Weylin Bush was a semifinalist in the World Champion Speech Contest and represented District 77 at the International Convention in Kuala Lumpur August 20-23, 2014.
Weylin is a member of Vestavia Toastmasters club which is in Birmingham. He has been in Toastmasters since 2010. He has earned his Competent Communicator award. Weylin is an entrepreneur and owns two businesses, H53 Property & Investments, LLC and Bearly Hustlin Media & Consulting, LLC. He has been giving speeches outside of Toastmasters for the past three years to young Black males, church groups, and other investment entrepreneurs.
‘The Pursuit of Perfection’ was the title of the speech Weylin gave at the semifinal round. The speech was full of wisdom and was really the very action Weylin has taken in his own life.
If you think traveling to Montgomery, Alabama is a long way to go for a fall conference, or driving to Gulfport, Mississippi is a tough trip for a training session, consider Weylin Bush, our representative to the World Championship of Public Speaking.
The championship was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, half-way around the world with over 10,000 airplane miles, 20 hours of flight time and across the International Date Line. Weylin observed that he left Birmingham, Alabama on a Wednesday and arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday… the day before he left.
Weylin, who considers himself a world traveler and intends to visit all seven continents, described his flights from Birmingham to Dallas to Tokyo and finally to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as comfortable, restful and offering ample food for the trip. The only slight apprehension he had was during the final leg of the flight from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines.
Arriving late in the evening on the first day of the conference, Weylin was lodged in the host hotel and described his initial interactions with a cab driver and the hotel staff as comfortable, welcoming and entertaining. As a matter of fact, he felt he was treated like a celebrity! English is understood by many Malaysians but is not the primary language by far. The primary language is Malaysian Malay, closely followed by Chinese, Indian and Thai.
After a comfortable evening and restful night, Weylin took advantage of the friendliness of Toastmaster organizers to explore the training sessions and do some close-by sight-seeing. Two days after his arrival his semi-final competition was scheduled and Weylin was the last of 10 speakers. He said the competition was fierce and when asked what methods he used to calm himself before his presentation, he simply responded “… it’s all about confidence.” This was a positive memory he had about the competition… watching and networking and learning from other competitors which all boiled down to… confidence.
While Weylin did not win the semi-finals, he won our hearts as he traveled to a distant country by himself and easily fit into a crowd of over two thousand Toastmasters, none of which he knew, as well as numerous Malaysian representatives, shop owners and cab drivers.
After the semi-finals, Weylin took the opportunity to relax, stress free, and do more sight-seeing and, of course, shopping. He had his first encounter eating a whole fish as well as fruits with unpronounceable names. His one regret from the trip was not renting a car to experience driving on the “passenger” side of the car… Malaysians drive on the left side of the road.
Overall, Weylin was pleased and impressed with the event, finding himself in (mostly) familiar situations and watching the Speech Contest follow the same rules and procedures as our District contests (albeit on a grander scale). He was treated with appropriate respect and never felt truly alone. Well done Toastmasters!
When asked what one thing he learned from the many speakers he interacted with, he said “… use the word ‘YOU’ as often as you can to connect with your audience.” Then he was asked which speech he heard made an impact on him and he replied “… one comment that resonated with me… was… when your kids get in trouble, that’s when they need you the most.” As a father, this message hit home.
To end the conversation, Weylin was asked for one last piece of insight and he said: “Tell the message you won’t regret!” This is the message that left Malaysia with him. From the inner city of Chicago through a tough upbringing to an international celebrity, he made us all proud.
Our District 77 Celebrity, Weylin Bush.
