del.icio.us 
Digg it 
Stumble it 
facebook
Contribution by VP of Public Relations, 2009
RDU Toastmasters has a storied tradition of success in speech competitions, and the speakers participating in today’s club contest delivered entertaining speeches you expect to hear in a division, or area contest. I have been in Toastmasters for 4 years; and have never been more proud of the speeches and evaluations delivered today.
The value of a Toastmaster’s education is put on display during competition, and it’s a rewarding experience for everyone. The participants gave some of their best performances and used the tools learned through active club participation. The speeches were to be judged independent of each other on various criterea including speech development, effectiveness, speech value, audience response, physical language, voice, manner, appropriateness, and correctness.
The Speeches
The first speech was by Silvia who shared the big sister perspective on having a younger sibling, a baby brother. While Silvia is classified as a “grown-up”, her antics and story of being a bratty big sister were wildly entertaining, and all of us with siblings (older and younger) could relate. The highlight to me was the image she painted of how she hoped to treat this new born baby brother like a rag doll, and it reminded me of the Tiny Toon’s character El Mira.
The second speech was by Jeannie about the challenges of learning English as a second language. Her special brand of humor through observation had all of us laughing at ourselves, as english speakers. The highlight to me was the story of interpreting the eastern north carolinian pronunciation of the name “Jim” for whom an acquantance said he worked. Though he said “Jim”, she heard “GM” and went on and on about working for General Motors while her US-born daughters had a good laugh.
The third speech by Tom was quite a performance, using imagery, nostalgia, singing, and impersonations. Tom somehow related a brilliant sunset to drinking the night away with an Irish man at a bar. The highlight was his Irish impersonation of a gentlemen who challenged him in a toast-off to the greatest gameshow hosts of their time. This is a challenge you just don’t win; until you tell the story years later to the laughter of the crowd.
Behind the Scenes
Before the speech, Jeannie shared her concern that she might go blank during her speech. And after delivering a flawless speech, she briefly forgot her closing statement. It took less than a couple seconds to recall the line, however the question remains whether this was a self-fulfilling prophecy by stating the concern aloud? We may never know for sure, but from my experience; sharing concerns aloud prior to a speech can be a calming device for some including myself. Even seasoned speakers like President Obama take long pauses to collect thoughts and sometimes it’s unavoidable, and is a scenario Toastmasters helps overcome by transforming into a dramatic pause adding further value to the coming statement!
At the conclusion, there were interviews given by the contest master. Sue, the evaluation contest winner, shared the challenge of not being able to prepare. Jennie shared with us that words of foreign origin can be some of the hardest to learn in a new language; Silvia shared that her “slow” and “clumsy” brother turned out to be an engineer!; and Tom shared that this speech was on such a profound experience, he did not even have to write it down!
Top finishers will go on to compete in the division level next week September 30 at 6:30pm at Cameron Village Library in Raleigh, NC.
Special thanks to all participants, club members in attendance, the contest master Frank, Chief Judge Jeri, Ballot counter Kevin, and Timer Margeret.
