The Great Persuaders of Atlantis Toastmasters Club 8720 has the honour of representing The Bahamas and Atlantis, Paradise Island at the upcoming District 47 competitions set for April 25th-27th in Miami, Florida.

Toastmasters (TM) Davario Rahming and Anastarcia Huyler celebrated a great victory recently when the pair beat out six other contestants from around The Bahamas to capture champion titles in the Division F Toastmasters International Speech and Table Topics competitions.

Toastmaster Rahming and Toastmaster Huyler had won two previous rounds of competitions in order to make it into the Division round. The first round was held within Atlantis’ own Toastmasters Club 8720. The second round was held within “Area 63”. An “area” in Toastmasters refers to a cluster of clubs. Their wins at each level led to their victories on March 27th. If Toastmaster Rahming wins The International Speech Competition in Florida on the 26th, he’ll represent the entire district in Malaysia at the World Speaking Championship.

The International Speech competition allows the speaker to speak on any topic for 5-7 minutes. The winner most often leaves an impact on the audience that motivates, encourages or calls them to action. The Table Topics competition gives contestants the opportunity to “speak off the cuff”. The contestant is given a question the moment his/her number is called to which he or she must answer with a fully developed speech in less than two minutes.

Area Governor and Atlantis Casino Shift Manager Antoinette Lotmore was particularly impressed by the wins, noting that “it was a reminder of the greatness within our halls. Club 8720, now in its seventhyear has had some challenges recently but this new group of toastmasters has built on our original legacy and I am so proud to see them move on to Florida.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Club 8720 President Sheral Barr, a Casino Supervisor at Atlantis, who is credited with reviving the club. “Toastmasters International stands for excellence so it was no surprise to any of us when these two toastmasters won at this level. They are more than capable and by being a part of 8720, those capabilities were turned into excellence. We look forward to seeing how much further they will go,” she said.

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skillsthrough a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization has more than 292,000 memberships in more than 14,350 clubs in 122 countries. In The Bahamas, Toastmasters is split into two Divisions with clubs in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros andEleuthera.

The programme has been attributed to the development of leaders worldwide, including Atlantis’ own George Markontonis, an honourary member of Club 8720 who originally joined the programme in South Africa many years ago, and credits it with some of his own leadership abilities.

From Left to right Anthony Longley- Lieutenant Governor Education and Training, District 47 Damien Miller- Lieutenant Governor Marketing, District 47Kay- Andra Gardiner- ( Toastmasters Club 7178, Healing Communicators) 2nd Place winner Table Topics Competition Anastarcia Huyler- (Toastmasters Club 8720, Great Persuaders of Atlantis) 1st Place winner Table Topics Competition Davario Rahming- (Toastmasters Club 8720, Great Persuaders of Atlantis) 1st place winner, International Speech Competition Melissa Knowles- ( Toastmasters Club 7178, Healing Communicators) 2nd place winner, International Speech Competition Antoinette Lotmore-(Toastmasters Club 8720, Great Persuaders of Atlantis) Area 63 Governor Jason Springer- Division F Governor