Twice a year, Toastmasters has speech contests. Speech contests give us the opportunity to stretch our skills through a competitive environment, to express ourselves to a wider audience, and to demonstrate the benefits of Toastmasters to the general public.
I’ve participated in Toastmasters speech contests from my first contest in 1992 to my last one in 2008, and I’ve learned a lot from them. In addition to furthering my speaking skills, I’ve learned how to handle disappointment and gained confidence when dealing with challenging situations. I’ve also made a great number of friends.
The following is my history in participating in speech contests. Many of my prepared speeches are on this web site, so you can click the link to go to that speech and see how my speaking has evolved over the years.
The true benefit of speech contests, or any competition, isn’t in the winning, but in the getting up, participating, and taking on new challenges. In this respect, everyone who participates in a speech contest is a winner!
| Year | Spring Contest | Fall Contest |
| 2008 | Did not compete: International Toastmaster for Area F-4. (Final contest) | |
| 2007 | International: “A Winner Never Quits?”
Table Topics:
|
Tall Tales: “Left Out”
|
| 2006 | Did not compete. | Humorous “Revenge of the Nerds?“:
|
| 2005 | Did not compete. | Did not compete. |
| 2004 | Did not compete: Contest Toastmaster for Area G-4. | Did not compete: Test speaker for evaluation contests: “It’s Good to Feel Bad” |
| 2003 | International “Bound”:
|
Did not compete. |
| 2002 | Did not compete: International Toastmaster at Area G-4 speech contest | Did not compete:
|
| 2001 | Did not compete: Contest Toastmaster at the Area G-4 speech contest. | Evaluation:
|
| 2000 | International “A Good Enemy”:
|
Evaluation:
|
| 1999 | International “The End of the World”:
|
Humorous “The Right to Bear Bears”:
Evaluation:
|
| 1998 | Did not compete: Area governor | Did not compete |
| 1997 | International “A Basket of Magazines”:
|
Did not compete: Area governor |
| 1996 | Did not compete | Did not compete: Test speaker for evaluation contests: “Don’t Proselytize Me.” |
| 1995 | International “Free Advice”:
|
Evaluation:
|
| 1994 | International “Bad Books”:
|
Did not compete: Test speaker for evaluation contests. |
| 1993 | International “Winning from Losing”:
|
Table Topics:
|
| 1992 | Evaluation:
|
* Advanced because contest winner could not attend the next contest.
[…] an entrant and a judge of book contests. The experience reminds me of something I did years ago, Toastmasters speech contests. Like book contests, speech contests have a number of categories, a set of rules to be followed, […]