Author Competes in World Championships of Public Speaking

The World Championships of Public Speaking, the pinnacle of the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, may not seem like a big deal, but when you consider that the average income of a full-time professional speaker is $220,000 the competition takes on new meaning.
Presently, the East Coast of the USA is preparing for the Regional Championships, which will be held on June 16 and 17, in New Jersey. The region extends from Northern Virginia, all the way to Nova Scotia, Canada. The winner of this event will continue to the World Championships, held in August, in Washington DC. With the exception of the period during World War Two, the championships have been held every year, since 1938.

Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization, dedicated to improving the public speaking and leadership abilities of its members. For a dues payment of less than $60 per year, members can work their way through a series of forty speeches, most ranging from 5-7 minutes, as they complete educational manuals, which teach both basic and advanced techniques of public speaking. Along the way, members earn designations, ranging from Competent Toastmaster, to Advanced Toastmaster Gold.

The competition begins at the local level, where a toastmaster must compete to become the champion of his local club. Next, the club winners compete at division level. Division winners go on to district competition. District winners go on to regionals.

In the competition, contestants will give a 5-7 minute, before a live audience and a panel of judges. Although the competitors may speak on any topic, most competitors chose to present an inspirational message. The time limits are strictly observed. Competitors are allowed 30 seconds of leeway, but if they speak for seven minutes and thirty one seconds, they are disqualified from the competition.

“You would think speaking for seven minutes would be easy.” Says regional contestant, Antonio Graceffo. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Antonio is representing a club in Northern Virginia, where he has been working as a professional motivational speaker and sales trainer. “When I do paid-speaking, I am expected to fill a forty-five minute time slot. If I go over, the client gets more for his money. But in this competition, I have seven minutes to win the audience over, make them like me, suck them in, move them emotionally, and pass some meaningful information on to them. It is a huge task.”

Antonio, a published author, only began working as a professional speaker five months ago, when he returned from four years of adventure writing in Southeast Asia. “After a book signing, where I was speaking before a large crowd for two hours, a man came up to me and asked if I did highly paid motivational speaking at companies. I said, I do now. And my career was born. Although I have some clients, and make some money, I am counting on this competition to jump start my career.” For many competitors, the World Championships is a hobby, but for Antonio, it is business, and he trains accordingly. Antonio has spoken in public over eighty times since January. He has presented his contest speech, in front of a live audience twenty times already, and still has three weeks to go.

“Every element needs to be right, the timing, pacing, inflection, hand movements, facial expressions, and especially your timing. It is a lot to remember. And of course, you have to sound like it wasn’t memorized.”

Asking Antonio what keeps him going in competition, he had this to say. “I know a professional speaker. He earns $12,000 per booking, and he speaks three days per week. There is no other job that pays that kind of money. I am two speeches away from being world champions. Any sacrifice I have to make is worth it.”

Contact Antonio: Antonio@speakingadventure.com
Listen to sample speeches on his website speakingadventure.com