Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. -
It was the World Series of Public Speaking, the Olympics of oratory, the final bout for the heavyweight title of "World
Champion of Public Speaking." Who would win? Recently, a crowd of nearly 2,000 Toastmasters from around the world gathered
in Washington D.C. to cheer for their favorite speaker at the Toastmasters International Speech Contest.
Edward Hearn, a Toastmaster from Chicago, Illinois, emerged victorious
and claimed the title of 2006 World Champion of Public Speaking. His speech, "Bouncing Back," dealt with the importance
of resiliency. He explained, "In life, all of us will have circumstances where life treats us like the toy punching bag
I had as a child. It will knock you down. The question is, how will you bounce back?"
Hearn is a lawyer and minister who enjoyed speech and debate classes in high school and moot
court in law school. Until now, he considered public speaking a hobby. Winning the speech contest was the step he needed to
reach his goal of becoming a professional public speaker.
Hearn's theme of "failure is not final" was based on personal experience: It took him seven attempts
to pass the bar exam, and he eventually became a successful criminal defense attorney.
The speech contest culminated
Toastmasters International's four-day annual convention, held August 23-26, 2006, at the Washington Hilton, in Washington
D.C. A panel of 20 Toastmasters judges evaluated 10 contestants from different parts of the world, all of whom had advanced
to the finals following a year-long process of elimination, using club, area, district and regional speech competitions. Criteria
used in judging included speech content, organization, voice quality and gestures.
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and
leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. The organization currently has 211,000 members in 10,500 clubs in
90 countries. Since its founding 81 years ago in October 1924, the organization has helped more than four million men and
women give presentations with poise and confidence.
For
information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org.
