5 Reasons Why You Should Join A Speech Contest

Have you ever tried joining a public speaking contest? If you have, then you can understand my sentiments when I say that it’s one of the best experiences anyone can have. Whenever I join a speech contest, I feel so alive. It’s like my emotions are heightened. I feel a combination of many things at the same time. Fear, excitement, trepidation and a sense of anticipation. It doesn’t matter how long you have been a toastmaster or how old or young you are. There is no discrimination here in Toastmasters. Whether you are 18 or 78, as long as you are eligible, you are free to join your category of choice. And unlike beauty pageants there is no height requirement.

How many times have you tried joining a speech contest? Once? Twice? Or perhaps you have yet to try it. The 2012 District Conference is drawing near. Ok, so it’s still 6 months away. But remember that there are many levels - the club, area and division level. If you want to compete at discon, decide now so you can prepare your plane fare, hotel fare and oh, your speech material too in advance.

Here are 5 reasons why you should join a speech contest.

It makes you feel alive. Whenever I join a speech contest I feel many conflicting emotions all at the same time. I feel excited and scared. I feel like I have both diarrhea and constipation. I can feel my heartbeat thundering in my ears and my hands becoming cold and clammy. Really. It’s the best feeling the world. But please. Don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself.

 You might win. I’m not kidding. Even if you've been a toastmaster for only a few months and think that you don’t know anything at all about public speaking, there's a good chance that you might win. Especially if there are only 3 contestants and you are guaranteed a spot no matter how badly you do. Even if you don’t get to be the champion, hey, they also give trophies to the runners up. You can then proudly display that at home people will think you are such a good speaker. You can even include that in your resume to impress potential employers.

Learning experience. Joining a speech contest is a great learning experience. Whether you win or not you get to improve. You learn. You become better. It’s not only the contest itself that allows you to become a better speaker it’s the preparation involved. The more time you invest in preparing for the contest, the better your chances of winning. Aside from it being a learning experience, it’s also a humbling experience. You learn how to accept defeat graciously.

You might meet your next love match. This is another excellent reason for joining a speech contest. Who knows? Your next boyfriend/girlfriend might be a fellow contestant. I have a clubmate who met his girlfriend through a speech contest. They were both contestants for the international prepared speech. He wasn’t able to get the trophy but at least he got the girl.

Registration refund. Are you a bit tight on budget? Here is the good news. If you represent your division in the District conference in any of the categories, you get a 50% or full refund on your registration fee. I know someone who joins contestants for this very reason. You know who you are. But seriously I get a kick about getting freebies too! 

How to Use Gestures in Public Speaking

Have you ever tried cooking without the use of salt and pepper? How did the food taste? Bland would probably be an understatement. Perhaps tasteless and unsavory would be more appropriate. Seasoning is what makes food delicious and tasty. Without it mealtime would be a dull affair.


When it comes to public speaking, our gestures are the seasoning that we can put in to add zest and life to our speech. The art of public speaking is more than just you talking in front of a bunch of people. It’s about communicating to them. It’s about imparting your thoughts in a way that the audience can understand and appreciate.


A speech done without using the appropriate gestures leaves much to be desired. However, don’t get too carried away in using gestures either. Just like seasoning, too much of it can ruin the entire meal.


What are gestures exactly and how can you use them to improve your speech? A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication which conveys specific messages and a wealth of meaning. It can be used together with spoken words and body language. Gestures permit speakers to express different kinds of thoughts and feelings, from affection to anger to scorn. Gestures are considered as the most basic form of body language.


Most gestures are limited to the hands and arms. They can help place emphasis on the most salient points of your speech. However be cautious. Using the same gestures too often can end up distracting and irritating your audience.


There are two main kinds of gestures:

·         Emphatic gestures are more subjective in nature. They communicate the things that you feel. They give force and power to a speech. In using emphatic gestures, be more spontaneous. As you speak, let your emotions guide you. Make sure that it blends in with your message. Otherwise, your gestures may end up looking stiff and out of place. If you are not accustomed to using gestures, don’t despair. Look at videos of public speakers and see how they use their hands and arms to convey their message. Then practice until it starts to feel more natural.

·         Descriptive gestures are by nature, more objective. They convey size, location, position and direction. For example in describing an elephant you can open your arms wide to express to your audience how large it is. Descriptive gestures make the characters and objects in your speech appear more vivid and lifelike.

The use of the right gestures in delivering a speech is vital because it communicates your conviction and enhances your point. You might feel a bit uncomfortable in the beginning but as you make it a point to use it often it will slowly start to become second nature.

