Your paperwork makes your first impression to the judges and will set the tone for your interview. I see these 15 grammar mistakes all the time on pageant contestants’ resumes and bio sheets. Are you making any of these mistakes?

Thank you www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/  for this wonderful visual.

Request my free special report, 10 Insider Secrets to Winning, and receive my free award winning newsletter weekly. Just click here to GET YOUR FREE REPORT.Then fill out your name and email address in the boxes.

INTERVIEW CARD

The ability to answer questions about you, your purpose, current events, and controversial topics in a clear way is an important life skill. The more you practice, the better you will get. This handy interview card is a great way to practice with a partner or to use by yourself.

The Beginning 10 Questions are the staple interview questions everyone must know the answers in an interview. Now preparing for your interview is easy and for a limited time FREE.

Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Life Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF).

She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®.

She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.

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 23 years to her husband Stephen, is the former mayor of her community, and serves on two governing boards of non-profit organizations.  She and her husband perform original contemporary Christian music. For more information on Rhonda, visitwww.WinningThroughPageantry.com.

<a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/"><img src="http://netdna.copyblogger.com/images/grammar-goofs.png" alt="15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly" title="15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly - Infographic" width="600" height="4661" /></a><br /><small>Like this infographic? Get more <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-101/">copywriting</a> tips from <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/">Copyblogger</a>.</small>

Please don’t make this costly pageant mistake. If you are competing in a pageant where you have to submit paperwork for the judges to see, have two other people and finally your coach look it over a couple of weeks before your forms need to be turned into the director. All too often I find what a contestant meant to say and what comes across on the paper are conflicting. Once the pageant paperwork is turned in, it’s too late to change things.

My heart sinks when people send me their paperwork to review and when I see items that need to be changed, THEN they tell me “but I’ve already turned it in.” At this point, you’ve gone from playing offense, where you score points, to defense.
Misspelled words, punctuation errors and improper grammar are just the tip of the iceberg of the mistakes I see on contestants’ fact sheets. Formatting, word choice, and tone on your paperwork will make or break you in the interview room.

Your photo and paperwork create your first impression. Your second time to capture the judges’ attention is when they see you face-to-face. If the contestant they see in person is inconsistent with the woman on paper (or in her headshot), you’ve just created doubt in the judges’ minds. That’s not what you want. You want the judges to be looking for you, and eager to meet you.

The quality of the information on your judge’s sheet will determine the type and quality of the questions you are asked during your interview. Think of your contestant fact sheet as bait. You want to lure the judges in to ask the specific questions you need so you can catch their hearts and votes with your answers.

It takes hours and more than one draft to create a judge’s bio that will get the highest scores in the pageant. Haste makes waste. If you wait until the last minute to start on your paperwork, I guarantee you will not create the proper first impression you want or do your best.

Start a month before it is due. Work a little bit on your paperwork each day. Then when you have it to the point where you think it is perfect, have an English teacher proof read it. Once she is finished with it, have another professional adult look it over. Finally, have your pageant coach read it before you submit it to your director. By taking the time and going through many filters, not only will typos be caught, but your message will be clearer.

If you want a different set of eyes to look over your paperwork, I’ve created a Paperwork Review Session. It consists of two mini-coaching sessions. In the first call, I will share with you my first impressions about your photo and bio; conduct a 5-minute mock interview based on the paperwork you have provided to me; tips on how to improve your paperwork; and a second mini-call after you have made corrections from our first call. This will be the best $50 investment to strengthening your first impression and to building a solid foundation for your interview. To get the most from our time together, have the exact forms your pageant system uses filled out to the best you can. Then,click here to purchase your session. Once payment has been received, you will then receive an email to schedule your private telephone session with me.

Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF).
She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®.
She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.
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 22 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. For more information on Rhonda, visit www.WinningThroughPageantry.com.

You’ve just had your crowning moment. Suddenly, you dream of being a celebrity, going to glamorous events, and making countless appearances. Great! How are you going to make that happen? Yes, I said YOU. Your primary responsibility is to get the word out about your accomplishments and set up appearances. The director may have a couple of sponsor related events for you to attend; but for the rest of the year, what happens as a titleholder is all up to you and your marketing efforts.

To market yourself, you’ll want to create a press kit. For your press kit, you’ll want to assemble a press release, a headshot, one-page bio, an introductory letter from the director on official pageant letterhead, and any other supporting materials in a clean new folder.

Have your press kit available in both electronic and hard copy forms. You will mostly use the electronic format but always have at least one hard copy folder with you as a contingency. Success comes when preparation meets opportunity. Always be prepared.This way you can book an appearance from an appearance. If you’re networking the event right, there will always be someone who will approach you about appearing at their upcoming event.

