I won Runner-Up (that would be 2nd place) in today's Toastmasters competition. There were 4 contestants and I was number 2, which meant that I missed the first one and got to see the other 2. I'm not sure whether I like not being able to see the other contestants better, though now I think I'd rather know what I'm up against.
The question was much easier this time around. It boiled down to "Do you prefer live theater or movies, and why?" So I launched into how I love live theater and we've got Mark Taper Forum subscriptions and you should go see a play, even if it's at your local high school, and how the Mark Taper Forum has a proscenium stage. And then I thought, "oh crap, does the Mark Taper Forum have a proscenium stage???" And now, I just looked it up--and it doesn't! Heh. Apparently none of the judges were theater majors.
I did have a couple of goofs (aside from the proscenium stage). For one, I did some uncontrolled arm flailing. Kevin said I looked like I was dancing in a Devo video (if you don't get the reference, don't worry about it. No amount of explaining will make it clear). My second mistake was I started talking about the production of The Cherry Orchard at the Mark Taper. I said, "it starred Alfred Molina and...[insert long, pregnant pause]...another actress whose name I can't remember." I didn't get flustered by the mistake and managed to transition out of it pretty well but it wasn't a shining moment. Of course, after I finished speaking, the person who introduced me came up to shake my hand and he whispered, "It was Annette Bening--I saw it too." Ah yes! Annettte Bening! I can't believe I forgot it. But I'm glad I didn't take a stab at it because the only other name coming to mind was Melanie Griffith and I knew that wasn't right.
The guy who came after me pretty much sealed his fate with a bad Bush joke. This is Orange County, dude. Have you seen all of the "W" stickers? Not wise.
The last guy though--he was good. Really good. After he spoke I thought "the only way I'm going to get first place is if he went overtime." Which he didn't, and he won first place. It was well deserved. He was wearing a tuxedo in preparation for his speech (he participated in both contests) and really, it's hard to beat a man in a tuxedo.
During our break, though, I had a number of people come up to me and praise me for my speech. One woman said, "I volunteer at the South Coast Repertory and I just wanted to stand up and cheer when you were speaking!" That part was fun.
From here I go to the District Conference, but not to compete. I'm the alternate, so if Tuxedo Guy doesn't show up for some reason, I do get to compete. Otherwise I'm just in the audience. Still, I added a matching trophy to my first place win (the runner-up trophy is a bit shorter) and it was a lot of fun.
Posted by Shelby at March 25, 2006 06:18 PM