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Toastmasters New Zealand holds its national speech contests
TOASTMASTERS NEW ZEALAND, November 2012 - Toastmasters New Zealand will hold its bi-annual convention in Hamilton on 9-11 November 2012 where Toastmasters from the four corners of the country will gather for a weekend of inspiration, entertainment, learning, socialising, and celebration.
One of the key attractions of these conventions are the speech contests. Every year Toastmaster clubs all over New Zealand (and the world) hold four contests – the International Speech contest, Evaluation contest, Humorous contest, and Table Topics contest. Representatives start at the club level and then advance to the area level, division, and ultimately national level.
The International Speech contest is the only one that advances to the World Championship of Public Speaking contest which is normally held in United States of America and sees the best speakers in the world contest for this title. New Zealand has two past World Champions and recent contestants have represented New Zealand very well.
Hamilton will host the eagerly anticipated Humorous and Table Topics contests.
The Humorous contest requires speakers to deliver five-to-seven minute presentations on wide-ranging topics, and is judged on content, organisation and delivery. Last year saw seven speakers present on some very entertaining topics. The eventual winner was Rob Julian from Wellington with his hilarious speech entitled “Memory, what memory”. This year there will be up to nine contestants
The Table Topics contest requires speakers to deliver a one - two minute presentation on a wide-ranging topic that they have no former knowedge of. Contestants are judged on speech development, effectiveness, physical delivery, voice, appropriateness and correctness of word usage. Last year six speakers provided an entertaining dissertation on their thoughts about “whether arranged marriages were a good idea”. The deserved winner was Wayne Walker, runner-up was John Twaddle, and third place winner was Tevivi Daniel Jnr.
These conventions are open to Toastmaster members and the public. If you would like to know more, visit
About Toastmasters New Zealand
Toastmasters New Zealand (District 72) comprises more than 250 clubs. To learn more about District 72 please visit
About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organisation that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has more than 280,000 members in 13,500 clubs in 116 countries. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. Follow Toastmasters International on Twitter @Toastmasters.
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