San Juan woman wins world championship in public speaking

Luisa Montalvo poses with her 2024 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking award. (Courtesy photo)

A San Juan woman is the first Hispanic person to win a world championship in a speech contest, beating out 30,000 participants from 150 countries.

Luisa Montalvo, 65, won the Toastmasters’ 2024 World Championship of Public Speaking last month at the Anaheim Marriott in California.

Montalvo’s speech “37 Strangers” resonated with a crowd of about 1,500 people who attended the organization’s annual convention as well as more than 800 virtual attendees, according to a news release from Toastmasters.

The speech was about the lessons Montalvo learned from the near fatal car accident she was involved in two years ago, which had left her in a wheelchair. The release continues to note that Montalvo’s heart stopped beating for six minutes after the accident, until she was revived by a team of 37 emergency and medical professionals who left her forever grateful and gave her a fresh outlook on life.

“I did this for my mom,” Montalvo said in the release, which noted that she began writing her speech eight months ago and was inspired to give it her all after the recent passing of her mother. “I always wanted her to be proud of me and I take a lot of pride in this achievement.”

Toastmasters said Montalvo joined the organization 13 years ago because she loves to compete and wanted to test her oratory skills against the best in the world.

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