Gift of the gab earns Brentwood Park resident a top spot

Brentwood Park resident Tawanda Mubvumbi rose above 600 participants to claim second place at the Toastmasters Southern Africa Championship of Public Speaking that took place virtually on May 8.

“To win a heart” was the title of the inspiring speech he entered into the region’s largest speech contest.

Tawanda, along with five other finalists, reached the championship level after several eliminating rounds that began more than three months ago with 600 contestants from nine countries.

“The journey reaching this point has been surreal,” he said.

His winning speech was an inspiring story about how the simplest of gestures is all that is needed to win someone’s heart and make them happy, which inspired more than 1 000 people from across Southern Africa who attended the contest virtually due to Covid-19.

Mubvumbi joined Toastmasters five years ago to develop his communication, leadership and public speaking skills.

This is the first time that he is competing and would highly recommend the experience to others as there is no better way to improve your public speaking skills than to practise as much as possible.

Toastmasters is an organisation that provides a safe platform to practise public speaking in a supportive environment.

Speakers delivered five-to-seven-minute speeches on wide-ranging topics and were judged on content, organisation and delivery.

The Toastmasters Southern Africa annual convention was held virtually from May 6 to 9.

This year marked the first time Toastmasters Southern Africa hosted a virtual conference in the history of the organisation.

• Information: Toastmasters Southern Africa.

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