The minute you start telling people that you entered a pageant the advice starts pouring in. Former contestants are eager to tell you about how they won. Pageants fans who regularly attend pageants offer their advice. And anyone who’s ever volunteered or worked for a pageant can’t wait to share their opinion. But when you’re inundated with all this conflicting information, it can be hard to decide which advice to follow. Wear your hair up. Wear your hair down. Don’t cut your hair short. Which one is right? While getting advice is a good idea, sometimes well-meaning people share information that is based on rumor and speculation, not on results. Contestants who follow that

So, by now I’m pretty sure you heard about Miss America’s big announcement. They’re dropping the swimsuit portion of the competition. Plus, they’re making changes to the evening gown competition and increasing their focus on interview and personal platform. MAO also announced that Miss America is no longer a “pageant”, it’s a “competition.” The changes are effective September 9th, which is the broadcast date for this year’s national pageant. State pageants held over the summer will use the “old” structure for competition categories and scoring. Okay, so that’s what we know. But there’s a lot we don’t know.

Unfortunately, you've seen it more than once. A beautiful, poised young woman steps to the front of the stage and draws her question from the bowl. She listens intently while the emcee reads her question, she takes a deep breath and begins her answer. The first few words are okay, but it quickly goes downhill from there. She bravely tries to work her way through it, but nobody's buying it - including the judges. She wraps up her answer and returns to the lineup, covering her disappointment with her best beauty queen smile. The on-stage question portion of your competition can be a little intimidating. So how can you avoid