St Maarten Toastmasters held their Area International Speech and Table Topic contest on Saturday April 14th at the PMIA Hall.
The winners were Leopold Merrick of the Philipsburg Toastmasters Club in the International Speech contest and Danaё Daal of Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club in the Table Topic contest.
The contestants for the International Speech were TM Leopold Merrick from the Philipsburg Toastmasters Club and TM Dwight Carbon from the Achievers Toastmasters Club.
The participants for the Table Topic segment were TM Ludmila York-Duncan from the Achievers Toastmasters Club and TM Danaё Daal from the Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club.
The Table Topics contests is a contest in which participants are presented with a topic and are required to give an impromptu speech on that topic.
All speeches were powerful and eloquently presented by each contestant.
In his winning delivery, TM Leopold Merrick expounded on "The Art of Life" based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s philosophy of personal development and the use of one’s talent for the fulfillment of life. Second place contestant Dwight Carbon spoke of the importance of effective Communication in today’s society. Both topics were very relevant to the audience.
For the Table topic session a question was posed to both contestants on the one lesson life has taught them. Ludmila York-Duncan explained how Toastmasters is fulfilling the one lesson life has taught her, which is to follow her dreams. TM Danaё explained how life has taught her never to give up and used examples of how in her life this has been practiced.
Each of the four contestants won in their respective clubs contests and then moved up to the Area Contest. Area 6 Governor Annette Berkel expressed her appreciation to all Clubs, judges and the Contest Chair for executing a very good speech contest.
The winners will represent St. Maarten during the Toastmasters District 81 Conference in May 18-20 at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort as they compete against winners from the various territories for the title of District 81 Speech contest winner. Persons interested in witnessing the showcase of great speakers and participating in workshops focusing on enhancing their communication and leadership skills can get more information by visiting www.caribbeantoastmasters.com