The event will see participants from all over southern Alberta and throughout Saskatchewan taking part, including the Toastmaster Area competition winners as they vie for top spot in their respective speaking categories.
“It’s going to be a busy weekend but a fun weekend,” said Terry Kozlyk, public relations manager for District 42 Toastmasters. “We hold it once a year now. Our District probably has more members from the southern Alberta side, including Calgary, but we still like to alternate our conference locations between Saskatchewan and Alberta, which is the best way to do it because we like to get out and about too, sometimes.”
The event kicks off on Friday at 3 p.m. with registration, followed by a ‘first-timers’ meet-and-greet for new Toastmasters at 6 p.m. and the first contest – Table Topics – at 8 p.m.
Using that contest as an example, each of the six Area winners will receive a pre-chosen topic and will speak ‘off-the-cuff’ for about two minutes, with the 12 anonymous judges in the crowd evaluating their performance. Once the event is completed, the judges will convene in another room and the six contestants will be interviewed by the competition host, after which the judges will finalize their decision and the winner will be announced.
The same pattern will follow through the other three competition classes – Evaluation at 8 a.m. on Saturday, International at 2 p.m. Saturday and Humorous at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Given the fact each of the competitors has won a qualifying event at the Club, Area and Division levels to qualify for Districts, the level of speaking and performance will be exceptionally high.
“I’ve competed a bit and every level up is another magnitude of competition and it’s like night and day,” Kozlyk said. “They’ll be really refined and skilled and it’s always interesting to see someone performing at that level.”
The top speakers in the International contest will advance to the Region level and beyond, with their speeches being evaluated by video at the Toastmasters International offices in Denver, Col. for the first time in organization history.
“It’s the first year we’re doing this and it’s a little controversial because people are saying that judging solely based on the video will be restricting,” Kozlyk said. “But as long as everyone is evaluated the same way from video, it’s a level playing field.”
All four speech contests are open to the public, with a $10 fee enabling those interested to take in the event and see how contests work.
“They’ll get to see not just the contestants compete, but also the interviews and how structured the contests are,” Kozlyk said.
For more information, including a full schedule of events, check out the District 42 website.
