{"id":962,"date":"2026-04-25T11:42:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/?p=962"},"modified":"2026-04-25T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T02:44:12","slug":"2026-4-22-otmc-meeting-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/2026\/04\/25\/2026-4-22-otmc-meeting-report\/","title":{"rendered":"2026\/4\/22 OTMC Meeting Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What an unforgettable night! The atmosphere at the Otemachi Toastmasters Club was electric for our 201st meeting<\/strong> on April 22nd. With a record-breaking announcement and deeply personal stories of bouncing back, the theme of “Resilience”<\/strong> was the perfect anchor for the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

🏆 A Historic Victory!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We opened with a thunderous round of applause for TM Carlos<\/strong>, who achieved the unprecedented feat of taking 1st Place<\/strong> at the District Speech Contest! 🥇 He is now moving on to the quarterfinals. As President Frank reminded us, Carlos reached this level in just a year and a half\u2014proving that resilience and a “just try it” attitude lead to greatness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

🧱 “Control the Controllables”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our Toastmaster of the Evening, TM Marie Tanaka<\/strong>, shared a powerful story about parenting through the “Terrible Threes.” Her husband\u2019s advice to “Control the controllables”<\/strong> set the stage for our Word of the Evening: “Thick-Skinned,”<\/strong> introduced by TM Daseul Moon<\/strong>. Whether it\u2019s facing life\u2019s challenges or improving our vocabulary, we all need a little extra mental toughness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

🎤 Table Topics: Rapid-Fire Resilience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Table Topics Master TM Hidenori Suzuki<\/strong> tested our spontaneity with “Either\/Or” questions. No middle ground allowed! ⚡<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • TM Kozue Hirano<\/strong> (Indoor vs. Outdoor): From avoiding gym class to rowing boats at the sacred Takachiho Gorge!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Nick (Guest)<\/strong>: Shared his transition from the bustle of Moscow to the peaceful peace of Switzerland.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Chloe (Guest)<\/strong>: Spoke about the sanctuary of a small, trusted “inner circle” of friends.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • TM Daseul Moon<\/strong>: Shocked the room with his 99% spontaneous life\u2014including a visa-less, plan-less honeymoon to Mongolia!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • TM Tetsuya Take<\/strong>: Struck a chord by choosing “Money” over “Love” to ensure the future happiness of his family.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    🎙 Prepared Speeches: Health, Heart, and Happiness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. TM Rintaro Tanimura \u2013 “Too Young for This”<\/strong> Rintaro warned us all that “youth is not an excuse for laziness.” After a surprise back injury (the “Witch’s Strike”), he demonstrated his daily 5-minute stretching routine\u2014proving we can always improve our flexibility!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. TM Masanori Kono (Mat) \u2013 “My Way or the Happier Way”<\/strong> Mat shared a moving story about resolving a conflict with his son over university choices. He taught us that while logic is good, the “Happier Solution”<\/strong> is often the most resilient one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. TM Paul Huang \u2013 “She Always Answered. She Never Did.”<\/strong> In a profound speech, Paul compared the constant, empty “Yes” of AI to the complex, meaningful silence of a real person. He reminded us that true connection requires a heart that has the power to say “No.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      🌟 And the Ribbon Goes To…<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Congratulations to tonight’s outstanding performers who took home the top honors!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Best Prepared Speaker:<\/strong> TM Masanori Kono (Mat) 🏆<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Best Table Topics Speaker:<\/strong> TM Daseul Moon 🏅<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Best Evaluator:<\/strong> TM Fumihiro Tsuji (Frank) 🎖️<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        OTMC continues to be a safe space to fail, learn, and build the resilience needed for leadership. See you at the next meeting! 🚀<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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        What an unforgettable night! The atmosphere at the Otemachi Toastmasters Club was electric for our 201st meeti […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regular-meeting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/S__41803793-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":966,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions\/966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/otemachi.blog\/toastmasters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}