Got stage fright? Read this post and learn How To Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking

How to Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking

Have you ever experienced the feeling that the moment you stand up to speak in front, your heart starts pounding like crazy, your hands get all clammy and you seem to lose all train of thought? If so, then you are not alone. According to most studies, glossophobia or the fear of public speaking is the number one fear that most people have. Yes, people fear public speaking even more than they fear death!

 We all know that the most successful people, whether in business or any other field, are also the best communicators. And for this reason alone many people desire to become better speakers. But how does one eliminate the fear of public speaking?

The answer is that you don’t. I have been a Toastmaster for over two years now. I regularly give speeches during club meetings and I have joined numerous speaking contests. You’d think two years of speaking would have made the fear disappear, right? Wrong. You can’t totally eliminate your fear of public speaking. You can only conquer it. As someone once said, if you can’t get rid of the butterflies in your stomach, at least get them into flying formation.

So how do you conquer your fear of public speaking?

You can conquer your fear of public speaking the same way you would conquer any other fear. You have to face it. How? Speak in front of an audience – regularly. Or better yet, join Toastmasters. The more you speak in front the less you’ll find doing so “scary”.  Most people are afraid of the unknown. Once you get accustomed to speaking in front you’ll discover that it isn’t that bad after. In fact, public speaking can actually be enjoyable.

They say that preparation is the key to success. This applies to public speaking as well. Before you even think about speaking in front you should learn your material. You should know it so well that you can speak without having to think of what’s next.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – especially if it’s your first time to deliver a speech. We learn by doing. And we’ve all got to start somewhere. So don’t expect your first speech to be perfect. Practice and then deliver it as best as you can. The best thing about being part of a Toastmasters club is that you get evaluated every time you deliver a speech. Thus, you’ll know which things to improve to make your next speech even better.

The worst thing you can do is to disregard your fear and pretend that it doesn’t exist. No matter how much we try to avoid it there will come a time when we will have to stand up and speak in front. Personally I think it’s better to be prepared so that when that time comes, we will be able to speak with such eloquence and conviction that we can get our point across effectively. 


Do you want your speech to come to life? Read this post and learn about the power of Using Gestures in Public Speaking.

Coming Out Of My Shell: Eric Marcelo

Contributed By: Eric Marcelo, CC

                      Automation Specialist

1st Place - 2007 Area International Speech Contest

1st Place - 2007 Area Table Topics Contest

1st Place - 2008 Area Evaluation Contest

3rd Place - 2009 Area Table Topics Contest

If there ever was an unlikely person to be a public speaker, it would probably be me. On the other hand, if there ever was a person who needed Toastmasters, it would also be me.

I happen to be a very quiet person. In the words of a friend, “a man of the fewest words.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a generally quiet person. It’s just that Toastmasters helped me be a speaker if I had to be or if I chose to be.

It all started when I was signed up (read, forced) to attend a Speechcraft training seminar in 2003, sponsored by my employer. I found I seemed to have a knack for it so when the company formed it’s own club, I was one of its first members.

Having dived into the pool, I suddenly got cold feet. It took me a year and three months to get the courage to deliver my first speech as a Toastmaster. After that first one, however, I began delivering a speech every month or two, gaining confidence and skill as time went on. I joined my first contest in a division speechfest where I delivered my Basic Speech Number Eight. I didn’t win but I got a tremendous boost out of it.

I had not prepared to join the area speech contest so all I did was watch. Looking around, however, I noticed that the crowd was four to five times the number of attendees in our club and since Speech Number Ten was about inspiring people, I resolved to deliver my graduation speech during the division contest as the test speaker for the division speech-to-evaluate contest. I did well enough that then District Governor, Elisa Tay, invited me to the 2006 District Convention in Davao, to re-deliver the same speech (On Being a Toastmaster) as a guest speaker, not as a contestant.

Attending the convention was a great experience for me. The quality of the speakers was amazing and I decided I’d want to try competing in the next convention. I continued honing my skills and began venturing into other clubs to attend their meetings and deliver speeches. Almost a year later, I won at the area contest but got first runner up at the division level. The champion, however, would be out of the country during the district convention so, as the second placer, I got my chance to compete.

I can’t say that I am not nervous about delivering speeches, especially at a contest but the jitters only last until I start talking. After that, it becomes easier. There was, however, one instance where I got lost. I forgot the next line! Fortunately, Toastmaster training came to the rescue and I jumped to the next sentence. No one noticed. I didn’t win at the district level but I got a lot of compliments about my speech (Opportunities and My Dad).

Competing has done wonders for my confidence in addition to honing my public speaking skills. I’ve had occasion to use these skills several times outside of Toastmasters.

Once, I attended a seminar-workshop where I presented the result of my group’s activity. The others listened to my presentation with elbows on the table and chins on their hand. I thought they were bored but when I asked for questions, the first one was, “were you ever a teacher?” They remarked that the presentation was so clear and easy to follow.

