James Jolly had his audience laughing from the first sentence. He was almost the funniest guy in the room.

Of course he did have competition in this speech contest and took second place in the Toastmasters International District 2, 2012 Humorous Speech Contest at the Everett Convention Center on Nov. 10.

A member of Whidbey Sounders Toastmasters Club, Jolly shared his expertise with the audience in the idiosyncrasies of turning a simple sample station in the frozen food aisle at Costco into the opportunity for a full meal, all without making yourself stand out as a “Sample Hog” in his speech, “Correctly Collecting Costco Creations.”

Jolly previously won the local and area Toastmasters speech contests to make it to the District 2 contest.

“He did a very impressive job for his first speech contest,” said Reid Schwartz, public relations.

View Jolly’s speech on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjIkc48bAx8.

Toastmasters, a club that aims to help people become more comfortable with public speaking, meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the second, fourth and fifth Tuesdays of each month at San Remos restaurant in Oak Harbor. The public is welcome. For details, visit whidbeysounders.org.