KUCHING: About 400 toastmasters’ members from Indonesia, Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore attended the Toastmasters International District 87 Annual Convention in Sibu on May 3 and 4.
The occasion was graced by Toastmasters International World President, Dr. John Lau who hailed from Sibu and also the Immediate Past World President, Michael Notaro of USA.
The highlight of the convention was the International Speech Contest and Table Topic (impromptu speech) contests for the top speakers from district.
The ladies representing Kuching proved their prowess seeing off the seven competitors from each contest.
Donna Barclay Tan from Azam Toastmasters Club was the champion for in the Table Topic contest. She spoke off the cuff eloquently on the topic “Change starts with me”.
In her two minutes speech, Donna talked about the changes she has to make after marrying a Malaysian Chinese she met in Australia.
Rebecca Chieng of Hornbill City Toastmasters Club wowed the audience and the judges with her seven-minute motivating speech “‘The truth about Dreams’.
That performance won her, a ticket to the World champion of Public Speaking Contest at the 2013 Toastmasters International World Convention (August 21-24) in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. There she will test her mettle against the representatives of the 89 Districts from over 100 countries.
Toastmasters International is a world educational organisation.
Through its programme, toastmasters help to enhance the individuals and help them to develop their communication and leadership skills. Public speaking is the principal activity of the organisation.