Win A Pageant | Professional Pageant Coaching With Alycia Darby

Pageants can be like many other big life moments like changing schools, starting a new job, moving across country, there are a lot of pressures that come upon you during these times and they can be truly overwhelming. You can’t win a pageant as a ball of stress. When you start feeling like your having an out-of-body experience – it’s gone to far. Jump in a bubble bath with your day planner and start create an action plan to soothe your stress. In this episode, I’ll give you 6 specific ways to manage your pre-pageant stress.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Showing gratitude is proper etiquette for those with good social graces, but writing a proper thank you note isn’t taught in school. My mom taught me some amazing skills in thank you notes, and so have my clients! In this episode, I’ll share with you an easy way to formulate your thank you notes so they are timely, personal, significant, and thoughtful. Plus, I’ll share examples of thank you notes from my clients at WinAPageant.com so you can see how others show their gratitude.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Pageant interviews aren’t designed to be easy. In fact, I believe they are far more difficult than job interviews. Most pageants allow for anything. Therefore, crazy questions are asked.  And you need to be prepared to deal with them. But, that doesn’t mean you’ll always have a slick answer to every question. Just as in real life people ask all sorts of dumb, offensive, provocative, inappropriate and rude questions when you’re least expecting it – so, you have to be prepared to react. In this episode, Alycia teaches 4 methods of responding to tough interview questions and gives examples for you to practice.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Want a delicious party dip that's healthy?! I've got one for you: Almond Dip! It's super easy. Just mix together Almond Butter and Greek Yogurt and serve with sliced apples. When you do, take a picture and post to Instagram with the #WinAPageant so I can take a look! I share all the details of the recipe in this episode.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Winning a pageant can be exhilarating, spectacular, overwhelming, exhausting and confusing. In this episode, I'll train you to avoid some common mistakes of pageant winners. People see you as a powerful entity and in fact, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ One year goes by very quickly and you have to be prepared to make fast decisions that have the most beneficial impact and do no harm. That’s not easy. However, I do have 7 specific cautions that I believe will help you to avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made over the years as a titleholder.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.  

Today’s Fit Tip is how to order a healthy meal at a restaurant. When you’re always on the go, it’s hard to cook at home and pack your meals, so you find yourself eating out a lot. Don’t be tempted by the delicious, greasy, fatty smells and the hoopla of other people ordering delicious garbage. Stay true to your healthy lifestyle. At the same time, you don’t want to look like you only eat ice cubes and almonds. In this episode Alycia shares three go-to meals for eating out and the important tip to tell the waiter!      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

In an exciting moment like winning a pageant title, you may momentarily lose your wits if you’re not wise. When you are standing in the spotlight, whatever impression you leave will last – perception is reality, so you don’t want to come off bratty, ungrateful, or just crazy. In this episode, Alycia will share a list of 7 things not to do when you’re crowned, which will make your winning moment: graceful, photogenic, and respectable.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes when you’re trying to be poised and articulate you forget to also be human. When you come off as overly rehearsed, you can sound like an infomercial - or worse: a "Pageant Patty!" In this episode, Alycia gives you a 4-step exercise to add excitement and emotion into your speech to keep your audience and your judges engaged the whole time you're talking.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Pageant judges want to be sure they choose someone that is able to shoulder the responsibility of the title. You must be confident enough in your own skin that you can communicate who you are and what you believe in. In this episode, Alycia gives you several questions you can reflect on to understand the unique strengths and values that make you wonderful!     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Just like a celebrity prepares to promote their movie on a talk show or a politician is debriefed for a press conference, you, too, must be prepared with talking points for the public. Having a process to understand the on-stage question is key to preparing your talking points for your answer. In this episode, Alycia explains what the judges are looking for in on-stage question and gives you a process to easily create a one-size-fits-all answer for most pageant questions. Plus, she shares her actual answer from Miss International 2014.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Visualizing your win is a powerful exercise to believing you are suited to win the pageant. If you can watch yourself winning, you are far more likely to believe deep enough to actual take the crown. Alycia leads you through a guided meditation to visualize yourself winning your pageant.        © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.  

