September

Jason is really good at breaking things

The theme was September, but Jason had other plans. As TTM, he spent eight minutes building an elaborate setup: four couples, each assigned a scenario with built-in conflict. A realistic boyfriend paired with a romantic girlfriend. Questions designed to surface disagreements. Contradictions manufactured for entertainment. Eight people, fourteen minutes, and a room full of people who forgot they were supposed to be practicing public speaking.

Andy, who has done competitive debate, said afterward that even speaking in his native language wouldn’t be enough to win this round. Jacob, the only person who stayed in his seat all evening, said it felt like watching a talk show. Danny, as Timer, had the hardest job: every time he considered cutting someone off, he realized he’d be making enemies of the entire room.

The four couples

Cecilia & David were the couple heading for a breakup. David was relaxed and humorous: he suggested flowers are ordinary and that fruit is for unique girls. Cecilia appreciated being direct. They followed Jason’s instructions well enough to keep the audience entertained.

Jennifer & Tao were the happy couple. Jennifer took the lead, asking Tao about his opinions and feelings, steering the discussion with the skill of someone who has thought about these things for years. As for Tao: his brain froze. He was too shy. The couple adopted Jason as their son during the segment, which Jason pretended not to hear.

Zijun & Han were the rich couple choosing a car. One admired Elon Musk and wanted a Tesla. The other wanted a Porsche. One was technical, the other cared about feeling and safety. The discussion went well because they had genuinely different ideas and weren’t afraid to say so. Happy ending: they agreed on an oil car for Zijun.

Eliza & Brian were the wildcard. Brian did impressions of AI assistants: QWEN (“I am always right”), Claude, and ChatGPT, in a routine that sounded like a thousand different voices. Someone joked that OpenAI was going to sue him. Eliza stayed calm throughout, which itself was impressive given her partner’s performance. She was asked how long she’d been getting along with ChatGPT. More than ten years, apparently.

Tao’s evaluation noted a pattern: the women in each couple tended to share feelings, while the men went with logic. Usually, sharing feelings wins.

Jennifer’s philosophy, continued

The Table Topics ended but the conversation didn’t. Jennifer shared four principles from her years of marriage in the group chat: atmosphere is the woman’s job, love without keeping score, break the ice first and it’s not weakness, stay loyal. These were not abstract ideas. She said she’d learned them the hard way.

Anna wondered how anyone could negotiate calmly when they’re furious. Rebecca said people should bring their partners to hear it. Tracy, who missed the meeting, said she’d lost eight hundred million yuan by not attending. Jason said Jennifer had collected a batch of fans.

Prepared speeches

Stella spoke on “What makes a good sales?” for her Pathways Persuasive Mastery Level 3 project, Inspire Your Audience. Her core message: don’t commit easily, but once you do, deliver. That is how trust is built. The principle is not just about sales. As VPM this term, Stella has already met her membership recruitment target, which is the same idea in practice.

Tina spoke on “Something I have learned from my daughter.” Sometimes adults really can learn from children. It was her first prepared speech at the club. She is on the Dynamic Leadership pathway with Christy as her mentor. Tina won Best Speaker, her first time winning the award. She posted a photo of the certificate later that night and said she was excited and grateful.

David came back

David, a former member, returned as General Evaluator. His evaluation was thorough and professional, the kind that reminds newer members what a seasoned Toastmaster sounds like. Danny noted that David’s timing was precise: exactly 4+1+1 minutes. The room voted him Best Evaluator. Nice observartion from a professional timer as well! This is why we say being a timer can help you be at other roles, you know how to use your time wisely!

Anna posted a photo of David and said he looked ten years younger. Jennifer guessed he was about thirty. His son is already in university, so he is not as young as he looks.

The softest Timer

Danny projected the timer results on screen with color coding: green, yellow, red. Instead of reading out each speaker’s time, he walked up to shake Anna’s hand and let the screen do the talking. He gave his own report time back to the room.

During Table Topics, two people walked on stage at once and Danny froze. Eight speakers used fourteen minutes. Jason alone used eight to set up the topics. Danny said afterward that interrupting one person felt like offending everyone in the room.

Anna’s verdict: he talked so fast during his own report that nobody could understand him, then let everyone else run over without a word. Jennifer’s: “The toughest job tonight was Timer. Salute to Danny.”

Brian, the guest Grammarian

Brian was a guest, but you wouldn’t know it from his Grammarian report. He took over the role when Susie had to juggle Meeting Manager and Hark Master, and delivered it with the seriousness of a veteran member. The room voted him Best Facilitator.

Susie ran everything

Susie was Meeting Manager, Grammarian, and then Hark Master after Christy dropped out at the last minute. Three roles. She recruited role-takers in the days before, published two versions of the agenda after Anna caught something to fix, renamed the group chat to match the theme, and ran the projector during the meeting.

After the meeting, she forgot her laptop and had to run back before someone locked the building. She still posted photos in the group chat. One captured Brian helping a foreign traveler buy a subway ticket.

Her reflection: “Being MM means you can’t take other roles. You can’t cover every unexpected situation.” She covered three and still ran a meeting everyone called one of the best.

Eight guests

The meeting drew eight guests: Han (a designer, here to relax and have fun), Emil (a basketball coach, who Brian helped buy a subway ticket and later invited to the group chat), Brian, Zijun (a Toastmasters member from Singapore), Manny (Danny’s daughter, who served as Timer’s assistant haha), Cecilia, Daniel (whose hobbies are: reading, debate, badminton // you should play badminton with us as well), and Eliza.