I advanced to the district-level in Toastmasters humorous speech contest
Despite some hilarious speeches, Thursday night I won my Toastmasters’ area-level Humorous Speech Contest. My speech was the same one I gave in my club’s contest: titled “Zach Everson’s entry in the humorous speech contest,” it’s about a competition my girlfriend and I have been having for the past year to see whose father is the biggest, well, dork.
Even before I heard the results, I was pleased with my performance. While I was anxious waiting for my turn to speak, I was calm when at the podium. I improvised, adding an anecdote that I’d remembered just a few minutes beforehand; did a better job making eye contact than I’d done in the past; and incorporated more physical movements. I still need to work on speaking slower, however.
And, as expected, the Table Topics competition was impressive to watch. The question was “You were elected mayor of Washington, DC, today; what will be your three biggest initiatives?” The impromptu answers ranged from firing the woman who’s the voice of the Metro and firing all of Washington’s teachers to banning automobiles and installing a light rail.
The district level of humorous speech contest will be October 6 (the time and location will be announced later).
Tags: Humorous Speech Contest, Public speaking, Toastmasters
My writing focuses on travel and culture. I've contributed to The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Air Canada's enRoute, BlackBook, Budget Travel, Deadspin, and Louisville Magazine. I'm also the editor-in-chief of Louisville.com and BlackBook's Louisville City Editor.
Blackdove on September 20th, 2006
Great! Congratulations.