How long have you been a Toastmaster and which is your home club?
I have been a member of Toastmasters since 2009. I began first in District 38 (Philadelphia) but joined District 83 after I received new employment in New Jersey. Currently, my home club is Gateway 2 Toastmasters of Newark, New Jersey.
Why did you join Toastmasters?
I have always valued feedback that would allow me to grow. I was initially attracted to join Toastmasters because of the instantaneous and constructive feedback program. I hadn’t realized prior to joining Toastmasters how much of an art there is in providing meaningful opinion. Will it be memorable, relatable and applicable? Much of the growth that I can attest to in Toastmasters can be directly linked to the feedback I have received and shared. For example, one Toastmaster once shared with me at the onset of my Toastmasters journey that I often end normal sentences with my voice going up (as if to ask a question). This is not the kind of feedback that one usually receives in one’s personal or professional life. That one feedback helped me to be purposeful when I speak, to end with an exclamation mark instead a question mark. Furthermore, I joined after witnessing how other Toastmasters artfully delivered masterful evaluations.
Is this spring’s set of contests the first you have competed in (club level upward)? If not, in how many other years did you compete?
International Speech – I first competed in 2010/2011; however, my journey at that time ended at the Area level. At that time I felt I had told my story and had nothing else to share. As we can see now, that was not the case. Evaluations – I competed in 2011/2012 and came in second at the club level. The winner was not available to compete at Area so I competed and won. In preparations for the Division level I immersed myself with YouTube videos of past winners. The winners I saw were boisterous, loud and animated. In so doing, I devised a plan to mimic their style and delivery as this I thought was the winning formula. In that contest, I placed second. The lesson learned at that point was that it is okay to learn from others but it is important that I remain true to myself. This lesson took me to competing for the first time this year in District 83 in both Evaluations and International Speech and the rest is in the history books.
Did you use the same speech for all 2017 competitions (club through district)?
The word “same” is subjective in this regard. Throughout the levels, I utilized one core message of living a life that is authentic to you. However, the stories, lines and delivery evolved and changed with each level. With that said, the speech I delivered at the district level was completely different than the one I gave at the club level but the core message has remained unchanged.
[Editor’s Note: Stacey Greene was the first-place winner of both the 2017 District International Speech Contest and the 2017 Evaluation Contest. She represented District 83 at the 2017 International Speech Contest in Vancouver, BC, Canada this August and won third-place honors among a field of nine Round 1 semifinal contestants.]
