Confessions of a Shopaholic….. oopsss…Contestant
Hi all,
Participation is more important than winning. Maybe you may not believe me, because I was able to take home a nice trophy as first runner up of the JTC evaluation contest on 30 Aug 2010.
However participation at contests more than once as contestant or contest official does help !! It helps me reduce my nervousness and therefore enjoy the contest more. I have participated at least 4 times in contests…I ended up for intl’ speech- on club and division level, for humorous speech on club level and for evaluation contest on division level.…
And don’t ask me how many times I was tally counter, sergeant-at- arms or judge at club, area and division contest. Being a participant more than once helped me to be less nervous because I was familiar with the contest procedures and the judging criteria. Being several times volunteer individual evaluator also helps… I thought I was more than ready…
So on 30 August 2010, I was dead calm… because lots of things were familiar to me… the venue was familiar, the food was familiar, my task as club treasurer was familiar. Still I really appreciated a cup of coffee from a very supportive Toastmasters’ friend. I even almost forgot to eat… Was it because I was too busy..or because I was still nervous, despite everything…
Even the faces of the visiting toastmasters were familiar . I knew 99,9 % of them already because I met them years, months, day(s) before the contest at Toastmasters’ contests, officer’s trainings and convention committee meetings . I even noticed dignitaries such as 2 division governors and 2 area governors.. Wow, we are only having a contest on club level but the caliber of the visiting crowd was like a contest audience of a few levels higher…
Then I wondered : “ Which one of them will be the test speaker that I have to evaluate for evaluation contest… Which one of them smiled a bit too much at me or try to avoid looking at me because this person knew that I am an contestant ? “
It turned out that the test speaker was the “smiley” one !! When I saw Ted as the test speaker coming on the stage : then all my nervousness levels went from 0 % to 200 % !!! What the (beep)… , Ted was a past first runner- up AND Division winner of the humorous speech contest. So he participated twice on Division I level and ended on a honorable place…As a Division winner, he represented our Division I on international level !! Oh dear, what the…(without beep)… Then after his speech and all of us contestants leaving the room, all contestants said out loud or deep in their heart: “What the …(I don’t remember whether it was with or without beep) : How are we going to evaluate such a great speech ? “
However, I had no time to blame the chair or chief judge of the contest for choosing such a challenging test speaker, because we only had 5 minutes time to prepare our evaluations. Then.. showtime !! When I started my evaluation in front of the audience, strangely, my nervousness decreased from 200 % to 5 % in the first 10 seconds !!! I even enjoyed delivering my 2-3 minutes speech !
As I was the first person who had to deliver her evaluation on the contest, I had the privilege to listen to all the evaluations… When I heard the competitors, I thought several times: “ Oh he also noticed that” , or , “why on earth did I not notice that ?” That last sentence came in my mind often especially when I heard Matthew’s evaluation. His observations and suggestions were more meaningful and spot on ! His participation in more than one contest finally paid off… I knew that the nicest trophy was not for me… This made my nervousness all of a sudden fall to minus 100 % and I just decided to comfort myself and relax during the rest of the competition.
All of a sudden I noticed that the 3 main roles of the contest officials (chair, chief judge and toastmaster of the contest) were all first timers. Some of them were the last persons to eat dinner after 9 pm… Kudos to them, because if I were them, I would almost die out of stress and nervousness, while handling lots of (un)predicable and unfamiliar stuff for the first time in a more formal setting.
I also happily noticed that many of our club members helped out as sergeant at arms, timer, tally counter and that we also got some help from visiting Toastmasters.
Then I realized that an event such as a club contest could not be possible without the hard work and courage of the contest officials and the preparation and guts of the contestants !
Participation in front or behind the scene is indeed important and will help us to lift us to the next level of comprehension, courage and calmness.
So who wants to participate as contest official at the upcoming Area I-1 contest ? And who wants to participate as contestant/contest official at the international speech and table topics club contest in January/February 2011 ??
