Ok I lie. There isn’t one. Or at least no one has outwardly claim to have the formula, not even the past winners of the Toastmasters’ International Speech Contest.

However, many speakers have sought to find that elusive formula by reviewing the past speeches of the champions. As it turns out, it all boils down to how well your audience can relate to your message and your stories. Since the audience varies (so do the judges), it is really hard to put a finger to a winning formula… which brings us back to the question.

How do you win the International Speech Contest?

This question gets even more pressing now that we approach the speech contest season.

Things however, took a turn a week ago when I received an email from Rich Hopkins, the third place winner of the International Speech Contest 2006, and (here’s the best part!) Rich is also a subscriber of the Speak EZ mailing list How honored!

Anyway, he asked me if I was keen to share his new book “Win Place & Show” with you. And after reading his book in one seating, I had to say YES!

Here’s why?

His book - which is unprecedented - gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the 9 winning speeches from the 2006 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners at the World Championship of Public Speaking! So not only do you get to read their winning speeches, you get to understand why these winners construct their speeches in that way. It also help that the book got endorsements from several other world champions including David Brook (1990), Mark Brown (1995), Craig Valentine (1999) and Randy Harvey (2004), which is seldom the case.

As a Toastmaster who is in the midst of preparing for my speech contest, I find this book a prized resource, one that has given me much appreciated insights into how I should write and deliver my contest speech.

And even for non-Toastmasters who aren’t keen in competing, you will find this book valuable because it has tons of examples of how good speeches are written. It helps that the speakers added a voice behind each speech that they rewrote, which allows you to clearly understand why they do what they do.

What will make this book even more attractive would be to couple it with the video clips of the 9 speeches, so we can actually SEE and HEAR what was done on the world stage.

Nonetheless, this is a valuable resource for all speakers and I strongly encourage you to invest in a copy. Click here to find out how to get yourself a copy.

That’s not all. Rich was generous enough to accept an impromptu interview with me, which will reveal some of his insights to winning a speech contest. Read on.

1. Rich, is it even possible for a first timer to get into the finals of the International Speech Contest and eventually win? If yes, how?

Of course – in fact its been done recently by Randy Harvey and Ed Hearn. The qualifier in their case is both had been speaking for many years prior in their jobs – Randy in the Education system, Ed as a preacher. A true newbie, a Toastmaster just coming in to overcome their fear vs. honing their existing skills, will face tougher challenges. But with coaching, a strong topic, and the willingness to compete, a first timer has as good a shot as anyone.

2. What’s the formula to winning at the International Speech Contest?

I’ve always been told: Make ‘em cry, make ‘em laugh, then give ‘em something to do. I don’t believe there is a reliable formula for winning, because a speech is more than the sum of its parts. Give 10 speakers the exact same speech, and one will always find a way to deliver it with more heart, style, and passion than the others.

3. What’s the difference between a Project 10 (inspirational speech) and a contest speech?

The requirements for Project 10 are more broad than what is typically acceptable in the speech contest. In our regular Toastmasters speeches, we are less concerned with judging and audience acceptance as we are with technique. Many topics, such as politics, race issues, and religion are too ‘hot’ to be used in the International Speech contest, but work well in Project 10.

4. Judges and audience come from different background, with different biases, how did you ensure your speech appeals to every group you speak to anyway (for eg. District level, Regional Level, Finals)?

I tend to stick to universal issues – the desire for success, happiness, and the need to overcome obstacles. My stories always come from my own life, or that of my children – everyone identifies with either having kids or grandkids, or at one time being a kid. I do believe the judges are looking for slightly different things at District, Region, and WCPS levels. A District-Winning speech will often not stand up to the rigors of the higher levels, whereas a WCPS speech might be too ‘over-the-top’ for a District Speech. There is a large difference between speaking to 100 people (my typical District audience) and 2000.

5. What are three things we need to start doing right now if we want to win at the speech contest?

1. Enter.
2. Pick the one message you would want to deliver if you could never give another speech.
3. Practice it in front of a better speaker and ask for input.

6. What can a speaker do to ensure that he or she has an unfair advantage over his or her competitors at the speech contest?

We can only be responsible for ourselves. Never let yourself get outworked. The worst feeling a 2nd place contestant (a place I’ve taken many times) can have is “I didn’t practice enough”.

7. What do you think are the reasons for successfully beating over 20,000 quality speakers to emege as a third place winner of the International Speech Contest?

I believe my speeches at District and Region were inherently authentic – the audience didn’t see me as delivering a message, but being the message. At the WCPS, I believe I became too concerned with style, and my message lost something. Obviously, it still did well, but not as well as it could have.

8. What do you recommend us to do on the eve, 1 hour before and 5 minutes before you get called up on stage to speak?

The night before: get on the actual stage and give your speech, even if you must do it silently. Get used to the staging area and envision your success the next day. An hour before – keep your opening line in your head, and relax. There’s a lot of prep TI puts you through, picture taking, going over rules, microphone checks. Just enjoy it. 5 minutes before – Stand alone in the wings, and breathe. It’ll be over before you know it.

9. From my observation, it seems like we have yet to see an Asian winning at the International Speech Contest, why do you think is the case and how can we Asians win at the speech contest?

I think Vikas Jhingran (2007 World Champion of Public Speaking) unlocked a vital piece of how Indians, Asians, or other English as a Second Language contestant can win – SLOW DOWN. If the judges can’t understand you, you won’t win. Vikas used his nationality as a strength, not a weakness – and was rewarded for it.

10. Lastly, let’s talk about your book. Why did you want to write this book and how can the readers (who aren’t interested in taking part in speech contests) benefit from reading your book?

I put this book together because I had always wanted access to all the speeches contestants used to get to the WCPS, and it didn’t exist. The WCPS speeches themselves, while great lessons, were often too grand in scope for a simple club contest. This book illustrates three distinct style of writing, topic selection, and delivery by three people from different parts of the U.S., with different age ranges, and levels of experience. This books truly shows there is NO ‘formula’ – simply a combination of heartfelt speeches, practice, and a little luck. For those not looking at competing, the speeches themselves offer great stories and uplifting messages – and a unique look at one of Toastmasters greatest challenges.

Rich, if you are reading this, A BIG THANK YOU for sharing with us your book. Stay in touch!

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

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