Posted by Freddie Daniells
Last Thursday evening Citi and Citi Criers kindly welcomed us all to Canary Wharf for the 2008 London finals of the International Speech and Evaluation contest. And 'us all' it was too! In total, around 200 people (yes, you read that right!) came to support and encourage our contestants. Nick Benning, Past District Governor, said that this was the biggest crowd he had seen for a Division final. London is not the biggest of divisions so a big thank you for coming.
As you can imagine, the atmosphere was electric.
Following a glass of wine (very enjoyable indeed!), the proceedings were expertly opened by Catherine Desson, President of Citi Criers, our hosts. She handed over to Iain Duthie, our Asst Div Guv. Before we knew it, we were in the thick of the Speech contest.
First up was Caroline Swain of Area 33 and Broadgate Speakers with a fascinating speech about past lives and lessons that she had learned from hers. Secondly was our very own 'Duracell bunny', Jean Cooper of Riverside. Her speech was about immortality - it is not just our DNA we pass on but also the lessons that we learn. Thirdly, was Ola Aralepo who gave us a lively jaunt through how we chase our desires far and wide and yet how often the answers we seek are much closer to home. Our second to last contestant was Helen Thomas from the Area 31 and the host Club, Citi Criers. She spoke of the effect of conflict on successive generations of her family. She passed on the lesson of why taking time understanding our fellow humans is so important. Finally was David Jones of Excalibur with a speech talking about his lifelong battle with his stammer and what he had learned through the process of overcoming it.
After the break we switched to Eleanor Smith, Contest Chair for the Evaluation contest. Our Mystery Speaker , Gary Jenkins from Division H, gave us a powerful speech telling us of the horrors he experienced in the Vietnam war. He implored us to keep a place in our minds for the survivors of war - those who suffer the invisible mental scars that often stay with them for the rest of their lives.
It was a hard speech to evaluate as it was powerful and well delivered. However, our five contestants did a first class job. The contestants were: Amy Jackson of London Corinthians and Area 6, John Craddock of Riverside Communicators and Are 29, Clive Broadbent of Canary Wharf Communicators and Area 31, Sean Kennedy of London Communicators and Area 33, and Hillary Briggs of Grosvenor Square and Area 34.
While the votes were being counted, we had a fun table topics session as Alistair Schreiber (of West London Speakers) brought his usual energetic and fun approach to the task in hand.
Finally, Nick Benning and Dick Dixon announced the winners. They were as follows:
2008 International Speech Contest
1st Place David Jones of Excalibur Speakers and Area 6
2nd Place Jean Cooper of Riverside Speakers and Area 29
3rd Place Helen Thomas of Citi Criers and Area 31
2008 Evaluation Contest
1st Place Hillary Briggs of Grosvenor Square and Area 34
2nd Place Amy Jackson of London Corinthians and Area 6
3rd Place Clive Broadbent of Canary Wharf Communicators and Area 31
One contestant was disqualified from each of both the International Speech and Evaluation contests.
It was a great fun evening and there must have been nearly 50 folks who made it to the bar after to continue the partying. I am told that a few hardy folks were still at it at after 3 in the morning!
As Nick pointed out, given the audience size, this was a great dress rehearsal for the UK and Ireland final in Killarney in a few weeks time. Hopefully, we will see lots of you there to support David and Hillary.
PS. Club Presidents and Committee members - Alan Bywaters has filmed the entire event on his hi-def camera. How about buying some copies and circulating them amongst your members to study. What could they learn from watching London's best speakers? How would they have evaluated the Mystery Speaker? What can they learn from London's best evaluators??? Contact Alan if you are interested. There is a small fee to cover his editing time but the more copies ordered the more the cost comes down. He can be contacted on [email protected].
