Maple Grove resident competes in the semifinals of international speech competition.
Photo by:
courtesy of mark skipper
Seventeen years after Mark Skipper’s first speech competition, he entered his second. Six months later he competed in the semifinals of the Toastmasters International Conference in Vancouver after winning his district, which includes most of Minnesota’s metro area and half of Ontario.
“One of the things I had decided I wanted to do is become an inspirational speaker,” Maple Grove resident Skipper says. “[I] asked myself what I was doing about it. The answer was: nothing.”
With inspiration from a story he heard of a simple hug saving a teenager’s life, he wrote “The Power of a Hug,” which he performed through four tiers of competition. Congratulations, Mark!
