ALKHOBAR, 3 May 2008 — Throngs of Toastmasters descended on the Le Meridian Hotel here to attend their annual conference. Over 800 professionals from nearly 40 clubs cutting across all lines were in attendance, thereby setting a new record. Saudi Aramco, SABIC, Nesma Group and the Pangulf Holding Company were the sponsors of the event.
Conference Chairman Shahul Hameed opened the meeting and Division Governor Abdullatiff Al-Harthi welcomed the gathering. Prominent personalities from all walks of life, including Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Saleh Ali Al-Turki, prominent Saudi writer Najeeb Al-Zamil, SABIC Chief Learning Officer Abdulla Alweet and a host of other high-ranking officials were present.
Reigning world champion of public speaking, Vikas Jhingran, spoke on essential ingredients of public speaking.
“Have your heritage, your background, your culture involved in your speeches, because that is you and that is what makes it unique,” he said.
He went on to explain the nuances of the art of speaking based on his key speeches on his journey to world championship.
“The strength of our life is the power of the barrier we have broken,” said Randy Harvey who delivered the keynote speech on the conference theme “Beyond Barriers”.
His concluding advice touched the hearts of all as he opined: “If you live from your heart, you will find happiness; if you speak from your heart, people will listen and if you lead from your heart, people will follow.”
The event saw a series of very creative and innovative workshops.
Gulf Toastmasters District Lt. Gov. Abdulrazak Al-Turki delivered a keynote address titled “Who is a Handicap?”
Al-Turki redefined the term “handicapped” proving beyond doubt his point that a real handicapped is someone who is unable to face challenges and fail to make use of opportunities.
The speech contest held the audience in rapt attention as speaker after speaker displayed his dexterity not only with the choice or words but also with the right intonation and expressions.
Hassan Jannah from Dhahran was declared the champion and K.K. James, Jubail area champion came second. Abdullah Al-Ghazal was placed third. Abdulla Abandi from Dhahran won the humorous speech contest.
Ousama Turk, Ali Al-Qahtani, Yousuf Ba-Isa, Ajithkumar Gangadharan, Bala Subramaniam and Brinda Subathran were the other winners. Ramanathan won Evaluation and Table Topics.
“I was glad to see young Saudi boys and girls take the initiative in honing their communication skills and parents should encourage and provide motivation to them,” said Ghouth Bawazir, a participant at the function.
