Josephine Lee places third in Toastmasters’ 2016 World Champion of Public Speaking
Josephine Lee rises above 30,000 participants to place in world’s largest speech contest
PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 22, 2016 — With a speech titled , “I Will Be There,” Josephine Lee, a 28-year-old entrepreneur from Santa Ana, California, placed third in the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking on Saturday, Aug. 20. Josephine, along with nine other finalists, reached the championship level after several elimination rounds that began six months ago with 30,000 participants from more than 100 countries.
Josephine enchanted the crowd with an entertaining speech about the power of friendships and delivered it with a combination of humor and candor. She spoke in front of a capacity crowd of 1,600 people from around the world who attended the contest at Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.
Josephine is a member of the Anaheim Breakfast Club #3836 and competed in Division D of Founder’s District. She joined Toastmasters International over 3 years ago. She was buried in her work as a young business owner, but wanted to do one thing in her life that was just for her. Her intention was to create an oasis unrelated to work. However, she didn’t anticipate that the skills she learned in Toastmasters would help her in every aspect of running her business.
A couple months ago, she decided to enter the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, the only public speaking contest that goes from the club level all the way to the international stage.
Contestants delivered five-to seven-minute speeches on wide-ranging topics and were judged on content, organization and delivery. With a humorous speech titled “Outsmart; Outlast,” Darren Tay, a 27-year-old newly minted lawyer from Singapore, won the Toastmasters World Championship. Second place winner was Aaron Beverly from Philadelphia, Penn., with a speech facetiously titled, “Leave a lasting memory using as few words as possible and strive with every fiber in your being to avoid being the type of person who rambles on and on with no end in sight more likely than not causing listeners to sit and think to themselves oh my goodness can somebody please make this stop.”
For more information about the 2016 International Convention, please visit http://www.toastmasters.org/Events/2016-International-Convention.
About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., the organization’s membership exceeds 345,000 in more than 15,900 clubs in 142 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders. For information about local Toastmasters clubs, please visit www.toastmasters.org. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.