not reading from the list and that you will not know exactly what to expect. However, you may recommend a few questions that you feel are key to the competition. As the practice interview endures, behave the exact way that you would during the interview competition - maintaining strong eye contact, demonstrating good posture, exuding confidence, etc. At the conclusion of the interview, listen to the constructive criticism the friend or adult can offer. If you have a friend, please emphasize that your feelings will not be hurt by the criticism. Think about how you can apply the criticism to preparing for interview. Also, feel free to arrange further mock interviews to analyze your progress. You should consider using different friends and adults in order to prevent becoming too comfortable with an individual that is supposed to represent your competition judge and to give yourself valuable feedback from a variety of people.

Rule Number 5: Do not go overboard with preparation.

You certainly don't want to prepare too little, but obsessing over this part of the competition can damage your performance. When I say obsess, I mean that you focus solely on the interview competition that you neglect other areas of preparation. Even if you believe that you have a solid pageant walk, you still want to give yourself time to walk in your heels and dress. Make sure that you use a healthy amount of your time for the interview competition so you can also address other areas of preparation. Also, you can obsess by overwhelming yourself with interview preparation. Even if you are giving yourself a sufficient amount of time for other areas of the competition, you really do not need to take too much time to prepare. As long as you start to prepare at least a month prior to your pageant, taking as little as fifteen minutes a day can do wonders for your progress. Finally, too much preparation can make you become over-confident. If you feel too ready for the competition, you may be thrown off during the actual interview if something goes a little unexpectedly. It is important to feel ready and prepared for your interview, but if you believe you know exactly what to expect, then you have the wrong attitude and may have prepared too much.

By using these five rules on a regular basis to prepare for your interview competition, you can truly make a positive difference in your interview competition. I wish you the best of luck in your interview preparation and your pageant competition!

-Miss Pageant Prep