By Abdul Rahman M. Baig and Irfan Mohammed

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Some people quail at the thought of having to speak in front of an audience. Perhaps it is because they lack proper direction and simply need someone to guide them through the challenges of public speaking. However, Toastmasters in Kingdom is encouraging such people to become more articulate and providing them with a boost of confidence.

The annual competition for Division K, which is part of District 104 of Toastmaster International in Saudi Arabia, was held recently. In a pleasant ambience, members of Toastmasters fraternity gathered at Trident Hotel here to witness the Division K Annual Speech Contest. The event was a grand success and set a high standard in terms of its meticulous planning with the contest theme: Together, Towards Excellence.

The event began with Banner parade of all clubs under each area and finally Division K by its director and contest chair.

The Chief Sergeant at Arms TM Abdul Rahman read the Toastmasters mission. The contest Chairman DTM Riyaz Sarang opened the meeting with message “Togetherness is fuel that enables to achieve excellence” and Division K Director TM Samia Aqeel Khan gave the inspirational message focused on team work with three main aspects, Humility, Curiosity and Taking Risk.

The master of ceremony was a seasoned toastmaster TM Osman Bamasdoos, Past Division K Director. Seventeen speakers from four areas 06, 16, 28 and 35 participated in the contests in four categories: International speech; Table Topics Speech; Humorous Speech; and Evaluation Speech. All participants had moved into Division level after winning contests conducted earlier in their respective areas.

Omer Aqeel Khan (International Speech), Abdul Rahman Hassan (Humorous Speech), Omer Aqeel Khan in Evaluation Contest and Yousef Ahmed Abba (Table Topic Contest) won to qualify in upcoming mega competition of Toastmasters fraternity — Saudi Arabian Toastmaster International Contest 2019 (SATAC) — scheduled to be held in Abha in next month.

The winner of the International Speech Contest of SATAC 19 will represent the District 104 at Denver, Colorado in USA.

The winner of International Convention is termed as the World Champion of Public Speaking. In 2015 TM Mohammad Al Qahtani, an engineer working at Saudi Aramco, became the World Champion of Public Speaking.

The winner of the international speech conference, Omer Aqeel Khan of India, said "I am not looking at a trophy but looking at number of people whom I will be joining in Abha.

Other winner of table topic, Yousef Ahmed Abba from Chad, said, “I am excited and as well as concerned for qualifying for SATAC”.

The awards were presented by Toastmasters dignitaries including DTM Marwan Dashash, TM Samia Khan, DTM Riyaz Sarang, TM Aqeel Jamil Khan, DTM Rashid Ali, TM Osman Bamasdoos, TM Abdul Sami, chief judges and Contest masters. MC Osman conducted the event with aplomb.

Winners in International Speech are 1. Omer Aqeel Khan 2. Ahmed Yousef Abba 3. Aisha Ali and Chief Judge: DTM Rashid Ali, Contest Master: Prabhu Krishnan: In Humorous Speech 1. Abdul Rahman Hassan 2. Mona Haroun 3. Khaltoum Mohammed and Chief Judge: TM Syed Naser Khursheed, Contest Master: TM Aslam Afghani. In Evaluation Contest winners are 1. Omer Aqeel Khan 2. Yousef Ahmed Abba 3. Ahsan Javed and Chief Judge: TM Basheer Ambalavan, Contest Master: TM Hamza Haddar; Winners in Table Topic Contest are 1. Yousef Ahmed Abba 2. Hassan Fithai 3. Mahamat Abdul Rahman and Chief Judge: TM Abdullah Filimban , Contest Master: TM Mohammed Siraj.

Earlier, DTM Abdullah Filimban, club growth director, gave the club growth ribbon to Division K Director TM Samia Aqeel Khan and contest Chairman DTM Riyaz Sarang for their excellent performance in conducting the annual contest.

Past District 79 Governor DTM Joy Villanueva was the keynote speaker. In his speech he emphasized on team spirit in every aspect of life.

TM Lamis Samman, Area 6 Director was given a certificate of appreciation for the highest number of members added in Area 6. All the contest masters and judges for all the four contests were also given certificate of appreciation by DTM Riyaz A. Sarang, the contest chairman.