Ashland man wins Southern Oregon speech contests
On Sunday, Oct. 28, Datta Groover of Ashland won the Southern Oregon Division of Toastmasters 2007 Humorous Speech Competition.
All contestants in this competition had to first win competitions in their Toastmasters club and their region to qualify. Groover is a member of Area 24, which consists of the Rogue Valley.
Groover also won the Southern Oregon Division Extemporaneous Speaking contest. In this competition, the competitors are then all taken from the room, then come back into the room one at a time and are asked the same question, which they then have 1 to 2 minutes to answer. None of the contestants get to know what the question is ahead of time. A panel of 5 judges then picks the contestant they feel did the best job.
Groover has been a Toastmaster for four years, and belongs to three Toastmaster clubs — two in Ashland and one in Medford. He began attending Toastmaster meetings in order to improve his public speaking skills, and found that communication in all aspects of his life improved.
Groover's business is Higher Speech, which provides training to speakers, trainers and presenters though workshops and personal coaching. Higher Speech also functions as a speakers' bureau providing speakers for businesses and other organizations.
Toastmasters International sponsors speech competitions each year to encourage and promote better communication through speaking. Ashland has two Toastmasters clubs: Ashland Toastmasters, which meets every Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. in the Ashland City Council chambers (at East Main & Mountain), and University Toastmasters, which meets 7 p.m. every Tuesday at The Peace House in Ashland (on North Mountain near the Southern Oregon University Music Building).
The Toastmasters club in Medford meets every Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at the Santo Center, which is located at 701 N. Columbus, near the intersection of West Jackson and McAndrews.
All three Toastmasters clubs welcome visitors who are free to attend meetings at any time. There are approximately 70 to 80 active Toastmasters members in the Rogue Valley.
For more information on Toastmasters, or a specific club, e-mail Toast@DragonfireVA.com, or call 482-4568 for the Ashland Toastmasters Club; 821-3225 for the University Toastmasters Club, or 488-7468 for the Medford club.
