Presidents Advanced Toastmasters Club is the sixth Toastmasters club in Shenzhen that Sea Dragons Gavel Club President Bruce Yu has visited since August. Each club is slightly different in meeting components and roles, but most importantly, in the people who make up the club. The connection with PAT began one month ago, when there was a strong interest in finding contact information for other Gavel Clubs for collaboration and communication. PAT members Alion Zheng, DTM, and Viola Lee, DTM, provided valuable support by helping connect with Gavel Club leaders across China. This visit gave Bruce Yu the opportunity to learn directly from their club.
At first, Presidents Advanced Toastmasters Club felt like a “mystery club,” especially with so many members serving as Toastmasters leaders, officers, and directors, and earning the Distinguished Toastmaster award. As shown by their many ribbons, including two President’s Distinguished Club Awards and a Founder’s Award on their club flag, the club has achieved outstanding results. For Bruce Yu, their “advanced” quality was reflected in the logic of their speeches, the confidence of their speakers, and the simple yet effective way they conducted meetings.
During the meeting, Bruce Yu served as the Timer, recording speaking times and helping maintain the schedule. His first experience in this role was at Pro Toastmasters Club. Meeting roles are one of the key features that distinguish Toastmasters education from other speech training programs. At PAT’s 444th meeting, themed “How to Define ‘Advanced,’” Alion Zheng, DTM, shared similar ideas during the roundtable interview. He explained that the word “leadership” is often inaccurately translated into Chinese as authority or pressure from a boss. In reality, leadership means inspiring others to take action together. Some people may be slightly ahead in this process and appear to be leaders, but everyone involved is, in fact, a leader.