Written by Margarita
Introduction
What a night! Bloomsbury Speakers held the International Speech and Evaluation Contests on the 14th of March 2016. They took place in a different from the regular meetings venue, on the second floor of The Perseverance in Lamb’s Conduit Street. Each contestant certainly demonstrated perseverance and commitment to winning on the night!
The evening started with an energetic and positive opening from President Helen, who reminded us that every contestant had made an extra effort and was already a winner. Then, Contest Chair Peter took the floor and eased the atmosphere with his ironic remarks about the lack of light and space in the room. He explained the rules of the contests and introduced the speakers as well as the timekeepers Sebastian and Olga.
International Speech Contest
The first to speak was Janet with her speech entitled “A quest for the perfect song”. She shared with the audience her story of search for acceptance and inspired everyone to embrace the differences. At the end of her powerful speech, Janet made everyone in the room sing!
Swarajit was the second with his “Positive and Uplifting speech”, which was devoted to… death. His brilliant irony and touching personal story left no one in the room unmoved. Swarajit emphasised how important it is to appreciate every single moment of life.
Hari was the third with his speech called “The life changing realisation I learnt in the dark”. He took the audience through his experience of meditation and revealed a secret of dealing with all sorts of issues which people face in life. The secret was to remember the simple but wise truth – “this too shall pass”.
And the final speech, “The Dinner Bill”, was delivered by Helen. In her thought-provoking speech full of great jokes, she raised an issue of gender equality and posed a question: “When two human beings go on a date, who pays the bill?”
After all speeches were delivered, the meeting moved on to guest introductions, which culminated with an emotional announcement of Janet’s engagement!
Evaluation Contest
After the break, the meeting continued with the Evaluation Contest.
While evaluators were receiving instructions from the Chief Judge, Contest Chair Peter entertained the audience with friendly table topics. This night, Ella, Ayla, Carlos, Ivelina, Helen and Charlotte amazed the audience with their hilarious impromptu speeches.
Contest Chair Peter then introduced the Mystery Speaker – Danica of Holborn Speakers. In her highly informative speech “Predicting the future of films”, she shared with the audience her knowledge about modern methods of predicting movies’ success and the possibilities they open to the filmmaking industry.
Her speech was then evaluated by the Evaluation contestants, Margarita, Hari and Swarajit.
While the Committee members were registering votes made by the judges, the Chair introduced the “And then” game. Helen, Sheldon, Ella and Ayla entertained fellow toastmasters and guests with a fascinating impromptu story about a large octopus who enjoyed climbing landmarks.
Awards
After the hilarious “And then” game, Contest Chair Peter announced the winners.
The winner of the International Speech Contest was… Janet.
Helen came a triumphant second.
Overall, the contestants showed such a high standard of speaking that no one in the room would have confidently bet on anyone taking the top spot.
On the Evaluations, Hari, who put in a strong performance, came in top.
Next meeting
The next regular meeting of Bloomsbury Speakers will be on Monday, 11 April 2016, upstairs at The Clerk and Well (156 Clerkenwell Rd, London EC1R 5DU). Doors open at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome to join.
Bloomsbury Speakers are grateful to all judges who volunteered and contributed to the contest!
