We held our first, and probably the last, hybrid speech contest. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, every speech contest has been conducted exclusively online except for the International level up until last year. This year, however, District 76, which covers the clubs in Japan, decided to hold division and district contests hybrid, the third and fourth rounds of the contest cycle, respectively.
As clubs are allowed to choose how to select the contest, we decided to hold it hybrid for some reasons. One. We wanted to give our contestants a choice as the Area Contests, the second round of the cycle, are going to be held online and we want our contestants a chance to deliver their speeches online. Also, some members live far away including in Korea. More importantly, we want the contestants to have an opportunity to deliver their speech in person because that is what public speaking is all about.
It was unfortunate that two of the six contestants had to withdraw their participation due to some urgent business, but the remaining four contestants delivered their well-prepared speeches. Their topics varied from something sensitive to something common to all of us. Congratulations to all of you, especially the winners!
On another note, the speech contests are supposed to be organized and managed by the members of the club. This contest was also organized by the members with the help of some Toastmasters friends from other clubs. Especially worthy of mention is that Yuko, one of the newest members of the club, took on the role of Contest Chair, who is the chief organizer of the contest. Simply put, she did her job beautifully. She read through the Contest Rulebook and other documents to acquire enough knowledge to run the contest. She, then, meticulously prepared the materials for the contestant briefing. On the day of the contest, she helped set up the equipment for the hybrid contest and led the contestants and contest officials to conduct a smooth contest. Thank you, Yuko.
Yuko was not the only person who contributed a lot. The founder of the club, KU, whole-heartedly guided Yuko in her preparation and invited many Toastmasters guests. Hideo, Chief Judge, made sure that all the judges and contest officials were properly prepared. Mayumi, who has expertise in hosting Zoom meetings, served as the Zoom host for the smooth transition between online and in-person contestants. Everyone else worked hard to make this annual event a huge success. Thank you, everyone.
We would like to thank all the guests who attended the contest for their support. We really appreciated your presence, which made the contest far more energetic and festive. Thank you so much for your participation.
It was unfortunate that two of the six contestants had to withdraw their participation due to some urgent business, but the remaining four contestants delivered their well-prepared speeches. Their topics varied from something sensitive to something common to all of us. Congratulations to all of you, especially the winners!
On another note, the speech contests are supposed to be organized and managed by the members of the club. This contest was also organized by the members with the help of some Toastmasters friends from other clubs. Especially worthy of mention is that Yuko, one of the newest members of the club, took on the role of Contest Chair, who is the chief organizer of the contest. Simply put, she did her job beautifully. She read through the Contest Rulebook and other documents to acquire enough knowledge to run the contest. She, then, meticulously prepared the materials for the contestant briefing. On the day of the contest, she helped set up the equipment for the hybrid contest and led the contestants and contest officials to conduct a smooth contest. Thank you, Yuko.
Yuko was not the only person who contributed a lot. The founder of the club, KU, whole-heartedly guided Yuko in her preparation and invited many Toastmasters guests. Hideo, Chief Judge, made sure that all the judges and contest officials were properly prepared. Mayumi, who has expertise in hosting Zoom meetings, served as the Zoom host for the smooth transition between online and in-person contestants. Everyone else worked hard to make this annual event a huge success. Thank you, everyone.
We would like to thank all the guests who attended the contest for their support. We really appreciated your presence, which made the contest far more energetic and festive. Thank you so much for your participation.