Local man Sesh Vijalaputa Subramanya competed in the local area toastmaster competition on Tuesday 8 November.
Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya has participated as a toastmaster for the local Berwick group for over a year and has ambitions to compete internationally at the highest level.
“It would be a journey and I hope I can make it to the international level this year, otherwise it might take me two or three more years,” Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said.
There were no nerves for Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya at the event as he said he’s been giving speeches all his life.
However, he was excited to take the step into competitive public speaking.
“I’m excited and not nervous at all,” Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said before the event.
“The reason being is I’ve been giving speeches all my life so if there’s one thing I’m very good at, it is facilitation and public speaking.
“I’m very cautious that I shouldn’t be over confident and muck it up,” Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said.
“My goal is to take one step at a time and get through the local area and get to the district competition.
“From there, there is a state level and a national level competition.”
An eagerness to speak publicly is what drew him to the Berwick Toastmasters Club.
Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said he would’ve joined the club much earlier had he known about them.
“I found them a couple years back when I figured out they run competitions,” Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said.
“Til then, I didn’t know whether there was a forum for public speakers who encourage public speaking so I joined them and did my level one and two courses which are requirements to be in the competition.”
Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya’s speech, titled ‘Heartbeats’, takes the audience through his journey of parenthood and lessons he’s learnt throughout his lifetime.
He said the best lesson he has to share is “quitting is the only failure, the rest is only learning”.
“That’s what I learnt from my Mum and that helped me sail through several tough points,” Mr Vijalaputa Subramanya said.
