Contest report for 11 March 2015

Excalibur Speakers entered the spring contest season this week with its International Speech & Evaluation contest night. President Cat opened the meeting in song with a recital of the theme from Record Breakers, using its slogan of 'dedication' to explain what was needed to succeed in public speaking.

Club president Cat opening the meeting

Cat then handed proceedings over to Division B Governor and contest chair Jill to explain the rules and run the rest of the show.

International Speech Contest

The first speaker tonight was Errol with his speech "How to get the 'Mmm...' Taste". Telling the story of how he started a restaurant business with his friend, Errol recounted how his former boss (a chef) had once shared the memorable message, to get the 'mmm...' taste, leave out the haste. Over time, Errol had learned the true meaning to take from this message which was to resist our tendencies to pay most attention to immediate targets without allowing time to complete more important, longer term goals.

Next up was Sue with a speech entitled "Andy Williams and Mum" in which she shared the touching story of her mother's battle with Alzheimer's disease, which affected her short-term memory. However, she was still able to recall many happy memories from her life and her romance with Sue's father by their association with the music of her favourite singer Andy Williams.

Sue giving her speech "Andy Williams and Mum"

Tony W's speech, "Losing Big" told of the miraculous return of his mother's eyesight after 16 years of blindness, meaning she was finally able to realise her dream of seeing her granddaughter. It prompted Tony to re-evaluate the pursuit of his own dreams, such as performing stand-up comedy and becoming a professional public speaker - which led him to the understanding that we shouldn't close our eyes on our dreams, because 'dreams don't die, only dreamers do'.

Tony W speaking on "Losing Big"

David W's entry "Starry Starry Night", a reference to the song by Don McLean, was an informative and inspiring speech about the work of Vincent van Gogh. Going mostly unappreciated within his lifetime, it was only after van Gogh's paintings resurfaced following his death that they achieved wide acclaim and started selling for millions of pounds. David closed with the message that, unlike van Gogh, we can all try to inspire people within our lifetimes.

David W giving his speech "Starry Starry Night"

The last speaker in tonight's contest was Swarajit with his speech "The Wager". Opening with an explanation of the factors that affect people's decisions to gamble, he then used these to examine Pascal's Wager and explain why its central argument doesn't necessarily hold up under closer scrutiny.

Swarajit giving his speech "The Wager"

Evaluation Contest

The evaluation contest began with a test speech entitled "Transform Your Life" from our mystery speaker Coralie. In it she described the 'Toastmaster flame' - the inner spark that makes you want to achieve your potential and grows with the nurture and support that the Toastmasters programme provides.

Coralie giving her speech "Transform Your Life"

After a brief interlude to allow the contestants some time to prepare, varied and constructive evaluations followed from Simon, Carl, Chinkata, David W and new member Ash who each commended different aspects of Coralie's performance, including her use of language and gestures, as well as offering useful recommendations for improvement.

Carl and Ash with their evaluations of Coralie's speech

Results

With the contests over, chief judge Julia left the room with the counters to tally the judges' votes, and returned promptly to reveal the results and present the awards.

In the Evaluation contest, the results were:

• 3^rd place - Carl
• 2^nd place - David W
• 1^st place - Chinkata

3^rd place - Carl

2^nd place - David W

For the International Speech contest, the winners were announced as:

• 3^rd place - Swarajit
• 2^nd place - Tony W
• 1^st place - Errol

3^rd place - Swarajit

2^nd place - Tony W

Evaluation contest winner Chinkata (left) and International Speech contest winner Errol with club president Cat (centre)

Next round

Swarajit and Errol along with David W and Chinkata will now go on to represent the club at the Area 45 finals of the International Speech and Evaluation contests respectively (with Tony W already representing London Athenians).

The area contests will take place from 6:30pm on Friday, 27^th March at the Freemasons' Hall in Covent Garden. Please go along and show your support.

Next meetings

Our next meeting is a Speak Out event on Thursday, 26^th March at the Concert Artistes Association. Arrive in time for a prompt 12 noon start.

Our next regular meeting is on Wednesday, 8^th April at the Fitzrovia Community Centre. Arrive from 6:50pm for a 7pm start.