Gary is the toast of the town
Upper Highway's Gary Tintinger recently represented South Africa at an international level for Toastmasters.
HIGHWAY resident and member of the Forest Hills Toastmasters Club, Gary Tintinger, recently returned from Vancouver, Canada where he represented Toastmasters District 74 (South Africa) in the World Championship of Public Speaking.
The club’s president, Jackie Johnson, said, “We’re extremely proud of Gary’s achievement. It’s a fantastic honour for our club to be represented on the world stage.”
Jackie explained that more than 30 000 competitors took part in the annual International Speech Contest in various levels of competition.
One hundred competitors from around the globe compete in the semi-finals and only 10 competitors progress to the finals.
The winner of the competition is crowned the World Champion of Public Speaking, this year the honour went to Manoj Vasudevan of Singapore.
In the 79-year history of the competition, only one South African has placed in the top three of the competition.
In 2004 in Reno, Nevada, Douglas Kruger achieved the highest ranking Africa has ever attained at this prestigious contest by taking second place.
While he did not make it to the final round of the competition, Gary was happy with his performance and was humbled at the opportunity to represent his country at an international level.
“It was an amazing experience, I learned so much,” said Gary.
“As you can imagine, the standard of competition is extremely high, but at the same time I realised that it is achievable,” he said.
“When I first joined Toastmasters just over a year and a half ago, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d get the opportunity to compete in the World Championship of Public Speaking.
“The opportunity came along and I grabbed it with both hands. Above all else, the lesson I learnt was to be prepared for your wishes to come true, because it can happen when you least expect it.” he said.
“It is also extremely humbling and gratifying to be a part of an organisation that is so focused on the needs of its members,” he said.
“The moment the local Toastmasters Clubs heard that I’d be representing SA, they offered their support and encouragement,” said Gary.
“I’m also extremely grateful to the District 74 leadership team who took me under their wing when I arrived in Vancouver.
“It made the entire experience just a little more memorable knowing that I had a support team around me even though I was many thousands of kilometres away from home.”
Contact the Forest Hills Toastmasters via the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ForestHills.Toastmasters.
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