Episode 5 - The Girl and the Personal Introduction

In this episode about the NAM introduction competition, Lauren will share some of her best tips and tricks on how to prepare, practice and perform like a queen! 

She will help you write your introduction, share practice tips, prepare before your performance on stage. 

You will be more than prepared to rock that NAM stage! 

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome back to the Girl and the Gown. I'm your host Lauren Rodgers, and in today's episode, we're talking about the introduction competition.

In this episode about the introduction competition, we will cover everything you need to know about the introduction competition. In preparation, I will help you start writing your intro and help you structure your brainstorming. And in practice, I will be sharing my own personal experiences on how I like to practice for this competition. In preparation, I will give you tips and tricks on how I prepare before I go on stage, so you can give it your all when performing.

First, we're going to start out with the basics. What even is the introduction competition? Well, it seems pretty straightforward. From an audience perspective. You go on stage, tell the judges about yourself in 30 seconds, and then you walk offstage. But there's so much more that goes into it than just that. There's a ton of behind the scenes work that goes into that 30 seconds you spent on stage telling the judges about yourself. Some of these elements could include the three required things you need a new intro, which is your name, your hometown, and your future ambition.

The time limit, which is 30 seconds is also a big part. Because once that 30 second timer goes off, the judges can't score anything you say after that. I know crazy right? Now that I'm going a little bit more into detail about it, it seems a lot harder than it looks, doesn't it? In this episode, I'm going to help you be more than prepared to rock that stage, starting with preparation.

ticking it off with preparation, we're going to start by writing our introduction. Now remember, there are three required things. So this is your name, your hometown, and what you want to be when you grow up.

So when should you start brainstorming and writing. This is something that you prepare months in advance, because there's so much that goes into writing the introduction, and you need enough time to be able to refine details in practice before the pageant practicing is a huge deal. And I'll get into that later.

Adding in things that make you memorable. So no matter how many girls are competing, you need to be memorable in your intro, you need to stand out because you'll be competing with probably about 50 girls, and having a theme to your intro as well makes it easier to circle back and also makes you more special.

So something big, I'm going to try to imply in one writing our intro is doing structuring brainstorming. So this is kind of like asking yourself, what do you do in school? What do you do outside of school? What do you want to be when you grow up? What are your hobbies. But the thing is, I'm not going to give you a laundry list of things that you can just choose from because my goals and aspirations are definitely not your goals and aspirations. You need to choose things to put into your introduction that represent you that make you yourself. And that's what you're going on stage to tell the judges about yourself in 30 seconds.

Now, something you might want to remember when trying to add things into your introduction is something called the Ford method. And this is an acronym that stands for family, family, occupation, recreation, and dreams. So let's start with the F family. So this is something you might want to talk about, like what you like to do with your family. So maybe you and your family have some sort of tradition that you do every year like my family does Christmas photos in a Christmas tree farm. So that's something we do every year. That's a tradition. I sometimes like to talk about that because something that judges like to ask every now and then is what do you like to do with your family. So having something that you'd like to do with your family as well is really important.

Now we're on to Oh, which is occupation. So you might think, Oh, your occupation as in what you want to be when you grow up. Now it is what you want to be when you grow up, but it's also your school life and what it's also your school life and what you like to do in school and outside of school.

So R stands for recreation, and this might be what sports activities, clubs, or charities you'd like to do when you're not doing school or pageantry. Now I put charities in there because volunteering is also something that you like to do outside of school, or pageantry. And judges really like to hear that their girls are active in their community with volunteerism. So having something in there about you volunteering with a local platform might stand out to the judges a little bit more to

and finally we're on to D which is dreams. So this is what you want to accomplish as the state Queen for your division, or maybe a goal or aspiration. So essentially your dreams, pretty straightforward. So you kind of want to add in what you would do as the queen. So I have a lot of goals and aspirations of what I'd like to do if I got crowned the title that I'm going for. And it's really important that you put something like that in there as well, maybe you're going to help out and donate some money to a local animal shelter. But it's totally your choice of what you're going to do once you become the queen. So structuring your brainstorming around this method, and the structuring, brainstorming, which is kind of like asking yourself those questions will really make your introduction stand out. Also, make sure and I'm going to keep saying this, that there you put in the three required things, which is your name, your hometown, and what you want to be when you grow up. So remember, there is a 30 second time limit. So if you go over the time limit, there will be a bell that reminds you that you have gone over the time limit. But just remember, after that bell goes off, the judges are not allowed to score anything set after that.

So the here's a pro tip, when structuring your introduction, I recommend getting your three required elements in the beginning of your intro, because if you do go over the 32nd time limit, you've already said what the judges need to score you. And anything after that will hopefully be just something like your hobbies. That isn't exactly what the judges are trying to score you on. So remember, this is your name, your hometown, and your future ambition. Now it's time to begin the hard part, putting all of this information into 30 seconds. When I say 30 seconds, I mean more like 20 to 25 seconds.

So when you're writing, it's important to grab the most memorable and valuable pieces of information that you have from the Ford method, and all of our structured brainstorming that we did earlier, you won't be able to fit all of this information down in 30 seconds. So cutting up what you wrote down is a very important step.

