My Recent Toastmasters Area Speech Contest.
For over a decade now, I have been a proud member of Ventura Toastmasters, known colloquially as “Club 24.” For those of you who do not know, Toastmasters is a world-wide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public speaking and leadership skills in its roughly 280,000 members.
On top of all this, last summer I began a year-long term as an Area Director. People in this position are fortunate enough to visit all the Toastmasters clubs in their Area, and then file reports about their experiences online. Additionally, Area Directors are responsible for planning and executing something known as an Area Speech Contest. This is a verbal competition between various Toastmasters members from different clubs. This year, there were technically two contests. The first involved presenting a five to seven minute pre-prepared speech, and the second involved speaking extemporaneously for over a minute.
Going into the planning process for this, I had no idea what to expect, because I had never run a speech contest of any kind before, let alone something as prestigious as an Area Contest. Fortunately, my mentor Debbie suggested that I host a joint Contest with my friend Paul, who conveniently is an Area Director for the Toastmasters region next to mine. The next step was selecting a venue for the contest, as well as its Chief Judge. For those of you who do not know, the Chief Judge is responsible for managing the recruitment and preparation of all judges and helpers for the Contest. For this influential position, I ended up eventually recruiting my friend Aram. For the venue, we ultimately selected Community Bible Church in Ventura, which is where Club 24 meets every Monday evening.
During the weeks leading up to our contest, which took place on the 22nd of February, I worked some of the hardest I have ever worked in my life, and I learned more than I ever thought I would. I decided to embark on a rapid learning curve, as I did all necessary research and preparation, and learned to trust and rely on my friends who were planning the contest with me.
Needless to say, the Contest ended up going off without a hitch, and I was, and still am, incredibly proud of us for producing something so beautiful and so enjoyable and so rewarding. The speeches were moving, the helpers and judges were well prepared, and the event was well-attended, featuring dignitaries from all over Toastmasters. This Contest was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done, and I am fairly certain that Aram and Paul got a lot out of it as well. Looking back, there most certainly isn’t anything I think I could have done differently, and when the next Area B1 Director, Justin, organizes the 2026 contest, I plan to be there to help him in every way I can.
Me receiving my Certificate of Participation from Paul.