Toastmasters International Speech Contest 2019: Area E4 Contest

Also this year the time has come to start the long ascension to the district 109 championship for the international speech contest, the speech evaluation contest and the table topics contest, which will take place this year in Genoa from May 17th to 19th.

The first step of the stairway, the club contests have already taken place. Now the club winners compete in the area contests to reach the next level, the division contest, where they will compete to reach the district contest. The winners of the over hundred district contests will participate to the world final in Denver at the end of August.

In the international speech contest the most experienced speakers will compete with their best speech, which they are sharpening and polishing since months.

In the speech evaluation contest the participants will show their ability in giving a constructive feedback in a very short time.

In the table topics contest the participants will demonstrated their ability in creating a short speech on the spot based on an unknown topic.

You can expect a very entertaining evening with top quality speeches and excellent evaluations.

The Zuriberg Toastmasters Club meets every second Tuesday in the gorgeous Zunftsaal room of the Blue Monkey restaurant. This meeting will have different format to comply with the contest rules of Toastmasters international. In the first part of the meeting we will have the international speech contest. Then we enjoy dinner together with the delicious food from the buffet prepared by the Blue Monkey restaurant. After tending to our culinary needs, we move to the second part of the meeting with the speech evaluation contest and the table topics contest. Everybody is welcome to attend the third unofficial part of the meeting, some interesting conversations over a drink.

Q: Do I have to pay for the event?
A: Yes, you have to pay for the dinner, it costs 30.- CHF, but it is a special deal for the Zuriberg Toastmasters Club members and our guests and it is really very delicious. The buffet consists in jasmine rice, two vegetarian dishes and one with chicken. Pay attention that you have to buy a token for the buffet before the meeting start, after it is too late. Soft drinks are not included and cost 6.- CHF.

Q: Do I need to speak at a club meeting?
A: No. moreover because it isn't a club meeting but a contest, so there will be no impromptu speeches and no feedback from the guests.

Q: Is there a leader or instructor?
A: There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. The club will have elected club officers present and a Toastmaster who facilitates the meeting. By joining a toastmasters club you will have access to the new digital learning experience of toastmasters international. At the beginning you will have to choose one "pathway" from the ten available. Each "pathway" has a different objective with practical projects to acquire and improve the required skills.

Q: Are so few people coming?
A: Our club members use a another application explicit made for toastmasters clubs to manage the members and the meetings. Normally we have about 20-30 members attending our meetings. The RSVP people in Meetup are usually the guests.

Q: What is Toastmaster international?
A: Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization with over 16'400 clubs in 141 countries and over 352'000 members. It was founded in the 1924 with the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills. Since then it helped millions of people to become a better speaker, communicator and leader.

Q: Can anyone become a member?
A: As long as you are at least 18 years old, you can join Toastmasters.