Tuesday Nights · October 13, 2026
Face Your Fears
A full room at Te'Amo, a speech about the gap between generations, and a reminder that being scared is part of the deal.
The theme was Face Your Fears, which is pretty much the reason most of us joined in the first place. The room was packed, members and guests filling every table at Te'Amo, and Niño Joseph Sumampong ran the night as Toastmaster of the Evening.
Two prepared speeches, a round of Table Topics, and a lot of people choosing to stand up even with shaky knees. Here's what we took home.
Speech 1
Between the X and Z
Alfred Reloj · Presentation Mastery, Level 2 · Understanding Your Communication Style
Alfred opened with a business story. He asked a friend in the same industry whether they could merge, or whether he could just buy his company, and the friend said yes. Then came the struggles. Not because of different ideas, and not because anyone was difficult, but because they came from different generations.
His partner, in his early 50s, knows how to sell and talk to clients. Ask him to learn a new system or app, though, and the answer was basically: leave me alone, I'll do the selling, you do the apps. Meanwhile a Gen Z staff member picked up the same system before Alfred even finished explaining it. In his words, it's like Gen Z were born with a manual.
So is there a gap? Alfred's answer was the millennials in the middle. They grew up between both worlds, carry some of the scars and experience of the older generation, and can still build and use the systems. He also took on the idea that Gen Z give up after one try. His take: it's not really their fault, they just haven't failed enough yet to handle pressure, while Gen X went through a lot of hardship to get where they are.
We are the bridge between the Gen X and the Gen Z.
Try this: Before you try to change how someone works, figure out how they communicate. The same message lands differently on a 50-year-old salesman and a Gen Z teammate who learns an app in a minute.
Speech 2
Still Scared
Dave Kevin Visaya · Visionary Communication, Level 4 · Better Speaker Series: Controlling Your Fear
Our past president Dave Kevin Visaya gave the longer speech of the night, a 10 to 15 minute project from the Better Speaker Series on controlling your fear, which fit the theme exactly. John Paul Velez evaluated it.
Try this: Nobody in the room is fearless, including the people who look the calmest at the lectern. The goal is to speak anyway.
Table Topics
On the spot
Table Topics Master Jorjames Sajulla · Evaluated by Xenia Teresa Lecaros-Lagarnia
Then came the part everyone secretly dreads: being called up with no idea what the question will be. On a Face Your Fears night it was the theme in action, one or two minutes, no notes, just you and the room. Xenia Teresa Lecaros-Lagarnia evaluated the round.
From a first-timer
"A good learning experience"
One of our guests shared what stood out after watching the whole meeting: you learn to speak well and to pay attention to how you speak and how your voice sounds.
It's a good learning experience for people who want to learn and practice.
A first-time guest
What we're taking home
- Different generations aren't wrong, they just communicate differently. Learn their style first.
- Someone in the middle can be the bridge. Maybe that's you.
- Failing a few times is how you learn to handle pressure.
- The fear doesn't go away with experience. You just get better at speaking through it.
More from the night
Salamat sa tanan who made the night work: Niño Joseph Sumampong (Toastmaster of the Evening, Call to Order, introducing our guests), Mike Cruiz (General Evaluator), Raymond Angana and John Paul Velez (speech evaluators), Jorjames Sajulla (Table Topics), Xenia Teresa Lecaros-Lagarnia (Table Topics Evaluator), Jose Wilson Geolin, Jr. (Word of the Night, Grammarian, Hall Ready), Ma. Cecilia Yap (Ah-Counter), Digna Manatad (Timer), Alfred Reloj (Invocation and Anthem), and Dave Kevin Visaya (introducing the Toastmaster of the Evening).