All divisions of District 98 Toastmasters successfully conclude first phase of speech contests

Members benefit from public speaking and networking opportunities.

Pune, Maharashtra, India, 9th December’20 - Toastmasters International, since 1924, through its comprehensive educational program, has been helping millions of individuals in improving their public speaking and leadership skills. Speech contests in Toastmasters help in delivering a wholesome experience to members.

The purpose of a speech contest is to provide members with the opportunity to put their speaking ability to test and enhance it. All the participants get to hone their speaking and speech writing skills and the recognition acts as an encouragement for all. Further, the audience benefits by observing speakers who have gained from their Toastmasters journey.

Every year, districts conduct several contests, generally four. District 98, covering Western India, Central India and some part of Southern India, organizes four contests in a Toastmaster year, which spans from July to June. Each of these contests is a multi-round, single-elimination tournament, which starts at the club level, followed by area and division levels and goes on till at least the district level.

The first six months are dedicated to the Humorous Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest. This year, more than 230 clubs organized these two contests with over 2500 members coming together as participants and contest officials. The shift to online contests, as a measure to ensure safety and continuity amidst the pandemic, has opened channels to attend and benefit from such events from anywhere. Over the last two months, the District witnessed several Division conferences, which were organized virtually.

It started with the conference of Division A (covering parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh) on 11th October’20, followed by the conference of Division J (covering clubs in Jamnagar and its vicinity) on 18th October’20, then that of Divisions BMS (covering clubs in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai) on 5th and 6th November’20, followed by the event of Divisions CDOPW (covering clubs in Goa and Maharashtra, excluding Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur) on 28th and 29th November’20. The latest one was held on 5th and 6th December’20 for Divisions EFGHN (covering clubs in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Nagpur). The winners of the contests organized at these conferences will go on to compete at the District level, which will happen in May’21.

Each division conference marks the presence of over 150 members and guests, which provides attendees with immense networking opportunities. This year, the conferences marked the presence of eminent guest speakers, including Sonal Bhutra, Anchor and Senior Research Analyst CNBC TV18; Raj Kundra, British Businessman; Asha Chaudhry, Founder and Chief Community Officer of Kids Book Café; Deepali Naair, CMO IBM India and South Asia; Jock Elliot, World Champion of Public Speaking 2011; Neeraj Nachiketa, Supreme Court Lawyer practicing IPR Law; and Satyarup Siddhanta, World’s youngest and India’s first mountaineer to climb the Seven Summits and Volcanic Seven Summits.

Organizing each contest and conference requires a certain set of roleplayers, which helps members in improving their leadership skills.

If you are looking for improving your public speaking and leadership skills and tapping into networking opportunities, then Toastmasters is the right place for you. Visit toastmasters.org to know more or click .

About District 98

District 98 comprises 235 corporate and community clubs in seven states of India namely Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh serving more than 5000+ members.

About Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is a worldwide non-profit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization’s membership exceeds 364,000 in more than 16,200 clubs in 145 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.