Do you dare to take a shot?

Some weeks ago, two of our Tampere Toastmasters members went international! represented by Adriana Vasilache and Anna Männikko.

In Toastmasters, we do not only organize meetings but also local (Tampere) area (within Finland) and division B level (Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), district competitions (previous plus Poland).

… and … To Infinity and beyond!

Well, within the Globe, Earth. – and yes, this line is from Toy Story.

You see… 

There are two rounds of competitions: One during Fall and the second one during Spring. 

Fall competitions include Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests (Improvised Speech), and Spring competitions include International Speech and Evaluation Contests (more info). 

So if you are a member! Start thinking about the next contest! It is an excellent opportunity to grow and meet fellow toastmasters in our district 108 (link).

It is a big deal that someone from our club competes in the division competition. 

It is so because contestants are practising their roles for a while. They experience a qualitative communication leap between competition and competition! Also, the audience and fellow competitors only get more challenging! So yes! It is a big thing.

Adriana had his Speech titled…. Have a shot! She spent quite a big part trying to answer Who am I? and not an insignificant number of shots! 

In a short sentence, she questioned us on …What are the things which bring you joy? Asked us to write them down, and take a pick each day, and get closer to ourselves.

…What are the things which bring you joy? Asked us to write them down, and take a pick each day, and get closer to ourselves.

Adriana Vasilache, 2021

I am sure there were not real shots! But I definitely wondered the first time she made the Speech. 

She won the Third prize! – on the very competitive competition.

Anna Männikkö evaluated a given speech. She has been preparing for a while in our meetings! But to get there, she already participated in the Local Tampere competition, Area competition, and finally, in the District 108 competition! 

Also, Mina Kostova gave her a prep session!

It went great! 

She did have a shot! 

And she performed to the level of the competition!

Competitions are great because they expose you and test your current progress as a Toastmaster in a less comfy environment while measuring your performance with others. The thing is that you are only competing with yourself, and that is the whole point.

Competitions expose you and test your current progress as a Toastmaster in a less comfy environment

Are we done!! No, you also push your progress a little bit further in a short amount of time, and you get to know great contestants too! Especially when the competitions happen face to face.

What are you waiting for? Visit our club, and be our next contestant representing Tampere Toastmasters.

Written By Jose Maria Perez-Macias (Medium, Personal Website, LinkedIn)