GC 1093 Meeting Minutes - One Photo, One Story

👥 Meeting Roles

President

Hunter TU

Past President

Sarah FENG

Toastmaster

Julie GUAN

TT Master

Warren YUE

General Evaluator

Sarah FENG

Timer

Yue ZHANG

Ah-Counter

Eva Cai

Grammarian

Kevo

TT Evaluator 1

Cary CHEN

TT Evaluator 2

Jianghua ZANG

IE (Prepared)

Yunduan FAN

SAA

Lei WANG

AVO

Eva

📖 Word of the Day

GRIT

/ɡrɪt/ · 坚韧不拔 · Passion + Perseverance for long-term goals

7 speakers used this word during the meeting

"Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals." — Angela Duckworth

— Kevo (Grammarian)

🎤 Opening & Theme Introduction

President Sarah introduced Toastmasters and GC Club:

Global: 150+ countries, 14,000+ clubs, 270,000+ members
Core Values: Integrity, Respect, Service, Excellence
GC: Beijing's oldest high-quality English speaking club
Label: "stronger inside"

Toastmaster Julie introduced the theme:

"When was the last time you looked at an old photo and truly felt something? Not scrolling passively, not just clicking like. Just you really stop and truly feel something inside of you. Maybe a smile shows on your face before you even notice. Maybe your chest started to get tight. That's the magic of photography."

Three types of precious photos:

🎓 Life milestones (graduation, wedding)
👶 New beginnings (child's birthday, adopting a pet)
📅 Ordinary days that turn out to be extraordinary

🎯 Table Topics: One Photo, One Story

TT Master Lawrence hosted 7 speakers sharing their photo stories

Hunter TU (TT Speaker 1)

Trust & Marriage

Shared about finding someone to trust 100%. Discussed marriage rule: can have arguments, but must solve it at the end of the day.

"During this journey you will know how to be a better person."

Sarah & Lucy

Role Play: Unauthorized Photo Posting

"Could you at least ask me before posting it? I'm so terrible in the photo!" — "It's a beautiful memory, I just want to remember it."

Joanna

Six Years Old at Daminghu

Photo with father at age 6 in Jinan. Grew up in Zibo village. Took green train 5-6 hours, father rode bicycle 15km home at night. Fell asleep, lost a shoe. Mom made another pair overnight. "The visit to Jinan at six-year-old actually kind of opened the big world."

Kevo

Qinghai Marathon

Ran marathon in Qinghai last weekend. Took 22 hours by green train. Three years ago could only run 5km, now completed multiple marathons. First time at 2260m altitude. "The sky is very very blue, the food is very delicious."

Yaxin

Elderly Dancer at Bar

Met a dancer born in the 1960s who dances every day. "This is not me. This is us in the future."

"We don't grow old, we grow younger and younger."

Yang

Trapped in Himalayan Town

Self-driving to Tibet, trapped by flood for 3 days. Originally planned one night. Surrounded by snow mountains, mixed Tibetan and Nepalese architecture.

"Everything happens for us, not to us. We don't have to hurry, we just let our fate lead us to the place we belong to."

Sarah & Lucy (Role Play)

Reunion: Teacher Meets Graduated Student

Setting: After graduation ceremony, a teacher (Sarah) reunites with her graduated student (Lucy).

Sarah (Teacher): Asked about Lucy's current life — "Have you got married? What's your job? Why are you learning English?"

Lucy (Student): Shared that she is seriously learning English now.

"中文每个词能代表不同含义，然后英文同样也是。也许两者结合，让我看到更广阔的文字含义和世界。"

Sarah: Praised Lucy's insight — "If you master the English language, you could understand another world totally different from the Chinese one."

Plan: Lucy plans to stay in China and come to Toastmasters to practice English.

Lucy is a club member. This was a creative role-play format for the impromptu session.

📝 Table Topics Evaluations

Cary Chen (TTE 1)

Evaluated speakers 1, 3, 5, 7:

Hunter: Good demonstration, sincere sharing. Suggestion: more personal perspective
Joanna: Lovely story, memorable childhood, strong summary thanking parents
Yaxin: Relaxed, smiling, good eye contact. Suggestion: don't put hands in pocket
Role play: Sarah has leading ability, Lucy brave as new guest. Suggestion: more eye contact with audience

Praised TTM for asking speakers to prepare photos beforehand — "really touching and memorable"

Jianghua ZANG (TTE 2)

Evaluated speakers 2, 4, 6:

Julie: Sincerity plays vital role in communication. Suggestion: clearer focus or conclusion
Eva: Engaging and dynamic, vocal variety, natural gestures, sense of humor
Kevo: Brought printed picture, vivid descriptive details, inspiring conclusion about losing weight. Suggestion: show more enthusiasm
Yang: Perfect speech — well structured with link words, eye connection, cheerful message

🎙️ Prepared Speech

Yang

Getting Along with Fear

Opening:

"That means if you're at a funeral, you'd rather be the one in the coffin than the one giving the speech."

