Toastmaster Meeting Duties... In a nutshell

Adapted by: Dale Grieves, ATM-G/CL, City Centre Toastmasters Club 9164

TOAST

Talk for 1 or 2 minutes about the subject of the Toast; then ask the audience to

1. rise;
2. charge their glasses (this means fill their glasses and
3. drink to ..whoever or whatever you are toasting.

DUTY OFFICERS

AH COUNTER

1. Inform the audience it is HELPFUL to become aware of their use of ah's, uums, errs, lengthy pauses, & using double words. It is a habit to fill in time while a speaker thinks.
2. Mention that you will NOT buzz main speaker or guests, or if someone is obviously having difficulty.
3. Report at the end of the meeting should be one minute long and should list speaker by name who used vocalized pauses and how many.

TIMER

1. Keeps the meeting running on time by informing the chair when the meeting is running behind. Explain the use of the timing lights:
   1. FOR SPEECHES LONGER THAN 2 MINUTES:
   2. - GREEN Light on when there are 2 minutes left
   3. - AMBER LIGHT on when there is one minute left
   4. - RED LIGHT on when time is up (no buzzer but the red light stays on)
      1. FOR 2-MIN SPEECHES (OR SHORTER) SUCH AS TABLE TOPICS:
      2. - GREEN LIGHT on when one minute remaining
      3. - AMBER LIGHT on when there is 30 seconds left
      4. - RED LIGHT on when time is up.
      5. - FOR TABLE TOPICS, the buzzer will sound 15 seconds later & the timer will LEAD the applause & the speaker will sit down.
2. Report.. Not necessary to report each and every person's time BUT important to mention:
   1. - whether meeting started on time or not
   2. - Table Topic speakers times... and ...Table Topics Evaluators time
   3. - Main speakers times ...and ...main speakers evaluators time(s)
   4. - if meeting is running ahead or behind at time of report

GRAMMARIAN

1. Choose a word of the day before the meeting & have it written on flip chart/blackboard IN LARGE DARK LETTERS
2. Watch for inappropriate or incorrect pronunciation....grammar, vocabulary....slang, cliches, swearing, sentence structure.
3. Encourage and make note of GOOD use of English vocabulary....diction.... Colorful phrases ...sentence structure

GENERAL EVALUATOR

Evaluates ONLY those parts of the program which HAVE NOT already been evaluated:

1. chairperson
2. duty officers
3. toastmaker
4. main speech evaluator(s)
5. table topic master
6. table topic evaluator
7. jokemaster
8. the meeting as a whole

RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEETING PARTICIPANTS

SGT. AT ARMS

1. sets up room
2. greets members & guests; introduces guest(s) to member for introduction(s)
3. gives the guests name cards & introduces to chair
4. puts room back in order at enc of meeting
5. LOOKS AFTER SEATING LATECOMERS

CHAIRPERSON

1. starts & finishes meeting on time with timers assistance
2. opens meeting with appropriate comments re theme and purpose of TM
3. explains applause; evaluation slips inviting guests to fill them in
4. leads applause throughout meeting
5. fills agenda BEFORE the start of the meeting
6. calls on members to introduce guests
7. can preside over business meeting (if there is one)
8. provides PROPER INTRODUCTIONS for:
   1. table topics master.....table topics evaluators main speaker(s) (including bio information, speech title, project #, time) speech evaluator(s) .....general evaluator
9. use the WORD OF THE DAY IMMEDIATELY after grammarian provides it
10. use bridging comments between events to bind the parts together

TABLE TOPICS MASTER

1. IF POSSIBLE, AVOID asking members to speak who are already on the agenda, eg. main speakers, TT evaluator, chair, general evaluator
2. ask those who are not on the agenda at all to speak
3. ask an EXPERIENCED TM to speak first
4. state whether heckling is allowed or not. If it is, the TT Master is responsible for setting limits and enforcing them.
5. after guests have seen examples, ask whether they wish to participate or not(guests may also be asked at the beginning of the meeting)
6. provide bridging comments between speakers
7. open with an explanation of table topics
8. finish with a nice, tidy conclusion
9. use your imagination to provide exciting & challenging topics

TABLE TOPICS EVALUATOR

1. use the sandwich technique a much as possible (something positive, a suggestion for improvement, followed by another positive comment)
2. ALWAYS provide at least one suggestion for improvement for each speaker bearing in mind the experience of each person, eg, go easy on guests & new members
3. Because of the limited time allowed for table topics evaluations, it's helpful if you focus your evaluation on 1 or 2 aspects of speaking, such as gestures, eye contact, vocal variety organization, strengths etc.