Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Toastmasters Area 16 of Division K of District 104 conducted its annual speech contest with a theme “Together Toward Tomorrow” here recently.

The contest comprised of four categories; humorous speech, table topics speech, evaluation, and international speech contests.

The chief Sergeant-at-Arms TM Abdul Rahman Hasan, at the area contest set the stage and read the mission of the Toastmasters. Welcoming the audience, Area 16 Director and Contest Chair TM Adam Issa thanked the entire contest organizing committee for their support in managing this mega event.

Inspirational message was delivered by TM Aqeel Jamil Khan, Past Division K, director. He emphasized on the importance of “Taking initiative and coming out of comfort zone”.

In his message, keynote speaker and Division K Director DTM Riyaz Sarang focused on the theme of “ones strength as an individual in the team and that strength of team is every individual member”.

The clubs, which are under Area 16 are PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club, Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club and Al Naghi Toastmasters Club. However PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club and Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club participated in Area level contest.

The area contest showcased the best talent of TM Yousef Ahmed Abba, TM Aisha, TM Fatema Ali & TM Fatima Gadi who enthralled the audience with their eloquence and oratory skills. ‏International speech segment is the epicenter of the event wherein the champion can compete up to the international arena whereas the other winners will only be able to reach the district level.

The Area 16 contest commenced with the humorous speech segment. The first place was bagged by Aisha Ali of of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club, while Fatima Gadi of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club, Abdulrehman Koidal of Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club took the first and second runner places. The chief judge for the contest was TM Osman Omer, and the contest master was TM Hamada Dangrama.

The Evaluations Speech Contest was preceded by a test speech delivered by TM Mahesh of PACE Toastmasters Club. The contestants evaluated the speech given by the test speaker. TM Yousef Ahmed Abba of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club won the first place, while TM Fatema Ali of Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club and TM Aisha Ali of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club won the first and second runner up place respectively. The contest master TM Osman Omer ran the contest very professionally and DTM Riyaz Sarang was the chief judge for the competition.

The Table Topic Speech Contest was another interesting event where the contestants had to deliver an impromptu speech for 1 to 2 minutes on a topic given on the spot. The first place was bagged by Yousef Ahmed Abba of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club, while the second and third place winners were Fatema Ali Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club and Nahed Adam of PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club. The contest was anchored by TM Aqeel Jamil Khan and the same was judged by TM Abdul Sami.

In the International Speech contest (5 to 7 minutes) speeches delivered on a topic of speaker’s choice devoid of sex, religion or politics, the contestants from the two clubs of Area 16 enthralled the audience with their inspirational and thought-provoking ideas. All the three places for the International Speech contest were occupied by PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club. TM Yousef Ahmed Abba bagged the first place, while TM Aisha Ali and TM Abdulrahman Koidal of Galaxy of Stars Advanced Toastmasters Club won the second and the third place respectively. DTM Riyaz Sarang was the contest master for International Speech contest, and the chief judge was TM Abdul Sami.

All the winners and runner ups were given plaques and the winner and the first runner up have qualified for the division contest which will be held on Feb. 28.