In many natural pageant systems, such as NAM, MAC and PURE American to name a few, there is a scored category called onstage personal introduction. The personal introduction is either 20 or 30 seconds in length. It gives the contestant an opportunity to let the judges get to know her personality and the level of her public speaking skills. That’s a short amount of time to make a first impression. However, when you consider how short peoples’ attention spans are these days, it is more than enough time for the judges to see what they need. Below are five tips to help you create your personal introduction.
Tip #1: Read what the pageant systems requirements are and FOLLOW THEM. If the rules say give your name, hometown, and what your future ambition is, don’t waste precious time by saying your age and contestant number. Make every word count and stay within the time limit. Be creative within the rules. The introduction is more like a commercial about you than just saying “Hi, I’m Rhonda Shappert from Greensville and I want to be a veterinarian.”
Tip #2: Even if you hire someone to write your introduction, you’ll need to make little changes so it sounds like something you or your child would say. Sometimes, what looks good in writing doesn’t sound great when spoken. Say it out loud. Change the words that don’t work for you.
Tip #3: Use age appropriate vocabulary and real life situations. Most six year olds don’t want to be an endocrinologist, nor do they run their own non-profit organizations. Likewise, tweens or teens who use over-the-top cutesy gimmicks and don’t share some depth in their introductions don’t score as high either.
Tip #4: Use your eyes and facial expressions, not your hands, to convey your message when speaking. Use little to no hand gestures during your onstage introduction. Some gestures should always be avoided like bringing your thumb up to your chest when you say the word “I”; pointing at the audience when you say “you”; and circling your arms around in a big circle when you say “all.” Also, don’t bring into the “natural” pageant world “glitz” world mannerisms for example, leave out the winking, drawing air hearts with your fingers, blowing kisses, and tilting your head to the side.
Tip #5: How you deliver your introduction is more important than what you say. Why do most contestants sound like a GPS or computer generated voice when they say their onstage introductions? Or, why do others sound like they have drank way too much Red Bull? When you speak, use your normal rate of delivery. Speak directly into the microphone and look each judge in the eyes. I need to practice saying it out loud and not just in your head.
