IN BRIEF

✦ Theme: Never Say Never. Word of the Day: Audacious — Agasthian used it four times.
✦ Sharmaine Rodrigues made her debut as Toastmaster; General Evaluator Jay praised it.
✦ Jay's Two-Minute Special: a career in sales and a competitive streak he never saw coming.
✦ Ah-Counter Ari called it a clean night; Albert Yan's prepared speech had zero filler words.

The night before a week-long road trip to Washington, Tavisan Ramesh discovered his driver's license had been canceled since February. A canceled flight, an 8 a.m. DMV visit, a vision test, a temporary license, a tense rental-car counter, and three hours of night driving later, he arrived at an Airbnb with six dogs. He told it Wednesday, on a night themed "Never Say Never," with a Word of the Day to match: audacious.

Behind the lectern: Noe Perez, Sergeant at Arms; Ari Micich, Timer and Ah-Counter; Sheila Vida, Grammarian; Agasthian Ponnambalam, ballots; Derick Le, notes and Pop Quiz.

As a new Toastmaster, Albert followed club contestants through Area, Division, and District contests; a mentor once told him, "Never underestimate the power of a familiar face." In college, he crossed campus after finals to support his roommate's play — and at his own graduation, with family too far away, he heard his name called from the crowd and saw friends and his girlfriend cheering. Evaluator Michelle Wen praised his clear voice and structure, and challenged him to pick a harder project.

The story began on September 10, with his mother arriving from India. Normally a rule follower, Tavisan hesitated to leave work until an audacious friend texted two words: "Just go." He met her at the airport and discovered nobody at work noticed. The trip itself delivered rainforest, beaches, Mount Rainier, and a morning of goats, llamas, and chickens. His advice, per the Grammarian: "Find an opportunity to break a rule, inside the handbook or outside it." Evaluator Agasthian praised the urgency and asked for more emotion in the second half.

A Toastmaster for fifteen years, Mike built his speech on three stories and three lessons. Repeated exposure creates familiarity: neighbors who remodeled their kitchen without shades became strangely familiar after six years of regular sightings and only a handful of conversations, so go where you'll keep seeing the same people — a sports group, say, or Toastmasters. Be audacious and break the ice: a friend from a small town greeted strangers on San Francisco sidewalks and got a response 80 to 90 percent of the time. Show people you're glad to see them, because people tend to like people who visibly like them. Evaluator Derick Le praised the power of three and suggested using more of the stage.

Under Table Topics Master Vedant Bothikar, each speaker drew a red "I will never…" card while the audience supplied a blue plot-twist card. Chris, who would never talk to plants, got a 24-hour challenge: after hours with a cactus, it started talking back, and he decided not to leave. Kevin, a guest, vowed never to trust artificial intelligence; his twist had AI leading him to a sauna and cold-plunge business in the Mission, and he left considering owning the franchise. Ari, who'd never quit a stable job without another, woke up famous for leaving middle-school band teaching to run for Mayor of San Francisco. Agasthian, stranded with one month to build a new life, offered: "Put yourself in an uncomfortable spot; that is where the most amazing things happen."

Also at the mic: Sheila, on how asking for help can build trust; Carlos, who'd never lead a team — "I am not a leader, but I am leading people"; and Bharath, on the fresh start every move demands.

BEST TABLE TOPICS
Chris Edwards

BEST EVALUATOR
Derick Le

BEST SPEAKER
Michael "Mike" Zwiefelhofer