MAKING a connection with the spoken word was celebrated at the Inverell Breakfast Toastmasters awards dinner last Friday night. Two individuals, Brian Baldwin and Hannah Worsley, were singled out for their vocal contributions to the local community.
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Brian Baldwin, OAM, received the title of the 2014 Communicator of the Year. The 78-year-old said he felt the award was presented not so much for his public speaking, but his community engagement.
Brian said the citation recognised his presence on the radio reading the market reports on 2NZ, through Inverell East Rotary, hospital visits with the St. Vincent de Paul society, charity auctions, his dedicated presence at the Inverell saleyards and putting in six decades at one job.
After years at the podium or microphone, the veteran speaker said there are some foundations to remember to excel when you have something to say.
“You must be straightforward. Good diction, and you must speak up and speak out. You must smile to capture your audience and maintain them.
“And that brings you to the next thing; sincerity,” he said.
Brian said he used to feel anxious speaking before a crowd, but experience drained those nerves away.
Inverell High School student Hannah Worsley, 17, was awarded the title Young Communicator of the Year. She said behind her speaking is a passion about topics that are frequently controversial, such as her platform against coal-seam gas exploration.
Besides eye-contact and intonation, she has learned to balance new information with familiar ground to engage her audience.
“Using a variety of examples, some that they do know, some that they don’t know so that they’re not always trying to be thinking about learning something new, they’re going, ‘Oh, I know about that, she’s right.’ You want to have a mixture of both moments,” she said.
To add fun to the evening, six teams of three competed with story-building word games, pulling topics from a hat. The judges awarded the Connections Collection as the funniest team, and Tourism Terrors took the People’s Choice prize.
Those interested in developing or sharing their skills at public speaking are invited to attend Toastmaster. The club meets at 6.15am for a 6.30as start on the 2nd, 4th and 5th Tuesdays of the month. For more information, phone president Margaret Payne on 6722 2222.
