📚 GC TMC The 1070th Meeting

Tonight's theme is "AI Reading Together". AI is transforming how we learn and work.

Last week, I used AI to create a learning game for my daughter. In just 30 minutes, she learned over 200 words - something that would be difficult with traditional methods.

Prepared 8 topics about AI and reading: 5 individual topics, 2 debates, and 1 role-play. Used AI-generated images for each topic card.

Guest Speaker

Key Points: AI helps filter and integrate information efficiently. When searching for answers, AI like Doubao or DeepSeek provides relevant, helpful information without spending long hours on manual research.

Highlight: First to raise hand, showing great courage for impromptu speaking.

Guest Speaker

Key Points: AI empowers us and improves efficiency. It provides background information and actually helps stabilize our thinking rather than hurting it.

Member Speaker

Key Points: Shared experience of using AI to get a summary of "Atomic Habits" before deciding to buy. Her husband highly recommended the book, but instead of borrowing, she used AI for a general summary first. This convinced her to purchase the book.

Key Points: Works in beverage industry, uses WeChat Reading to find books for marketing projects. Suggested trying AI to get broader book recommendations beyond a single library's collection.

Evaluator Feedback: Very fluent English with rich vocabulary. Could work on voice projection and pitch variation.

Evaluation Highlights:

• For Ano (TTM): Mature preparation, shared personal story about AI helping with Zeng Guofan research, clear time instructions
• For Grace: Brave to be first volunteer. Suggestion: Use pause instead of "um" when thinking
• For Cindy: Good use of WeChat Reading example. Suggestions: Project voice louder, vary pitch to maintain attention
• For the Debate: Truly heated! Both Hunter and Bella showed strong language skills and quickly found weak points in each other's logic

Evaluation Highlights:

• For Juan: Very clear structure in her response. Connected AI to personal experience with her son's learning journey
• For Penny: Great example with "Atomic Habits" - showed practical AI use case. Could add more emotion to delivery
• For Jesse & Sarah Role Play: Creative interpretation of Journey to the West! Transformed classic story into modern workplace metaphor - very engaging
• Overall Observation: Tonight's Table Topics showed diverse perspectives on AI. Guests brought fresh viewpoints while members demonstrated growth

Pathway: Motivational Strategies

Opening: "When I get feedback, I just heard judgment. If my reviewer said 'you could do better', I heard 'you are not good enough'. It was very annoying."

Core Concept - Feedback vs Advice:

• Advice: "Don't be scared up there" - This is opinion-based
• Feedback: "I noticed you shook your hands at the podium" - This is fact and observation, no opinion attached

Key Takeaway: In evaluation, feedback comes first. When people hear observations (not opinions), they don't get defensive - they get curious and start thinking how to improve.

Call to Action: "Next time you're in an evaluation situation - at work, with family, with friends - pause for two seconds and ask yourself: Am I sharing a fact or an opinion? Am I giving feedback or advice?"

What Penny Did Well:

• Strong opening with an intriguing question that relates to everyone
• Excellent conclusion that ties back to the key message
• Good use of workplace examples to illustrate feedback vs advice

Areas for Improvement:

• Reduce filler words (um, ah) - try using pauses instead
• Expand eye contact beyond mentor - look at President, back of room
• Challenge yourself to speak without looking at the script

Pathway: Visionary Communication

Theme: Spring Festival embodies the soul of Chinese culture - a celebration of the lunar new year with family reunion.

Joyful Memories:

• Childhood excitement of holding fireworks and lighting them in the air
• Setting off fireworks with siblings - the most joyful part of the festival
• Grand family feast with dumplings on New Year's Eve

Longing and Remembrance:

• Burning paper money for deceased parents on New Year's Eve
• In Northeast China tradition: fold yellow paper in large envelopes and burn outside so ancestors can receive offerings
• Never met grandparents, but knows them through father's earliest photo from Tongyang College (1920s) and grandmother's later years photo

What Untie Did Well:

• Strong purpose delivery - shared joy and longing emotions effectively
• Used personal life stories that are convincing because they're real
• Good use of script - glimpsed at it then raised head to speak to audience (Winston Churchill's technique)

Areas for Improvement:

• Add more detailed storytelling to apply vocal variety and gestures
• For fireworks scene: could add gestures of lighting up
• Add dialogues or joyful moment sharing to practice vocal variety
• Check the pathway menu to focus more on specific purpose

Special Note: "Today's topic is AI, but during Untie's speech, I could feel I'm human, I could feel my heart. That's the power of authentic storytelling."

What Makes GC Different:

Team Evaluation:

• HuiHui (Grammarian): Picked perfect word of the day "EMPOWER" - aligned closely with theme
• Yue Zhang (Ah-counter): Clear role function, confident delivery, much more fluent than before - "I see you shining on stage!"
• Tina (Timer): First time as timer but very responsible. Held sign in the air and waited for speakers to see
• Cary: The hidden hero! Always taking beautiful pictures and recording everyone's performance

Evaluation Tips Shared:

Word of the Day: EMPOWER (赋能)

Multiple speakers used this word throughout the meeting. "AI is empowering our learning, work, and life."

Notable Language Use:

• Grace: Vivid reasons, fluent English
• Juan: Good storytelling about son and reading, used "empower" twice
• Cindy: Multiple tense usage, rich vocabulary
• Penny: Totally attracted by storytelling - no grammar issues found
• Hunter & Bella: Strong vocabulary and interactivity in debate

Time King: "I" count - 17 times! 😄

Highlights:

• Table Topics speakers mostly finished on time
• Sarah and Hunter: Both finished right at the bell without cutting speech mid-sentence - excellent time management
• Most evaluators ran slightly over time

Filler Words Tracking:

• Grace: 3 "um"s - common for first-time speakers, shows room for improvement
• Penny (Prepared Speech): Several "ah"s when transitioning between points - suggestion: use pauses instead
• Debate participants: Hunter and Bella both maintained fluency with minimal filler words - impressive under pressure!
• Overall: Tonight's speakers showed awareness of filler words. Remember: a pause is more powerful than "um"

Special Recognition: Untie's speech was remarkably clean - almost no filler words throughout his emotional Spring Festival story!

The 7-2-1 Learning Theory: For adults learning new things: 70% from practice, 20% from team feedback, only 10% from classroom. Toastmasters provides that practice and feedback platform.