Educate. One of the first things that you need to do is to keep yourself
educated on what is going on in your local and national news. There are several news channels that you can choose to watch. I strongly recommend that everyone subscribed to a local newspaper, as they sometimes cover more details of what's going on in your local and state communities. As a judge, I can tell you that this is where we pull a lot of questions or edit questions on current events. As a judge want to make sure that you are keeping abreast of what's going on in your community, and affecting you locally. If your newspaper comes out daily, it's easiest to peruse through it with a highlighter and highlight the titles of the articles that are relevant. For example, if there's an article about a plant that is going to be built near your city that could bring thousands of jobs into the area, that is something that will affect your area positively and could come up at a local pageant. After you're done highlighting the articles that are relevant, you can go back and read those or cut them out and highlight the parts that you like that you would want to reference in answer to an interview question.
Practice. Once you start formulating your answers to current event questions, you want to make sure that you practice. If you don't have a full length mirror, I suggest you invest in one. This way you can see your body language and how you're answering the questions and what the judges would be seeing when you are in front of them during the interview process. It's better to practice your questions alone, as sometimes other people can get you sidetracked. Ask yourself the question, then pause for a moment and answer it. If you're not comfortable with your answer go back and write it out. Sometimes writing out the answer and reading it will help you to articulate your message better. Practicing is very important on current events as sometimes the outcome changes daily.
Relax. You've been practicing so you've done all you can do. Your next step is to relax. While you're waiting in line to get interviewed, here are a few relaxation techniques that you can Implement to help alleviate any anxiety. First step is to take five deep breaths, breathe in and hold it for a few seconds, and then breathe out of your mouth when you exhale. Do this slowly, five times this will help relax you. The next thing you want to do is to exercise your hands and feet. Have your hands down by your sides, and then stretch your hands out like stretching your fingers out and move them around. This helps relax your hands so they don't tremble. For your feet, pull up one of your feet, and just start twirling it around at the ankle in One Direction, then start throwing it around in the other direction. This will help when you sit down so your feet and your legs don't tremble or start to move around as you get nervous. Do these exercises prior to entering the interview room. Good Luck!