World Champion 2007 helps District 53 kick off 2008!

Did you miss the 2008 Kickoff event featuring Vikas Jhingran, the 2007 World Champion of Public Speaking?

Vikas had some excellent advice for all Toastmasters and especially anyone who has the opportunity to enter a contest!
- Be Yourself
- Make Your Weaknesses into your Strengths
- and much more.

Did you know that his district-winning speech did not win at the club level the first time? He competed at a second club (obviously improved his speech) and ended up winning the World Championship ! What could you accomplish if you focused on improving your speech and did not give up?

Overall, the kickoff event was a great afternoon / evening and everyone in attendence had a great time !

To Thank Vikas for sharing an afternoon / evening with District 53 Toastmasters, we have created the following "video" (including Nana Danso, D53 Intl. Speech Winner and 2nd Runner-up to Vikas at the 2007 Regional contest, Deb Grehn, former District Governor and the D53 Leadership team).

To see it, click here or copy and paste this url into your browser:
http://www.jibjab.com/sendables/view/izZ1IoFwOCsCysP0S5cd0iUf

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D53 Second-Half Kickoff and Celebration!

Sunday, January 20, 2008
3 - 6 p.m.
The Hartford, Tower Suite, 22nd Floor
55 Farmington Avenue, Hartford, CT

This FREE event is sponsored by District 53 Toastmasters as a celebration of our achievements to date and a starting point for future success.

* Wonderful food and drink!
* Networking opportunities galore!
* Updates from our Senior Team!

PLUS

* Special guest Vikas Jhingram, 2007 Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking and member of neighboring District 31!Hear him tell of the path from Ice Breaker to World Championship.

Vikas is shown in the picture on the right with D53 Intl. Speech winner, Nana Danso at the regional contest.

Spread the word! Tell all your Club members:

Everyone is invited to this very special event.
RSVP by Thursday, January 17 to Deb Grehn (see note below)

From: Deb Grehn
Date: Jan 15, 2008 11:04 PM
Subject: D53 Second-Half Kickoff Meeting & Celebration - Spread the Word!

The time is fast approaching for our upcoming Kickoff Meeting & Celebration.

The event is this Sunday, January 20 but the RSVP date is in two days, on Thursday, January 17.

If you have already replied that you are coming or unfortunately will not make it, thank you. If you haven't made up your mind, I hope you do decide to join us. In any case, please tell every Toastmaster you know about this marvelous event. Here's what we're planning:

* Fantastic food and drink! How does this sound?

HORS D'OEUVRES
VEGGIE TRAY
CHEESE,CRACKERS & PEPPERONI
MARINATED MEATBALLS
MINI QUICHES

MAIN DISHES
ZITI WITH MEAT SAUCE
BAKED HAM
ROASTED OR HOME FRIED POTATOES

ACCOMPANIMENTS
GARDEN SALAD
BREAD OR ROLLES WITH BUTTER

DESSERTS

CHOCOLATE & VANILLA "DARE TO BELIEVE" SHEET CAKES

BEVERAGES

COFFEE, TEA, SODA, SPARKLING CIDER FOR TOASTING

Plus

* Networking opportunites - meet and greet your fellow District 53 Toastmasters!

* Hear brief updates from our Senior Team! And best of all . . .

* Meet the 2007 World Champion of Public Speaking! (Who knows, you could be next!)

RSVP by emailing me, Deb Grehn, at dgrehn [at] sbcglobal.net . I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Deb

Region VII--The Winner!

Official Results from the World Championship of Public Speaking....

2007-2008 International Speech Contest Winners

World Champion:
Vikas Jhingran, Cambridge, Massachusetts
(He is the speaker that District 53's Nana Danso was runner-up to at the Region 7 Contest).

Second Place:
Rory Vaden, Nashville, Tennessee

Third Place:
Mark Hunter, Albany Creek, Queensland, Australia

Comment from: Steve Rock
Date: Aug 21, 2007 9:08 AM
Subject: Region VII--The Winner!
And District 53's Nana Danso can now honestly state that he placed second to the World Champion! I'd say that Region 7 has a good shot at repeating next year!

Marilyn Jess, DTM, wrote:
First Darren LaCroix, now Vikas.....Simply Amazing!