TIMMINS - A local woman is shooting for the top in a public speaking competition in Toronto.
Maya Woronicz is going to the Speaker Slam finals this year after coming in third at the July round of the annual competition circuit. She will travel to Toronto to speak on Nov. 9 with other participants from all over North America.
“I’m pretty excited to be sharing the stage with some pretty good speakers to say the least,” said Woronicz.
The last time TimminsToday talked to Woronicz, she was slated to compete in the wildcard competition last month.
SEE: 'Someone will always relate': Timmins woman takes third at speaking competition
In past years, third and fourth-place participants competed at the wildcard level to decide who would go on to the Grand Slam event. This year, the lucky few were chosen by the number of points they received in their first competition.
The topic for the championship speeches is ‘brave’, and Woronicz had about six weeks to write and rehearse her new speech.
“It’s a lot different, because for the first round, I applied in January and I found out in February that I’d be competing in July, so I had that time knowing the topic and everything to prepare, whereas this time we found out the topic maybe two weeks ago,” she said. “For me this is a lot more fast-tracked, so that’s put a lot more nerves in me. You feel like time’s running out before you started.”
The topic spoke to her and she started writing almost immediately.
“One idea hit me right off the bat, but I switched it a little bit,” she said. “There’s so many ways you can go with it, so I really wanted to convey a message that is just not just near and dear to me, but also very relatable for anybody.”
The tight turnaround for this second speech is an equalizer, said Woronicz. Every competitor is under the same deadline.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what everyone comes up with this quickly,” she said.
It's also an intimidating part of the experience she said.
“There’s no second guessing here, just got to run with it,” said Woronicz.
This is the first time Woronicz has competed at this level and she is looking forward to the experience.
“The next month is basically just practicing and practicing and practicing,” she said.
Representing Timmins at the event is a big part of this for her. She’s been living in the city for the last two years and the support of local businesses is helping her make the trip to Toronto.
“The support from everyone locally has been amazing,” she said. “Everyone’s been so nice, so supportive, so I’m really excited to get up on that stage again and represent Timmins and see what happens!”
