36 minutes
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s flag flew high over the weekend in the state of Tennessee, USA, when a Toastmaster speaker won third place in the 2022 World Championship of Public Speaking.
The winner, Mas Mahathir Mohamad, competed in the world’s largest speech contest and became one of the top eight finalists, beating more than 30,000 contestants across 144 countries.
In Mas Mahathir’s winning speech titled ‘Two Gifts’, he regaled on the different ways of being raised by his parents - his mother being strict and firm while his father being gentle and kind.
“In today’s world, we witness so much labelling and avoiding that it divides us, but there are two gifts that unite us. “
“So, give more of our listening ear and our understanding heart to anyone, and everyone,” he said.
With a psychology degree, Mahathir has devoted his time to helping others develop their skills as public speakers and become better communicators.
In his LinkedIn said his interest had led him to create a public speaking academy for the youth that is focused on building confidence through the art of public speaking.
A panel of 14 Toastmasters judges evaluated each finalist, which included their speech content, voice flexibility, gestures, language and mannerism.
