How to Coach for a Child's Beauty Pageant

Familiarize yourself with the child pageant circuit. Find out pertinent information such as age range of contestants, wardrobe regulations and other considerations by obtaining a pageant rule book or talking to the organizers. For example, if a particular pageant will have no talent portion you will know to focus your energies on appearance and oral examination answers. If possible, attend a few child pageants as a spectator to get an idea of what the judges are looking for in pageant winners. Talk with parents of past winners or current titleholders to gauge their experiences.

Mingle with the moms. When starting out, it's important to build a clientele. Meet parents who have children in the pageant circuit and let them know that you are willing to coach their daughters for a small fee. If the parent is pleased with your coaching, she will rehire you and may even tell others about you. As your clientele grows, you may gradually increase your coaching fee.

Study pageant garments. One of the most important aspects of a pageant is what each contestant wears on stage. What a contestant wears says a lot about her personality and thus needs significant consideration. Observe what kinds of outfits and material judges typically respond positively to and recommend similar garments. Garments should always be age-appropriate for the child.

Familiarize yourself with hair and makeup techniques for children. A lot of primping and grooming goes into readying a pageant contestant for the stage and hair and makeup is a large part of that preparation. Browse through catalogs or talk with professional hairstylists and makeup artists to garner tips about fancy hairstyles and makeup for children that you can pass along to your clients.

Learn to walk the walk and talk the talk. Walking properly on stage, smiling, waving and answering questions from the judges are just as important as how the contestant looks. Watch videos of past pageants or attend pageants to see how successful contestants properly walk the stage and wave. Listen to the kinds of questions judges ask contestants and write them down so that you can give your clients an idea of how to prepare.