Meet A Toastmaster: Andrew P. Bennett

Experience French

I would recommend participating in our Toastmasters Speech Contests to everyone. They are a great way of practising existing speaking skills and extending them. It is always good to relish a challenge and our contests are fun!

About a year ago Toastmaster Nick Westall at Excalibur asked me what I wanted to do next at Toastmasters, having been a member for some years. I surprised myself by replying that I would like to tackle the Table Topics Contest next autumn.

I hadn’t competed at all for quite some time as accident and illness meant I couldn’t attend my in-person club meetings. The move to online meetings opened the door for me to participate in Toastmasters again, but I could not have realised that a contest I entered for enjoyment and a bit of a challenge would lead to a District title!

No-one was more amazed than me when District Chief Judge Neil Coleman revealed the result. You can never truly assess your own performance. You are ‘living in the moment’ and focusing on that topic.

The support of my clubs was fantastic throughout. There were so many great messages too from Toastmasters whom I don’t personally know, but who wanted to connect, having watched me in the contests.

The next time your club announces a contest I encourage you to sign up and join in!