The most difficult thing one has to survive in the entirety of a pageant is being on stage and – with the spotlight on and a hundred to a thousand to a million viewers carefully watching – doing the pageant walk. That’s it. This ‘difficulty’ is but normal since most of the candidates have stage fright and anxiety.
The topmost concern of candidates when they are on stage is how to execute their pageant walk well and how to look perfect for the audience. How to answer that? Simple – PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE. Practice with somebody knowledgeable on pageant walks and ask for his comment on how you are doing. He may be able to give you suggestions on how and where to project using your beauty angles you have yet to discover.
Ramp coaches also know how fast you should do your walk in the various segments of the pageant and the different routines (things that a candidate does when striking a pose) you can try to spice up your walk.
Your friends and relatives may be the next best people when it comes to looking and finding for critics to judge how you project and present yourself aside from ramp coaches. Their opinion or perception of your walk and performance may best represent that of the audience’s. They may help you observe and correct some nuance you do not know you have been doing, and they may even give advice on how you may improve. The best thing is that their opinions and advice are totally free. A word of caution though, while their views are welcome, take very serious note that it may not always be right and that professional opinion is still the best.
A key lesson you have to remember on stage is that you must learn and be able to look perfect though you have trampled on some ramp basics or if ever you become unable to execute your practiced routine because of nerves. You have to keep in mind that this is a contest: a one-time chance to parade yourself in front of the judges who will decide your fate on becoming a beauty queen.
One of the national pageants in the country uses: the beauty of face (50%) is judged during self-introduction, followed by the swimwear competition where beauty of figure (30%) is judged and then tallied, followed by poise (10%) from the gown competition, and then by the question and answer portion (10%) which measures a candidate’s intelligence. All of which constitutes to the 100% judging criterion.
From that, it is clear that the prestigious pageants’ scoring system is very objective, negating the misconceptions that judges could drag down a candidate’s name and chances if she were unable to perform in a segment like the question and answer competition. There is a tangible reason why the different segments are called competition segments (i.e., swimsuit competition). It gives candidates who may fail on a portion the chance to step-up and do well in another.
So as a candidate, you must try to do well in any part or segment of the competition. Your pageant walk, confidence, poise as well as your intelligence matter. The judges are looking for the complete package of a woman whom the crown would best fit into. This rests on how well you can carry yourself and do the pageant walk and basically everything else on stage. Again, practice. Practice well and practice right.
Here Are Some Tips on Pageant Walk:
1. When learning how to walk in heels, it is better to start using the tallest stiletto you can get your hands on, then gradually transitioning until you reach the lowest of about 3 or 4-inch tall heels. This way, your walk would seem easy, natural and graceful even when using other high-heel platforms.
2. Wear weight straps around your ankles when practicing to make your walk light, smooth, and effortless during the actual performance.
3. You will need to do squatting exercises to strengthen your legs, eliminate its shaking and improve your body balance while wearing heels.
4. Duck walking will help give you longer strides.
5. Perfect your posture first by leaning on a wall. After, you may start learning how to walk properly. A straight body or posture is the very foundation of proper walking. You cannot start and perfect your walk without it.
6. Be mindful of your hand gestures and movement. Keep it to a minimum. Remember that your hand movement completes the whole picture of your walk.
7. While walking, do not forget to turn your head from left to right and then front so as not to make your walk boring and robot-like.
8. When you are on the left side of the stage facing the judges, then your step should be left over the right foot and vice versa when you are on the right side. The forwarded foot must be pointing to where the judges are seated.
9. Avoid bouncing.
Do not forget that when you walk, the first thing the judges are going to notice is the way your upper body moves rather than from your hips down. When you walk in a bouncing manner, people become particularly critical if you have “bouncy” assets being thrown all over the place. It is important that you flash that perfect smile and exude your confidence at its best to capture their attention and keep from being outshined or outdone by your movements. When you walk, you do not present your walk, you present yourself.