Talent

A meeting in a rainstorm

Shenzhen issued a red rainstorm alert on meeting day. The officers posted safety reminders through the afternoon, and the decision came with a line that became the day’s motto: everyone should use their own judgment and only travel if it’s safe, but the meeting itself would go ahead as scheduled, rain or shine, SZTM would be waiting. The meeting went ahead.

Prepared speeches

Two speeches this evening, which is why the Table Topics section stretched to a 28-minute marathon with everyone participating. The original lineup had more speakers, but one dropped out the night before with a sudden business trip, posting that the role for the next evening was now open and up for grabs.

Danny’s icebreaker, which went on to win Best Speaker with ten of eleven votes, borrowed its title from Bob Dylan: “How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man.” When the title first appeared in the signup chain days earlier, the group immediately started singing along in the chat, joking that the speech meeting was turning into a concert. Jacob spoke on “I am not that good.”

Behind the scenes

Three small crises, all resolved. The club flag, feared lost for a week, turned out to have simply not been packed away after the previous meeting. The voting QR code printed on the agenda was last week’s, so a corrected code was posted in the group mid-meeting. And the Grammarian slot was still empty on the morning of the meeting until a self-nomination arrived in the officers’ group, someone volunteering on the spot to take the role. The Word of the Day, “aptitude,” fit a theme about talent.

Afterwards the photos flooded in, and the group reached a consensus of sorts: this had to be the best-looking Toastmasters club around.