Wednesday 20 February saw the final of the Corporate Challenge 2008 run by The College of Public Speaking.
Congratulations to our Area 29 Advanced Toastmasters. Rod Sloane (London Athenians) and John McKay (London Business School Toastmasters) won first and second place, respectively.
The theme of the Corporate Challenge 2008 was Business and Carbon Footprints. All contestants spoke on the same theme. A test of their speaking skills and their ability to research what might be unfamiliar subjects. Speakers could give the same speech throughout or speak on How to Motivate Staff as well.
Our Toastmasters' success shows how much we learn in our clubs...including crafting short, powerful speeches and delivering to time.
Rod and John both say that giving speeches in the historic St Mary-le-Bow church was an amazing experience. They had to adjust rapidly to the unfamiliar acoustics and grandeur of the space.
Rod particularly recommends entering speech contests. "Entering a contest means that you listen to the feedback you get very carefully AND immediately put it to good use." Rod gave his winning speech three times. First at his club. He took Mahin Driskill's evaluation seriously, polished his speech and went on to win his heat. Rod also recorded his speech each time, and made adjustments to his delivery as a result.
John clearly relished speaking to new audiences. "A benefit of entering contests is to learn from the response your speech gets from people who've never heard you before." It's inspired him to look for opportunities to speak at other London Toastmaster clubs.
The aim of the Corporate Challenge is to promote and encourage communication excellence in the corporate world. The College is also looking to find the UK's top corporate speakers. We know they've found two of them! We look forward to hearing more Toastmaster winners in the Corporate Challenge 2009.
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