Written by Valerie Williams-Ndikintum, PMP
Competitions are one method Toastmasters International utilizes to build speaking skills among its members. Each year Toastmasters clubs worldwide host and encourage members to compete in Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International speech competitions. Speech contests benefit Toastmasters members by providing the speakers opportunities to improve speech skills and for the audience to learn by observing fellow speakers who have advanced their speech aptitude from the program.
On July 24th, PMI Atlanta Toastmasters’ Club held its annual Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests. The meeting, which felt more like an event, was held at Global Payments in Atlanta, Ga. The Humorous and Evaluation contests were held as two separate competitions.
The Humorous Contest was held first and consisted of three speeches each five to seven minutes in duration. The competition was evaluated and winners selected by anonymous judges. Judges were allocated one minute after each speech to make evaluations and cast ballots for one of the three speeches. Five minutes were allocated to count ballots and arrive at a winner. Winner announcements, for both competitions, were held toward the end of the meeting.
The speeches delivered during the Humorous Speech Contest, in speaking order, were ‘Customer Feedback’ by Larry Ferguson, ‘To Be or Not to Be’ by Sam Abdelaziz and thirdly ‘Cobras, Camels and Tea…Oh My’ by Laura Davidson. ‘Customer Feedback’ won second place and the first place winner was ‘Cobras, Camels and Tea…Oh My’.
The Evaluation contest started with an Evaluation Test Speech titled ‘A Simple Method for Complex Problems’ delivered by Kevin Buchanan. This is the fifth speech in the Communication Manual. Three verbal evaluations were conducted after presentation of the speech. The evaluations, in speaking order, were delivered by Jalean M. McClurg, Barbara Wallace and Sam Abdelaziz. Like the Humorous Contest, the Evaluation Contest was judged by three anonymous members, who were allocated one minute after each evaluation to cast their ballots. Once all evaluations were delivered the meeting entered into a five-minute intermission during which ballots were counted to arrive at the winner.
Coming in at second place, for the Evaluation competition, was Sam Abdelaziz and the first place winner was Barbara Wallace. Along with the winner announcements, Michael Donahoe presented Kevin Buchanan with a gift for volunteering as Evaluation Test Speaker.
There was only one disqualification in the Humorous Contest based on time overage. There were no disqualifications in the Evaluation Contest. Isaiah Banks served as Timer and Michael Donahoe served as Contest Master. The first place winners will go on to compete at the local Area Contest to be held on August 16th at Lenox. Area Contest winners go on to compete at the Division Contest and division winners compete at the District Conference.
PMI Atlanta Toastmasters’ Meetings are held every second and fourth Thursday of each month. The next meeting will be held on Thursday August 14th at 6:30p. The meeting will take place at Nancy G’s located at 4920 Roswell Rd. Suite 55, Atlanta, Ga. 30342. Meetings start promptly at 6:30p, however, many guests arrive early for dinner and networking.
For more information regarding PMI Atlanta Toastmasters Club please visit http://pmiatl.toastmastersclubs.org.