Susan Rayner

Successful Speech Contest

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From Andy O’Sullivan, D91 Chief Judge

How You Can Have a Successful Speech Contest

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to organise a speech contest, you’ll appreciate there’s a lot to arrange with many roles to fill.

These few simple steps will avoid any problems and ensure it’s a success.

Contestant Eligibility

Do Toastmasters International records show that every contestant is a fully paid up member?

If a contestant’s membership isn’t registered with Toastmasters International, they can’t compete.  

Fees may have been given to the club, but unless they’ve been paid and recorded with Toastmasters, the member isn’t eligible to compete in any contest.

Every contest season, members excited to have won a contest, are disappointed to discover their membership fees haven’t been paid to Toastmasters International, so they’re disqualified.

It’s not a phone call you’ll want to make, so always check before the contests by emailing the constestants details to  speechcontests@toastmasters.org . 

International Speech Contest
Contestants: 

Must have completed at least speech 6 to be eligible to enter the contest.

Judges:  

At Area and above, members need to have completed speech 6 to be eligible to judge the contest. 

Evaluation Contest

All members are encouraged to compete in the Evaluation contest as there are no eligibility criteria.

Resources

Your one stop for all the resources for a contest (forms, step-by-step guides, even training videos) can be found here.

Contests are a wonderful way to stretch your skills while supporting our Toastmasters colleagues. 

Have fun!

Planning for next year already? District Director update…

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It’s a wild, windy and wet morning in late January and yet, last night, I found myself speaking about preparing for the transition to next Toastmasters year in July.  Doug New, our newest Division Director wanted my suggestions, and this is what I shared…

What would we do differently?

Firstly, it’s worth each of us who are in formal and informal leadership positions thinking back to when we were just starting in our roles.  What were the surprises?  What are the things we would do differently if we had another chance?  Let’s capture them now while we still remember them, so we can share them with our successors.

Positive Impact

Secondly, think about the one thing that you could do between now and the end of the TM year that could really have a positive impact on your fellow members, your club, your area, your division or your district.  It could be anything from improving the information pack your guests get when they visit your club to kicking off a Saturday club near where you live.  The opportunities are endless, and there’s one that would energise us as individuals as well as make a difference to our organisation.

Consider The Future

Thirdly, consider the future.  Of course I want each club, area, division and the district to be distinguished (if not presidents distinguished!) this year, but what about beyond that?  What can we do to ensure that we are not just successful in this year, but that our successors, and their successors achieve great things too. What, for example, are we doing to identify, encourage and develop the leaders of our future?  What else could each of us do to raise awareness now, so more people know we are here to be found when they need us later?

Legacy

I am hoping the weather will be better when we switch over to the next TM year in July.  Either way, I am sure we will all leave a strong legacy behind when we focus on these three things – briefing our successors, doing one thing to make our TM world strong and setting up the future for success.

Jean Gamester, 27 January 2015

How to write a winning speech – workshop 28 January

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From Magda Czarnecka, President Polish Your Polish

We all want to write winning speeches, especially when club speech contests are coming up soon!  Our workshop led by two experts will help you take you speeches to a new level.

Winning speech workshopWhat would it take to write a winning speech?

Have you ever wondered what it would take to write a speech that is truly inspiring? Have you ever wondered whether you could write one yourself? And have you ever thought whether you could take that speech all the way to the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking?

Learn lessons from the winning speeches in the World Championship finals

Using speeches from past World Champions, Freddie will share his perspective on the key ingredients that will help you learn how to write a winning speech. A speech that is compelling and inspirational. The speech that you could enter in the International Speech contest this Spring! The workshop will help you understand both the structure and type of content that does well in the International Speech contest. These lessons are good foundation for speakers of all levels.

In this workshop Jakub will be talking mostly about his 2012 contest journey and how it transformed him as a speaker.

Read more

First new club of 2016

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Congratulations to Deutsche Bank Toastmasters London. The first club to charter in 2016. We look forward to seeing the new club develop and grow within the Toastmasters community. The club joins Division L.

More new clubs will be chartering soon. Watch this space!