Preparing for the International Speech Contest

If you are a member of Toastmasters, you would have definitely heard of Speech Contests. Once a year, thousands of public speaking enthusiasts compete against each other to gain the title of “The World Champion of Public Speaking” which is the most coveted and highest title a Toastmaster can achieve in the public speaking arena. If you are seriously preparing for the International Speech Contest, I have a few tips which would be hopefully useful, and I am going to present them in a series of articles.

This article is going to focus on why you should consider contesting and preparing for the International Speech Contest. In Toastmasters, there are four kinds of speech contests which most Districts throughout the world organize including:

Toastmasters International Speech Contest (up to World Championship level)

Toastmasters Humorous Speech Contest (up to District level)

Toastmasters Evaluation Speech Contest (up to District level)

Toastmasters Table Topics Contest (up to District level)

Now before you start preparing for the International Speech Contest or any other contest, let’s look at why you should consider contesting in the first place. Everyone has their own reasons, but in my opinion, there are four most important reasons why you should consider contesting:

Getting Inspired

When you attend contests across various levels ranging from Club, Area, Division, and District levels – you can learn from watching so many amazing speakers who would be competing against each other that year. When I was starting out as a brand new Toastmaster, I still vividly remember one of the speeches which a contestant gave about the best vacation of his life. His delivery style, poise, and stage charisma had such an indelible impact on me that I was able to immediately absorb many of the key elements which help me even today.

Developing Confidence in yourself

Just listen to me once – attend a contest and give your first contest speech at the next possible opportunity. You would see yourself that presenting a speech in even one contest will get you supercharged for your Toastmasters journey for the entire year. When we give our best to compete against other contestants for the coveted title –the adrenaline rush is unlike anything else.

Networking

A Toastmasters contest typically has a gathering of hundreds of members who gather together to participate, watch and enjoy dozens of speakers competing against each other. It is an invaluable opportunity to meet and network with people outside your club which can prove very handy when you look for speaking opportunities in other clubs and inviting guest speakers from outside your club to your club.

Getting a Glimpse of how wide Toastmasters is

It is a saying that a “Frog cannot even fathom the expansiveness of the Ocean unless he has stepped outside the well in which he lives”. When you step outside the comfort zone of your own club, you get to see how wide and diverse Toastmasters is.

I hope this article will give you some inspiration before you start preparing for the International Speech Contest and will encourage you to consider competing.

Kindly also read my other articles on International Speech Contest Preparation:

About the Author

Puneet Wadhwa, the author of this blog – Speak to Succeed! is an IT Business Executive by profession, and a Public Speaker and Leadership trainer by passion. He has been professionally speaking for many years and has won several awards for his public speaking engagements. He presents corporate trainings and seminars to corporations and associations whose people want to speak and lead effectively. To contact Puneet, email him at pwadhwaspeaks@gmail.com or fill out the contact form at https://www.speaktosucceed.in/about-me/.