Area 38 Contest - 2015 | February 6, 2015

AREA 38 CONTEST-2015

 

The contest season usually brings in the competitive spirit among toastmasters in which they not only work to further their personal goals but assist other comrades in developing their speeches too! The friendly yet determined spirit manifests itself during contests and increases as the competition toughens.

 

The month of February is the month of area contests with Area 38 no exception. The contest was held on February 6 in the SABIC Academy, Riyadh under the auspices of the Area Governor TM Sultan Patel who represents SABIC Stars Toastmasters Club. The other clubs in the area include Desert Diamond and Arabian Stallions.

 

The area has seen some mighty speakers take to the stage and this year's contest was no different. Some of the finest toastmasters from all 3 clubs showed the power of articulate communication and personal commitment by delivering excellent speeches in all 4 categories. Each category had a maximum of 6 speakers as each club had sent a maximum of 2 representatives to the area.

 

The event began during late afternoon and was cordially and enthusiastically opened by the master of ceremony TM Syed Faisal who proudly talked about the prestige of Area 38. He invited the Area Governor to say a few words and then handed the lectern to the chief judge DTM James Edward Tarook who reiterated the general rules that audience and contestants must adhere to in order for the contest to proceed smoothly. The contestants and judges had been briefed before the commencement of the contest and were aware of their speaking slots.

 

The event kicked off on a positive note with the evaluation Contest Master DTM Tahir Nalg taking to the stage and mentioning the contest specific rules. He invited the target speaker TM Rock who spoke about being a play maker; not one who waits for opportunities or steals them, but rather, someone who creates opportunities for him or herself. He also related that to his personal life's journey of doing well in computer science. He shared his moment of joy after graduating in the field of his choice.

 

The speakers prepared their notes and vacated the room to wait for their turn in the isolation room. Each speaker evaluated one and the same target speaker and demonstrated his ability in analytics and constructive feedback. All the speakers gave their best and employed various techniques and points to relay their point to the audience.

 

The second session was the table topics segment that was presided over by TM Ibrahim from SABIC. He explained the specific criteria and chose the secret question from the chief judge. All speakers (except the first presenter) were escorted to the isolation room and the topic for all speakers went along the lines of "people hear your words but they feel your attitude. Please comment".

 

The funniest and most light hearted part of the event was the humorous speech session that was conducted by TM Rayees from Arabian Stallions. As usual, TM Rayees got life to the session and invited the 3 speakers to amuse the audience. TM Ibrahim Mahmoud talked about the pros and cons of being obese and left the audience laughing! TM Naqi talked about the incidences with his mother and the peculiarities in her that were typical of many other mothers. TM Viquar got the audience giggling throughout his entire speech with his pain on being perceived as an "uncle" because of the gray strands in his beard.

 

The most anticipated session of the event was the international speech session that was carried forward by the president of Desert Diamond Club TM Mustafa Hamdan. The draws had already been drawn and the first one to take the stage was TM Waqas who spoke about the power of words and their use as a tool to hurt or heal. TM Abdullah Al Jurf articulated his point about the constant need to question oneself and to seek answers from within in order to lead a better and more balanced life. TM Feras Alzahrani jovially yet immaculately talked about the importance of work/life balance that many of us tend to ignore. He talked about the retirement delusion and told the audience to live a balanced and enjoyable life from now as time lost is never regained.

 

TM Husam Alqasar used the toastmaster's motto of "we learn by doing" to make his point about the value of putting theoretical knowledge to practice. The process of executing learned concepts is not only valuable but also essential. TM Mohammad Al-Hajri derived inspiration from his oral braces and relayed to the audience the three lessons that he had learned from them. They taught him that it is important to be slow but sure, flexibility is strength, and success is progress only when the achievement is retained. The last in the line of speakers was TM Omar Khan who focused on the small mishaps of his life and how he had taken his blessings for granted until a little destitute small boy and girl changed his outlook of life and made him realize about the countless blessings that he had. His use of a very powerful and transformative story impacted the audience and made them thankful for the countless blessings that they have.

 

The functionaries and speakers were awarded for contributing towards the show and a picture session accompanied the awards distribution ceremony. After that, the most anticipated part of the evening began with the announcement of the winners. The first and second place winners in each category will represent Area 38 at the Division 'B' level in March 2015.

 

The third place winner in evaluation was TM Husam Alqasar, with TM Omar Khan in second place and TM Jibran Mohiuddin taking the first place award. The table topics session saw TM Fares Alzahrani in third place, TM Omar Khan in second place, and TM Naqi in first place. The humorous speech contest only had 1 declared winner as there were only 3 speakers. The funniest man of the evening was TM uncle Viquar who had impressed the judges with his "hairy tales". In International Speech, the third place was bagged by TM Syed Waqas, second place by TM Abdullah Al Jurf and first place by TM Omar Khan.

 

The highlight of the evening was that all first place awards in all 4 categories went to Arabian Stallions Toastmasters Club (ASTC). The other 2 clubs also gave a tough time to the speakers and performed very well. The functionaries played a vital role in the meeting and helped execute a great event!

 

The next step of the ladder is the Division 'B' conference in March 2015 and the torch bearers of the area will carry forward the lantern to win prizes in the division conference too!