2004 The World Championship
of Public Speaking

Dear Toastmasters,

Warm greetings from Reno, Nevada!

I am pleased to report to you on the results of
The World Championship of Public Speaking
that was held at Reno on 21-8-04.

9 contestants took part in the hall of
1,512 Toastmasters and guests for the coveted title
to be the 2004 World Champion in Public Speaking.

The atmosphere was filled with excitement
and anticipation. Who would emerge
as the World Champion?

The 9 participants represented the best of the best
from the 10,000+ clubs around the world.
They had practised, rehearsed their speeches
hundreds of times, and had their speeches evaluated
hundreds of times for this final moment.

The Contest started at 9am. At 11.32am,
the results were announced by the incoming
International President, Jon Grenier as:


1st place
Randy Harvey - District 7, Region I
Speech Title : "Lessons from fat dad"

2nd place
Douglas Krugger - District 74, South Africa
Speech Title : "Hold my hand"

3rd place
James Webb - District 47
Speech Title : "The ride of life"

There were many valuable lessons learnt
from the speeches delivered by the finalists.


The standard of the Contest, if I may describe it,
as "the bars are being raised every year".


I will like to end by quoting
the words of a finalist:


"It is not what we have that makes us what we are,
but it is doing good what we have that makes us a star!"


Reporting from Reno...

Low Yat Seow
LGET (Dits 51)

District 51 Champion - Stephen Fernando...

Dear Toastmasters

A very good day from Reno, Nevada; 15 hours behind KL time or 19 hours by plane (excluding times for stopovers) from KLIA!

The 73rd Toastmasters International Convention is being held at Reno Hilton.

We have a great and exciting news for you!

Our District Champion, Stephen Fernando, was placed second in the Interdistrict Speech Contest that was held on 17th August 2004. There were 10 contestants in the Contest where all of the Districts outside of the USA and Canada took part. Out of the 76 Districts in the World, 14 are outside of the US and Canada.

Details of the results are as follows:

1st place :
Douglas Krugger - District 74 (South Africa)
Speech Title : "The real hero"

2nd place :
Stephen Fernando - District 51
Speech Title : "If at first you do not succeed"

3rd place :
Erick Rainey - District 71 (Britian and Ireland)
Speech Title : "Which dog do you stroke?"

The standards of the Contest were superior and it is indeed a fantastic achievement for Stephen and the District!

Talking about Contests, club and area contests are being held across the District. Please be reminded on the following points:

1. For International Speech Contest, a contestant must complete 6 or more C&L speeches;

2. The contestant must be a member of good standing; i.e. the member has paid the current due;

3. The club must be in good standing.

If you are in doubt whether a member or a club is in good standing, please contact Ms Debbie Horne of the WHQ for verification.

The above criteria apply from the Club level onwards. An example will illustrate this. If a member completed only 5 speeches won a club contest and also emerged as an Area Champion. he /she will be disqualified at the Division Contest as the contestant did not satisfy the requirement of completing 6 or more speeches at the time where he/she first took part at the Club Contest. Hence, Club Presidents, Area Governors, Division Governors & Contest Chairs please keep the Contest Rules in mind.

This is your LGET reporting from Reno, Nevada!


Low Yat Seow

2004 Contests Results

Humorous Speech Contest

Champion : Ronnie Loo
1st Runner-up : Suriakumar


Speech Evaluation Contest

Champion : Sivin Kit
1st Runner-up : Patricia Tan

Congratulations to the winners who will be representing BANGSAR TM Club at the Area W1 Contests on 22nd Sep 2004

Humour / Evaluation Contests 2004

Date: 17th August 2004

Contests Chair: Lakhmichand M.A.


Humour Speech Contestants:

Audrey L Fernando
Loo Sung King Ronnie
Pratap Tirunaukarasu
Suriakumar Arulampalam


Speech Evaluation Contestants:

Audrey L Fernando
Sivin Kit Hsiao Ming
Tan C.H. Patricia
Tirunaukarasu Ponnusamy