Speech Contests
Aug 15th, 2008

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.

Update (August 16): LaShunda Rundles is the 2008 World Champion of Public Speaking. K. Loghandran placed 2nd, and Katherine Morrison placed 3rd.

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)

Region 2: Robert MacKenzie (Santa Monica, California)

Region 3: LaShunda Rundles (Dallas, Texas)

Region 4: Martin Presse (Wetaskiwin, Alberta)

Region 5: Colin William (West Lafayette, Indiana)

Region 6: Charlie Wilson (State College, Pennsylvania)

Region 7: Katherine Morrison (Massachusetts)

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)

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
  • Home club: unknown

This is one of many public speaking articles featured on Six Minutes.
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Andrew Dlugan
Andrew Dlugan is the editor and founder of Six Minutes. He teaches courses, leads seminars, coaches speakers, and strives to avoid Suicide by PowerPoint. He is an award-winning public speaker and speech evaluator. Andrew is a father and husband who resides in British Columbia, Canada.

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Blogs Referencing "The Olympics of Oratory: World Championship of Public Speaking"

  1. A New World Champion « POWER

    Aug 16th, 2008

    [...] placed second, and and Region VII’s Katherine Morrison placed third. Check out the blog Six Minutes for pictures and profiles of all the [...]

  2. A New World Champion « Brinker Toastmasters

    Aug 18th, 2008

    [...] Malaysia placed second, and Region VII’s Katherine Morrison placed third. Check out the blog Six Minutes for pictures and profiles of all the [...]

  3. The Public Speaking Blog » Blog Archive » Women Speakers Just Made Public Speaking History (LaShunda Rundles, You Are Amazing!)

    Aug 19th, 2008

    [...] The winner this year beat over 2500 speakers from all over the world… and she is not even a professional speaker. Her good name is LaShunda Rundles. What’s even more outstanding is this – LaShunda is the first woman to win the contest in more than 20 years! (She’s only the 4th woman to win since the contest began in 1938 – though Toastmasters was a “male only” organization for many years, as quoted from Darren La Croix) To see the other finalists, click here. [...]

  4. Spoken Gems » Rich Hopkins: Glorious Victory: Remarkable Speeches, Rhetorical Masterpieces, Impressive Monologues

    Aug 20th, 2008

    [...] information about the finalists can be found at SixMinutes Darren LaCroix: Anyone can do [...]

  5. Presentation skills ~ tellingpeople

    Sep 26th, 2008

    Public speaking competitions…

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    I really mean that – why bother with competitions. I honestly and genuinely can’t see the point. I don’t want to be rude to people who are entering (and doing will in such things – see here, for example) but to me it seems to be akin…

Comments for "The Olympics of Oratory: World Championship of Public Speaking"

  1. Sherri Raftery, M. Ed.

    Aug 20th, 2008

    Congrats to ALL the contestants – It takes a thick skin to get up there and give it all you got – YOU ALL did that!

    Great to see BOTH LaShunda and Kathy ROCK the stage!!

    Sherri Raftery

    http://www.findyourplatform.com

  2. Shannon

    Aug 22nd, 2008

    I checked the TI site to see who’d won and could find nothing. I Googled and found an article in Dallas about the winner (LaShunda) and your site. Thanks for the info. I particularly like your links to Youtube speeches.

  3. Andrew Dlugan

    Aug 22nd, 2008

    Shannon:
    I, too, have been disappointed by the slow response time of news being posted on the TI site. That’s one of the reasons I decided to post information on the finalists and winners on my site.

  4. Adrienne Zurub

    Aug 23rd, 2008

    Congratulations World Champion, LaShunda Rundles on your victory and awesome speech!
    All Toastmasters are proud and excited about your stunning accomplishment(s).
    My warmest regards to all of the participants in the 2008 World Championship of Public Speaking competition.
    Adrienne Zurub
    http://adriennezurub.typepad.com
    EastSide Toastmasters
    Club 6500
    Shaker Heights, Ohio

  5. SL Liew

    Oct 3rd, 2008

    Wow… great to see the write up of each of the finalist. I have been to 4 WCPS but never really got to know the background more about each contestant except during the interview. Then one can forget. Here you have written down for all to see and admire and be inspired. Thanks.