International Speech Contest
This contest is considered the premier contest in Toastmasters and is so named because the winner of the club contest has the opportunity to compete with other worldwide winners in the grand final in the United States.
To be eligible to compete, the Toastmaster must:
- Have been an active member in good standing in a club which has been of good standing since the previous July 1.
- Have completed at least 6 manual speeches.
- Current district officers, officers elect or appointee officers are ineligible to compete.
The subject for the speech shall be selected by the participant and must be substantially original. Timing for the speech is nominally 5 to 7 minutes. However, contestants will be disqualified for speaking less than 4 minutes 30 seconds or more than 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Past Winners
Note: Names in Bold indicate current club members
1979 Bruce Cogan
1980 Jim Pearce
1981 N/A
1982 Jim Skinner
1983 Helen Lynch - won Area & Division
1984 Norma Parker
1985 David Hire
1986 Margaret Standaloft
1987 Geoff Kirkwood - r/u Area
1988 Geoff Kirkwood
1989 Terry Yates
1990 David Hire
1991 Steve Howard - won Area
1992 David Hire
1993 Steve Howard - won Area
1994 Steve Howard - won Area; r/u Division
1995 David Hire - r/u Area
1996 Steve Howard - won Area & Division
1997 Steve Howard - won Area, Division & DISTRICT 70
1998 Steve Howard - won Area, Division & DISTRICT 70
1999 Steve Howard - won Area, r/u Division
2000 Steve Howard - won Area, Division, r/u DISTRICT 70 !!
2001 David Hire – r/u Area
2002 Steve Howard - won Area, Division, 3rd DISTRICT 70 !
2003 Christopher Hire (Steve Howard, representing CityTalk, won Area)
2004 Steve Howard; Vanessa Gorman r/u Club, won Area & Division
2005 Steve Howard – won Area & Division
2006 Adrian Watts
2007 Andrew Garven
2008 Cedric Tong