Fifteen years ago, Sudburian Alexandre Matte considered himself to be a shy guy.
Then he joined Toastmasters here in Sudbury (he belongs to two different clubs), and everything changed for him, learning how to communicate with others effectively and making many long-lasting friendships in the process.
Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit educational organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.
Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization's membership exceeds 300,000 in more than 15,800 clubs in 149 countries.
Matte said he used to run the finances for non-profit organizations for a living, but he now has a new career that makes use of his public speaking skills.
He said he has his own company where he does French-language kids’ storytelling, visiting local schools.
Matte has now mastered the art of speechifying to the point where he recently placed second in the Toastmasters International World Championship of Public Speaking.
The first-place winner in the 2022 competition is Cyril Junior Dim, originally from Zimbabwe, although he represented Eastern Europe in the contest, and the third-place winner is Mas Mahathir Bin Mohamad, representing Malaysia.
Although the competition took place in Nashville, Tennessee on Aug. 20, Matte participated virtually.
“My objective for the last 10 years or so has been to reach the final stage, because I really wanted to have that opportunity to present in front of thousands of people,” he said.
“I was in the semifinals twice before, but when I got to the finals, I thought ‘This is perfect. I've reached my goal.’ So getting second place is the cherry on top.”
Matte said he doesn’t plan to enter the same competition next year, instead focusing his efforts on working with an international group of fellow French-speaking Toastmasters members, Vitrine Francophone Internationale Toastmasters.
In his winning speech, “Missing Ingredient,” Matte speaks about tradition, his family’s annual summer reunion, making his late Grand-Maman's no-bake cake, and the traditions that hold people together and the changing world around them.
You can watch a video of his speech below:
“My final speech is about tradition, and the importance of traditions to hold together a family, or community, or any social group, including a workplace,” Matte said.
Given his grand-maman just passed away last year, Matte said this year is the first without his family's “main ingredient” — without grand-maman.
But he said his family won’t crumble, as each person is adding a special ingredient — and Matte still makes her traditional no-bake cake.
Asked just how good this no-bake cake is, Matte said “words cannot describe it."
(If you’re interested in making this confection yourself, take a look below this article - Matte has been kind enough to share the recipe).
“It’s one part of our yearly gathering, and I'm very happy and proud to make it every year,” he said. “It's a tradition, right? And without that, the gathering wouldn't feel the same.”
Grand-Maman's No-Bake Cake
Well, here it is! The recipe for my grand-maman's gâteau pas-cuit (no-bake cake). Please note that I've purposefully left it vague to allow you to experiment and make it your own!
Ingredients:
1 chunk of butter the size of the yellow of an egg
1 egg
3/4 cups coffee (strong)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 box of Village cookies (600g) *
Steps:
Beat the butter and the egg together.
Add the coffee and vanilla.
Add the sugar and cocoa.
Add the crunched up cookies.
Spread in a large pan.
Let dry for 24 hours.
Cut in pieces and serve.
*Made by Dare, the box now comes in 535 gram size! You will need about 50-55 cookies. Village cookies are hard to find; a poor to passable alternative is Maria cookies, or a mix of butter cookies and Biscoff cookies.
