Humorous Speech Contest

District 51 Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contest 2010/2011

31 October 2010, Saturday

This past weekend, was the 1^st time I attended a District Level contest and it was indeed an eye opener. For those new to Toastmasters, these contests begin at the club level. Winners then proceed through area, division, and district contests. Ten contestants took part in the District 51 Humorous Speech contest. The Champion, Ooi Ing Chyuan, spoke about “Dealing with Flatulence’. I must say Ooi’s choice of topic was very delicate but he tastefully delivered it! Some of his quips were simply outrageous to our ears. He turned the house upside down with his hilarious personal experiences. The 1^st runner up, Zarina Mustafa, gave a speech about ‘Manglish’ and kept us transfixed with her beautiful vocal variety and was brilliant as she intertwined Chinese and Tamil quips in her speech. Her strong points were good diction and clear pronunciation. The Humorous Speech contest was indeed side-splitting well worth the price of admission.

After morning tea break, the Speech Evaluation Contest came on. District 51 showed off its clubs' best evaluators that day in a fun, energetic and efficiently run contest. Ten contestants participated in the contest. The contests began on a serious note, as evaluator contestants gave reasoned and encouraging feedback to speaker, Stephen Fernando, on his test speech "One More Day", reminding us to appreciate the precious time that we have on this Earth. Years of Toastmasters training in giving constructive evaluations paid off for these contestants. The champion Muthukumaran Kodiappen’s evaluation to me was the most memorable and deserving of the recognition bestowed upon him as the best of the best. This was another exciting event, with new examples of evaluation excellence and another opportunity to watch maestros delivering their speeches.

Below are the photos taken of the winners. Wish you were there!

“Speech contests are your fastest route to your greatest improvement.”
David Brooks, 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking

L-R: Zarina Mustafa, Ooi Ing Chyuan, Lee Xi Wen  

Humorous Speech Contest

Champion: Ooi Ing Chyuan (Seberang Jaya Toastmasters Club)

1st Runner Up: Zarina Mustafa (USM Toastmasters Club)

2nd Runner Up: Lee Xi Wen (TTDI Toastmasters Club)

L-R: Bernard Louis, Muthukumaran Kodiappen, Seetho Whye Kit

Speech Evaluation Contest

Champion: Muthukumaran Kodiappen (Penang Toastmasters Club)

1st Runner Up: Bernard Louis (D'Utama Advanced Toastmasters Club)

2nd Runner Up: Seetho Whye Kit (TTDI Toastmasters Club)

By Nor Lida Dahalan, VPPR Shah Alam Toastmasters Club