Toastmasters’ 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking Lance Miller was the special guest speaker on March 31, as Big Island Toastmasters met in Waimea to compete in the spring Area 12 Speech Contests.
Miller shared some of his inspiring, award-winning communication tips with the island group.
“Speech contests are a unique and exciting part of the Toastmasters program,” said Kathy Emery, president of the Hilo Toastmasters. “These competitions challenge members to push beyond the club’s agenda, and fine-tune their skills.”
First place in the International Speech Contest category went to Hilo Toastmaster Jean Wence for her “Eat Like a Chicken, Run like a Rabbit and Think Like Einstein.”
Lynn Bell, a Kona Toastmaster, competed in the Table Topics Contest with Hilo’s NJ Moses, who took first place.
The International Speech and Table Topics winners will advance to the District Toastmasters Contests in Honolulu on Saturday, April 14. Winners of those contests will compete in the District 49 Spring Conference in Honolulu on May 5.
“Participation in Toastmasters helps people develop the ability to speak with clarity and effectiveness, enabling proficient performance in most all fields of work,” said Emery.
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has more than 270,000 members in 13,000 clubs in 116 countries, with 59 clubs in Hawaii. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org.
