Jamaica’s Carol Riley has been crowned Caribbean Champion of Public Speaking for District 81 of Toastmasters International. She out spoke seven contestants in the District finals which were held during the recent Toastmasters conference in St. Lucia.

Carol is a member of CIPS Communicators Toastmasters Club in Kingston. She has been a Toastmaster for two years and competed successfully at the divisional level in the Humorous Speech Contest in 2009.

Having won the Caribbean Championship, Carol has now earned the right to compete for the International Title in August against other Toastmasters from around the world. The contest for the World Championship of Public Speaking is the marquee event of the Toastmasters International Convention to be held in Palm Desert, California, and Carol plans to fly high the black green and gold. This year, for the first time, the International competition features two levels -- Semi-Finals and Finals, with the ultimate winner taking the title of World Champion of Public Speaking.

Speech contests are a Toastmasters tradition. Each year thousands of Toastmasters compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International Speech contests. Competition begins with club contests with the winners competing upward through Area, Division and District levels.