It was contest time at the Munich Prostmasters on September 21. For the uninitiated out there, our club usually devotes two meetings a year to pure competition, one in the fall and one in the spring. The disciplines on the 21st were Humorous Speech and Table Topics (impromptu speaking). A panel of anonymous judges was charged with finding the best humorous speech of the evening and the best response to the topic, “What happens at the Wiesn’ (the Oktoberfest), stays at the Wiesn”. (We are, after all, the Munich Prostmasters.)
Mel Kelly won the Humorous Speech Contest by default as there were no other contestants. Not that Mel’s speech wasn’t entertaining in itself (we made him deliver it anyway). Mel chose a sure-fire topic: the inevitable puzzlement and bewilderment that ensue when one lives in a foreign culture.
Ineke Vermeulen won the Table Topics contest with a thoughtful reflection on what impressions stay from the Wiesn’, with Mel Kelly taking second place and Martin Brown third place. It was gratifying to see so many members compete in the Table Topics contest and it was also gratifying that the quality of responses was so high across the board.
Thanks and congratulations go to Caroline Deinert for organizing the contests so efficiently and moderating the contests as well on the 21st.
Christopher Magyar,
Past District Governor 2006-2007, Toastmasters District 59