Talking the Talk

Peninsula News Review

Talking the Talk

By Christine van Reeuwyk

A lot of yammering will lead to a regional champion or two at the library Tuesday. The librarian at the Sidney North Island Branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library will just have to deal with the noise as Toastmasters from across Greater Victoria gather for competition. Talking, after all, is the name of the game.

The Saanich Peninsula Toastmasters club #1288 hosts the Area 3 International Speech Contest on March 25. It’s called an international contest because that’s where winners wind up. Winners from the Area 3 region head to the divisional, those winners head to district competition, then regionals, then the world.

“You get to witness the beautiful art of public speaking,” said Sean McNulty, Saanich Peninsula Toastmasters president. “For me personally, what I find most interesting is the topics people speak on.”

He recalled a competitor once who gave a speech on an astrological event that happened around 500 BC, and described how it was recorded by different groups.

“I found that very interesting,” McNulty said. The facts, research and relaying of the speeches are what make it interesting, he explained.

“You get to see the most talented speakers, so you get some really interesting speeches, you get some really humorous speeches …” he said. Speaking techniques and gestures can also add to the drama of a speech.

“Sometimes you get some speeches you think would be very boring, but the way they present it can be very interesting,” McNulty said.

The contest is broken into two competitions, speech and evaluation.

The speech portion is what most might naturally associate with Toastmasters. The competitors carefully research and prepare a speech that’s five to seven minutes long.

“It can’t be about sex, politics and religion. We steer clear of those things at Toastmasters,” McNulty said with a laugh. The competence of the speaker is gauged through hand gestures, eye contact, vocal variety and pronunciation — which are all calculated by six judges.

For the evaluation competition a test speaker comes in and makes a speech. The competitors evaluate, using similar criteria to the speech competition.

The Saanich Peninsula Toastmasters club #1288 hosts the Area 3 International Speech Contest on March 25 at the Sidney North Saanich branch of the VIRL from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The event is open to the public; tickets cost $5 at the door.