Contest season began in February of this year when our club had the club contest. I can’t believe it’s already close to 3 months. What I like about these contests is the enthusiasm in the atmosphere, weeks/months of preparation by the contestants, and finally getting to listen to some of the best speeches. I am just amazed at the amount of preparation so many members put into getting these contests organized. The contest chair has a lot on his/her plate in coordinating these contests, like getting a contest toastmaster, judges, refreshments chair, planning the location, brochures, contestants briefing, etc. I am positive I have might have missed many more details. Hats off to all the staff members who pulled off a massive event of enormous size, the District Conference, including over 150 clubs.
Friday night's Tall Tales contest was phenomenal. I couldn’t help but appreciate the creativity and originality of each contestant as they progressively built their speeches loaded with humor and dynamism. Six great speeches that definitely fit into the category of Tall Tales. Some of them had stories of Armadillos in backyards to contestants shaking hands with President Obama at some point in their life. DeAnna represented our club and did a fabulous job. We are very proud of her.
Saturday afternoon was the International speech contest. I was pleasantly surprised to see our very own Susanne Nickerson come all the way from Seattle to cheer for me. I cannot thank her enough for her support.
Also in the audience were my close friends, members from Top of Texas and my family from India. It surely was a special moment in my life to deliver a speech in front of my parents at the District conference. The competition was stiff, with contestants presenting wonderful, motivational speeches. I felt great when people walked up to me and said that my speech hit home and touched their heart.
Aparna Valluri, CC, ALB
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