Egyptian architect Wala Tolba will represent the UAE at the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking in Canada after winning the regional title at the Toastmasters District 127 conference in Dubai.
Tolba, who has lived in the UAE for the past 20 years, secured first place in the International Speech Contest during the District Annual Conference (DTAC 2026), organised by Toastmasters District 127.
Global contest
The world championship will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre East in Canada from August 19 to 22 as part of the Toastmasters International Convention 2026.
District 127 includes Toastmasters clubs across the UAE and Lebanon. This year’s conference was held under the theme “One Family, Many Voices, One Vision”.
The two-day event featured speech contests in international speech, humorous speech, evaluation, and table topics categories.
Winners
Other winners included Anshuman Viswanathan in the Humorous Speech category, Sathya Narayana Sairam in Evaluation Speech, and Karthik Singu Mahanti in Table Topics.
In language contests, Mohammad Basyouni won the Arabic speech category, while Betsy Raj, Chandra Prabhash and Sivaramkrishnan won in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil categories respectively.
Leadership sessions
The conference also hosted keynote sessions by UAE-based personal trainer and Guinness World Record holder Sujith Varghese, leadership coach Amena Japanwala, former radio presenter and author Richard Dean, and 1995 World Champion of Public Speaking Mark Brown.
Commenting on the event, DTM Sujil CV, Director of District 127, said, “We successfully hosted a world-class conference that empowered attendees with inspiration, learning, and connections that last a lifetime. It was a celebration of excellence in leadership and communication.”
He added, “The mega event marked the culmination of the contest season, showcasing top-quality speeches and offering all participants, from competitors to learners, a platform for growth and celebration.”
According to organisers, District 127 has more than 3,200 members across 155 clubs in the UAE and Lebanon.
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organisation focused on communication and leadership development through club-based learning programmes.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
