Semifinalist search for the world's largest speech contest begins with raising a Toastmasters flag

KITCHENER, Ontario - April 24, 2017 - PRLog -- This year's District 86 Toastmasters 2017 Spring Conference, will be held at the Crowne Plaza, April 28 to April 30 in Kitchener. Conferences provide communication and leadership training, networking, exchange of ideas, recognition and celebration of members' achievements and contributions.

The event will begin on Friday, April 28th with the raising of a Toastmasters flag at Speaker's Corner, 17 Benton Street and will remain up during the 3-day conference. "It is very exciting that the we are able to have our flag with the Toastmasters logo fly directly across the street from our conference! This has never been done before in our District." says Dennis Bartel, District 86, Public Relations Manager.

Bartel adds, "The City of Kitchener allows for non-profits that contribute to the community to fly their flag. Toastmasters contributes by empowering individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders at work, at home, and in other organizations". The flag raising will be at 1 pm across the street from the Crowne Plaza. In attendance will be Vitaliy Fursov, DTM, District 86 Director, District leaders, and Toastmasters from the district. "I invite anyone to come join and take part, it is the perfect way to start a weekend of learning and networking", Bartel says.

On Saturday, the District's International Speech Contest will be held to determine who will be our semifinalist at the world's largest speech contest. The District's winner will advance to the semi-final rounds at the Toastmasters International Convention, August 23-26^th, at the Vancouver Convention Centre, in Canada.

The winner will compete with 101 other winners from districts around the world, who advanced to the 2017 semifinal rounds after a six-month process of elimination through club, area, division and district speech contests. Their five- to seven-minute speeches were judged on content, organization, gestures and style. The winner of our District International Speech contest will vie for one of the 10 coveted spots to compete in the World Championship of Public Speaking (http://www.toastmasters.org/About/World-Championship-of-P...)®.

"Speech contests provide an opportunity for individuals to further develop their speaking skills by leaving the comfort of their home clubs and performing to larger audiences." - Cathy Herschell, DTM, Program Quality Director, District 86.

The Toastmasters International Speech Contest began in 1938 and is the world's largest speech contest, involving 30,000 participants from 142 countries. It culminates with the popular World Championship of Public Speaking held annually at the organization's International Convention.

Members and the public are invited to attend the District 86 International Speech Contest in Kitchener, on Saturday, April 29^th, 12:45 pm. Tickets are available at www.toastmasters86.org/conferences or at the door of the Crowne Plaza, 105 King St E, Kitchener, ON N2G 2K8.

About Toastmasters District 86
District 86 is one of 102 districts, representing the heartland of Ontario comprising of over 235 community and corporate clubs, with over 5,000 members, from Timmins in the north to Welland in the south, from Sarnia in the west to Markham in the east - and all communities in between - except Toronto. To learn more about District 86 please visit: http://www.toastmasters86.org/

About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a worldwide, non-profit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, 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 toastmasters.org. Follow @Toastmasters on Twitter.