Two weeks ago, I wrote an article that raised some eye brow among the readers here. I brought in Hillary Clinton, Helen Fisher and Patricia Fripp as examples of how women are scoring in the public speaking arena. You can read all about it here: Are Women Any Less Capable Than Male Public Speakers?.

A strange thing happened shortly after writing the article.

I receive an email from my friend informing me of the winner of the International Speech Contest held by Toastmasters International.

“Eric, guess what. The winner this year is a LADY!!! So yes, women are as good - if not better - than men in public speaking! LOL”

By the way, LOL = laugh out loud. It’s email language.

The winner this year beat over 2500 speakers from all over the world… and she is not even a professional speaker. Her good name is LaShunda Rundles. What’s even more outstanding is this - LaShunda is the first woman to win the contest in more than 20 years! (She’s only the 4th woman to win since the contest began in 1938 - though Toastmasters was a “male only” organization for many years, as quoted from Darren La Croix) To see the other finalists, click here.

Champion’s Edge is going to interview her tonight and I will try my best to get a copy of the interview. Meanwhile, you can read more about the competition here:

–> The New World Champion of Public Speaking
–> Losing The 2008 World Championship of Public Speaking
–> Here’s 2008 World Champion of Public Speaking by Darren La Croix

Oh, do you know that LaShunda can sing! Listen to her croon here at mySPACE. It’s beau-ti-ful!

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

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