Cheers,
Harlina
Contestant JTC Evaluation Contest
30 Aug 2010
Participation is more important than winning. Maybe you may not believe me, because I was able to take home a nice trophy as first runner up of the JTC evaluation contest on 30 Aug 2010.
However participation at contests more than once as contestant or contest official does help !! It helps me reduce my nervousness and therefore enjoy the contest more. I have participated at least 4 times in contests…I ended up for intl’ speech- on club and division level, for humorous speech on club level and for evaluation contest on division level.…
And don’t ask me how many times I was tally counter, sergeant-at- arms or judge at club, area and division contest. Being a participant more than once helped me to be less nervous because I was familiar with the contest procedures and the judging criteria. Being several times volunteer individual evaluator also helps… I thought I was more than ready…
So on 30 August 2010, I was dead calm… because lots of things were familiar to me… the venue was familiar, the food was familiar, my task as club treasurer was familiar. Still I really appreciated a cup of coffee from a very supportive Toastmasters’ friend. I even almost forgot to eat… Was it because I was too busy..or because I was still nervous, despite everything…
Even the faces of the visiting toastmasters were familiar . I knew 99,9 % of them already because I met them years, months, day(s) before the contest at Toastmasters’ contests, officer’s trainings and convention committee meetings . I even noticed dignitaries such as 2 division governors and 2 area governors.. Wow, we are only having a contest on club level but the caliber of the visiting crowd was like a contest audience of a few levels higher…
Then I wondered : “ Which one of them will be the test speaker that I have to evaluate for evaluation contest… Which one of them smiled a bit too much at me or try to avoid looking at me because this person knew that I am an contestant ? “
It turned out that the test speaker was the “smiley” one !! When I saw Ted as the test speaker coming on the stage : then all my nervousness levels went from 0 % to 200 % !!! What the (beep)… , Ted was a past first runner- up AND Division winner of the humorous speech contest. So he participated twice on Division I level and ended on a honorable place…As a Division winner, he represented our Division I on international level !! Oh dear, what the…(without beep)… Then after his speech and all of us contestants leaving the room, all contestants said out loud or deep in their heart: “What the …(I don’t remember whether it was with or without beep) : How are we going to evaluate such a great speech ? “
However, I had no time to blame the chair or chief judge of the contest for choosing such a challenging test speaker, because we only had 5 minutes time to prepare our evaluations. Then.. showtime !! When I started my evaluation in front of the audience, strangely, my nervousness decreased from 200 % to 5 % in the first 10 seconds !!! I even enjoyed delivering my 2-3 minutes speech !
As I was the first person who had to deliver her evaluation on the contest, I had the privilege to listen to all the evaluations… When I heard the competitors, I thought several times: “ Oh he also noticed that” , or , “why on earth did I not notice that ?” That last sentence came in my mind often especially when I heard Matthew’s evaluation. His observations and suggestions were more meaningful and spot on ! His participation in more than one contest finally paid off… I knew that the nicest trophy was not for me… This made my nervousness all of a sudden fall to minus 100 % and I just decided to comfort myself and relax during the rest of the competition.
All of a sudden I noticed that the 3 main roles of the contest officials (chair, chief judge and toastmaster of the contest) were all first timers. Some of them were the last persons to eat dinner after 9 pm… Kudos to them, because if I were them, I would almost die out of stress and nervousness, while handling lots of (un)predicable and unfamiliar stuff for the first time in a more formal setting.
I also happily noticed that many of our club members helped out as sergeant at arms, timer, tally counter and that we also got some help from visiting Toastmasters.
Then I realized that an event such as a club contest could not be possible without the hard work and courage of the contest officials and the preparation and guts of the contestants !
Participation in front or behind the scene is indeed important and will help us to lift us to the next level of comprehension, courage and calmness.
So who wants to participate as contest official at the upcoming Area I-1 contest ? And who wants to participate as contestant/contest official at the international speech and table topics club contest in January/February 2011 ??
Cheers,
Harlina
Contestant JTC Evaluation Contest
30 Aug 2010
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