A moment of significance—President Anxiety Syndrome

Grand had the first club meeting at the new meeting venue this evening. President Gina found the new venue two months ago, with a good location near MRT station and a reasonable rent. We moved because we wanted to contain the room rental expenditure. We moved with an aim to recruit more new members. It was a big move for Grand, we changed the meeting venue, we changed the meeting time, from Thursday evenings from 1975 to Wednesday evenings from 2011!

After the afternoon dance practice of Mambo 5 with golden ladies at Lydia's mansion, I arrived at the new meeting venue 45 minutes early this evening for three reasons, to help arrange the room layout, to rehearse the group Russian dance to be performed at Division H X'mas Party, and to get ready for my prepared speech on President Anxiety Syndrome (PAS). It was a special memorable day today, because we received a new club banner with a new Toastmasters logo.

As a prepared speaker, I was excited to deliver my advanced speech, Project 4 the Coach of Interpersonal Communication manual. In order to have a successful and meaningful roleplay with President Gina Cheng to share with her what I learned when I was the President of Grand Toastmasters Club, I went through my old Toastmasters photoalbum two decades ago.

Leafing throught the thick Toastmasters photoalbum in the past week, I realized I had PAS when I was the club president 1993-1994. But, it was also a moment of significance, to Grand and to me. Looking back, I was grateful what Grand Toastmasters Club did for me and I was pround what I did for Grand Toastmasters Club.

I made Grand the richest Toastmasters club in Taiwan, because I had a good treasurer. We held biweekly meetings at the meeting room of Taiwan Pharmaceutical Industry Association for free when I was the Secretary General for three years. We had the highest membership record of 50 members. We invited keynote speakers to our seasonal dinner gatherings at 5 stars hotels.

Two decades later, the Toastmasters becomes bigger and stronger. Among 13,000 Toastmasters clubs in the global network, many club presidents are striving to make their clubs strong and healthy. Every president is eager to make club members enjoy the club meetings, so that club members can hone the communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment.

President Gina had the PAS the moment she took the post. She woke up in the middle to the night worrying about the assignment takers wouldn't show up at the meeting at the last minute. She planned various activities and events to boost up the membership and worried about the low attendance rate. She turned into an instant dress maker to prepare our Russian dance costumes! Toastmasters are invincible. We excel at what we do when we are prompted to venture out of our comfort zones.

In five months of her presidency, I saw the guantum leap Gina made for Grand and for herself. In the next seven months, I believe Gina will continue to wow us by how much she grows in Toastmasters and what a legacy she leaves for Grand Toastmasters Club members to cherish for a long time.