Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition. Like every year since 1987, the Athlone branch of Toastmasters International will be organising a speech and evaluation competition on Tuesday March 24 at 8.15pm in the Prince of Wales.
Each year thousands of Toastmasters compete in the humorous, evaluation, tall tales, table topics, and international speech contests. Competition begins with club contests and winners continue competing through the area, division, and district levels.
This year’s evening will be hosted by French national and former club president Sébastien Rolland, accompanied by current club secretary and 2008-2009 president Siobhan Fitzgerald. Last year Siobhan won the club, area, and division events, and competed in the district final in Dún Laoghaire against both British and Irish contestants.
During the club competition a few registered and courageous members will deliver a five to seven minute prepared speech which will be judged anonymously by other members. There will also be a topic session prepared by Siobhan where some members will be randomly selected to speak for one or two minutes. These are designed to help speakers think on their feet.
Toastmasters meetings are always open to the public and this event will be no exception. Anyone, members or individuals above 18, can come and enjoy the March 24 competition. As Siobhan says: “It’s when we rise to these challenges, whether we win, lose, or draw, that we experience the most growth.”
The rest of the year, Athlone Toastmasters club meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month until June. If you’d like to know more about the club or this event, please visit athlonetoastmasters.org and the Toastmasters Facebook page.
