So, I competed on Saturday…

I made a promise some time back that I was going to compete in the Toastmasters contests as soon as I was eligible again. Okay, to be specific, the promise was made during my outgoing District Governor speech at the Spring 2006 District 50 Conference … and it was something about how if you’re afraid of something, maybe you should do it because there’s a growth opportunity in there for you … and my next growth opportunity lies in competing.

Anyway. I had originally planned to compete in the International Speech Contest, but once the whole Dealer Meeting thing panned out for this year, I realized I was insane to even think about doing that at the same time … I couldn’t in good conscience try to prepare adequately at the same time I was traveling and speaking for work … oh, and planning a wedding. Yeah. So this isn’t my year for International Speech.

But they’re doing the Evaluation contest, too, so I agreed to represent our club.

And whaddya know? I took First Place at the Area 42 Contest Saturday morning…

Talk about a surreal experience, being the one standing in the middle of the photograph, holding the trophy, instead of all those years I was the one handing the trophy to the winner. Bizarre … but cool.

So now, I go on to compete at the Plains Division Contest on Saturday, April 19th. We’ll see how it goes … for now, I’m having a really good time. Evaluations are my FAVORITE thing to challenge myself with in Toastmasters, so this is all … well, it’s pretty cool.