Press Release

A press release is a one page document that is sent out to local news papers which includes the following information:

• Facts about you: Name, age, parents (if you are a minor), city, your new title, and brief information about your platform or service cause you will be support during your year.
• What did you do to earn the title, and what you won as a result of competing.
• Information about the pageant system and the next level of competition in which you will be compete. For example, if you will be competing at the national pageant, include the dates, locations and what’s involved at that event.
• Pageant history, mission statement, goals, and contact information for both you and your director so that you can be reached to schedule appearances. Word of caution about your personal contact information, for your personal privacy and safety, set up a separate email address to be used only during your year of reign. You never want to give out your home address, phone number, or personal information for mass distribution.

Headshot

• Make sure your headshot, and any other photos are high-resolution images so if the organization chooses to reproduce them, the photos will be crystal clear. I burn a couple images onto a CD and include one 4x6 photo in my folder so they have choices.

Bio

• One page bio spotlighting your education, honors, accomplishments, community service, talent, hobbies, and career ambitions.

Introductory Letter on Official Letterhead

• The letter from your director will lend credibility and acknowledgment to your title. It should include your name, title and information about the pageant system.

Other Supporting Materials

• If you produce a newsletter with your platform, or if there is a brochure about the pageant system you are representing, include those as well.

Then you need to figure out what type of appearances you want to focus on. Do you want to do parades? Do you want to model in fashion shows? How about speaking to service organizations or in schools? Maybe you want to travel to other pageants and be visiting royalty. You’ll quickly need to decide. It could take several weeks, or months, of planning for you to be able to participate in certain events.
How many appearances do you want to make a month? How far do you want to travel? How many appearances will be “just for fun” and how many will be networking events where you can build relationships with people who will guide you to successful paths you may walk after you crown the next queen?

Get your calendar and mark out the dates you already have commitments. Then start surfing the web and contacting people for the activities that fit your plan. You have been given an opportunity that has a expiration date; but the connections and friendships you make during your year, will not.

Request my free special report, 10 Insider Secrets to Winning, and receive my free award winning newsletter weekly. Just click here or at the top of this page to GET YOUR FREE REPORT.Then fill out your name and email address in the boxes.

Now's The Time to Brush Up On Your Interview Skills

INTERVIEW CARD

The ability to answer questions about you, your purpose, current events, and controversial topics in a clear way is an important life skill that everyone can benefit from. The more you practice, the better you will get. These handy interview cards are a great way to practice with a partner or use by yourself to get you thinking about the topic.
The Beginning 10 Questions are the staple interview questions everyone must know the answers in an interview situation. Then each month you will receive a new card in the mail with fresh questions.

Now preparing for your interview is easy and for a limited time FREE.

Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and a member of the International Coach Federation. She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®. She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.

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 22 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. For more information on Rhonda, visit  www.WinningThroughPageantry.com .

With great excitement you've paid your pageant fee and have received your information packet from the director. Woo Hoo! But wait…what's all this paperwork? "Oh well, I'll read it later", you might say as you toss it onto the huge paper pile in the corner, or if it's digital, put it in the "to read later" folder. You eagerly jump into your car and head to the nearest mall to begin shopping for your pageant wardrobe. You find some really cute things on clearance and buy them on the spot.

Weeks go by and you receive an email from your director informing you that she hasn't received your necessary paperwork yet and it's due tomorrow.What? You had to send in additional stuff? Now you're in panic mode. Where's that paperwork , you say to yourself as you frantically hunt for it. Alright, you found it.

Great, this will just take a few minutes and you'll be done … so you think. That is until you start reading what's in the paperwork. Come to find out, there's $500 due to pay for a mandatory ad page which needs to be printer ready in digital format and there are mandatory tickets sales. Where are you going to come up with the money? Plus, you have no idea how to create an ad page on your computer.

Then, you see a sheet that says judge's bio ( or contestant fact sheet). It's asking you to list all of your career information, awards, hobbies, community service, church activities, and why you want to be "Miss All That and More". Your mind goes completely blank. You can't remember anything important to put on the paper. Worse yet, upon reading the wardrobe guidelines, you realize the outfit you bought for interview isn't appropriate for the pageant. Since you bought it on clearance and can't take it back, you have to go shopping again. Ugh!

I wish I could say this was an exaggeration of what happens, but I've had too many last minute calls from panicked clients saying "HELP ME" who were in the situations I just painted.

Read every piece of material sent to you from the director before you do or buy anything. You've heard the old saying, haste makes waste. Well, in pageantry that haste could cost you hundreds of dollars and waste priceless time if you aren't clear on what is expected of you. You must have a clear understanding of the clothing guidelines and the dates you need to have things turned in. Take out your calendar and put big red circles around the dates the director needs the materials. That doesn't mean that you should mail them in on that day. Materials need to be in the directors' hands by the dates that are indicated. If the directors extend their deadline dates, that another story. It's your personal responsibility to meet their deadlines.

