Over 700 Toastmasters from South India and Sri Lanka will converge in Colombo to attend the Toastmasters’ District 82 Annual Conference – ‘Ovation 2012’ to be held from 25th to 27th May 2012. Sri Lanka gets the opportunity to host this mega conference once in three years.

Aptly themed “Build Confidence… Transform Yourself… Learn The Art of Effective Speaking Towards Self Actualization” the conference will be ceremonially inaugurated on 25th May at the state-of-the-art Musaeus College Auditorium under the aegis of Toastmasters International President, Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Michael Notaro, who will be the Chief Guest at the ceremony. Over 1,000 attendees including 700 Toastmasters from India and Sri Lanka and invitees from around Sri Lanka including corporate leaders, school principals, teachers, students of schools and universities have been invited to this ceremony. 
 
The conference will feature an interesting line up of educational sessions which includes a presentation by Rory Vaden, world renowned self-decline strategist and runner up of the Toastmasters’ World Championship of Public Speaking in 2007.
 
The District Level International and Table Topic Speech Contests will be another highlight where over 36 best orators from South India and Sri Lanka will be contesting having qualified at club, area and division level contests. The International Speech Contest will be the high point of the conference as the winner will represent District 82 at the annual Toastmasters’ World Championship of Public Speaking Contest – the Olympics of Oratory – in Orlando, USA  in August 2012.
 
Ovation is also a forum that promotes fellowship and networking amongst Toastmasters across the District spanning Sri Lanka and South India. The Toastmasters community consists of members with diverse educational, professional, ethnic backgrounds and belongs to different age groups. Yet they all work towards one goal, ie self-development through effective speaking and improved leadership skills and helping others also to find their voices. The conference will facilitate building lifelong relationships amongst Toastmasters and their families. The fun night planned for the 26th May evening at Lighthouse Galley has been organized to foster friendship and camaraderie among Toastmasters from India and Sri Lanka.
 
Established in 1924 in California USA Toastmasters International has grown to become the world leader in developing public speaking and leadership skills of individuals around the globe in line with its watchword: Toastmasters - Where Leaders are Made. There are over 270,000 Toastmasters in over 116 countries around the world which has been possible due to the effectiveness of the Toastmasters’ communication and leadership programme.