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And the 2008 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking is… (History is made!)
By Darren | August 17, 2008
LaSHUNDA RUNDLES from District 50 in Texas!
My speaking mentor David Brooks, 1990 World Champ (left) and my speaker coach, Mark Brown, 1995 World Champ get a “photo opp” with the New World Champion of Public Speaking! History was made on 2 fronts.
First, LaShunda is the first woman to win the contest in more than 20 years! (She’s only the 4th woman to win since the contest began in 1938 - though Toastmasters was a “male only” organization for many years.)
Second, although I can’t officially confirm this, there has never been 2 women in the top three spots. Kathrine Morrison, Ph.D. came in third, and was from my original home District 31. I had the honor of working with her on her speech in a recent visit to Boston. Prior to the contest, I was also honored when several contestants asked me for feedback on their speeches.
Congratulations to this year’s winners:
2008 World Champion of Public Speaking
LaShunda Rundles
Region 3 · District 50 · Texas, USA
Second Place
K. Loghandran
DNAR District 51 · Malaysia
Third Place
Katherine Morrison
Region 7 · District 31 · Massachusetts, USA
LaShunda had a magical connection with her audience. When they announced her for the contestant interviews (before the winner was even announced) I knew she had won. There was a noticably higher level of audience response.
The more I reflect on the contest yesterday, the more I realize the power of the “connection.” Admittedly, it’s difficult to achieve under the “pressure” of any event. If you can master the connection, you can take the audience wherever you want them to go. Unless you connect, the audience won’t let you drive!
Two great side effects will happen as a result of LaShunda winning this year. First and foremost, her accomplishment will inspire more women to compete in the contest. She has no idea the effect that she has had on the Toastmasters world.
Second, more on a personal note, now my fellow World Champion Speakers and I will not have to answer that question we get continually, “Why don’t women win the International Speech Contest?” I usually answer with a question,”Why don’t more women compete?” Now, thanks to LaShunda, more women will compete. Excellent!
LaShunda “Owned the Stage” and absolutely deserves the trophy. The other contestants should be proud to be considered one of the best 10 speakers in the world, out of 25,000 contestants. Most Toastmasters dream of speaking on that stage, most will never make it there. Appreciate what you have.
Stage time,
P.S. Many people have asked about “who coached whom.” My understanding is, Mark Brown (1995) spent some time working with LaShunda. Vikas (2007) worked with K. Loghandran, and I worked with Katherine, as well as some of the other contestants. I must say that all we (fellow World Champions) offer is our perspective. The true hard work comes from the local District support, friends, and family. Most importantly, the incredible decisions that are made by the contestants themselves. The contest brings about a huge amount of feedback from hundreds of people. Wading through all of that is the greatest challenge of the contest. The true effort is by the contestant themselves.
P.P.S. Since the former World Champs often get mentioned in the “thank yous” during contestant interview time, many want to know if they pay us, or how does that work? Though we are professional speaker coaches and earn a living doing this. My fellow World Champions and I offer free help to anyone who makes it into the finals. All they have to do is ask. It’s amazing the different levels of involvement we have with some of the contestants.
Think about it. At the regional level, there are 8 regions (not counting the inter-district contest) with 7-10 contestants per region. That’s about 64 people who are competing for a finalist spot. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my business doesn’t allow the time to help that many people, for free.
Personally, I love to help finalists, because the winners before me had been so gracious to me. It also allows me to relive my moment in time. This unique experience gives me an incredible “perspective,” but many of my own friends and family really couldn’t care less about how to put together a winning speech!
Topics: Public Speaking Skills, Speaking On the Road, World Class Presentations |
August 19th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
[...] –> The New World Champion of Public Speaking –> Losing The 2008 World Championship of Public Speaking –> Here’s 2008 World Champion of Public Speaking by Darren La Croix [...]
August 20th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I agree–LaShunda owned that stage. Great delivery & message. Something I discovered after the fact (and after hearing her sing during the speech) is that she is an aspiring professional singer. That leads me to think about the fact that singers spend a lot of time training their voices and learning to control their breath. Part of LaShunda’s power on stage is her amazing voice control. I’d love to see Toastmasters incorporate a little info on voice training into their program!
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 am
LilaB, LilaB… So True!
One of the things I have enjoyed about my experience with public speaking, is learning about learning. What do I mean… I have learned that Toastmasters is not the end of public speaking training. More importantly, public speaking training is not even the end. We can learn to be better public speakers from singing, instrument playing, dancing, teaching, acting, and most anything. That’s the beauty of being better speakers, you also become a better listener, observer, and student.