Local woman places second at Toastmasters divisional competition

Emma Howlett lives in Orangeville and works for Town of Caledon

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An Orangeville woman who recently won an area speech competition, advancing to the divisional level, has placed second there.

On December 2, Orangeville's Emma Howlett competed in a divisional Toastmasters International Table Topics Contest at Brampton City Hall. 

Howlett was representing the Bolton Banter Toastmasters Club, of which she is a member. 

She came second out of five competitors in the competition, and in the event the winner is unable to attend the coveted district competition, Howlett will go in their place.

The Table Topics Contest challenges participants' ability to organize their thoughts quickly and improvise when asked on-the-spot questions. The contest challenges speakers by giving them a topic to do a speech on just seconds before they begin talking. Contestants must then speak on the surprise topic for one to two minutes. 

Howlett's speech in the divisional competition was about conflict, and in it, she spoke on themes of inner conflict, interpersonal conflict, and building bridges to reduce conflict. Howlett said choosing to manifest your own destiny is key to success. 

“It was a great opportunity to challenge myself,” said Howlett of competing in the divisional competition. “I enjoyed listening to the competitors and it was an honour to compete among such talented individuals, including distinguished toastmasters and even a previous International Speech Contest medal (3rd place) winner.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Bolton's Toastmasters club can visit boltonbanter.org/contact.