And that wraps it up for preparation. So some things that you might want to remember is our structured brainstorming, our Ford method, which stands for family, occupation, recreation, and dreams. Remember the three required things which is your name, your hometown, and your future ambition. And there is a 32nd time limit. So when you're writing your introduction, and you have your outline and everything for what different parts of your own show are going to be, just remember to time it after you've written it just to make sure that it hasn't gone over 30 seconds.

All right now want to practice. So one of the very first things you're going to want to do is memorize your introduction. So once you fit it on to 30 seconds, you're going to want to memorize it. And when you're practicing, it's very important to enunciate your words and talk at a good pace. This way the judges can actually hear and understand what you're saying. So you don't want to talk super fast. But you also don't want to talk super slow either or else you won't be able to get all your intro done in 30 seconds.

Also, don't be afraid to tweak or adjust your introduction. If you are talking and the words don't really sound the way that you want them to. You can actually adjust your intro as needed. If you're going to enter if you're going to edit your intro, make sure you have enough time between the time you edit it until the pageant so you can memorize the parts that you changed. So this is really important because you don't want to edit it the week of the pageant and then have to memorize what you just added. So I recommend editing it about a month out of the pageant. So then you have enough time to memorize it, and practice it just as you edit it.

You need to time yourself when you practice this is very important to see if your intro fits in the allotted time given by the pageant. Also, my recommended 20 to 25 seconds gives you enough time where you can enunciate your words and talk at a good pace to so then the judges actually know what you're saying.

Something I also recommend doing his video your practice so then you can see your hands if you're smiling etc. Also, this could act as your timer as well because most phones will have the little how long the video has been going for. So once you've gone over 30 seconds, you will know that as well. So I'm not sure if they're going to actually have a stand mic like last year or if you're going to hold your mic because in years past the outgoing Queen stands to your left and we'll hold the mic and hand it to each girl when it's their time to shine. So in 2020 they had us use a stand mic because a COVID but once they announce more details about the pageant I will be sure to update you

So before you actually go up to perform your intro for the judges, there are four designated spots on stage that you will rotate to before it's your turn. So I'll be posting a diagram of this and how this is going to look on my Instagram. So be sure to follow that at the girl in the gown on Instagram.

So for example, you will be standing on stage while four other girls will be presenting their introduction. And even though you're not presenting your intro yet, you still need to be smiling and have your hands relaxed.

Now this is where the practice comes in. If your daughter is in the princess or junior preaching category, I recommend using masking tape and marking for spots on your floor. Then have your daughter practice waiting at each spot for 30 seconds just like they're on stage. This helps them build up their smiling and standing stamina, and it will make them easier to stand on stage for two minutes before they perform.

Alright, that wraps it up for practice. Let's go over what I just talked about.

So if you're going to tweak or adjust your introduction, make sure you do it about a month before the actual pageants. And then you have time to memorize it and practice it. Also video and time your practice. So then you can see how you look and to make sure your intro doesn't go over 30 seconds.

And before you go up to perform the you will be standing up for different designated spots in your rotate to them before you go up to the mic. And you might want to have your daughter practice standing on each mark that you've put onto your floor for 30 seconds just like they're going on stage so that they can build up their stamina.

Moving on to performance. Before I go on stage, I like to do some mouth exercises so that I can articulate my words before I go onstage. So if you're a theatre person, you might know the mommy made me mash my m&ms exercise. So if you really want to get your mouth warmed up before you go onstage to perform your introduction, I recommend doing that five to six times just and then you can like articulate your words better it gets your mouth muscles going. Instead of doing tongue twisters to warm up, you can also move your mouth around and relax the muscles in your face. I don't really know how to demonstrate this to you guys, but just move your mouth around in different positions. So then you can kind of warm up the muscles in your face.

The last exercise is just to read your introduction very, very slowly. And over enunciate words, then you're going to recite your intro just like you normally do, but just enunciate. I always like to take nice, long, deep breaths to calm myself and meditate before I go on stage as well. I also like to run through my introductions and then I can get ready and practice before I go on stage. And that's it for performance. Now let's go over what we just talked about. So before you go on stage, it's really important if you do some mouth exercises, so tongue twisters, or just moving around the muscles in your face works well to also meditate before you go on stage as well. You won't have time, right before because you're going to be standing on stage in one of the four designated spots, just like we talked about in practice. So before you actually step onto the first spot, you're going to want to take some nice deep breaths just to calm yourself.

Now we're on to the conclusion. So it's time where we go over what we talked about in the three P's, starting with preparation. So writing your intro with your structured brainstorming. And when you're brainstorming, think of the Ford method. So this is family, occupation, recreation, and dreams. Make sure your intro is under 30 seconds, and you have the three required things in your introduction. So your name, your hometown, and your future ambition. Also remember to be memorable. You want the judges to remember you out of all the girls you're going to be competing with.

In practice, we talked about enunciate in your words. I also recommend videoing your practice to see your body language from the judges perspective. This is super important because you want to make sure your hands are relaxed and you have a pleasant look on your face.

Also, make sure to time your introduction so you don't go over 30 seconds. Also have your girl practice waiting at the four designated spots I talked about to help them build up their stamina before the actual competition.

And in performance, I always like to meditate backstage by taking deep breaths and going over my introduction a couple times. Remember to keep smiling and keep your hands relaxed while you're performing. And while you wait onstage beforehand.

Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd really appreciate it if you'd like and subscribe to this podcast.

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