From Neil Coleman, Division B Director
A superb afternoon of public speaking started with a song as International Speech Contest chairman Laurent Nicourt, Area 8 Director and member of Sytel Reply Toastmasters)energised the large crowd gathered at Freemasons’ Hall. (Click here for the full lyrics!) We were witness to seven superb speeches, all very different in message but each and every one deeply personal. On stage we had Amanda Zwarts (Epsom Speakers), Atul Patel (Phoenix Speakers), Graeme Bass (Kings Speakers), Ian Hawkins (Early Bird Speakers), Lynne Cantor (Excalibur Speakers), Mark Yansen (London Corinthians) and Sui Chin Mckeand-Han (London Athenians).
The second contest was led by Rose Zhang ( President, London Olympians) as she introduced our target speech by Helena Brewer (District 91 Leadership Team) with a speech on the wrongly maligned Richard III. Our evaluators then each took their turn in analysing the speech. They were Alfred Amodu (London Cardinals), Cat Kipling (Excalibur Speakers), Jakub Pawlowski (Polish Your Polish), Robin Adams (Mole Valley Speakers), Taz Miah (Early Bird Speakers) and Vaughan Evans (London Corinthians).
After a tough contest, Chief Judge, Andy O’Sullivan brought us the results:
International Speech Contest
1st Place: Ian Hawkins
2nd Place: Sui Chin McKeand-Han
3rd Place: Lynne Cantor
Evaluation Contest
1st Place: Tazud Miah
2nd Place: Jakub Pawlowski
3rd Place: Jonathan McWilliams
Vanessa King, D91 Progam Quality Director, presented Public Relations awards to Epsom Speakers, The Toast Rack, Surbiton Speakers and Early Bird Speakers. Discovery Soapbox picked up an award for officer training. Educational awards were also recognised. Marc Lottig and George Chiesa received DTM pins and Jill Segal, Brian Skelton, David Salamons, Shola Kaye received Triple Crowns.
The morning session saw workshops from Richard Fallon and Ola Aralepo as well as a bonus Table Topics workshop from the maestro, Paul Carroll. The Speakfest returned to high acclaim with 9 speakers getting the opportunity to give a speech in the grand halls to new audiences led by David Salamons and David Jones
A huge thanks to all who took part on and off stage. Best wishes to our Division B contestants as they go on to the District 91 contests which take place at the Spring Londinium Conference being held at the Grange City Hotel near Tower Bridge. Read more and register: http://d91toastmasters.org.uk/conference/
Photos by Lyn Roseaman (www.lyns-take.co.uk)