The Launch: The Night Speaker Slam® Began
On October 19, 2016, ten of Toronto's best speakers took the stage at Revival Bar for the first Speaker Slam® competition. The theme was passion.
Before the speeches, co-founders Dan and Rina told the story of how they met. A year and a half earlier, Rina had joined the CSI Pitchmasters Toastmasters club and run for VP of PR on her first night. Her only competitor was Dan. The vote ended in a do-over, the president made them co-chairs, and by Rina's telling they went on to be "the two worst VPs of PR that Toastmasters has ever seen." What came out of it was a friendship and the idea for this competition, built on Dan's love of community and Rina's love of competing.
Then Dan taught the room a chant it has done at every event since. "This isn't Toastmasters. This is Speaker Slam. When I say speaker, you say slam."
How the First Night Worked
The format was different from today's. After all ten speeches and a short break, the judges and audience members took one minute each to share something they were passionate about. Then the judges chose their top five speakers for an impromptu round. Each of the five answered the same question without hearing the others: to what extent do you shape your own destiny, and how much is left to fate?
1st Place: Marcos Mendosa
Marcos became the first-ever Speaker Slam® champion with a performance built on the words "I am." He closed with: "You should know that every single one of you is a miracle, absolutely divine, beautiful and intelligent. So, considering that you are a miracle, my last suggestion is: live as one."
Accepting the win, he told the audience his speech was 1,577 words long and that he had taken five days off to memorize it. "I'm a wordsmith left speechless," he said. Marcos returned six years later to win The Comeback and the 2022 Grand Slam.
2nd Place: Matthew Jones
Matthew is a spoken word poet, emcee and professional speaker from Toronto.
3rd Place: Tanika Riley
Tanika is an educational consultant, facilitator, speaker and social entrepreneur from Toronto.
Every Speaker, Every Story
- Roger Caesar spoke about the people who inspire us, from his mother's advice after a childhood talent show to his father. "It took tragedy for me to realize how great my father was. Don't let it happen to you."
- Carmelita Dela Cruz told the story of growing up in an orphanage in the Philippines and her last visit with her mother. "My friends, love and forgive while you still can."
- Gilbert Thompson, John Ribeiro, Kirillos Shahata, Kwesi Millington and Waleed Elabed completed the lineup.
Meet the Judges Who Made It All Happen
- Mo Waja, Speaker, Author and Founder of presentIMPACT
- Carol Schulte, Speaker, Coach and Founder of Women Living BIG
- Farley Flex, music executive, entrepreneur and former Canadian Idol judge
- Calvin Strachan, results coach and motivational speaker
Carol spoke for the panel during the passion round: "Kudos to all of the speakers who put themselves out there and showed up, stood up, signed up to do something like this. It is not easy."
What Came Next
The night ended with a date for the second competition: November 22, 2016, which became Passion, Purpose, Perspective.
Meet the full lineup in Meet the Speakers for The Launch 2016 and the panel in Meet Your Judges for The Launch 2016.
Watch Every Speech from The Launch 2016