If you have your personal information and records organized before the pageant, creating a professional bio full of substance and free of errors is easy and enjoyable. Your paperwork makes your first impression with the pageant staff and judges. Poor grammar and misspelled words may be acceptable on Twitter or Face book; but not in a pageant. Allow several weeks and many drafts to do a thorough job on your paperwork.

This information is not only important for a pageant; but also when you’re applying for colleges, jobs, scholarships and membership to organizations or boards. Quantifiable information about you will expedite your desired results. Everyone should have an up to date resume, or bio, created regardless of their age.

Yes, a 7 year old child's bio is not going to look the same as a married woman's; but mothers, your ability to document your children's lives will reap benefits in so many ways. Start today if you haven't already begun.
Here are three of my recommendations.

• 

  Have a separate composition book for each member of your family. This will be the chronological journal where the entries are listed in order. In this book jot down the detailed facts (who, what, when, where, how many, why) of what happens in the areas of family, education, community, organizations, sports, grades, recognitions, awards, accomplishments, church, service, and career.

• 
  For example, if Sally went door to door in her community collecting old candles and blankets for the homeless shelter; count and write down how many candles and blankets were collected, how long it took her to collect them, which shelter she took them to and take a picture of her boxing them up to take to the shelter. Document your travels in the same way. Some days you may not have an entry. That's ok. Just write down events while they're still fresh in your mind.

• Have a three ring binder of 8 ½ x 11 plastic protector sheets to store your certificates, test scores, programs, newspaper clippings and paper documentation. Again, one for each family member. You can keep

  

  this in chronological order as well if you want to keep things simple. The point is to have all of the loose documentation in one place. It's easy to access, move around and reorganize into different categories depending on your needs.

• Have an accordion organizer for each family member. Here you can store photos until you put

  

  them in an album. Purchase one that is photo safe so if you lose track of time, your photos won't prematurely fade. You can put special greetings cards and other mementos in here too.

I also scan ribbons and artwork. For three dimensional projects, trophies, medals, and things too big to scan, I'll take pictures of them. When the appreciation time is over, we recycle the object to get rid of the physical clutter; but have a permanent memory of it in a more manageable format. When these things are saved digitally, you can easily create 8x10 photo collages to show with your paper documentation.

This is extremely helpful if you're doing optional academic or community service competitions. Not to be redundant, but you're going to need all of this information when it comes time to apply to colleges anyway. Do yourself a huge favor, and start now.

If you're a stay-at-home mom, quantify and document your life, too. You may reenter the work force (or enter a pageant) at some point, and all those volunteer hours at the school, church or Boy Scouts will come in handy.

Putting together pageant paperwork is one of my favorite things to do. If you're having issues with this, ask for help. Contact me and we can get you on your way to having pageant perfect paperwork.

Request my free special report, 10 Insider Secrets to Winning, and receive  my free award winning newsletter weekly. Just click here or at the top of this page to GET YOUR FREE REPORT.Then fill out your name and email address in the boxes.

A note from Steve:

Six weeks into the fitness challenge and Steve's waist has gone from 42"to 40". How are you doing with the goal you've set? We have eight weeks left in 2010. What do you want to accomplish before you ring in the New Year? Put a date on that goal.

Rhonda Shappert is an expert pageant coach, an iPEC Certified Professional Coach, an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner, and a member of the International Coach Federation. She created Winning Through Pageantry® to partner with pageant contestants and their support people to provide complete pageant preparation, achieve winning results in life through pageantry, and to Succeed From The Inside Out®.

She has over 30 years experience in the pageantry world as a contestant, judge, emcee, staff member, mother of daughters who compete, Mrs. Ohio America 2005, and has held multiple titles at the local, state and national levels.

 
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 .

You may absolutely share this newsletter with people you think may enjoy it. When doing so, please forward it in its entirety, including our contact and copyright information. Thanks and enjoy!
The Pageant Secrets™ Newsletter is an award winning e-zine written by Rhonda Shappert, owner and creator of  WinningThroughPageantry.com.

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Never judge a book by its cover. We hear that saying over and over; and yet, the fact remains that we all make assumptions about people, places or things by their outward appearance. The contents of a particular book may be the exact information we are seeking, but we’ll never get a chance to read it because the cover didn’t capture our attention. We didn’t even pull it from the shelf because something about it initially turned us off.

But if the outside is pleasing to you, your first thought may be “Hmm, this book looks interesting. Let me see what’s on the inside.” Although not impossible, it’s hard to reverse a bad first impression.