In one other instance, the factory manager wanted the supervisors to make a presentation about how we use contractors. Two presenters would be invited every week at the top management meeting. I was one of the first.

Using tips from numerous speeches (my own and others, I listen to their evaluations as well), I decided on three points: How many contractors I used, what they do, and what time they worked. My presentation was all of three slides, took about 15 minutes to deliver and I only had a few questions to answer. The next presenter had no less than 15 slides, took more than 30 minutes and had to answer dozens of questions and clarifications. At the conclusion of the meeting, the factory manager instructed the other managers to prepare the presenters for next week and to, “use Eric’s template.” For the next two days, I distributed copies of my presentation to the other supervisors. Following this, I was tapped to make presentations on safety and environment and to conduct training-seminars for other employees.

I have been a technician for almost 30 years. Since I became a Toastmaster, however, I’ve found that I had a teacher’s heart. It’s manifested in the seminars I’ve conducted, in presentations I’ve made, but most of all, it’s manifested in a Toastmaster’s meeting when I do speech evaluations. I just love helping people learn.

Learn how to speak like a champion. Check out my interview with Public Speaking Champion Stephen Michael Lumanlan

The Brave Neophyte: Andrienne Enrique Boado

I’ve always thought that public speaking was exclusive to political leaders and to those who had big names in the society. Years back, I perceived speeches as boring monotonous narrations made by zealous and brainy individuals regarding topics that people were already so sick of. I believed that they were almost always delivered to listeners who could hear but didn’t understand or who could understand but didn’t bother to act.

Delivering a speech was a no-no for me until I was forced to do so, years ago in our public speaking class. I learned that there were different kinds of speeches and the boring ones I usually heard during graduation/closing ceremonies were just one of the many types of speeches. I learned that speeches did not have to be monotonous narrations but, if constructed properly and delivered effectively, could be persuasive and entertaining enough to leave a mark in the hearts of listeners. Since then, I started to look at public speaking from a different perspective. 

I began constructing and delivering speeches with zeal until it became something I learned to love. One time, we had oral examinations in public speaking and it was about impromptu speaking. Given a limited time to prepare for the topic I picked, I was shocked at how I was able to speak spontaneously without running out of words. After the exam, I was surprised that I got a perfect score. But I did not love myself for that. I hated myself instead because I felt that I really missed the right course, the one that suited my likes and interests best.

I was in my second year in college but still, I had yet to love the course I was in – Nursing. I wanted to take up Mass Communications because I believed that I was more inclined to it. But I was already stuck in my nursing course which was a lot different from the one I really liked. Having a subject like public speaking as part of the Nursing curriculum only intensified my desire to pursue my course of choice. 

After a few months, the semester ended with a written examination for the finals. And I could hardly accept that I could no longer deliver speeches in my other subjects and enjoy them as much as I enjoyed public speaking. And as I walked from my chair to my instructor’s table to submit my answer sheet, I recalled that he mentioned about an organization for public speaking called Toastmasters. Too bad he didn’t tell where we could find it. Perhaps he thought that none of his students would be interested to join such a club. But I was interested. I wanted to ask him but I was afraid he might find it funny that someone like me would be interested in joining a club which (I thought) was exclusive for professional speakers. Love for speaking and the fear of ridicule battled in my mind until I recalled my instructor saying that FEAR is an acronym which means FANTASIZED EVENTS that APPEAR REAL. With that, I mustered the courage to ask my instructor where and how to find the said organization.

In the afternoon of that same day, I attended by first Toastmaster meeting. It was held at the basement of a McDonald’s store in the city where I lived. There, I found my instructor, Mr. Hermie Garrobo, emceeing the program as the Toastmaster of the Day, in a very exciting and thrilling way. People delivered speeches in their own styles which were not at all boring. Every speech had its own punch and every speaker had a kind of charisma that was distinct and unique. Right there, I said to myself that I would be like one of them someday. I too, will express myself in my own way, with my own charm (if I had such).

At the age of 17, I started to faithfully attend club meetings and deliver impromptu speeches. Patiently, I waited to turn 18 in order to be recognized as an official member of the club. Months passed and my passion for public speaking only escalated. Two months after I turned 18, I received the Competent Communicator award as a reward for my “hard work” in delivering speeches. Months later, I was thrown into the Lion’s Den. I was asked to represent my club and city in the impromptu speech category. (Un)fortunately, I made it to the national (district) level and had to face the speaking beasts. Speakers who had a wealth of ideas and experience gained through years of training. I felt like I was doomed (in a good way) for the sequence of events made it impossible for me to escape my fate which was to compete against 9 other national contestants from all parts of the country during the Toastmasters District Convention in Bohol.

