Here are some activities and officers that you may encounter in a typical West Austin II Toastmasters meeting.

Call To Order

President, introduces invocation speaker, leads Pledge of Allegience and introduces Toastmaster of meeting.

Word of the Day

Wordmaster introduces a word and description, using it in a sentence to help build our vocabularies.

Table Topics

Table Topics Master asks attendees (usually those without speaking assignments and guests) to respond to a different question or statement. The subject is of a general nature requiring an opinion of your own, not any specialized knowledge. The participant responds for one to two minutes, getting the opportunity to hone extemporaneous (off-the-cuff) speaking skills. A typical Table Topics question might be something such as "If you could declare a new holiday, what would that day be called and what would it honor?" Note: Nobody is forced or coerced into doing Table Topics. If you would rather not get up and speak, it's no big deal.

Speeches

Three members present prepared speeches from one of the Toastmasters speech manuals. The speech is of any topic of the speaker's choosing, but is made to keep within the objectives of the manual speech. Some speech objectives are to use body language and to inspire the audience. There is a basic Communication and Leadership manual, which guides the new Toastmaster in basic speech skills. Advanced manuals include Storytelling, Entertaining, Public Relations and Technical Speeches. Members advance through the manuals at their own speeds, with guidance from their mentors and the club's Vice President of Education.

Evaluations

The General Evaluator presides over this portion of the meeting. Speech Evaluators present an oral evaluation of the speeches, noting what the speakers did well and giving ideas for improvement, allowing all attending to learn how to improve their speaking skills.
The Grammarian presents an evaluation of grammar during the meeting. "Ah-s, Um-s and Er-s" (hesitations in speech) are noted, as are poor grammatical constuctions and, even, superlative uses of the language.
The Timer reports on the times for various sections of the meeting and speech lengths.
The General Evaluator evaluates the meeting as a whole.

Awards

The Toastmaster presents awards to the best Table Topics speaker, best Evaluator and best Speaker.

Adjournment

The meeting is over by 8 A.M.

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