I’ve been to so many Toastmaster contests over the years.  In many cases, I’ve witnessed a contestant going from one level to another, then another, until they either reached the ultimate goal, such as Ed Hearn when he won the 2006 World Champion of Public Speaking, or they come up short.  There was one contestant journey that I got a front-seat view at every level which had a very interesting start.

During my 1st term as Area Governor in 2001, I made a point to try to visit my Area clubs when they have their club contests.  Only 5 days before 9/11, I took a trip to the Fox Valley Toastmasters club in Lake-in-the-Hills.  The contest itself had its own set of stories to tell – they were bumped out of their regular meeting place and moved to a beach house across the lake, it rained heavily so we got to hear the storms from the inside, plus the target speaker for the Evaluation Contest failed to show up (it turns out she was sent to the hospital after a medical test at her work found that she had very high blood pressure) so the Chief Judge who is a past District 30 Governor stepped up to give a speech for the contest.

One other story was that there were suppose to be two contestants for the Humorous Speech Contest, however by the time the club contest took a break after completing the Evaluation Contest, only one of the contestants was present (the other one turned out had car problems that prevented him from showing up).  Bruce McElroy was only planning to compete for the Evaluation Contest and did not sign up for the Humorous Speech Contest.  During the break, Mei Li, the Club President, kept talking Bruce into jumping in to the Humorous Speech Contest as Bruce mentioned to her in the past about a speech he was planning to give soon about his paintball experience.  Just before the break ended and the Humorous Speech Contest was going to start, Bruce agreed to compete in the contest.

Bruce did not have a speech title ready, so he quickly gave a rambling title about giving a last-minute speech.  The speech itself, however, was much more polished, as Bruce explained his adventure in a paintball competition in which he tried to run all over the field in order to avoid getting hit, and when he did get hit it hurt real bad!  Bruce easily won both Club Contests, then with the Area Contest around he did get a title for his speech – “Does That Hurt?”.  He also won both the Evaluation and Humorous Contests in the Area level, then at the Division level while he was the runner-up for the Evaluation Contest, he did win the Humorous Speech contest at that level.

Representing the Northwest Division in the 2001 District 30 Humorous Speech Contest, Bruce showed up with his trademark yellow T-shirt that he wore in the Area and Division contests, along with his parents, wife and kid, as well as a contingent from the Fox Valley club, making the long trip to the southwest suburb of Oak Lawn, where the 2001 Fall Conference was held, all there for support.  All the contestants at the District level did a great job, and while Bruce delivered another excellent performance with the audience laughing at his paintball adventures, he ended up being the runner-up for the District contest – the winner was Gerry Laures, a perennial speech contestant from the Deerbrook Park club, who gave his story about dealing with his family dog which all the members in his family wanted but him!

2001-2002 District 30 Governor Eric Matto with Bruce McElroy

2001-2002 District 30 Governor Eric Matto and Bruce McElroy with his 2nd place plaque

While the Fox Valley members present wished Bruce took home the winning trophy, they were very proud of him and thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Oak Lawn to see him compete against the best of District 30.  Bruce didn’t stay in Toastmasters for long due to work and personal demands, but I’m sure he’s still treasuring his journey in the 2001 Humorous Speech Contest and views his 2nd place District result as his biggest Toastmasters accomplishment.  And it all started as a last-minute entry!