A Win

As I think I must have said before, it's contest season for Toastmasters, my public speaking organization. For me that means two things. There is the inevitable string of requests that I run the raffle for various contest, and I've done that a time or two so far. I also, of course, enter the contests myself, sometimes going far and sometimes not. Yesterday was the second round for me as a contestant, following the opening club round.

It was weeks ago that I won the first round. The time in between was even longer because the second round was delayed, and so I was concerned that I would struggle to recall my speech at all. This speech is in the "Tall Tales" contest, so it's akin to a Paul Bunyan or John Henry-type story of fanciful exaggerations. Mine concerns the origin of laughter, incorporating both ghosts and the Marx Brothers. I do not find that distinguishing myself from others is my problem.

As it turned out, I needn't have worried about remembering my speech. After a few runs through in the couple days leading up to the contest, it was back in my mind, perhaps improved in a few spots where I thought of a slightly better word or phrase. I was advised that I had improved over my first performance of the speech in a number of ways, some of which sprung from conscious decisions and others of which were just from additional repetitions.

I competed against one man, who I found was in his first-ever contest. He was not too bad at all. I fretted over whether he might be able to best me, seeing in his speech some real strong points, including some things that I don't think I do well. As it turned out, the judges found me superior (which I well know is a finding only partly based on merit), sending me on to the next round. There will be little time to rest on my laurels or to forget anything this time, as that will be in just a couple of weeks. I look forward to it.