TOASTMASTERS champion Tom Wilde looks to call on personal experiences whenever he speaks on stage in an event.
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He was a table topic champion at the district titles which were held at the Inverell RSM Club.
The event brought visitors from Newcastle and the Mid North Coast who competed among a host of local groups across New England.
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District conferences cover Sydney to the Queensland border with more than 150 clubs taking part in annual events.
He said table contests, which he won first prize in, are mainly impromptu speeches where people have two minutes to answer the same question.
"The topic this year was about what your most valuable possession," he said.
"I actually spoke about my laptop, I had one that crashed and I ended up losing all my files, pictures and everything I had on it.
"Some people talked about their relatives, I didn't really look at that as a possession and ended up coming up with something different altogether."
As well as listening to keynote speakers and educational sessions, members were entertained with four contests.
![Tom Wilde won his division at the toastmaster conference titles at Inverell. Picture supplied. Tom Wilde won his division at the toastmaster conference titles at Inverell. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/PMrCA3Rpn38pKDFxaenbSb/097821c7-8c32-4c35-815d-ec8bb1af3b82.png/r0_0_3641_2047_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
They were: international speech contest, humorous speech contest, evaluation contest, and a table topics contest.
Toastmasters groups across the state offer regular meetings and courses to help people overcome fear of public speaking and to build their confidence.
It can help people prepare for job interviews, wedding speeches and work presentations.
Confident speakers enjoy the chance to express themselves in groups of people who are 18 years and older.
Anyone can join a local club including Inverell Breakfast Toastmasters, Sapphire Toastmasters and Trainers On Track.
The breakfast club meet on Tuesday mornings at the RSM Club while the Sapphire club meet on the first and third Mondays of each month.
Trainers on the Track meet every second Saturday where people from across the region can also attend online.
Clubs have been on recruitment drives in recent years and welcome new members.
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