Contest Day

Intense feelings of dread, anticipation, and peculiarly excitement, overpower me. Today is Contest Day.

It's the Toastmasters International Speech Contest. What does that even mean? I'm not quite sure myself, let me go look it up. A Google of "Toasmasters International Speech Contest" brings up a number of relevant hits. There are Rulebooks, Speech Contest Manuals, Speech Contest Kits...lots of resourcs and materials.

Which brings me back to the original question: What is the Toastmasters International Speech Contest? As the name suggests, it is a contest whereby contestants compete. The speech types can vary. Last week, our club held an evaluation speech contest (the contestants listen to a speech, write their notes, and later present their evaluations). I am not ashamed to say that I won my club's competition last week. I won't deny that I was filled with great surprise as I seriously thought I had disqualified myself for reasons of timing (I thought my evaluation was too short but apparently it satisfied the time requirements).

For today's speech contest, the winner will move on and compete with other clubs in the district. The winners keep moving on and on and on until...California. The location of the big contest. I'm setting my expectations for today as realistically as possible. I want to get through my speech within 5-7 minutes. Yes, time matters. Less than 5 minutes and I'm disqualified and over 7 minutes and yes, you guessed it, disqualified.

More than just being on time, I also want to speak clearly, audibly and with confidence. The message means a lot to me. A lot more than the contest itself. The competition is secondary. I'm persuading people to not just become interested in a life threatening condition but take action for the fight to cure diabetes. Being an insulin dependent diabetic, I know the risks that I face medically and I want to go beyond raising awareness. I want people to care.

Deep breath in and I'm going to shove those overpowering feelings of dread and nervousness aside. As I say in my speech, it's time for action. For now, it's time to stand up and recite.