Aqeel Jamil JEDDAH — It was a moment of great pride and honor for Saudi Arabia when Mohammed Al Qahtani won the title of 2015 World Champion of Public Speaking in International speech competition of Toastmasters International held at Las Vegas, US. He represented the District 79, Saudi Arabia in the International Convention. This is the first time in the history of Toastmasters International that the first place had been won by a Saudi national and a speaker representing Saudi Arabia. There were 90 speaking champions representing their respective regions and countries at the Las Vegas convention, which clearly reflects how difficult and onerous was the task to win the championship title. In a keenly contested competition, Al Qahtani succeeded with his powerful speech and great message, beating Aditya Maheshwaran of India and Manoj Vasudevan of Sri Lanka to the first and second runners up spots respectively. Al Qahtani works in the Industrial Security Support Department of Saudi Aramco at Dhahran and is a very dynamic toastmaster. Earlier in the District 79 Annual Contest, held in May, 2015, he was also adjudged the best speaker in the Humorous Speech Category and of course was the District Champion in the International Speech category that qualified him to represent Saudi Arabia at the International Convention. This extraordinary achievement and exemplary victory by Al Qahtani will give a further boost to the Toastmasters International in Saudi Arabia and encourage the citizens and residents to join Toastmasters in improving the public speaking and leadership skills. This astounding success also establishes the fact that one can achieve great heights by practice and hard work and there are no barriers whatsoever including the issue of language or accent. A lots of celebrations awaits Al Qahtani when he returns to the Kingdom with the coveted title both within and outside the Toastmasters Fraternity. He will be an inspiration for the toastmasters and others in the region. His journey to reach this highly coveted and beautiful accomplishment is truly amazing and inspiring. As a child, Al Qahtani had trouble speaking until he was 6 years old and also grew up with a speech impediment — stuttering — and was ridiculed a lot in his formative years. A few years ago, he joined Toastmasters, as well as the local theater group and worked sincerely to overcome this speech obstacle and because of his determination and the support of those around him, he succeeded. Not only was he crowned yesterday as the World Champion of Public Speaking, but locally in Saudi Arabia this year he also won the Championship in Humorous Speeches and Evaluation Speeches. In addition to his being the first Arab, first Muslim and first Saudi to win this title in the 84 year history of Toastmaster's World Championship, this was also his first time competing at the International level. Al Qahtani attributed his success to his family, District 79 Toastmasters, his mentors and everyone around him who supported him, while sending a message to fellow countrymen. He said that “If with all these difficulties I can succeed, you all can do wonders!” Saudi Arabia, District 79 of Toastmasters International is one of the most active regions, which was declared President Distinguished District in a row. TM Abdullah Shareef, present District 79 Director, congratulated Al Qahtani, stating, “Congratulations WCPS TM Mohammed Al Qahtani for being the honor of the District 79 family and the world. We all are very proud of you.” DTM Joey Villanueva, past District 79 head, also congratulated the champion TM Al Qahtani on his great achievement. Jim Key, DTM 2003 World Champion commended Al Qahtani in his Facebook post, “ When I saw his semifinal performance, I knew that he was going to be a formidable competitor in the finals. I just didn't know HOW formidable. His World Championship speech was M-A-S-T-E-R-F-U-L.” “A very proud moment for District 79 Team in Las Vegas with our own World Champion 2015 Mohammed Al Qahtani” said in his Facebook post DTM Rashid Ali Asst. Dist. Director Quality program. Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization's membership exceeds 313,000 in more than 14,650 clubs in 126 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators and leaders.
