Scenic South Peninsula resident and Two Oceans Toastmaster Kay Price-Lindsay, is set to represent Southern Africa
at the Toastmasters World Championships of Public Speaking in Orlando, Florida USA on 16th – 18th August 2012. Kay Price-Lindsay has lived in Clovelly for the past 15 years with her husband Ross Lindsay,a well known local surfer. While Kay’s success as a speaker is growing she is also the owner of Kayos Casting – one of the biggest casting studios in South Africa, and is also an Edward De Bono ‘Lateral Thinking’ trainer. Her work in innovative thinking sees her training big corporate companies on how to think laterally and also facilitating brainstorming sessions for clients.
Kay is the first member of the local Fish Hoek Toastmasters club – Two Oceans – to ever be crowned the Southern African Champion at the Annual International Speaking Contest. See photo of her in the middle on RHS receiving the coverted cup. She is also the third woman in history to represent Southern Africa at the World Championships. Until now, Cape Town hasn’t faired well at the Southern Africa District Level (11 African Countries). Johannesburg based Toastmaster Douglas Kruger has represented Southern Africa 5 times at the World Champs and made it to the finals twice and come second once. If Kay’s trail blazing ride through the club, area, divisicion & national level of the contest are anything to go by, South Africa may well see its first ever World Champion of Public Speaking later this year. (UPDATE: Read about the World Championships and Kay’s excellent preformance at: https://scenicsouth.co.za//2012/09/fish-hoek-toastmistress-10th-in-world-public-speaking-championships-in-usa/)
What makes Kay’s win even more remarkable is the fact that she joined Two Oceans Toastmasters two years ago and when she entered the International Speaking Contest had only delivered six speeches. What started out as a fun speech to work on her vocal variety, has ended up in sending her to Florida to represent Southern Africa and hopefully put Cape Town (and Fish Hoek) on the map!
Marion Thomas of Two Oceans Toastmasters says: “Kay’s winning SA speech ‘Snap, Crackle, Pop’ is a hilarious yet serious look at a London experience where she literally ‘lost it’ in Victoria Station. As a speaker she manages to paint the scene so vividly that everyone feels like they are right there with her. Not only is her speech highly entertaining, but it is also look at what happens when people snap and how to try and avoid that. That is the point of a brilliant speech – it needs to entertain but also leave us with the message that is relevant to our lives. I have no doubt that Kay is the SA Champion because ‘Snap, Crackle, Pop’ does just that”.
Stiff competition as champion Toastmasters from 90 districts worldwide compete.
The World Championships will take place in Orlando, Florida and will see winners from over 90 Toastmaster Districts worldwide compete for the coverted title of World Champion of Public Speaking 2012. Kay will first have to win in a semi final round against 9 other competitors in order to make it onto the stage with the 10 finalists. Should she make it the finals Kay is working on a new speech ‘Never Too Late’ in honour of her late mother and the lessons she learned as she witnessed her final 14 months of life.
Of her experience so far, Kay says “In February this year, USA was not even a blimp on my map. Now it’s dominating it. I hope that the enthusiasm and acceptance outweighs the anxiety as I get closer to this extraordinary opportunity. While the outcome is uncertain, I know it will be an enriching experience that will help me grow as a person and as a speaker!
I joined Two Oceans Toastmasters to learn to speak in front of large groups of people but I have found much more. Firstly the people in the club are encouraging and supportive. I quickly understood that everyone was there to learn and that no-one was ever ridiculed or belittled for their input. Secondly, the program is not only creatively constructed but simple to learn. Thirdly, there is a lot more than becoming a good speaker at Toastmasters. It’s like a mini business leadership course but with lots of practical experience, very little stress and lots of fun. In a nutshell, I have found the journey at Toastmasters to be an enlightening, fulfilling and empowering one. To be highly recommended.”
Two Oceans Toastmasters based in Fish Hoek is open to guests should they wish to find out more about what Toastmasters can offer them. Visit the club meetings for free to find out more about Toastmasters. Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month at the Fish Hoek Civic Center at 7pm. Toastmasters is designed to support you 100% through your process of growing and learning to be the best communicator & leader you can be. There is no pressure at Two Oceans put on members to participate until they are ready to. Sometimes just watching is enough to start overcoming any fears you may have. Click here to visit the Two Oceans Toastmasters website. or contact Verity Price Two Oceans Toastmasters Vice President Pubic Relations on
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