Three employees from Abqaiq Toastmaster Club earn semifinal wins.
Sami S. Al-Huwais, second from right, congratulates Abqaiq Toastmaster contestants at the Saudi Arabia Toastmasters Annual Conference, including, from left, Abdulwahab A. Al-Nuwaider, Ahmed S. Abdelmoeti, and Rashad I. Al-Milad.
Three members of Aramco’s Abqaiq Toastmasters Club reached the finals of the Saudi Arabian Toastmasters Annual Conference’s (SATAC) annual public speaking contests in al-Khobar in May.
SATAC is the biggest and most prestigious Toastmasters event held in Saudi Arabia on an annual basis. This year the event was held in al-Khobar for three consecutive days in May. SATAC covers 164 Toastmasters Clubs, with 6,500 members all over Saudi Arabia.
The three Abqaiq Toastmasters Club members represented the 20 Aramco Toastmasters Clubs at SATAC, winning in the semifinals in each of the four speech contests by being ranked among the best six speakers:
- Abdulwahab A. Al-Nuwaider won in the semifinals of the Humorous Speech Contest
- Rashad I. Al-Milad won in the semifinals of the International Speech Contest
- Al-Milad and Ahmed S. Abdelmoeti won in the semifinals of the Table Topics and Evaluation Speech Contests
- Al-Milad won second place in the final of the Evaluation Speech contest.
“Winning the second place in this tough contest was a real challenge as I competed against the best speakers in the Kingdom.”
— Rashad I. Al-Milad
“I am confident that this achievement will motivate me and my colleagues in Aramco to win the first place in all categories in the coming years,” Al-Milad added.
The Contests and Contestants
Speech contests are the most important and interesting part of SATAC. The four contests strive to identify the best speakers in each category from the huge crowd of contestants.
The International Speech Contest is to identify the best speakers who give a 5 to 7 minute prepared and rehearsed speech.
In the Table Topics Contest, contestants are presented with a topic, and they are required to give an impromptu, unplanned, and unrehearsed speech for 1-2 minutes on the topic.
In the Evaluation Speech Contest, they have to deliver a 2-3 minute speech that entails critical evaluation and constructive feedback on a speech presented by a test speaker.
The Humorous Speech Contest is a competition among the contestants to give the funniest speech in 5-7 minutes.
The three contestants are from three different organizations in Southern Area Oil Operations. Al-Milad is from the Southern Area Producing Engineering Department; Al-Nuwaider is from the North Ghawar Producing Department; and Abdelmoeti is from the Manpower Development Division.
“Toastmasters is not only about improving speechwriting, public speaking, and leadership skills; it is also about personal and professional growth,” said Sami S. Al-Huwais, director of the Abqaiq Plants Maintenance Department and the sponsor of the Abqaiq Toastmasters Club.
“We invest in our employees because we believe that people are the best asset any company in the world can have.”
— Sami S. Al-Huwais
In addition to the contests, some world-class motivational and professional speakers shared their insights in several sessions during the conference, including Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Qahtani, the 2015 World Champion of Public Speaking.
If you are inspired by the story of the three Aramcons and would like to learn how to become an effective speaker and communicator or to join Toastmasters, email the Abqaiq Toastmasters Club president at ABDELMAS@aramco.com for more details.
— The Arabian Sun: June 04, 2023