He is the first member of the Moree Toastmasters Club to represent Area 25 at an International Speech contest.

The competition is part of the Western Division Conference on Sunday, March 7, in Toowoomba.

In September last year Mr Venz was the runner-up to Ann Mason from Inverell in a very close contest.

He will compete in the table topics section at the Western Division conference against representatives from Northern NSW and Western Queensland.

In table topics the participants are given a topic without notice.

They must immediately get up and address the audience and speak about the topic for two minutes.

Notes are not allowed, which tests the competitors’ skills to speak about a topic spontaneously.

The topic he spoke about at his last competition was ‘The Most Interesting Thing I’ve Seen.’

He told the audience about his experience being chased by an angry cow while he was on a children’s motorbike. Mr Venz said the strength of Toastmasters was the instant evaluation of your performance.

At regular meetings members are given evaluation straight away that are kind and constructive, he said. Evaluations often let the speaker know about bad habits. The competition is held annually, with successful speakers competing in America.