| Aziz Idris |
BRUNEI Toastmasters duo Dr Sophiana Chua Abdullah and Sarah Oleyami emerged champion of the International Speech Contest and first runner-up for Table Topics Speech Contest at the 9th Toastmasters District 87 Annual Conference held in Medan, Indonesia recently.
The duo from Brunei reached the championship level after several eliminating rounds that began in January 2019.
According to a press release from Brunei Toastmasters, Dr Sophiana Chua’s winning speech resonated to the crowd of nearly 400 from Brunei, East Malaysia and Indonesia.
She claimed the title of District 87 International Speech Champion with a motivational story of her own experiences as a mother who wants only the best for her children, drawing on how she thought she knew best only to be proven wrong by her own parents.
Meanwhile, Sarah Oleyami was given the topic of ‘When is love a weakness?’. She gave a two-minute impromptu speech arguing that love is never a weakness, and always a strength.
International speech contes-tants delivered five-to-seven-minute speeches on wide-ranging topics while Table Topics speech contestants delivered a two-minute impromptu speech based on a topic previously unknown to them.
Both speech contests were judged on content, organisation and delivery.
