One of the most exciting parts to starting your journey to the crown is making a list of pageant platform ideas and inspiring change in your community through your voice.
Tip 1: Research Your Beauty Pageant System
The first step to competing in any pageant system, is to read and understand the pageant system mission statement. As discussed in How to Develop Your Beauty Pageant Platform, there are certain pageant systems (or universes) that were created around specific social causes. If the answer is no, skip to Tip 2. If this answer is yes, keep reading for some helpful guidance! Below are a few examples:
“The spirit of service is at the very heart of the Miss Volunteer America program.”
Miss Volunteer America Official Website
Pageants that are based on community service will often require a well-developed pageant platform and proven track record of service in your community. These pageants are ideal for candidates who are active volunteers in their community.
“Since 2001, the Miss Earth organization has created a platform for women and girls to experience the glamour of the beauty pageant industry while making an impact on our most pressing environment issues around the globe.”
Miss Earth USA Official WebsiteSee AlsoPageant Style Guides, Tips, And AdvicePageant Dresses: How to Style, Pose and Walk20 Talent Ideas For Your Next Pageant100 Event Theme Ideas
The Miss Earth organization places an emphasis on issues impacting the environment. Contestants who choose to compete (and succeed) in the Miss Earth USA pageant system select a platform under the large umbrella of environmental issues.
Competing in a pageant that has a set theme or social cause can be helpful if you do not know where to start in your platform search. One challenge is narrowing down the broad topic area to a very specific problem or issue—preferably a unique sub-topic that is not likely to be duplicated by another contestant. In these cases, the #CrownCodex recommends that contestants look to their communities for inspiration on a sub-issue very specific to you and your geographical region.
Tip 2: Make a List of Issues or Social Causes That Inspire You
Take a moment to write down each and every social cause or issue that interests you. The topics can be as broad as climate change or as specific as student access to a particular item/resource in your local school. The key is to start the brainstorming process and to create a running list of possible platforms. This is probably one of the most important parts to your pageant platform development—finding your passion.
This process works best when you allow a few days in between starting the list, building the list, reviewing the list, and finally picking your platform from the list. Why should you allow a certain period of time to pass? It’s easy to get excited about an idea or project when it first comes to mind!
Once a few days (or even hours) have passed, you will find that the idea that seemed perfect suddenly isn’t the best fit for you or your pageant system. Remember, your pageant platform is an ongoing project that you will need to build not only for the months leading up to the pageant, but also, in the year of your service should you win the title. You want to be sure that you pick platform that you genuinely care about and can see yourself working, researching, and volunteering to support for a long period of time.
Tip 3: Develop Clear and Tangible Goals to Address Each Issue
Goal setting is important. One of the best ways to goal set for success is by establishing SMART goals. The acronym smart stands for (i) specific (ii) measurable, (iii) achievable, (iv) relevant, and (v) time based.
- Specific. A contestant or title holder should write down the “what, why, and how” of your goal. The level of detail will vary based upon whether you are very familiar with your topic area or you’re just getting your feet wet and learning about what opportunities exist within your chosen platform.
- Measurable. How will you monitor your service and contributions to your community? Your platform is an opportunity to show the judges that you can identify an issue, address the issue, explain what impact your actions had, and inspire others to do the same if selected for the title.
- Achievable. Goals should be within the realm of imagination. Setting goals that are too ambitious can discourage you during your journey to the crown. The key to maintaining consistency is to stay motivated.
- Relevant. Goals should be aligned with the purpose of your journey to the crown, the pageant system, or in support of service to a community as a titleholder.
- Time Bound. Try to set a timeline for when you would like to achieve these specific goals. For example, would you like to achieve the goal by one month before the pageant date or by the end of your reign?
Tip 4: Make a List of Community Partners or Organizations In Your Community
Planning where to start your advocacy can be very confusing when beginning your volunteer journey in your community. Community partners and other established organizations serve an important role in your service journey because they can be your starting point for (i) platform education, and (ii) outreach opportunity.
No one expects you to be an expert in your chosen platform area when you begin your volunteer journey, however, as a titleholder it is very important to be knowledgeable in your platform and the social cause you champion. Therefore, education is an important piece to having an impactful service journey. There are many ways that you can learn about your platform topic area, but one #CrownCodex pageant hack is to work with the community organization that has professionals and volunteers who have already been working in this chosen area for years. Many community organizations are excited and eager to teach you about the work that they do and how others can get involved.
In addition to educational opportunities, most community organizations have outreach programs already in place and connections with people in the community who are in need. (Note: an outreach program is inactivity or event hosted by a community organization that usually provides some sort of service, education, or distribution of resources.)
By working with the community organization, you may not need to set up your own volunteer projects in the community because you can join volunteer projects that are already existing. While it’s an important to leave your market in your community, you don’t want to duplicate services of organizations around you. If one (or more) of your platform ideas can be supported by a community organization, that makes the platform idea much higher on your final rank list.
Tip 5: The Formula – Winning Pageant Platform Ideas
SMART Goal Potential + Community Partners = Rank / Passion
Finally, the moment you have been waiting for! Once you have a list of your platform ideas, your SMART Goals, and a list of community partners that can be potential partners. . . it is now time to rank your platform options. First, rearrange your list so that the platform idea with the most community partners/organizations is at the top and the platform idea that has the least community partners/organizations are at the bottom.
Now your list shows the pageant platform ideas that will require the most work at the bottom and the platform idea that may require the least amount of work at the top. Remember, an established community partner means that you may have less work to do because your community partner may already have education, resources, and connections to help you carry out your platform.
Warning: easy doesn’t always mean the best! Sometimes your platform is so unique that no one has had an opportunity to try and address it in your community! This does not mean that the platform idea should not be chosen, it simply means that the platform idea will require more work. Take a moment to think about how much time you have to devote to your pageant platform development compared to the other obligations in life (school, family, significant other).
Second, look at the SMART goals listed for each of the pageant platform ideas. Think about your timeline (“How long until the pageant?”) and your impact (“What can you actually accomplish during this timeline?”). Rank your pageant platform ideas from the shortest timeline and the most impact at the top and the pageant idea that would likely take the longest to accomplish at the bottom.
Now you have two lists. List 1: Community Partners List. List 2: SMART Goals List.
Put the lists side by side. The pageant platforms ideas that make the top 3 (or 5 if your list is long) on both lists should now be your “Final List.” Looking at your Final List, choose the topic that you are most passionate about. Your platform is the cornerstone of your pageant preparation. Choosing a platform is a very personal choice because the contestant commits herself to working in this particular area over the course of her pageant preparation and during her reign. If you have an awesome pageant platform that you would like showcased on our social media or website, drop us a line by contacting us here.
Posted By: Editor-in-Chief · In: Codex, Industry
