TAR UC Students Embraced the Art of Public Speaking

Date: 30 January 2021

Time: 9 am to 3 pm

Venue: Zoom

Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition. Each year, thousands of Toastmasters compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International speech contests, and this year was no exception. Thus, in conjunction with the International Speech and Evaluation Contests 2020-2021, TAR UC Toastmasters Club in Penang Branch Campus sent two students- Victoria Ng Shean and Ng Tze Thong, to participate in a joint Area contest held on 30 January 2021 to demonstrate their speaking skills and possibly stand a chance to compete at the Division level.

The 2020-2021 Area N1 & N3: International Speech and Evaluation Contest, which was held online, provided a platform for contestants of all ages to prove their speaking abilities and hone their communication skills. On top of that, the evaluation contest provided invaluable experience for contestants to learn and master the art of effective evaluation and feedback, which is of utmost importance when one is in a leadership position.

A total of 24 clubs from Area N1 and N3 participated in the contest, encompassing distinguished clubs such as YMCA TMC of Penang, Intel Penang TMC, Intel MSSC TMC, etc. Each contestant was given the opportunity to deliver a five to seven minutes speech on any subject they chose, while those who partake in Evaluation Contest were given two to three minutes to provide their evaluations on a test speech. With the participation of highly competent speakers from different Toastmasters Club, the competition was indeed intense, but Victoria Ng Shean and Ng Tze Thong proved their speaking prowess.

Victoria Ng Shean triumphantly took second place for both the Area N3 International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest. Even though she did not make it to the Division level, it was nevertheless a proud and salient achievement for TARUC Toastmasters Club. This showed that the COVID-19 pandemic did not undermine Toastmasters’ strengths, as it continued to thrive even amid the pandemic. “One of the best decisions I have made is joining Toastmasters. I joined because I wanted to improve my communication skills and now, I am a leader that possesses more than just communication skills,” Tze Thong shared. “Before I entered TARUC TMC, I had absolutely zero confidence in public speaking and talking to a big audience. TARUC TMC helped me realize the endless possibilities I can make by taking a step out of my comfort zone. Thanks to TARUC TMC, I can now comfortably emcee and speak to a large audience,” Victoria added.