Sea Dragons Gavel Club

“Hi Bruce, I have told Simone about you,” a smiling Alion Zheng, the 2026–2027 Club Growth Director of District 118, said. “Come and shake hands.”

“You are a teenager, right?” Simone Nash, the 2026–2027 Region Advisor of Region 14, asked while shaking hands with Sea Dragons Gavel Club President Runfeng Bruce Yu. Through Alion’s warm introduction — “He went to teach adult members about Toastmasters history in NMO a couple of days ago…” — Bruce first met Simone at the Toastmasters District 118 Corporate Open House 2026–2027 in Shenzhen, China.

The handshake lasted only a moment, but it represented something much larger — a community built on people opening doors for one another.

Bruce stepped into a room where experience was constantly being passed from one member to another. Viola Lee, the 2024–2026 International Director, opened the first workshop with a vivid yet professional sharing session for company employees about Toastmasters, concluding with the idea of “Power” as what Toastmasters can bring. The exchange continued during the Roundtable Interview session, where Chloe Zhang interviewed Alion Zheng, Suki Lv, and Nana Yuan. They shared how they first discovered Toastmasters, the skills they gained from the organization, and how Toastmasters supported their career development.

“Bruce, I think you are smart. What’s the difference between…?” Simone asked Bruce during her workshop.

“This young man’s English is so 高级,” Simone said. Before the event, Bruce was already impressed by Simone’s language skills as an Australian living in Taiwan who can speak both English and Mandarin. Her sharing of two stories from her career journey showed Bruce that communication goes beyond speaking; it involves asking, listening, sharing, and respecting each other. In the age of AI, communication remains difficult to replace.

The opportunity to learn soon became an opportunity to contribute. Throughout the Open House, Bruce shared information about Gavel Clubs with members whose children could participate, introduced himself to new members during the Warm-Up Activities section, learned about an online Toastmasters Club in District 89 that runs meetings every day at 6:30 a.m., and shook hands with many peers.

“See you at the club tonight!” Simone said.

Following Simone’s invitation, Bruce joined the 481st English meeting of Presidents Advanced Toastmasters Club after the Open House. As the first speaker to deliver a Table Topics speech, Bruce shared his experience in running a Gavel Club. He talked about the time he spent recruiting volunteers through online platforms and working remotely with club committee members from more than 10 countries. His sharing earned him the title of Best Table Topics Speaker of the meeting.

Behind Simone’s encouragement for others was also her own story of learning and connecting across cultures. Simone introduced herself further during the Roundtable Interview session with James Wu, the 2026–2027 Division A Director of District 118. She comes from Melbourne, Australia, with an Australian mother and a father from Suzhou, China. She also lived in Hong Kong for 10 years during her childhood. When James asked her, “I heard you can speak Mandarin,” she answered, “会呀.” Simone learned Mandarin in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, by studying with a Mandarin tutor every Saturday. She further improved her Mandarin skills after joining a Mandarin Toastmasters Club there. According to Simone, “I spoke, listened, and interacted with people through Mandarin.”

For Simone, English is important for an international city like Shenzhen. Being a club officer and a member of the District Trio also come with different responsibilities.

During the interview Q&A section, Bruce asked Simone to share more about her experience coaching the first Toastmasters club — Smedley Chapter One Toastmasters Club — through online meetings, because Bruce had previously seen this story in the Toastmaster Magazine.

Simone explained that when she coached the club, she had already joined the founding district where the club belongs. It was very close to the centennial celebration of Toastmasters International, and Toastmasters was reaching its one hundredth anniversary. However, the club was not in a good situation at that time, especially after the pandemic, and it would have been a shame for the centennial celebration if the club could not recover. Therefore, Simone volunteered to become the club coach. She participated in every online club meeting, observed the meetings to identify problems within the club, and reported them to the club president.

“I did not speak too much in the club officer meetings. The club president is the leader of the club. I also reported the problems privately to each club officer who was responsible for them,” Simone reflected. Due to Simone’s efforts and the dedication of the entire club, the club eventually recovered. A member found the church that Toastmasters founder Ralph C. Smedley used to visit, and Smedley Chapter One hosted a celebration there during the week of the 2024 International Convention.

Bruce was amazed by Simone’s selflessness and even more impressed by her humor when sharing her story. Before leaving the room, he continued his conversation with Simone at the back of the room about his story of being featured in Toastmasters Magazine, which Simone had happily read a day earlier after Alion shared it with her, as well as Rotary–Toastmasters collaborations in China.

What started as an introduction became a meaningful connection, showing the lasting impact of a community that grows together.