By Sam Elliott
When he first got involved with Toastmasters five years ago, Gil Michelini certainly never intended – or expected – to one day be competing in the semifinals of the organization’s International Speech Contest.
But that’s just where Michelini will soon find himself, as the Fishers resident is one of 96 semifinalists from across the country and around the world to compete at the Toastmasters International Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. on Aug. 13.
Michelini first joined Toastmasters after completing a passion project on the side of his day job at Xerox – a book he authored in 2011.
“I knew I needed to go out and speak in front of people, so that’s how I got involved with Toastmasters originally,” Michelini said. “My intention was to learn how to be a better marketer to sell my book.”
Michelini first decided to try his hand at speech competition just ahead of his club’s contest in January.
“I thought I might as well give it a try,” Michelini said. “I had been in Toastmasters for four years and always thought about competing, but never felt like I was good enough.”
Toastmasters competitions have speakers prepare a speech between five and seven minutes, with scores reflecting both the content of the speech and the way it’s presented.
Michelini used the experience of writing his book as the topic of his speech.
“I talked about writing my book and the discoveries I had about myself,” he said. “I realized what a jerk I really had been during the adoption process and it was a serendipitous moment for me.”
Ten speakers will advance from the semifinals to the International Speech Contest championship round, scheduled for Aug. 15, in Las Vegas.
