Abu Dhabi:Toastmasters Area 11 speech contest held in ISC

By Derick DSouza
Pics by Alphonse Mendonsa
Bellevision Media Network

Abu Dhabi, 08 Mar 2014: The Area 11 Toastmasters of Abu Dhabi were waiting for 7th March 2014, a bright sunny Friday, where Speech contests were held between 6 clubs, Al Jazira Toastmasters, Spectrum Toastmasters, ISC Toastmasters, ETA Star Toastmasters, FML Team Voice Toastmasters, Tebodin Toastmasters.  The aim was to choose the best speaker to compete in the Division H Level in four categories, International Speech, Table Topics, Humorous and Evaluation.

 

In a packed hall at the Indian Social Center (ISC), Abu Dhabi, speakers who had won their first round of contests at their respective clubs came together to compete with each other in one of the most keenly awaited battle of best speakers of  Area 11.

 

With the call to order and after reading the ‘Mission of Toastmasters’, Chief Sergeant-At-Arms TM Ramesh Taurani invited the Master of Ceremonies TM Anil Pinto to kick start the meeting.  TM Anil initiated the event by inviting Area 11 Governor TM Anoop  to address the audience and ‘open’ the event.

 

TM Anoop welcomed the enthusiastic audience, detailed the achievements of Area 11 and declared the event open.

 

 

The audience and the judges got ready to witness the talented speakers let loose.  The panel of judges was lead by TM Nasef Dhafari along with the other judges TM Pratima Mishra, TM Shivprasad Gowda, TM Anahid Mills, TM Natarajan Iyer, TM Santhosh Shetty, TM Devlal and TM Shahjahan.

 

International Speech category contest was the first speech category in which 5 speakers were competing and the Contest Chairperson was TM Basil Consera.  Five of the finest talents from various clubs delivered heart touching speeches, TM Devi, TM Michelle, TM Shabu, TM Shalini and TM Shahid.

 

Next category was the Table Topics or Extempore Speaking category lead by Contest Chairperson TM Ashfaq Khan.  The topic was ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’.  Five toastmasters took part TM Aboobacker, TM Balgovind, TM Devi, TM Shuchita and TM Wenceslao.  The speakers were given 2.5 minutes of Stage time to give their viewpoint on the topic.

 

The third category was the Humorous Speech Category, which was conducted by TM Ramachandra.  Three toastmasters TM Derick Dsouza, TM Mathew and TM Suresh Kumar took the onus on brining the house down with laughter,.

 

The final speech category was the Evaluation Session, conducted by contest chairperson TM Farrukh Ali.  A test speech was presented by TM Shruti and was evaluated by five toastmasters, TM Shalini, TM Shreekrishna, TM Sherin, TM Shuchita and TM Wenceslao.

 

Now, it was time to declare the results by the contest chairpersons.

 

International Speech Contest

Winner – TM Shalini Bothello (ISC Toastmasters)
First Runner Up – TM Shabu John (Spectrum Toastmasters)
Second Runner Up – TM Devi G. Narayan (Tebodin Toastmasters)

 

Table Topics Speech Contest

Winner – TM Shuchita Udas (Al Jazira Toastmasters)
First Runner Up – TM Balgovind Kunhiraman (ISC Toastmasters)
Second Runner Up - TM Devi G. Narayan (Tebodin Toastmasters)

 

Humorous Speech Contest

Winner – TM Derick Dsouza (Al Jazira Toastmasters)
First Runner Up – TM Mathew P. Mathews (Spectrum Toastmasters)

 

Evaluation Speech Contest

Winner – TM Shuchita Udas (Al Jazira Toastmasters)
First Runner Up – TM Sherin Thomas (Spectrum Toastmasters)
Second Runner Up – TM Shalini Bothello (ISC Toastmasters)

 

The Winners of each category will represent Area 11 in the upcoming Division H Level Speech Contest.  Those who attended the Area 11 Speech Contest included Assistant Area  Governors TM Muneeshwaran and TM Jayram Rai and other Area 11 Officials.  Division H Governor TM Bharat Mehta, in his address appreciated the quality of the session and wished all the winners to do well at the Division H Level Speech Contest to be held on April 18th 2014 at the Gasco Auditorium.