Our first hybrid meeting in eleven months
In August 2020, we decided to turn our club into a "hybrid" club, meaning we'd continue meeting in person with some attending online. That's because we knew that after six months of online experience, there would always be opportunities to make presentations both online and in person. We wanted to provide our members with opportunities to practice both kinds of presentations.
That didn't last long. With the state of emergency declared for Osaka, we were forced to go solely online. Our last hybrid meeting was held on Dec. 1, 2020. Even after the state of emergency was lifted, we were unable to resume our hybrid meetings because our venue, KOKO PLAZA, closed earlier than normal.
Now, our HYBRID MEETING is BACK. We had our first hybrid meeting in eleven months. Despite our concerns about facing some challenges setting up the equipment, we didn't have any issues and the meeting started on time. Though with some minor glitches with the audio equipment, the meeting went OK and brought us a lot of joy. When it comes to public speaking, it's got to be done in front of real people. Some of us, especially founders, knew how exciting it is to speak in front of real people. And newer members, who have never attended a physical meeting, mentioned that they enjoyed the vibe of a physical meeting. "It seemed more energy was generated by people who were on-site," said Yumeno, who joined us in January. Another member, Win, mentioned, "The meeting is surprisingly smooth," She even went on to say, "I could not wait to travel to Shin Osaka and join one of the hybrids!"
The meeting included a new session, the "Happy News" session, where members and guests shared their recent happy news. Members reacted favorably to this session.
The rest of the meeting followed our regular program of Prepared Speech, Table Topics, and Evaluation sessions. In the Prepared Speech session, we heard some tips for keeping ourselves motivated, a speech about how tough it is being a man presented by a female member, and another using a story about a doctor, two scientists, and ten puzzles.
We will be holding hybrid meetings as long as it's possible. If you are interested in honing your public speaking skills both in online and in-person settings, pay us a visit!
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