The theme which was “Unleash your X-Factor” made sense to me. Being in the convention alone was already a sign that I had taken the first step in unleashing my x-factor. Just by being in this competition, I was already getting out of my comfort zone. With only the Lord’s promise in my heart, I stood on that stage mustered all the courage I gained through prayer, and began speaking. I spoke as if I had a contagious disease called “passion” and an obsession with personal growth. But it was true. I had a passion for growth; and taking a step away from one’s comfort zone meant taking a step towards one’s growth. And that’s what I did.

The Lord has always been faithful and He rewarded by faith with a “yes” to my prayers. He gave me the 2nd place trophy and I was very happy because my only prayer was not to go home empty handed. Alas! I can say to my mentors that their labor in training me was not in vain.

As I went back to Baguio and back to my life as a nursing student, I felt something inside me change. This time, I didn’t hate my course anymore. Toastmasters gave me a chance to pursue my passion without having to leave my course. I don’t really need to be a Mass Comm. student in order to learn how to speak effectively. And I didn’t need to be a politician or have a big name in society to get people to listen to me speak. And I didn’t have to be older or have a higher educational attainment than my audience in order to be listened to by them. All I needed was the right words to speak…a good story to share… 

We often place ourselves in a self-assembled box called “limitations,” thinking that we know very well what lies in the world outside the box and believing that we are not fit to enter that world. Because of that, we have made the center of the box our world and its corners our sky. We all have different kinds of boxes. Some operate inside huge boxes while others inside tiny minute boxes. But when it comes to overcoming limitations, the size of our boxes doesn’t matter. What matters is that we learn how to get out of our self-assembled boxes and discover that outside our boxes lies our true potential. I am not saying that I have gotten out of my box completely. Personal growth is a process. But I see myself ready to take on the biggest role I can possibly take, for after all, I am bigger than my box…and so are you. Shalom!


Contributed by: Andrienne Enrique Boado

                 1st Runner Up-Impromptu Speaking Category

                 2010 Division F District Conference

Learn how to speak like a champion. Check out my interview with Public Speaking Champion Stephen Michael Lumanlan

7 Tips in Making Your Ice Breaker Speech

What is an ice breaker speech? If you are a toastmaster then you are sure to know what it is. But for the benefit of those who are not, an ice breaker speech is the first speech of a toastmaster’s basic speech manual. It is the first speech every toastmaster is to deliver. This speech should basically be “all about you”. That is why it is called the ice breaker speech. It should be 5 to 7 minutes long and the objective is to introduce your self to the club. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But for me this was the hardest speech I had to deliver. Why? Because it was the first. My knees were shaking, butterflies were going crazy in my stomach and I was trembling inside. But I got through it because I prepared as best as I could and I really memorized my entire speech. A lot of people ask; how exactly do you make an ice breaker speech?

I have listed down 7 tips in making an ice breaker speech.

1.       Pick a topic that interests you. I know this sounds kind of obvious but you have no idea how many people pick speech topics that they either know nothing about or that does not interest them in the least. If you do this you are just heading straight for disaster. So choose a topic that you love. Something that you are excited about. Something that you have passion for. If you do the words will just seem to flow and you will never run out of things to say.  

2.       Write with a clear head. Have you ever tried writing a speech while thinking about a million other things at once? Kinda hard isn’t it? So DON’T do it. When you are writing, forget everything but the message you want to get across to your audience.  This will help you write faster and more efficiently.

3.       Make your point. Some speakers begin fabulously but end up going in circles. When this happens either of these can take place: Your audience gets bored, looses interest or ends up confused. So before your even begin writing decide what point you want to make and focus your speech on that.

4.       Begin with a bang. The first few seconds is one of the most important parts in a speech. You have to catch your listener’s interest in your first few lines or else you might loose them forever (or at least until your speech ends). So make sure that your opening is interesting, unique and full of life. A good beginning can really make your entire speech.

5.       Play with emotions. The best speeches play with people’s emotions. Such speeches make people laugh, cry, and get indignant. They make people FEEL. They take audiences through a rollercoaster ride of emotions. People are primarily creatures of emotion rather than logic. So use this fact to your advantage.

6.       Make relevant jokes. The most common misconception beginning speakers have is that they have to be funny. So they try to insert a joke or two into their speech even if they are totally irrelevant to the topic at hand. Don’t make this mistake. Of course you can make your speech humorous – but include only relevant jokes. If the jokes are not connected in any way to your topic, its best to delete it.

7.       End with flair. If the beginning is important then the ending is much more so. People often remember speakers with how they end. So craft a dramatic ending. You can do this in several ways: You pose a challenge to move people to act. You can ask a question to make them think. Or you can end with a quote that best wraps up your speech.