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The Colombo Toastmasters Club, affiliated to Toastmasters International, in its 29 year, was inaugurated on 25 February 1984, under the distinguished patronage of the late Gamini Dissanayake. Toastmasters International is an organisation devoted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality.
The founder of the Toastmasters movement late Dr. Ralph C. Smedley whose dream was to provide people with training in the skills of public speaking based on certain fundamental principles of education.
Through its member clubs, Toastmasters helps men and women in the art of public speaking, listening and thinking, vital skills that promote self actualisation, enhance leadership potential, fostering human understanding and contributing to the betterment of mankind.
Among the many projects of the club, the ‘Champion Junior Speaker Contest 2013’ is being organised for the 10 consecutive year, for children between the ages 12-18. The contest organised by the Colombo Toastmasters Club for the ‘Lyceum Challenge Trophy’ and is being sponsored by the Lyceum International School.
The championship is looked forward to with much enthusiasm by children of all schools, as well as teachers and parents who wish to showcase the talent of their young children in the art of public speaking.
The contest gives an opportunity for all young children to display their oral communication skills, giving them self-confidence, enhancing personal growth, and nurturing them as future leaders of our nation.
In all, 468 entries from schools in Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Ratnapura and the Gampaha districts have been received. The Orientation program of the ‘Champion Junior Speaker Contest 2013’ was held at the Lyceum International School, Nugegoda on 24 November 2012.
The program was a tremendous success with the attendance of around 300 students. The objective of this Orientation program was to educate students on the finer points in public speaking and giving them ideas of how to make a winning speech.
Past President Yukthi Gunasekara CC addressed them on the topic ‘How to put up the roof’. Past President Niranjan de Silva CTM spoke on ‘How to bring down the roof’. These sessions were extremely educative, enlightening and entertaining, keeping the audience engrossed throughout the sessions.
Contest Chair Chathushika Wijesinghe explained the contest rules and Chief Judge Vice President Education Keith Raymond, gave the guidelines of the judging criteria to the students. A demonstration speech was also made by winner of the Champion Junior Speech Contest 2012 Wasula Kumbukage. This enabled students to see in reality, how to make that winning speech.
The Preliminaries and Semi-finals of the Champion Junior Speaker Contest 2013 were held on Saturday on 08 and 22 December 2012 respectively at the Lyceum International School.
The Grand Finale of the contest is scheduled for the evening of Saturday 13 January 2013, at the HNB Auditorium. To witness the Grand Finale, please contact Project Chairperson Sarma Mahalingam, on 0777-716899 for tickets priced at Rs. 300.
