How to Win a Talent Show

Take a unique skill or ability you already have and improve on it. Use a unique skill or ability that you already possess and make it appear more impressive. Maybe you have great drumming skills, a stellar singing voice, or the ability to make complicated balloon animals. You can then take your ability to the next level by adding in a surprising or interesting element. Think of creative ways to impress the judges with your talent and show them how well you can do the talent even in less than ideal circumstances.^[1]

• You may want to enlist friends to perform with you and create an act where you all drum together on stage. Or you may ask friends who can play instruments to be your backing band for your singing performance. You can then create synchronized movements as a band that you perform together during the act.
• If you have a more specialized talent, like making balloon animals or juggling, you may want to add in an element of difficulty that will appear impressive to the judges. This could be making a huge balloon animal within a certain time limit or making balloon animals while riding a unicycle or running on a treadmill.

Cater to your strengths as a performer. When you are creating your act, you should showcase your strengths as a performer. This will help you feel more comfortable when you perform and more confident. You will also be at your best when you are catering to your strengths, as this can help to hide your weaknesses as a performer.^[2]

• If you are more comfortable in costume when performing in front of others, come up with a unique costume that ties into your act. Maybe you wear an updated clown costume for your juggling act or a long, glamorous gown for your jazz singing performance with a band. Think about how you can use costume as a way to feel comfortable and confident on stage.
• You may be at ease when you move and dance around the stage, as opposed to staying in one place. Integrate this into your act, where you do a coordinated dance with the other people in your act or do a dance to fit your act if you are on stage alone.

Include stage props. Stage props can be as simple as a microphone stand or as complex as confetti raining down from the rafters of the theater. Think of ways that you can use stage props to enhance your performance. Maybe you use an umbrella in your dancing act to add an element of originality and surprise. Or maybe you integrate the mic stand into your balloon animals act.

• Stage props like confetti, balloons, pyrotechnics, and lasers can all be costly and complicated to set up. If you have the budget and the time to integrate these props, do so as long as they fit within in your act and are not simply being used to fill time or space on the stage. Avoid leaning on the props to hide your lack of talent. Your talent should always be at the forefront.

Get the audience involved in your act. Audience participation is always a good thing in any performance. Often, appealing to your audience will help to get them on your side and impress the judges. Think of ways to involve the audience. This may mean asking someone from the audience to participate in your act or have the audience snap or clap along to your performance.^[3]