Community Service is a pillar of all pageant systems both large and small. We use our titles to be a positive impact to the people around us. Choosing a cause to champion can be a tough choice. Here are ten pageant platform ideas that might speak to your passions and why I think they are worth a double take:

Pageant Platform Ideas

1. The Boys and Girls Clubs of America

This organization has a great national presence as well as a local impact with a variety of character building programs.

2. The Children’s Miracle Network

As the official Miss America Platform, this network is supported heavily throughout our nation and abroad.

3. Girls Scouts of America

This group is tried and true. You can have a lot of fun with the girls, plus you can’t beat the cookies!

4. Read Across America

Literacy is a pageant platform that can have a high impact for its participants. This organization sets people up for lifetime success.

5. Girls Inc.

This is a favorite pageant platform idea of mine. Their mission statement is to inspire girls to be strong, smart, and bold. This modern girls group has a more activist feeling than a traditional non-profit organization.

6. Second Harvest Food Bank

Nationwide banks provide food to 37 million low-income families. Following dreams is hard when you are hungry so this practical platform helps people truly in need today.

7. Dress for Success

For the fashionista in you, this worthy cause gives a dress and a new energy for employment fight.

8. Susan G. Komen Foundation

Breast Cancer awareness is one of the most important causes of our lifetime.

9. The 50 Million Pound Challenge

This cause is one that gets people talking about their health and challenging themselves to live and love better.

10. Make Your Own

With an open mind and an open heart, you can be an active problem solver in your local community. Find an issue that means something to you personally and go after bettering the world nearest to you!

This article was written by Kristen Darden, a pageant coach out of Tennessee. To contact Kristen for a consultation, email Kristen.Darden@gmail.com.

There is no singular tried and true formula for wining the crown. I’ve heard it said a million times, “a different night, a different girl”. Every panel of judges carries diverse life experiences, opinions, and taste. This makes for an interesting pageant for everyone involved…on and off the stage. However, there is one thing that should never change… You.

Leveraging Consistency to Win the Pageant Crown

Consistency should be the cornerstone of your competition. The world is always turning, so your aim should be to give your judges panel something solid to hold on to. A consistent competition starts with you knowing who you really are and what your true goal is in pageantry. Here is why pageant judges love a steady girl:

1. The Ring of Truth: it’s a hard sell when you are selling a packet of lies. Be true to yourself because not only are you completely unique, but pageant judges love to see someone who has her head and more importantly her heart in the game of life and pageantry.

2.  Slow and Steady Wins the Race: we have the tendency to play only to our strong suits. However, a one trick pony is going to be the victor. You might sing like Whitney Houston, but if you lag behind in the other categories your singing ability will not be enough to win. A contestant with a fitting pageant song, great interview, and a great presence will net the points necessary to win the crown. Prepare across the board.

3. Aristotle is right! He stated, “We are what we repeatedly do; therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.” You most be in the habit of doing things in a way that warrants the title of excellence. When you fill out your pageant paperwork. Be excellent. When you walk into a room. Be excellent. Do everything in pageantry and in life with excellence!

Aristotle may not have won any beauty pageants, but he knew exactly what characteristics are required to walk away with the crown. Consistency is what is going to separate titleholders from runners up. Remember who you are and be in the habit of delivering that person with such excellence that people whom you encounter is on any night would declare you as Queen.

This article was written by Kristen Darden, a pageant coach out of Tennessee. To contact Kristen for a consultation, email Kristen.Darden@gmail.com.