I advanced to the next level in Toastmasters humorous speech contest
Well, I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking by getting experience talking in front of an audience. And while I’ve tried to give a speech at every meeting I’ve attended, the Humorous Speech Contest is helping me achieve my goal.
A week from last Friday I won the district contest, meaning I will compete again—this time at the division level (pictures from the competition, including one of me looking like I’m about to get a hook in my mouth, are on my club’s site). There were about 50 people at the district contest; the audience at the next level is expected to be than 200.
As for the contest, I went fifth out of the six contestants. When it was my turn I knew that my speech was funnier than the ones I heard. My concern, however, was my delivery. Some of the other contestants were Toastmasters veterans with a polished stage presence. My other problem was that I came close to running over the 7:30 time limit and had to cut off the ending.
There’s a month before the next competition, however, so I have ample time to hone my delivery.
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.