Publicly Speaking

I had the honour of judging a public speaking contest at the weekend (not Toastmasters).

The speakers were professional adults; the standard variable. Without a doubt, the stand-out speakers were the storytellers. Yet, many of them made a basic error. This error, in my opinion, reveals the speaker to be inexperienced, unconfident and unaware of the audience's needs.

Who would have thought... judges need training!!! In all my years as a Toastie, the subject of judges and their 'qualifications' (or lack thereof) has been a hotly-debated topic.

Some have been VERY vocal about it. After all, it is the LOSERS who become the judges! If I lose my club contest, I will very likely be invited to judge at the area contest.

A judge needs NO qualifications. A brand new member:

• who has not delivered Project 1
  
• who is terrified of standing up to speak in front of a group
• who is a member of a Putonghua club
• who speaks minimal English...
  

can judge! OK, so this is a slight exaggeration, but it makes my point.

So, last Saturday Talis Wong & Michael Wee - both DTMs - conducted a training workshop. I couldn't make it myself, but let's hope the attendees are better-equipped to assess the speeches of their counterparts at the upcoming contests.