Fountain Hills Friday: Toastmasters

Each week we strive to recognize a member of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce who has something new or exciting going on within their business or organization. This week, that member is the Fountain Hills Toastmasters! One of their members, Tom Lindsey, recently became the division Champion at a Toastmasters speech competition! We got the chance to hear more about this accomplishment from local Toastmaster Ellen Flanary, and learn how this organization is helping to put Fountain Hills on the map:

Toastmasters definitely do more than just make toasts; Twice a year, Toastmasters around the world have speech competitions.  Arizona has over 230 clubs around the state, and they all compete within their clubs to produce a champion. Those champions compete at an area contest (from 6 clubs), and the champions from each area compete at a division contest (representing 6 areas). 

The Division that Fountain Hills falls under is the Navajo Division. Tom Lindsey, Fountain Hills Toastmasters member and resident of FH, won at the club level, the area level, and on Saturday, won the division contest, making him the Table Topics champion of their Division!

Lindsey is a long-time resident of Fountain Hills and a retired School District Administrator. He is very passionate about keeping his communication and leadership skills sharp, as well as helping others achieve a level of confidence to ace job interviews, build relationships with customers, present speeches, and socialize with memorable conversations. Lindsey quoted Dr.Ralph Smedley when accepting his award: “While most of us have joined Toastmasters to learn to make speeches, that benefit is just the beginning of the good which may come to us, and the good which we may do for mankind.”

The Arizona State Championship (District 3) will be held the evening of Friday, November 4, 2016, at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona.  If you would like to attend, please visit the aztoastmasters.org website where you can register for the option of formal dinner or gallery seating for the event! It would mean a lot to Tom to be supported by his home club members and community as he competes to beat out the winners from the other 8 divisions in the state.

The FH Chamber would like to wish Tom and all local Toastmasters luck in their future competitions, and congratulations on the big win!