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Seven Toastmasters were advanced to the 2022 Roche Speaking World Cup contest, and seven fantastic speeches were delivered from Roche Toastmaster Clubs across the globe. Watch the speeches HERE!
“Always give a speech that you would like to hear.”
– Andrii Sedniev
2022 World Cup Champion: Julia Sirotina, Genentech Toastmasters, South San Francisco, CA
Julia has been with Genentech for 16 years but joined Genentech Toastmasters only in 2021. She thanks Covid isolation for finally making this step and wishes she had joined earlier. Besides improving her speaking skills, she was grateful to discover how Toastmasters' philosophy helped her to provide better feedback, to remain positive and to be a better leader overall.
Julia is a senior clinical Operations Leader within the Product Development Global Operations organization.
Outside of her daytime job, she is an avid traveler, movie and music lover, and a photographer (journalist in the past). As a volunteer, she leads a prolific Social Media Team at Nova Ukraine, a non-profit organization based in Palo Alto, California, aiming to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
2022 World Cup runner-up: Javier Gomez, Roche MVPs Toastmasters Club, Mississauga, ON, CA
Javier joined Toastmasters a couple of months after onboarding at the Roche Mississauga office in August 2019. Originally working as an intern at Roche, toastmasters was the perfect opportunity to network with peers and improve on public speaking skills. The main challenge when joining toastmasters was adapting to a new environment and presenting in a different language. Now, a full-time employee in Product Development he is a more confident speaker, who does not need to think twice about every word and it's all thanks to the supportive community that Toastmasters encourages. Javier has learned how to develop arguments and convince people of his ideas by the use of words and visual cues. Now his goal is beyond self-learning, now he wants to provide the same assistance and supportive environment to other members of the club as he received when he joined for the first time.
2022 World Cup 3rd place: Meyyappa Manickam Sethuraman (Meyya), OneRoche Malaysia Toastmasters Club, Roche Services & Solutions APAC (Malaysia)
Meyya joined Roche in February 2020 as Country's Chief Accountant and has been a member of Toastmasters for 16 years. Public speaking has become a passion in him since then, where it has transformed him from a boring accountant into a people's influencer and able to connect, communicate and collaborate with people from different demographics.
He actively participates as a speaker, emcee, and conference moderator for Roche internal events and for local accounting bodies. His personal motto is "Begin, The Rest Is Easy".
2022 World Cup finalist: Samantha Pounds, Roche Indy Toastmasters, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Samantha has been with Roche since 2017 and joined Toastmasters in 2020. Toastmasters has been the perfect opportunity for Samantha to perfect her impromptu and presentation skills as a Project Manager. Thanks to Toastmasters, Samantha is a more confident speaker. In addition to building her communication skills, Toastmasters has provided Samantha with a platform to develop her leadership abilities. Through roles such as meeting Toastmaster, General Evaluator, and Club Officer, Samantha has honed her ability to lead teams, give constructive feedback, and facilitate discussions. These skills have translated directly into her role at Roche, where she now leads projects with greater efficiency and clarity. With the support of her Toastmasters club, Samantha continues to challenge herself, embracing every new speaking opportunity and leadership role to further refine her abilities. She encourages others to join Toastmasters and experience the transformative power of effective communication and leadership development.
2022 World Cup finalist: Lea Scalici, Roche Bay Area Toastmasters Club, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Growing up in Italy, I started talking when I was 1, and never stopped till then. Chemist by education and Project manager for passion. I moved in California in 2012, I joined Roche and the Bay Area Toastmasters community in 2021. Working as Project manager for the Lab Supervisors' team. As English learner (yes, after more than 10 years I'm still learning!) I value the Toastmasters meetings as a great opportunity to practice the language and learn more about the different cultures here at Roche. Toastmasters are also a great opportunity to practice active listening. When not working I love spending time outdoor, playing tennis, and learning new languages.
2022 World Cup finalist: Marissa Lopez-Schultz, Roche Desert Toastmasters Club, Tucson, AZ, USA
Marissa is currently on leave
2022 World Cup finalist: Eric Fingerhut, Basel Toastmasters Club, Basel, Switzerland
Eric has been with Roche for 6 years and joined Toastmasters in 2019 in the Roche club. He went full in taking role in several clubs and at district level.
Eric is a Squad Lead (whatever that means) in Global Product Strategy and involved in our digital transformation for our customer facing organization.
His passion is in developing others and at Toastmasters he found the ground to indulge and mentor others. He is also part of the Roche individual coaching network and long time member of the Roche Career Centre.
Outside the workplace you will find Eric in the mountains in the Swiss Alpin Club mostly hiking or snowshoeing those days. Avalanches you shall not fear!
2022 World Cup Contest Chair Burton Holmes, Roche Desert Toastmasters, Roche Tissue Diagnostics, Tucson, AZ
2022 World Cup Chief Judge: Ross DeJohn, Roche Indy Toastmasters Club, Indianapolis, IN, USA
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