KnoWho Market, a platform that connects corporations and organizations with experts and speakers, has announced the 10 shortlisted candidates who have been selected from the first round of the exciting public speaking competition titled MENA Speaks on 20th April.

MENA Speaks is a competition that has been launched by KnoWho Market and it aims at uncovering the next superstar-speaker of the Middle East. For this competition, participants are asked to share their knowledge and story to the world. 

Participants were welcomed to register in the first round until the 20th of April when the top 10 of the competition have been under review by an esteemed jury of professional speakers and influencers. The jury consists of Saana Azzam, Omar Al Busaidy, Khalid AlQoud and other know profiles from the global speaker’s community. The second round of the competition will start from 25th of April to 5th of May when the contest announces its winner on May 5th 2018. 

In less than a month over 500 contestants have signed up. The leader of the competition Aditya Chopra has almost 16,000 votes, second runner up is the Egyptian that resides in the UAE, Mr. Ahmed Helmy, and he has 11000 votes and number 3 is a female speaker and resident of the UAE, Coach Bina with almost 11000 votes earmarked to her name. The top 10 finalists are from all over the Middle East across the ages and nationalities, a testament of the beautiful diversity prevalent in this region. 

“We want to hear human stories from all walks of life that will inspire others to become better or do better. MENA Speaks would like to give all the inspiring speakers a platform to get recognised for their talent. Everyone is welcome to send a video and become part of this project. Everyone is encouraged to become part of the movement and we would like to hear the voices of the MENA region, and what makes us all unique!” Saana Azzam said, the Founder and Managing Director of MENA Speakers.

As the UAE is recognised as a business hub of the Middle East, more and more companies rely on the talents of speakers improve the employees’ skill-sets in soft-skills such as sales, negotiation and others, as well as to anchor changes and strategic decisions. For these reasons, the main partner, MENA Speakers, leading speakers’ bureau in the Middle East are offering the winner of the competition professional coaching and representation.

This competition is perfect for speakers in the region seeking to become professionals and get the reach they need to share their vision. 

The website is featuring a form where the participants can fill in their basic bio info and upload their videos on online platforms.