International Director Pamela McCown presents Tracy Thomason with the first place trophy |
In order to compete at the district level, Tracy had to win contests at the club, area and division levels. At district, he competed against finalists from 92 Toastmaster clubs scattered throughout West Texas, New Mexico and parts of Oklahoma.
With this win, he advances to compete against some of the best speakers in the world at the 79th annual Toastmasters International Convention for the coveted title of World Champion of Public Speaking. Approximately 2,000 speakers and leaders from around the world typically attend the international convention. Tracy will compete in one of nine semifinal speech contests and, if he wins, will go on to compete in the finals two days later.
Material for the Toastmasters International Speech contest is typically motivational or inspirational. Tracy’s speech, titled “Shawn Service,” emphasized the importance of delivering outstanding customer service. He will develop two new speeches for the coming contests.
He began his quest early this year at his local club, Lubbock LaughMasters, and looks forward to competing at the international level this summer. Each year, approximately 50,000 Toastmasters from over 12,000 clubs around the world begin the quest for the public speaking title. Only 81 advance to the international semi-finals and a mere nine reach the final competition.