Topical success

John Evans

Congratulations to John M Evans, BSA Member since 2006, on winning the 'Topics' competition at the 2007 Association of Speakers Clubs National Conference.

This is an impromptu speaking competition, in which each of the eight competitors (who had previously won at least two other competitions to get there) is invited to speak for three minutes in front of an audience of 200 people. They are called into the room in turn, told the title of the speech, or 'topic', and the only time to prepare is the time it takes to walk on stage.

John's topic was 'habits', which he says "was good for me as I know a good deal about monastic practices, and could talk about monks who wear habits as they live their lives by habit". It was an enormous thrill to be acclaimed by the audience as the clear winner - a big change from the embarrassed looks he remembers from a few years ago. He reckons that all that practice in word substitution probably helps him to think quickly on his feet.

Many people who stammer join the Association of Speakers Clubs or Toastmasters to practice public speaking - see our Public Speaking web page.

From the Winter 2007 issue of Speaking Out