Galfar Toastmasters Club excels in Area 04 speech contest

Galfar Toastmasters Club (GTM) contestants swept five of the 12 spots in the Area 04 Annual Speech Contest. This included three wins in first and second place, and these contestants will now go on to represent the Area in the upcoming Division ‘A’ speech contests for District 116.Kingsley Okoro took first place in the International speech contest and second place in the Humorous contest. Gopalakrishnan Selvam won second place in Table Topics and third place in International contest. Subramanya Hebbagelu came in at third place in the Table Topics contest.The GTM contestants were selected at the club’s 13th Annual Speech Contest held recently, on an online platform. At the Club level, the first prizes in both the International and Table Topic speech contests went to Gopalakrishnan. The first prizes for the Humorous and Evaluation speech contests went to Kingsley Okoro and Dinesh Aditya, respectively. The first and second place winners represented the Club at the Area 04 contest. The club’s contests were judged by a panel headed by Sabeena. The third places at the club level contest went to Mazhar Hussain Khan (International), Dinesh Aditya (Humorous), Sankar Ganesh (Table Topics) and Faisudheen Kannoth (Evaluation).“Congratulations to all the winners and to all participants who showed courage and took interest, which is the first step for winning any contest,” said Venkatesan Kulandaivelu, GTM Speech Contest Manager 2022. Galfar Al Misnad, a leading construction company operating in Qatar for more than 25 years, instituted its own Corporate Toastmasters Club in 2009 as a management initiative to develop leadership and communication skills among staff members. Through this programme, the company has seen a large number of employees upgrading themselves to perform better in their functional roles as good speakers and effective leaders. Within three years of the Club’s founding, members of GTM started participating in Area Contests, and by 2016, they were participating in Division Level Contests. GTM has ensured its representation right up to the District level in the speech contests. Furthermore, many club members have taken on eminent leadership roles at the Area, Division and District levels. GTM was the recipient of Toastmasters International’s first Diamond Corporate Club Award in 2021. The club is also a regular winner of the top rung awards of the organisation, including numerous wins of the Best Corporate Club Award as well as the President’s Distinguished Club Award.