Fountain Hills residents Valerie Krugh and Will Neuman will represent Fountain Hills Toastmasters in an upcoming speech competition.

Krugh will compete in the humorous speech category, while Neuman will participate in the international speech category.

The annual event begins with contestants delivering their speeches at the club level Wednesday, Feb. 3. From there, they will compete against five clubs at the area level Feb. 20.

Should they succeed, they will continue to the division level in April, followed by state, national and international levels. More than 30,000 people compete annually in the event globally, working toward the grand prize: the World Championship of Public Speaking.

Contestants present a five- to seven-minute speech on any subject. They are judged on eight categories: Speech development, effectiveness, originality, stage presence, vocal variety, enthusiasm, purpose and grammar.

Krugh joined Fountain Hills Toastmasters in October 2019. In 2020, she competed in the Tall Tale speech contest and won her club and area contests before the remaining contests were canceled due to the pandemic.

Neuman is a seven-year veteran member of Toastmasters, achieving Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest level of achievement in the organization.

He has entered six club contests and won first place at the division level in 2018.

Fountain Hills Toastmasters Club meets each Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, visit fountainhills.toastmastersclubs.org.