You’ve heard this a million times, “She’s got it!” “There’s just something about her…” “Wow – She’s just wow.” It’s the ‘It Factor’; the attractive quality that someone exudes which makes you want to be near them, befriend them, or perhaps choose them for the title or a promotion. You know it when you see it. So…what is ‘it’?!  It’s Charisma! Charisma is a unique combination of characteristics, which allow an individual to standout in a crowd, appeal to an audience, and grab the attention of judges and others. It’s no secret that charisma has the power to persuade. If you’ve ever seen a James Bond movie, you know what I’m talking about. Charisma is something that anyone can exude at all times. Meaning, it has nothing to do with looks, education, skills, etc. It is really more of an attitude. I’ve created a list of 12 specific things that can help you develop that ‘it-factor’ charisma.       © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.  

I believe in a pageant interview, you don’t need to know the questions as long as you know the answers. So, I want to teach you how to come up with a bunch of awesome answers through the art of story telling. Stories are the basis of human connection. We are able to connect with people through sharing stories and understanding where someone else came from based on what they’ve experienced. The best communication happens when people know you, like you and trust you. Knowing how to tell a good story is key to getting people to know, like, and trust you!     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

In your pageant interview, the judges are expecting you to be prepared to communicate your best self during your interview. That means, whether it’s 2 minutes or 20 minutes, the responsibility is on you. Therefore, you have to be in control of the values you want to communicate, the stories you want to share, and how you will make an impact as the new titleholder.  I’ll teach you the top three things you should communicate during your interview. You can prepare and practice these in advance so that you have an incredible interview and feel confident that you communicated who you are.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Just because you enter a pageant, doesn’t mean you have to want to win…yes, seriously. Pageant contestants sometimes get caught up in the need to win without truly considering what they really want. Here, I’ll teach you a 4-step exercise to help you determine your ultimate goal. You’ll be surprised to see some of the reasons that woman compete to not win their pageant. Teresa Scanlan, former Miss America 2011, is a good example of someone who won her first local, state, and national title and may have missed out on a longer pageant career if that was her goal. We can’t say for sure what her ultimate goal was, though I don’t know too many people who would bulk at a national title opportunity like that! This exercise is also helpful for every pageant you enter because it can bring up some hidden fears that you may have that you aren’t even aware of. These fears and insecurities can keep you from winning the title – unless you surface them now.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

People believe that a pageant is won by the woman who strives to be the ‘most beautiful’ contestant. So do I; except, I also believe that “beauty” is not the same as ‘attractiveness.’ So how can you be the most beautiful woman on the stage? It’s easier than you think. I’ll tell you in this episode.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Your pageant interview holds a lot of weight to the overall score of your pageant competition. You have to be ready to walk into the judges’ room and blow them away from the first minute. In this episode, I’ll teach you very specific exercises you can do to warm up your body, voice, and mind to ensure you don’t miss a moment to impress your judges.     © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Before deciding to enter a pageant, it’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into! The top 10 questions I share with you in this episode will help you to gain insights into the mind of the directors, their values, and their perspectives as well as gain feedback from former titleholders to see how you may benefit (or not) from a pageant you may choose to enter.       © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.

Every week, I’ll be sharing with you honest down-to-earth pageant trainings to prepare you to win a pageant.  Each episode will post early Wednesday morning, so you can listen while you’re getting ready in the morning, on your commute to class or work, or during your workout.  In these trainings, I’ll teach you a specific concept, and why this idea is important to your success, the process of how you can apply the training concept through personalized exercises. I’ll give you examples (the good, the bad, and the ugly) to help you understand the concepts and tell you where you can go for additional details to enhance your level of competition and set help you stand out from the crowd.      © Alycia Darby Zimnoch 2015 Win A Pageant  All Rights Reserved.