By David T Jones
Many of us remember Allan and Dale Rees-Bevan (pictured left with son Kieran back in 2009). Both were members of Holborn Speakers, and Dale was also in London Communicators. In 2005 they relocated to Sydney, Australia. I’m sorry to report that their new life down under has been turned upside down by Toastmasters.
Things had been going so well. Allan is an IT consultant and Dale is a director and founder of SpeakersBank Australia, following her success in SpeakersBank UK. They both joined Magnificent Mosman TM club, where Dale is currently President. Dale also joined Dural TM, a club in a different Division in Sydney. Both clubs are in District 70 (250+ clubs in New South Wales and Canberra). In the past they’d always help each other prepare and practise their speeches. But now the icy wind of rivalry has killed that cooperation because…they’ll both be competing in the District 70 International Speech final.
Hugely competitive, both want to go to the US for the International Speech final. Battles lines have been drawn across their house. Working secretly on their speeches, tensions are rising. At a recent family gathering, Dale lit the BBQ with some of Allan’s old speeches. At the last Magnificent Mosman meeting, after Dale gave an evaluation, Allan proclaimed “Not bad. With a bit of practice she might become a half-decent speaker”. Dale is now encouraging club members to attend the final to “see a husband eviscerated.” But in a Machiavellian masterstroke, Allan has engineered their long-awaited house move to happen three days before the final. He’s made sure he’ll be away on business that week. Dale will be left packing up the house on her own while Allan is comfortably ensconced in a hotel practising his speech.
All this is causing a buzz of excitement among Sydney toastmasters. For the first time in history a married couple will compete against each other in a D70 final. Will Dale prove to be too good for her husband? Will Allan become a wife-beater? The final is on 22nd May. We’ll keep you posted.
