📋 Meeting #390

  • Date: September 2026 (19:00 – 21:00)
  • Meeting Format: Online (Zoom)
  • Word of the Evening: Weather (verb: to get through a tough situation)
  • Number of Guests: 1

📝 Meeting Summary

Meeting #390 turned into one of our more reflective nights, with a genuinely philosophical thread running through both the impromptu and the prepared speeches. From revisiting New Year’s resolutions to unpacking the idea of a “second adolescence” in midlife, members dug into real questions about where they are in life — and one guest walked away saying it woke him right up after a long week.

🎉 Opening & Recent Updates

Recent updates ranged from a member finally upgrading a four-year-old phone, to a member’s seven-year-old son landing a spot to perform at a legendary Beatles live bar in Roppongi — a proud-parent story that had the room smiling. It’s this kind of easy, personal sharing that sets the tone before the real speaking practice begins.

🗣 Table Topics Session

With the year entering its final stretch, this session’s questions asked members to look back at their New Year’s resolutions and reflect on what they’d tried for the first time in 2026.

One member’s answer stood out: a goal to hike all 100 of Japan’s famous mountains, currently sitting at 30 out of 100. Despite a packed work schedule leaving little time to climb, the honest, on-the-spot reflection on staying motivated for the remaining months resonated with the room — proof that impromptu speaking doesn’t need a polished answer, just an honest one.

🎙 Prepared Speech Session

TM A.K. delivered “My Clock, Your Clock,” opening with the relatable feeling of being “left behind” when comparing your own pace in life to everyone else’s — and reframing that comparison as something each person can define for themselves.

TM H.S. followed with “The Second Adolescence,” reframing the midlife crisis as a second coming-of-age — walking through why it happens and how to treat it as an opportunity to prepare for, rather than something to fear.

🔍 Evaluation & Feedback

TM Y.T. praised TM A.K. for standing and speaking with visible confidence — the biggest breakthrough of the night — while suggesting the speech’s key message be woven into the story earlier. TM H.S. called TM H.S.’s message clear and well-structured, encouraging a tighter setup to leave more room for the solution at the end.

🏆 Awards

  • 🏅 Best Table Topics Speaker: TM S.K.

  • 🏅 Best Prepared Speaker: TM Y.T.

  • 🏅 Best Evaluator: TM H.S.

🚀 Interested?

Ever tried explaining, on the spot and in your second language, what you actually did with this year’s resolutions? Our guest this week said listening to it — and jumping into the impromptu round himself — left him more energized than when he walked in, tired from a long week.

We’re a small, supportive community of business professionals in our 30s and 40s, practicing real-world English speaking through impromptu talks, prepared speeches, and honest peer feedback — in a space built for growth, not judgment.

Our next meeting is October 3, 2026 (Saturday) — hybrid, in-person and Zoom, 18:30–20:30, at Nakahara Civic Hall (Musashi-Kosugi). Guests are welcome to join free of charge for up to three meetings.

Come see what it feels like to speak with confidence. We’d love to have you! 🙌🙌