Toastmasters regaled the members of their clubs and guests with their oratory skills at the Area 25 Annual Speech Contest held last week in the auditorium of Classic Restaurant here. Thirty-two speakers from four toastmasters clubs participated in the contests in four categories: International speech; Table Topics Speech; Humorous Speech; and Evaluation Speech. All participants had moved into this level after winning contests conducted earlier by their respective clubs. Syed Mansour Shah won the first place in International Speech contest, whereas Mohammed Amin and Raheema Mustafa won second and third places respectively. In Table Topics speech contest, which require the speakers to deliver impromptu speeches, Syed Mansour Shah was adjudged the first place winner whereas Balachandran Pillai and Mubarak Ahmed won second and third place respectively. In Humorous speeches, speaker after speaker had the auditorium in splits with their timing, spontaneity and humor. Mohammed Anasuddin got the first prize while Khateeja Habeeb was adjudged second place winner and Sankaranunni M.K. won third prize. In Speech Evaluation contest, speakers highlighted their strength and gave constructive feedback on the speech by a test speaker. Rahima Mustafa won first place, while Mohammed Amin and Safi H. Jannaty got second and third place respectively. The first and second place winners in all of the four categories will participate in Division F Annual Conference, which will be held on April 1. In his welcome address, the Area Governor Prakashan Palakkadavath briefed the audience about the achievements made by the clubs in the Area during the year. Especially, that two of the clubs, Madhuram Malayalam and Urdu Toastmasters club got the President's distinguished club status within the first six months of the current year. One of the highlights of the event was spectacular performance by six children of two gavel clubs, Creative Gavel Club and Madhuram Malalyam Gavel club. Krishna Kumar inspired the audience during a short motivational talk. The event was attended by Division F Governor Alex Philip, who delivered a motivational address and showed ways in which toastmasters can attain their goals in their journey. The event was ably anchored by a senior toastmaster Ziya ur Rahman, who was assisted by four contest masters; Lalit Grover, Mohammed Abdul Saleem, Venugopal Padmavilas and Mohammed Ali K.M. Another experienced toastmaster Satish Kumar was the chief judge. Toastmasters International is an organization which provides a platform to enhance public speaking skills in a friendly atmosphere. There are more than 292,000 members and over 14,350 toastmasters clubs in 122 countries. After being declared a separate District, the popularity of Toastmasters is growing in Saudi Arabia. — SG