The first impression that the pageant director, staff and judges form of you is from your submitted paperwork and photo. The first photo you submit should be the best and most current headshot you have. Choose a colored photo that is well lit, sharply focused, and is from your shoulders up. Remember, based on your initial contact with the pageant office, you’re going to be viewed as a contestant that is either ready now, needs a little polishing, or needs more time to develop.

Most pageants have their paperwork forms in a PDF file that contestants can fill out online. This is the preferred choice. Resist the urge to quickly complete and submit your paperwork. Instead, print out the forms and take your time drafting your final version. Have your English teacher proof read it or have a friend that is experienced in reviewing job applications take a look.

If your pageant still uses paper forms, ask the director if you can retype the application, exactly as it appears, into your computer so you can submit your paperwork in a clean, easy to read format. Follow the directions of your director to the letter. If they say one page, you do one page. Copy the font style and size exactly so your computer generated copy looks as close to the original as possible.

If you must handwrite, and this is absolutely the last choice, use your neatest printing or have someone who does have neat handwriting print it for you. Although the idea of having your 8 year old daughter fill out the form herself is touching, if the information can’t be easily read, or if there is one smudge or a misspelled word, it will have a negative impact. Write your information on another sheet of paper, and only write on the application when you are 100% ready with your information. Again, I would avoid handwriting at all costs.

What is the purpose of the paperwork? It introduces you to the pageant staff and the judges. Your judges bio, which is the equivalent of a job resume, should peak the judges interest and curiosity. If proper constructed, the judges will be able to create a picture of who you are just by glancing at your bio. Here are a few helpful hints to creating an introduction on paper that will make a favorable impression on anyone who reads your bio.

• Make it easy to read. Font size should be no smaller than 11 or 12 and in a style that is easy to read. Use either short complete sentences or a bullet point structure for your bio. Choose and use one style for the entire bio and don’t bounce back and for between the two. Keep your bio to one page.

• Peak the judges curiosity with interesting tidbits. Don’t write out your whole story or include every little detail about yourself. That’s what you can talk about when you are face to face with judges. There isn’t time on the judges part to read long paragraphs. But you don’t want to state just the facts either. Think about how the headlines on the front of a magazine cover make you pick it up and buy it because you are curious to get the whole story. The same is true about your bio. Think headlines.

• Be very selective with your word choice and what information you include on your bio. Put only the best information about yourself on your bio. This is where working with a coach is very helpful. Most people don’t know what information is most interesting and best about them. Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to help you identify what’s important about your inside.

• Your bio should show a well-rounded, diverse person. The most common categories on your bio might include education, career ambition, platform, talent, hobbies, awards, community service, and interesting facts. A well-rounded contestant will have something interesting for all the stated areas. If you only have one hobby, it’s time to explore other possibilities. The same thing goes for community service. If you have no community service, it’s time to look within yourself to see what blessings you have that you can share with others.

• Your bio must be grammatically correct, use proper punctuation and free from all misspelled words and typos. Spell check is great, but you can’t rely on it alone. After all, the words hear and here are both spelled correctly but have very different meanings. Have someone else read your bio out loud to you. Listen for phrases that don’t make sense or need more detail. Have many different people look at your bio.

• Limit your use of acronyms and abbreviations. Your judging panel may come from many parts of the state or country. If there is an organization that is very active and well respected in your community and everyone in your hometown knows it by TWBG, there will be someone on the panel that has no idea that it stands for The World’s Best Group. Use the words to avoid any misunderstandings.

• Work with a coach who is skilled in interview. Your interview skills begin with the creation of your paperwork and cannot be mastered overnight. The ideal way to plan for your interview and onstage question is to hire a skilled coach at least 3 months (6 months is better) before your pageant. Create your paperwork together so the image that comes off the paper is consistent with the person they meet in the interview room. Requesting my free interview tool The Beginning 10 Questions is a good place to start on preparing for your interview. This tool contains 10 staple interview questions everyone must know the answers to in an interview situation.

Follow these basic guidelines and you will be on your way to creating the winning image you desire. 

P.S. Beyond the Pageant

Being able to create your image in writing will serve you well in your career. Take a few moments to look at how balanced your life is in the areas of personal development, family, education, career, community service, recreation and spiritually. Are there some areas that could use some attention? Why wait for a pageant to take action. Contact me and we can work together to create the life and balance you want to live.

About Rhonda

Rhonda Shappert is a pageant expert, personal development life coach, and owner of Winning Through Pageantry™, a business she created that not only helps her clients achieve winning results in pageants, but helps them Succeed From The Inside Out™ in their lives. 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 who has been married 20 years to her husband Stephen, home educates their children, is the former mayor of her community, and is 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.