By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Toastmaster Dwayne Simon said that he was ecstatic when he was announced the winner of the Toastmaster International’s Division E Speech Evaluation Contest recently.
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organisation that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs that meet online and in person with Division E territories consisting of Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St Kitts, Anguilla, Tortola, St Thomas, and St Croix.
Yesterday, Simon explained more about the speech evaluation contest to Observer media.
“You basically have different types of competition; you have the International Speech Contest, then you have the Evaluation Contest, which is the one I was a part of, and you have to review a prepared speech.
“So, you would have a test speaker and then the contestants will give feedback in a time-structured manner, evaluating the speech and then you get judged based on how well your evaluation is received,” he explained.
He explained that Toastmasters competitions have several tiers from the club level to the district level where he will now compete against a wider range of competitors in Trinidad during their conference held May 15 to 19.
“I also know, at that next level, which is the highest, it’s a lot more competitive, so I have to put my best foot forward. But it’s something that’s exciting and I love public speaking, and I love engaging in those activities, so I look forward to the challenge,” he said.
