Toastmasters International further
stretches your speaking abilities by offering two sets of yearly contests:
Humorous Speech and Speech Evaluation contests in the Fall,
Evaluation and International Speech contests in the Spring. There are several
levels of competition.
First, speakers compete at the Club level, then the
Club winners compete for their Area, then the Area winners compete for their
Division, and finally the Division winners compete at the District Conference! No matter which contest is being held, the process of how
someone rises from the Club, to the Area, to the Division, to the District is
the same up until the District.
The first-place finisher at the club advances to the
Area level which usually consists of the winners from 3 to 6 other clubs. (Note
that Areas with 4 clubs or less can allow the second place finisher to advance
to the Area contest along with the 1st place winners. Check with your Area
Governor to know how many can advance for your club)
The first place finishers of the Area contest advance to the
Division to compete against those who advanced from 4-8 different Areas. The
1st place finisher at the Division advances to the District conference.
If, at any level, that person cannot attend the next
level of competition, the second place finisher is offered the opportunity to
compete.
At this time, the only contestant for any contest
that advances beyond the District level is the winner of the International
Speech Contest. This fortunate person will need to create a new speech and
present it at the Regional. If he or she wins the Regional, a new speech must
once again be created and delivered at the Finals!
If he or she wins the Final, then that person may
not compete in Toastmasters contests from that point on. In the year 2000, Ed
Tate (a District 26 member) went all the way and won the final. Imagine how
THAT must look on a resume!!