IN BRIEF

✦ Toastmaster Irene Suwarno's theme, "The Haunted House of Public Speaking," was listed on Eventbrite.
✦ John's "Smarter or Just Faster?" won Best Speaker; Bharath and Grace each gave an Ice Breaker.
✦ Table Topics became a debate, and Seva and Agasthian took Best Table Topics.
✦ Coming up: a mini-workshop on purposeful speech creation on November 4.

For one Wednesday, three GGTM traditions went Halloween. HAUNT: a ghost wave replaced the handshake when the lectern changed hands. HOWL: an "Awooo" followed the applause for every speaker. BOO: whenever the Word of the Day, "spooktacular," came up, the rule was to hiss like a snake. Low lighting and props did the rest.

Every haunted house has someone behind the curtain. This one was Toastmaster Irene Suwarno, who set the evening's theme, "The Haunted House of Public Speaking." The meeting was listed on Eventbrite. The hardwork Irene puts in pays off, the halloween theme at the meeting was extraordinary.

Bharath grew up in India playing cricket before switching to soccer. When he cut back on hobbies to study more, his grades didn't improve; soccer, he found, kept his mind calm and focused, and at university it led to lasting friendships. Hobbies also help build a social circle in a new city, he argued, and a life of work alone can feel one-dimensional. Evaluator Sharmaine praised his genuine, conversational delivery and suggested more vocal variety, intentional pauses and stage presence.

John opened on a Friday afternoon: customers were cancelling, a Monday leadership meeting loomed, and AI quickly produced data, charts and slides pointing to a price increase. Then a director asked why a subscription-plan change hadn't been ruled out, and John realized he hadn't fully understood or challenged the analysis himself. Citing a study of 244 Boston Consulting Group consultants, in which only 14% of AI users produced the most accurate recommendations, he offered three modes: Delegator, Collaborator, Director. His rule: delegate the routine, collaborate to learn, direct when your name is on it. Evaluator Kat's takeaway: Director mode is where AI makes you smarter, not merely faster.

Grace enjoys the outdoors, writes satire, makes art and recently finished a ten-day solo trip to Switzerland. Growing up, though, she tended to avoid anything she didn't think she could already do well. She gave up ice skating after comparing herself with a friend who had practiced since age five. Then, in her junior year of college, she met a software engineer who had studied history, decided after graduation to learn coding, and landed a full-time job at a major tech company. Her principles: act like a fool who doesn't know their place; say yes first, think later; you don't have to be good at something from the beginning; and it's okay to turn back if it's not for you. Evaluator Chris praised her natural confidence and vivid language, and suggested using more of the stage.

Each prompt put two speakers on opposite sides, "for" and "against," and audience members could impose curses. A Red Card forced the speakers to swap sides without reusing an argument; a Black Card, the Twisted Tongue, meant speaking only in questions or working the Word of the Day into every sentence.

The matchups: Sheila and Katie on a night in a haunted house for $10,000; Jay and Bharath on adult trick-or-treating; Katherine and Daria on a compulsory workplace costume day; Agasthian and Seva on sharing Halloween candy equally; Julia and her opponent on a friendly ghost roommate versus a messy human; and Nipun and Luzee on a midnight shortcut through a cemetery.

General Evaluator Sheila praised the night's creativity, from the lighting and props to the Haunt, Howl and Boo traditions, and said the debate format was well received, with the curses adding surprise and humor. Her suggestion: refine the format and use it again, possibly as the basis for a future workshop.

Agasthian's Word of the Day, "spooktacular," was recorded in use by Irene, John, Kat, Lucy, Vedant and Sheila. Albert's pop quiz covered the factor John overlooked, the software engineer's degree and the workshop topic.

BEST TABLE TOPICS
Seva & Agasthian (upper right)

BEST EVALUATOR
Kat (lower right)

BEST SPEAKER
John (lower left)

ICE BREAKERS
Grace & Bharath (upper left)

Wednesday, November 4, is a working session on "Writing a Speech with Purpose," specifically a speech to inform: about an hour of drafting, a partner draft exchange and delivery tips, with the goal of leaving with a 5–7 minute speech ready to deliver.

Homework: choose a topic, whether a hobby, a niche interest or something from work, and bring preliminary notes. The tip: pick a narrow slice. Instead of "running," try "why your legs feel like jelly during the last mile." Luzee will post details in Discord and follow up by email.