When you are walking into your pageant interview you want to make a favorable impression. You never get a second chance at a first impression. Right? Well, when you exit your pageant interview with your closing statement you want to be even more on point. Why? Because this is the last time you get to personally speak with the judges prior to the scoring. I get nervous for you.

Here are 4 tips to a killer closing statement in your pageant interview so you can leave your judges with confidence and more importantly with a high score.

1. Know your marketing plan – Know the positive attributes that you are desire to convey to the pageant judges. Going into your interview you need to have a definite plan of action on how you intend to express these qualities to the judges. Following your pageant interview your judges need to be able to answer this question, “Why can you be Miss (fill in the blank)?” If you as a potential pageant queen cannot give your judges this answer then they will find a contest who will.
2. Test the waters – While you are practicing your closing statements for interview try out several different scenarios. Did you have a serious interview? Did you have a light hearted interview? Was your pageant interview centered around current events? Or around your personal life? You do not know the atmosphere of the interview. There is simply no way to anticipate what will go on in that room. Therefore you as a pageant queen have to be prepared for anything. So when you are practicing your closing statement for interview practice by manipulating your closing statement to coincide with the flavor of the interview.
3. Don’t just close – At the end of your pageant interview the head judge will say something along the lines of, “Well, I see that our time is just about up would you like to say something in closing?” Don’t say, “Nope I think that is about it.” Really? Your whole life can be summed up in a 10 minute interview? That is what you are saying if you cannot think of anything else. And if your life is so dull as to not be able to express something interesting and dynamic about yourself at the end of 10 minutes then the judges are not going to find you interesting enough to place a crown on top of your head. Sorry…
4. Keep talking – When the judges give you the opportunity to deliver your closing statement, talk! I have seen girls freeze when asked this question. Maybe they had a brain fart? Maybe they were ill-prepared? But, you cannot freeze when asked this question. This is your final impression that you are gong to leave with the judges before they begin scoring you. If you have to go back and revisit a topic that you did not get a lot of time to cover during the pageant interview then do so. Elaborate on something that was said earlier but please talk.

These tips came as a result of my discussion with Bill Alverson, a pageant interview coach out of Alabama. For a consultation, email wbajr@alaweb.com.

Related posts:

1. How to Practice Your Closing Statement for Pageant Interview
2. What Should Be in a Closing Statement?
3. What Do Pageant Judges Look For In Interview
4. Onstage Interview Freakin Scares Me
5. How to Prepare for a Tough Pageant Interview