Competitions:
After crossing the threshold into, and becoming familiar with, Toastmasters I have never found a reason to leave. Somehow leaving would being equivalent to giving up before it was complete. Similarly with speech contests, try it once and the appeal may fade but never disappears.
Before leaving MSC for Kuala Lumpur one of the hard core prompted me into joining the Club’s humorous speech contest. Competing for anything adds another layer of anxiety to the activity. Your Club colleagues, in this case, seem to take on a different attitude: they want to beat you. Of course failing to win is the expectation as there is only a single victor. On my first attempt I won the contest. I nearly dissolved as applause and congratulations came near to shredding my composure. Anyone who has won a Club speech contest will understand when I say that the euphoria of victory is short lived. You soon realise that you are through to the next tougher round, competing against the unknown.
Over several years I have entered into the ring for Tall Tales, Topics, Humorous, Evaluation and the International speech contests. As I said above, I tried it once and was usually tempted thereafter. In these active years I reached District level 8 times with only one top place. It’s a steep climb. It’s also a journey along which you get a better understanding of yourself. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your style and your support.
Nerves are always a companion. The worst I remember is in the District final in Harrogate, Yorkshire. I was the last contestant in the Table Topics contest. Pacing alone and awaiting the summons. The door opens and you are there in front of a couple of hundred people with no script.
Perhaps my most enjoyable experiences of speaking and competing away from MSC were in Ireland. Such humanity, mirth and enthusiasm, for me there is no place like it. I still don’t understand why Toastmasters didn’t originate in Ireland. Not all my experiences have been so cheerful and one exceptional occurrence of unpleasantness remains in my memory. It was the District final in the south of Malaysia. There were about 10 minutes to go before the event was to start and I was having a last minute chat with fellow Club members from Kuala-Lampur who had traveled down. Out of the blue I was the subject of racial abuse. It was unexpected, unwarranted and unexplained. Our little huddle was stunned. The culprit was a member of the hosting Club. In my decades in Toastmasters that is the only direct insult I have received.
Many other District events have delivered great pleasure and I have been to a reasonable collection in Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland and the UK. For me they were outstanding weekends peppered with remarkable people. If you get the opportunity go, Zoom is very much second best.
—Ian Rees
Maidenhead Speakers Club 