July 1, 2023, the first day of the month and the first day of the Toastmasters 2023-2024 fiscal year.

It was the first time that ESP club held its first ever face-to-face meeting.

The first time that the our new District 75 Director Ninio Supelveda DTM visited his first club and gave an inspiring speech,  the first time that Ian Cortez, DTM attended a club as the DivM Director and taking the role of Table Topics Evaluator, the first time that Tomas Dy Tolentino visited the club as the DivM Area 2 Director and formally discharged the outgoing club officers. The first time that artist and painter TM Denley Mirabueno joined us face-to-face to share with us his general evaluation of the meeting.Our lone prepared speaker past Division Governor Jaime Siybauco awed and entertained the audience with his handwriting analysis and interpretation. No one was spared from TM Jimmy’s rant, ruse and revelations. TM Jimmy is an accredited professional graphologist.

The meeting was so refreshing, revitalizing and rejuvenating that convinced our guests to become members in ESP – Joanna Santiago, sisters Mari Stefani and Mari Brianna Iliscupidez. They actively participated and visibly enjoyed the moments.

Entrepreneurs Society of the Philippines TMC celebrated its 2nd chartering anniversary. The club was chartered during the pandemic, on June 28, 2021 and ended the TI term 2022-2023 as a President Distinguished Club. Kudos to all the leaders and members for the successful year.Outgoing Club President Gil P. Bangalan DTM officially turned over the gavel of authority to Club President Hernan Jeng Jopson MS2. The new Club Officers will be formally inducted on August 11, 2023 (details to follow).

An article by Gil Bangalan, DTM, Immediate Past Club President of ESP Toastmasters Club

July 11, 2023, is our 45th regular meeting. It was done via Zoom and no amount of technology glitches can remove our excitement for our first ever meeting with "Learning Circle" as the third part of the program.

But before we get to that, our Club President, Jeng Jopson, cheerfully called everything into order and smoothly transitioned to be our Toastmaster of the day, accurately describing our theme of 'Ready, Fire, Aim.' The theme is an ode to his style of taking action in his own life and business.

The message is clear: to not be stuck in the analysis paralysis stage that many can relate to, in order to move forward. Adjustments are needed, and calculated risks are present, but creating an atmosphere of movement first is part of his mantra.

An ESP Toastmaster meeting does the Table Topics Session first to keep everyone up their feet and Mikel Roateche, our Treasurer did just that.  It was braved by four individuals, TM Triple Crowne Reginald Yu, TM JP Adena, our guest from Cebu Midtown TMC Marini Fernandez, and our Area M2 Director YEAR 2023-2024 Tom Tolentino.

Prepared Speeches done by JP Adena entitled "Why Should I Listen To You" and our Ice Breaker of our newly minted member Elmar Recablanca deserved an ovation with his speech entitled "Be Grateful of  What You Have".

Now the Evaluation Session which is also the education part of all Toastmasters Club where gifts in the form of feedback helps every individual in every meeting.

Jeng Jopson wore another hat in this meeting to cover the Table Topics Evaluation which brought his infectious smile and energy to the the Prepared Speech Evaluator Team  Director Jaime Siybauco and Reginald Yu, which immensely helped with their constructive criticisms, words of encouragement and specific call-to-actions. It was followed by the TAG Team (Timer-AH Counter-Grammarian) VP for Membership Emeliza Laurenciana as Timer, VP for Education Manny Gacayan as Ah-Counter and IPP Gil Bangalan as our Grammarian.

To conclude the evaluation session, lead by our Immediate Past President Gil Bangalan, DTM, constructive feedback is given to each speaker as well as to the overall meeting conduct so that members can benefit from the experience of evaluators and become better speakers.   

This meeting, our VP for Education, Manny Gacayan debuted Learning Circle with a moving  call to action to make safety a priority, not only physically but more importantly your "Psychological Safety" which is the title of his speech. Coming from the book by Simon Sinek that he read entitled "Leaders Eat Last", he shared a personal story of struggle in his family that ultimately proved that change can be contagious, inspiration is influential and that man is not defined by their mistakes.

