Johns Creek ‘witty - woman’ advances to State speech contest

Johns Creek, GA, Monday, October 8, 2013  — Johns Creek resident Michelle Hanchey, placed first in the Humorous speech contest representing over 590 Toastmasters from the Johns Creek, Duluth, Norcross, Gainesville area on Saturday, October 5. She won the title of “Most Humorous” speaker with the speech title, “Guess I’ll go eat worms”, which qualifies her to compete at the highest level in Toastmaster District 44.

Every year Toastmaster clubs all over the world hold contests using a process of elimination through club, area, division and district speech competitions. These five-to-seven-minute speeches are judged on humor, organization, gestures, originality, and style.

Hanchey will compete in the District 44 Humorous Contest on Saturday, November 9, at the Crown Plaza Ravinia, at 3:00 pm against seven other Division winners. This event is open to the public. The winner of the Division contest will be crowned “The most Humorous Speaker” representing over 3,500 Toastmasters in the state of Georgia’s District 44.

Hanchey, a member of the Atlanta MasterCrafters club that meets every Thursday at 7:00 pm in Johns Creek Presbyterian Church 10950 Bell Rd, Johns Creek, GA 30097, won the hearts of the audience and judges alike with her remedy on how to overcome ‘nagging negativity’ and ‘just talking nasty to yourself’ by ‘frisking every thought”.

Hanchey used humor, passion and words of wisdom for the audience to incorporate in their lives – give yourself enough credit and ‘never ever talk down to yourself’. When it comes to connecting with an audience, Hanchey said, “The key is to have a storyline with conflict and resolution.”

“Toastmasters speech contests are another way to build your confidence, because you sharpen your skills and speak to many different audiences,” says Hanchey. “I am looking forward to competing on a much larger stage in a few weeks.”  Hanchey is CEO of her own company, 8ight, LLC in Johns Creek, GA. She joined Toastmasters to become a better speaker and to mentor others in leadership at work and in the community. As a milestone of her own TM journey, Hanchey received her Distinguished Toastmaster award in April, 2013.

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About Toastmasters International

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Founded in October 1924, the organization currently has more than 270,000 members in 13,000 clubs in 116 countries. Each week, Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million people of every ethnicity, education and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others. For more information please visit www.toastmasters.org.