Friday, May 10th. 8am. I step out of the M3 at Nagyvarad station and start walking south. I check my instructions again:

 “Csaba will be waiting for you under the Nepliget overpass in a grey Volkswagen. He doesn’t speak English, but the other people in the car probably will.”

If this Bla Bla car sharing app-thing actually works out for me, it’s going to be a miracle. Outside the Groupama Arena, a thing of beauty stops me dead in my tracks. It’s the shiny metal FCT eagle sculpture. I touch her talon for good luck. Instantly, my mood lifts.

I walk toward the major intersection to find ‘Csaba in a grey Volkswagen who doesn’t speak English.’ There are a million cars parked under the overpass. Buses, trucks and cars of all kinds zoom by me on all sides. It’s chaos. Then, I see it – a grey Volkswagen! Is that a Csaba inside? It is! It’s a miracle! Enough celebrating…ándele to Cluj-Napoca! I need to get to the District 110 Spring Conference!

Saturday, May 11th, 9am. It’s time for the evaluation contestant briefing. Michala Beerova explains how it’s going to go. She‘s done her homework as contest chair and I feel confident that things will run smoothly. Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for…the choosing of the speaker order. Come on number four!

My number is…one. I’m the first evaluator in the contest. An unlucky twist of fate, but part of the game. It means after the target speaker, we the contestants will leave the room and prepare our evaluations for five minutes. Then, I’m up. For me, it means I have no time for an acronym.  

I always organize my evaluations in three parts. I talk about the body language, content and organization. I speak about each one from a different part of the stage, ending each with a point of feedback. 

At the end, when I recap, I do a big reveal – an acronym. The first letters of the points of feedback spell a word. I weave that word into my conclusion.  

One year, I used the word MAP.  M was for Movement, A was for Audience, and P was for Pause. In the Division contest, it was OMG. I’ve also used POW and BAM. It’s a nice little surprise at the end of the evaluation and it makes for a great conclusion and finish.

But drawing first evaluator, I knew I wouldn’t have enough time for that. With only five minutes to prepare, I would need to focus on the fundamentals and nothing fancy.

Our test speaker, Oana Stanciu, gave an emotional speech about losing a pet. It was difficult to find specific areas I could suggest improvement. I decided on a quote from Dananjaya Hettiarachchi to illustrate the power of a message.

“If you don’t burn for your dream, your dream will burn away.”

Saturday, May 11th, 4:45pm. The District 110 International Speech Contest is just 45 minutes away. Time for one last rehearsal of my speech. I hit ‘play’ on the YouTube video timer (search YouTube: mentorinabox Toastmasters). As I deliver my speech to the wall of my hostel room for the last time, I pay close attention to pauses and keeping my energy level high. I’m ready.

I bounce to the hotel with spring in my step. My first International Speech Contest at the District Level! It was a moment I wanted to remember. I tried my best to do everything slowly and calmly and keep my anticipation and excitement at bay. I wanted to save it for the stage.

I was the first speaker of the contest, again. I looked at the silver lining in this situation. For the first time in any competition I’d been in, I would get to see ALL of the other speeches with zero pressure. I didn’t mind getting my speech over with.

I looked around the contest room. The massive print behind the speaking area covered the entire back wall and reminded me of a 1900’s theater. Fitting as this place was the Hotel Opera Plaza. I felt the soft carpet under my feet and wondered how new it was. Maybe it was brand new for us. Even the chairs were really…oh!  I have to pee.

With 10 minutes to go, as the sound man attached the porto mic to me, the butterflies laying quietly in my stomach began to stir. I felt one, then another fly around and then land quietly. I took a deep breath. The butterflies remained calm. It was good to know that I was in control of my emotions, even at this highest level of competition that I’d never competed in before. I imagined taking International stage in Denver, Colorado in August for the World Championship of Public Speaking.

Then, almost on cue, every one of the butterflies woke up and took off at the same time – zooming all around just like the cars at Nepliget overpass. The distinctive voice of Balazs Toth filled the air.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. The District 110 International Speech Contest is about to start!” 

Cover photo by Edit Trunkó