The Upside of the Downside (continued ~ Part II / III)
I
finished my presentation but alas … The international speakers were
the first part of the program. The waiting to see who would be 1st,
2nd, 3rd, began.
Toastmasters officers began
with annoucements about the upcoming spring conference … Then …
intermission … After the intermission, the second part of the
contest began. A test speaker would give a speech and then several
Toastmasters would compete to see who would give the best evaluation
of the speaker. The winner of the international speech contest was
still unknown. Once the evaluators speech contest concluded, the
winners of both contests would be announced. For those of us
competing in the international contest it seemed like a long time
waiting for the news of who won. The third place winner was announced
– not me. The second place winner was announced – not me. Finally
the moment I was waiting for, the announcement of the first place
winner – not me. I felt disappointed that I did not win first
place. It was even more disappointing that I did not place in the top
three. As the meeting broke up, several people approached me. One of
my colleagues said, “this is the first time I heard you give a
speech, I didn't know you were such a powerful speaker. I really
liked your talk.” Several other toastmasters approached me and
commented that they liked the ideas that I presented in my talk and the photographs that I used. It was nice to receive many positive responses to my talk but it was
still disappointing not to win.
As
we left, my friend offered to treat me to dinner. We went to one of my
favorite restaurants, Jing. My friend Al, who we had hoped would be
there had already left for the evening. The food was good, the
conversation was good. I wondered as we ate, how to integrate not
winning that evening into a positive experience. Although my feelings
were not very low, they were quiet … feeling the experience and
wondering how to proceed.
Part III will be posted on Friday.
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