Des Plaines Toastmasters holds evaluation, speech contests

Des Plaines Toastmasters Club No. 1645 held its 2016 Evaluation and Humorous Speech Contests Aug. 29 at Oakton Arms Independent Living Center, 1665 Oakton Place.

Among the guests were Northeast Area 62 Director Emily Liu, Northeast Division Director Sue Chudasama, Southwest Area 34 Director Carol Henry, and three members of UOP Toastmasters No. 8623.

Rich Ludwig of Des Plaines captured first place in the Evaluation contest; Romeo Gimeno of Des Plaines captured second place; Terry Przybylski of Des Plaines and Ralph Dellar of Park Ridge also competed.

Contestants listened to guest speaker Will Gleason present a critique on the presentation, with suggestions for improving it, and were judged on their critiquing style.

Marguerite O'Connor of Glenview captured first place in the Humorous contest with "Impermanence," featuring hilarious moments from 30 years as a funeral director, mortuary school instructor and now funeral celebrant.

Romeo Gimeno of Des Plaines captured second place with "Honey, We have Got to Talk," hilariously recalling mistakes he made when he first started doing his own laundry.

Ludwig and O'Connor will represent Des Plaines against contestants from five other clubs in the Des Plaines/Rosemont area at the Area 62 Evaluation and Humorous contests, which will be held Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Des Plaines Toastmasters No. 1645 meets from 7-8:45 p.m. the first, third and fifth Mondays, alternating between two locations within Des Plaines. The Monday, Sept. 19, meeting will be held in the Community Room at Oakton Arms Independent Living Center, 1665 Oakton Place.

The Oct. 3, 17 and 31, plus the Nov. 3 and 17 and Dec. 19 meetings will be held in Room B at Des Plaines Public Library at 1501 Ellinwood. (The Monday, Dec. 5, Holiday Party (with gift auction and potluck) will be held in larger Room C and start at 6:30 p.m.

All meeting dates appear online at http://1645.toastmastersclubs.org/directions.html, as well as on a flyer at Des Plaines Public Library. Drop-in visitors are welcome to visit any club meeting (including the holiday party) to meet the ethnically-diverse, friendly members or observe the Toastmasters program in action.

New members are assigned an experienced member as mentor-coach to prepare them for their Ice Breaker, as well as the nine following speeches to prepare them to perform club meeting leadership roles, and to orient them into Toastmasters.

For more information about the club, visit 1645.toastmastersclubs.org or contact Rich Ludwig at vpm-1645@toastmastersclubs.org.

To learn more about the Toastmasters communication and leadership skill development program, visit the Toastmasters International website, www.toastmasters.org.

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