A techie-turned-management consultant has made the capital city proud by become the first Malayali to achieve a podium finish at the recently held World Championship of Public Speaking, which is regarded the ‘Olympics of Oratory’, held in Las Vegas, USA.

Manoj Vasudevan, who hails from Kanjirampara, came third at the event organised at the Toastmasters International Convention, held in August. He represented Singapore where he has been residing since 1998.

Mr. Vasudevan delivered a speech titled ‘We Can Fix It’ before an audience of nearly 2,500 to figure among the toppers of the competition in which the contestants compete at various levels including club, area, district and global semi finals to reach the final round over a year-long process.

There were 10 speakers from the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Sri Lanka and Singapore in the final round. The contestants delivered short speeches on wide-ranging topics.

Judging

The criteria used in judging include speech content, organisation, vocal quality and gestures. The country had another reason to cheer with a Chennai-based contestant, Aditya Maheswaran, coming second in the competition. Prior to migrating to Singapore, Mr. Vasudevan had completed his degree at the Government Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram, following which he pursued B.Tech. in Electronics and Communication at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, from where he graduated in 1995.

During his early days in Singapore, he realised the importance of developing one’s communication skills. “Once we have landed our first job, a lot depended upon how one presented himself. Having faced such difficulties in my career, I took it as a challenge to master the art of public speaking,” he told The Hinduduring a telephonic conversation. There was need to create an awareness in this regard among the people of Kerala, particularly the youngsters. He has switched over from the technical field to focus on organising training programmes in public speaking. Mr. Vasudevan has gone on to coach individuals of 27 nationalities including CEOs, senior executives, professionals, managers, diplomats and celebrities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Staff Reporter / Thiruvananthapuram – September 08th, 2015