When Bruce Jin gave his speech about his name at the XL Toastmasters Club around the time the club chartered in 2001, little did anybody know that he was going to give the same speech last month at the 2009 District 30 Humorous Speech Contest and come in second place!  I still remember when Mei Li and I went to Palatine High School to promote the idea of a Toastmasters club as mentioned in a previous entry, Bruce was one of the first to expressed interest in taking part of the club as he had been in Toastmasters previously as a college student in Milwaukee and already achieved his Competent Toastmaster award.  When the club was close to chartering and we were looking for members to step up as officers, Bruce was willing to take the role as the club’s first Vice President of Education.

Bruce (or Jinyu as he preferred to be called in the club – see the video below for an explanation) also gave his “My Name” speech as a target speaker the following Fall in the Northwest 3 Area Contest and the Southwest Division Contest (when I was the Division Governor there), and everyone cracked up at most of what he said.  I still remember Sporty King, who was the Toastmaster of the Division Contest, mentioning in jest at the start of the Division Humorous Speech Contest that “Bruce Jin has just entered the Humorous Speech Contest”!

Bruce also used his speech when competing for the Northwest 2 Area International Speech Contest in 2003, representing the Northwest Toastmasters Club in Elk Grove Village, where he lived at that time.  This was a club that all but disappeared from the District 30 map in 2001 as the club hasn’t paid their dues or submitted their officer list.  Both the Division and Area Governor for that club could not reach anyone who served in that club the previous year.  At the XL charter party in the Spring of 2002, as Area Governor I discussed with both the Club President and Bruce after the meeting to go over any possible educational goals that could be achieved for the 2001-2002 Toastmasters year.  Bruce mentioned that he was working on his 2nd CTM award and was giving speeches at his other club.  The District Governor and Lt. Governor of Education & Training were at the charter party and overheard that, so they went straight to Bruce and asked him what other club he belonged to.  Bruce gave them the names and phone numbers of a couple of people from that club who were running it, and all of a sudden the Northwest Toastmasters Club came back from oblivion and started participating in the Area and Division contests.  A week after the charter party I was at the Northwest 2 Area Contest and met the two ladies who stepped up to keep the Northwest club alive.  So in such a very short time Bruce made an impact in District 30!

Bruce and his family moved to Naperville in the Summer of 2003 and with that left the XL club as well as the Northwest club.  Sadly the Northwest club folded for good a couple of years later as the two ladies that were leading that club gave up on it after resisting help from District 30 to boost the membership (I heard they wanted to keep the club small for whatever reason).  I found out through the 2007-2008 District 30 Directory that Bruce resurfaced in Toastmasters with the Saturday Morning Workout club in Naperville.  In the fall of 2008, I heard he came in second in the Southwest Division Humorous Speech Contest and that was when I contacted him for the first time since he left the XL club.  He didn’t give his “My Name” speech but mentioned that had he given that he might have a better chance of winning.

I saw his name on last month’s Fall Conference program as one of the contestants and even put a tweet about not being able to see him give his speech.  After finding out from one of his club members that he was going to give his “My Name” speech (now titled “The Story of My Name”), I knew everyone was going to enjoy the speech and laugh hysterically, perhaps he could even win the contest.  Here is the video of the first part of the District 30 Humorous Speech Contest, with Bruce giving his speech starting at about 38:40:

Here is the second part, with Bruce being interviewed at 23:06, it appears he was representing the Beyond the C’s club, a recently chartered Advanced club that meets in nearby Aurora:

From what I remembered the previous times he gave this speech, he revised and refined it for this contest, thanks to those in his two clubs as well as others who have seen him compete in the previous levels.

The XL club invited him to give that speech at their Open House two weeks ago.  When he joined the XL club eight years ago, he was no different from the others who joined that club.  Now coming full circle by recently revisiting the XL club and having his speech shown online to countless others, he returned as a solid speech contestant known by many in District 30.