CORRECTIONS: In a previous version of this article, the name of the Peter Graham Room , order of the orator competitions and  for who the club was founded were misstated. The divisional level of competition comes before the district level and the club was created for all Syracuse University employees. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

At the front of the Peter Graham Room in E.S. Bird Library, Kirstin Guanciale paced in front of an image of a half-filled glass of water.

“Life is not fair,” Guanciale said authoritatively in front of a panel of judges and onlookers. “Everybody at some point has a cross to bear or a burden to carry.”

Guanciale is a member of the Orange Orators club and one of several competitors who participated in a Toastmasters International public speaking contest on Tuesday. Her speech opened the competition, held at noon with audience members of varying ages and ethnicities.

The Orange Orators is a club based at Syracuse University as a part of the Toastmasters International organization. Winners of the club-level events move on to area competitions, and then to division- and district-level competitions.

The contest featured two areas for speech-giving: international speeches and tall tales, both of which had winners move on to the area-level of competition.

Guanciale’s speech, the only one in the international speech category, focused on the juxtaposition of optimism and pessimism in society. The speech highlighted the benefits of being an optimistic person, including an example showing the fulfillment Mother Teresa appeared to have while“seeing her glass half-full,” as Guanciale put it.

The tall tale speakers followed the international speech, starting with John Newlen. Newlen’s tale weaved around the idea of jumping out of a plane using a picnic blanket as a parachute, and then going on a series of unlikely adventures in Yellowstone National Park.

The other two tall tale competitors, Jennifer Jeffrey and Nelson Pardee, presented their tales after Newlen, keeping within the sub-five-minute time restriction. Jeffrey’s piece was about a painting of colored horses coming to life, while Pardee’s was a comical piece about the frustrations of a gardener.

Pardee, a pastor and former information and technology services employee at SU, won the competition and will be moving on to the area level in the tall tales division.

Although Pardee joined the club in April 2007, he began entering speech competitions six months ago.

“I’ve always done public speaking,” Pardee said. “I simply wanted to do better.”

While his original intent for joining the club was to improve his communication skills for his work as a pastor, Pardee admits he has begun to enjoy all elements of the public speaking club. His tall tale was largely based around comedy. In the competition he entered six months ago, he made it to the district level with a speech in the humor category.

For Pardee, the enjoyment he gets from participating in the Orange Orators comes not only from his own performances, but in his ability to partake in evaluating others.

“In many ways, the thing I now find most enjoyable about Toastmasters is the opportunity to work with others, helping each other improve,” Pardee said. “I’ve not seen anybody who has tried to work with the program who has not improved.”

This idea of constant improvement for members within the club was one shared by its president, Susan Watts.

Watts, president since July 2012, took the position because of her belief in what the Orange Orators were doing, and her desire to make it even better.

“It doesn’t matter what level they come in at, we see growth in everybody that comes,” Watts said. “It’s really fun to watch and exciting to be a part of.”

The club was originally founded with SU faculty and staff in mind, though it has expanded to cater to students and other members of the Syracuse community.

For Watts, this is one of the many benefits of the club.

Said Watts: “It provides a lot of diversity. It’s a great experience because it’s a lot of different personalities and backgrounds in the club.”

Published on February 6, 2013 at 12:11 am

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