Toastmaster’s champion speaker

Randburg Toastmasters Club member Mack Rapabane recently came back from the Toastmasters Division Championships held in East London with increased respect for public speaking.

Rapabane won all his club’s competitions, which sent him to the finals where he competed against 10 other Toastmasters members from around southern Africa. “It was an awesome learning experience and I really learned a lot and not just in terms of my own speaking ability but about public speaking as a whole,” Rapabane said. He added that he was given the impromptu topic of ‘listen to hear’ and said that he spoke about how people in today’s world are exposed to more noise.

“I listened to Lance Miller, the 2005 International Toastmasters champion, and I was even more inspired as he spoke about his own struggles with public speaking, I definitely could relate with what he spoke about,” he added.

Rapabane said that he used the tools that he had learned from his club, which is in Ferndale, and even though he was nervous he was able to speak with confidence. “Going to such competitions teaches one to address big crowds and it helps me with the presentations that I have to deliver every day at my job,” he added. Rapabane, who is an engineering consultant, said that Toastmasters helped him to garner the confidence in his speaking as he often had to give impromptu speeches.

He pointed out that even though he did not take home the overall prize, he was happy with the experience and he would continue on his journey with toastmasters. He added that through the Toastmasters he was able to MC at events and he was now going to use what he learned when he was the Master of Ceremony at events.

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