The message is especially relatable at work, in your neighborhood and even in clubs you join that shared expectation held by members of a team that teammates will not embarrass, reject, or punish them for sharing ideas, taking risks, or soliciting feedback.  It is of utmost importance to highlight this "Psychological Safety" as part of the mission of any Toastmasters Club, i.e. provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

The "Learning Circle" is something unique within ESP Toastmasters Club that may be facilitated by any member of the club. He/she will be presenting his/her learnings from a book, podcast, news article, or a movie/film he/she read/viewed. To make the learning more powerful, the Toastmasters may relate an experience he/she "lived out" based from the article/film being shared. The Toastmasters taking this role will still be evaluated by the General Evaluator (GE), and so the Toastmasters should deliver his/her topic bearing in mind that this is a speech.

The Learning Circle will be held once a month.

If you want to join ESP Toastmasters Club or catch the next meeting please click on the buttons below:

August 11, 2023 the Entrepreneurs Society of the Philippines (ESP) Toastmasters Club #MakeItsMark as the #SourceForResource in District75 on the occasion of the formal installation of its club officers for TI term 2023-2024, held at the Sky Lounge of Union Bank, Ortigas Center, Pasig. It was a gathering of old and new family members and friends. An evening of camaraderie, fun, inspiration, and nostalgia.

In her keynote address PID Christine Temblique, DTM, underlined the significance of learning from those who came before us to face the challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurial leadership.  D75 District Director Niño Sepulveda, DTM and Program Quality Director Josef Chiongbian, DTM provided the inspiration with their messages about authentic service and leadership.

Club Growth Director Remy Ibay, DTM, did the honor of installing and charging the new club officers, led by Pres. Hernan Jeng Jopson. Division M Director Ian Cortez, DTM, lead the officers’ oath taking.  Past District Governor Dulce Rañosa, DTM, officiated the induction of 10 new members.

For her dedicated leadership in founding the club and as the Charter President, ESP, gave a Posthumous Leadership Award to the late Ma. Arlene “Ayen” Garcia.  Ayen's daughter Patricia " Trixie" Santiago, sister Aleli Garcia and sister Joy Garcia graced the occasion, with her sister, Dr. Alice Garcia, receiving the award.

Certificates of Recognition were presented to members by IPP Gil P. Bangalan, DTM, to club members who represented the club in the speech competitions and who contributed to the success of the club earning the coveted President Distinguished Club recognition for 2022-2023. Among the awardees were Hernan Jeng Jopson, Jed Velarde, Reginald Yu, Emeliza Laurenciana, Jenesse Viktoria Mejia, Mikel Rotaeche, John Paul Adena, and Jaime Siybauco. Special awards were given as well – Achiever Award to Reginald Yu for completing the most number of Pathways educational norms and the Rising Star Award to Hernan Jeng Jopson for his sincere service and active participation beyond the call of duty.

The presence of the families of our members was palpable. The spouses contributed actively in the preparation and during the occasion. We were given the opportunity to meet our members’ families – an added benefit of a face-to-face meetings. We thank our sponsors notably Araro – a start-up ice cream business of a group of young people, the Catmon MPC – a multipuirpose cooperative led by TM Emeliza Laurenciana, Mikel Rotaeche for the venue, Jaime Siybauco for the raffle prizes, TGP c/o Jeng Jopson, John Paul Adena for the entertainment provided by the duo James & Shine Voice Productions and for the yummy cup cakes baked by Sugarbox by: Janine.

Pres. Jeng Jopson’s inaugural address was a stirring call to action for the club to #LeadtheWay by being the #SourceofResources, spiced with his well-known humor.

The closing remarks by Area 2 DivM Director Tom Dy Tolentino was a fitting end to a memorable evening. The gavel tap signalled the adjournment but everybody remained for fellowship and fun, despite the lateness of the hour. Kudos to the new ESP Club officers!

An article by Gil Bangalan, DTM, Immediate Past Club President of ESP Toastmasters Club