The Olympics of Oratory: World Championship of Public Speaking

One of these 10 people will be crowned the new World Champion of Public Speaking on August 16th, 2008 at the Toastmasters International convention in Calgary, Alberta.

Each year, over 230,000 members in over 11,000 clubs in 92 countries around the world have the opportunity to participate in this contest where competitors deliver 7-minute speeches judged on core message, speech development, language, and delivery techniques.

The club contest is the first of six stages which culminate in the World Championship of Public Speaking contest. The 10 speakers left standing have each out-spoken and out-inspired fellow competitors at five previous contests. [Back in May, I bowed out in the quarter-finals.]

Here are the 2008 finalists for the World Championship of Public Speaking. As you can plainly see, there is no single “speaker mold”: they bridge four countries, both genders, numerous ages, and diverse backgrounds.

2008 World Championship of Public Speaking Finalists

Region 1: Rich Hopkins (Provo, Utah)

• Bio and Personal Links
  • Rich took 3rd place at the 2006 World Championship of Public Speaking.
  • It Takes a Village to Build a Champion: Rich’s blog where he is chronicling his journey to the World Championships. (It is featured in the Public Speaking Blogs list.)
• Speech Videos
  • Glorious Victory (Youtube video)
• In the News
  • Provo Man is toast of Toastmasters (Deseret News, June 13, 2008)
• Home club: unknown

Region 2: Robert MacKenzie (Santa Monica, California)

• Speech Videos
  • My Alter Ego (Region 2, 2008) (Review of this speech by Bob Freels)
  • Time (District 1, 2008)
• Home club: Westside Toastmasters (638), District 1

Region 3: LaShunda Rundles (Dallas, Texas)

• Interview with LaShunda Rundles about her Toastmasters World Championship victory
• Region-winning speech title: Dirty Little Secrets
• Home club: Town North Trendsetters (4533), District 50

Region 4: Martin Presse (Wetaskiwin, Alberta)

• In the News
  • Presse competes in speech contest (The Camrose Canadian, August 14, 2008)
  • Camrose man off to ‘olympics of oratory’ (Edmonton Journal, August 10, 2008)
• Region-winning speech title: I Believe in You
• District-winning speech title: Commit to Your Swing
• Home club: Camrose Toastmasters Club (1432), District 42

Region 5: Colin William (West Lafayette, Indiana)

• Home club: Hanna Center Toastmasters (5212), District 11

Region 6: Charlie Wilson (State College, Pennsylvania)

• In the News
  • Local Toastmaster Competes in World Championship (KDKA Video, July 15, 2008) – Charlie is interviewed by Kristine Sorensen and discusses his district, region, and world championship speeches.
  • The Power of Speech (Centre Daily Times, August 9, 2008)
• Home club: ARL/Penn State Pingers (7132), District 13

Region 7: Katherine Morrison (Massachusetts)

• In the News
  • Curry College Professor Recognized as the Best Public Speaker on the Eastern Seaboard (Curry College website, July 15, 2008)
• Region-winning speech title: Stand Up Again
• District-winning speech title: The Challenge
• Home club: Boston West Toastmasters (4735), District 31

Region 8: Henry Flowers IV (Chapin, South Carolina)

• Region-winning speech title: My First Time
• Home club: Richland (2500), District 58

Outside Regions – A: K. Loghandran (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

• Tough Love: Advice from K Loghandran on speech contest success
• Home club: Speakers’ Dream (220), District 51

Outside Regions – B: Jock Elliot (West End, Queensland, Australia)

• Bio and Personal Links
  • Jock has reached the World Championship of Public Speaking on four previous occasions, placing 3rd in 1994.
  • Argent Star Profile for Jock Elliott
• In the News
  • He’s the talk of the town (City South News, July 23, 2008)
• Home club: unknown