Toastmasters International - Division G Competition-A Night to Remember

Last night was the Toronto Division G competition for Table Topics and Humorous Speech event entitled     "A Night to Remember". I have attended and competed at this level before, but I was not a finalisit this fine evening. I had the pleasure of being a judge for the first time.

I had always wondered how scores were calculated and what criteria were used to evaluate contestants. I now had before me a numberical scale which allocated weightings to the different sections of each competitors speech. It was very detailed and sophisticated. Items such as speech effectiveness, physical delivery, voice inflection etc. were all criterias.

We heard funny stories such as a British woman's dating tale on match.com and her preference for a sports car vs. a man. She wanted the man more, but when faced with the realities of single men and their imperfections, she decided a perfectly crafted machine, might give her more pleasure. A second contestant with a deep Romanian accent and high pitched voice described his tales of learning several languages in order to be accepted by society. Romanian, French, English, Computer, Body, Army language, etc. In the end he concluded, all one really needs is the body language of a young babe to get what you want in life. The pinnacle tale of the Humourous competion, however was by a young Canadian budding actor who did a spoof on accents, and how we need to be careful to avoid judging people by there tonalities. His story was about meeting a US southerner with a slow drawl, and concluding he was dumb. In fact he had 2 PhD's in nuclear physics and mechanical engineering. His second tale was about meeting a creative director who had a Jamican accent, a British name, but was actually of Chinese origin. Go Figure.

For those of you out there looking to engage in personal development to the highest level, at the lowest cost, Toastmasters International is the place to be. If humans can learn to use their most potent weapon, the tongue, with poise and politeness and respect, we can make the world a better and healthier experience for all. All cultures, all ages, all good.

It was indeed an Night to Rememer.

Keep on growing,



The Adventure Guy