Inspiring Speeches Win Big at the Timely Talkers Speech Contests in North Aurora

Timely Talkers, a Toastmasters club in North Aurora, proudly announces the winners from its recent club speech contests -- the Speech Evaluation Contest and the International Speech Contest. Held on Wednesday, January 29th, both contests offered members of Timely Talkers the opportunity to begin to advance through levels of progressing speech contests that are organized by the renowned Toastmasters International.  

During the first half of the evening at the Timely Talkers winter speech competition, the audience enjoyed listening to evaluation speeches during which the contestants critiqued a predetermined pattern speaker. Often considered the most challenging speech contest within Toastmasters, the Speech Evaluation Contest requires contestants to first listen to the same pattern speaker, followed by their efforts to deliver impactful and well-structured speeches with only 5 minutes of preparation time.  Winning first place, John Wesser shined in his review of the pattern speaker, highlighting both positive portions of the speech, along with areas for improvement. Earning a very respectable second place, Dan Taddei was also recognized at the contest. 

In the International Speech Contest portion of the evening, Jim Casey took home top honors after sharing a series of heartwarming stories revealing unexpected miracles. Barbara Brungart earned second place with an inspiring reflection of creative leadership no matter one's place in the flock.  

The first and second place winners from both contests will now advance to the Area 11 Contest to compete against winners from other area clubs.  This contest is scheduled for Saturday, February 15th, at the Batavia Public Library in Batavia, IL.  Following the Area contest, winning contestants have the opportunity to work their way through a series of subsequent levels of speech contests.  Final contestants of the Speech Evaluation Contest will compete at the District level, while contestants in the International Speech Contest hope to vie for the title of World Champion of Public Speaking at the Toastmasters International Convention scheduled for later this year.  The public is invited to attend all of the speech contests. 

About Timely Talkers
Established in 1999, Timely Talkers is a Toastmasters International club that meets regularly in North
Aurora on the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Wednesday of each month. The club offers speaking and leadership
opportunities in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are always welcome. For more
information about Timely Talkers or the International Speech and Speech Evaluation Contests, please contact:
Karen McJilton, Timely Talkers, VP of Public Relations
630.336.4492
timelytalkers2@gmail.com  
www.timelytalkers.org