Personal experience:

Heart racing, throat dry, body temperature shooting up, mind blank
"I'm not fighting a tiger. I'm just standing here to give a speech"

First attempt to solve:

Learned from fearless speakers like Sarah and Hunter
Practiced privately, felt confident: "I'm gonna kill it!"
But on stage: fear comes again

AI gave the answer:

"It's in our DNA, it's in our human beings' DNA."

Evolution explanation:

Thousands of years ago, being stared at by crowds meant danger
Triggered fight or flight mechanism
"They're not just feeling embarrassed, they're feeling they'll be eaten by wild animals"

Core insight:

"I don't have to overcome my fear, I just need to get along with it."

Yunduan FAN (IE)

Evaluation: You Don't Need to Be Perfect

"You don't need to be perfect all the time. You have a chance to make a mistake."

Praised Yang's speech:

Very structured, used advanced techniques
Started with question, engaged audience
Shared real feelings — "it needs great courage"
Good metaphor, story opening, strong ending

📊 Functional Reports

Kevo (Grammarian - First Time)

Most common error: Subject-verb agreement

Wrong: "different people has different fear"
Correct: "People have different views"

Beautiful sentences praised:

"Pictures can wake up soft memories"
"Little warm laughs are life's precious gifts"

"We don't have to be perfect. Practice makes perfect."

Word usage: 7 speakers used "grit"

Eva (Ah-Counter - First Time)

Used GCR Counter tool. Results:

Carry & Hunter: almost no fillers
Others: 2-4 fillers each

"Everyone is so so cool, I learned so much from all of you."

Yue (Timer - 3rd Time)

Most speakers finished on time. Carry and Zhenghua slightly over. "I do hope you can notice the timer next time in your seat."

⭐ General Evaluation

Sarah FENG

Toastmaster Julie (2nd time): More adapted to English, more confident. "I love you, Toastmaster."

TT Evaluators: Great challenge with almost no prep time. Both did excellent job.

IE Yunduan (100th!):

"You don't need to be perfect. It's a safe stage."

"Even in my first month in GC, I could only speak one minute in table topics. It's very safe here."

Grammarian Kevo: Comprehensive report, didn't miss anything. Suggestion: more eye contact, slower pace.

💬 Member Sharing

Nina

"Just like a charger and give us energy. When I entered this room, my mind was still at work. After two hours, I feel that I'm myself again."

Kevin (Guest)

"It's really good to practice, get along with you. There's a usage of 'grit' — with our teeth, 咬紧牙关，咬牙坚持."

Lucy (New Guest)

"刚开始是紧张，现在完全是享受。我安了翻译软件，边看边听，关键词记一些。争取下次可以英语含量高一些。"

Cherish

"I'm so happy to join today's meeting. The whole atmosphere is so good and happy to see everyone here."

Ninan (Old Member)

"Practice can bring something that makes you surprised. Just keep practicing and have courage to stand on the stage."

🏆 Awards

📝 Best Evaluator

Yunduan (云端)

🌟 Best Speaker

Yang

🎤 Best Table Topics

Joanna

⚡ Best Functional Role

Julie (Toastmaster)

🎉 Inauguration Ceremony

Sarah donated her Area Director ribbon to GC Club:

"Global Communicators Club could provide us a pathway, a special pathway that not only gave us more confidence to speak publicly, but also to practice our leadership."

New Officer Team (2026-2027):

President

Hunter TU

VP Education

Tina JI

VP Membership

Yunduan FAN

VP Public Relations

Julie GUAN

Secretary

Warren YUE

Treasurer

Cindy WANG

Sergeant at Arms

Lei WANG

President's Oath:

"Lead with humanity, serve with integrity, and remember: great leadership is built through teamwork and service." — "Yes, I do!"

All Members Pledge:

"Do you pledge to support your newly installed officers, participate actively and work together to make Global Communicators Toastmasters Club a vibrant, welcoming and successful club throughout the coming year?" — "Yes!"

Vision Meditation:

"Imagine it's already half a year from today. This club is full of energy, new members are joining, members are giving speeches with confidence. Laughter fills the room, friendships are stronger than ever. Now open your eyes. That future starts tonight."

Cross and Rise Ceremony:

"Cross your arms! Cross and up! You win!" — Team encouragement ritual for the new officer team.

✨ Golden Quotes

"That's the magic of photography."

— Julie (Toastmaster)

"Sometimes the precious photos are taken on an ordinary day, which turn out to be anything but ordinary."

— Julie

"I don't have to overcome my fear, I just need to get along with it."

— Yang

"It's in our DNA, it's in our human beings' DNA."

— Yang

"You don't need to be perfect. It's a safe stage."

— Yunduan

"We don't grow old, we grow younger and younger."

— Cary

"Everything happens for us, not to us."

— Yang

"Just like a charger and give us energy."

— Nina

"Practice can bring something that makes you surprised. Just keep practicing and have courage to stand on the stage."

— Yue

"Lead with humanity, serve with integrity, and remember: great leadership is built through teamwork and service."

— Area Director

"Fear is also a kind of test that helps you find the way to be better."

— Julie

📸 GC 1093 Meeting Minutes