Toastmaster Meeting Participants

Participant	Before the Meeting	At the Meeting
Evaluator (General)	In some clubs, the General Evaluator calls the people in the evaluation portion of the meeting.	S/he provides an overview of his/her duties at the start of the meeting. S/he presides over the evaluation portion of the meeting. This includes introducing the other evaluators, grammarian and timer, the other evaluators and evaluates the overall meeting.
Evaluator (Speech)	They contact their assigned speaker to find out what project the speaker is working on and if there are any special goals the speaker has for that speech.	They are called on to read the requirements and any special objectives of the speaker before the speaker is introduced. They give their opinion on what the speaker did right and suggestions for improvement.
Evaluator (Table Topics)		S/he gives her/hisr opinions on what the table topic speakers did right and suggestions for improvement. S/he gives one thing s/he liked and one suggestion for improvement.
Flag Salute	[The flag salute is an optional part of the Toastmaster meeting.]	Leader: The flag salute is typically given right after the meeting has been opened. It follows the invocation. You announce the flag salute and give people time to stand before starting the pledge of allegiance. Participants: Stand at attention, place their hand over their heart and participate in pledge of allegiance. Non-citizens: For a non-citizen of the host country, you stand respectfully at attention and face the flag.
Grammarian	S/he selects a word for the day. The word of the day may be tied into the theme.	S/he provides an overview of his/her duties and introduces the word for the day at the start of the meeting. This includes the pronunciation, definition and use of the word. S/he provides a brief report during the evaluation portion of the meeting pointing out use of filler words (ah, um, etc.) improperly used words, excessive use of clichés and colloquialisms, mispronounced words, and errors in grammar.
Humorist	S/he selects and practices a short joke, humorous story or antidote. This joke should be in good taste; it shouldn't poke fun at any real people except possibly their self. Friends, joke books, the internet and Reader's Digest all are good sources for jokes. The joke may be tied into the theme of the day.	S/he tells the joke.
Invocation	Select an invocation that is appropriate for your beliefs and your club. An invocation is a hard speech for some people. You should first concentrate on giving an invocation you are comfortable with. As you gain experience, you will want to focus on your club. Most people don't object if you are expressing you personal beliefs, so you will want to avoid phrases like "... we pray". You may also want to give though to making the invocation more generic. You will also want to work on an invocation that will set the tome of the meeting. If your beliefs don't include an invocation or you aren't comfortable with an invocation, something thought provoking in the way of an opening thought is good.	[The invocation is an optional part of the Toastmaster meeting. It is a chance for members to practice a type of speech they may be called upon to give.] An invocation is typically given right after the meeting has been opened. You present the invocation or opening thought. An example invocation: "Thank you for the chance to come together to improve our skills and help our friends improve their skills."
Opening / Closing Thought	Select two thoughts. This can be from a list of quotations, poems or almost any other reading you are doing. Some calendars and day timers also include a thought for each day. The opening and closing thought can be tied into the meeting theme.	Present a thought at the beginning and end of the meeting.
President	S/he determines what announcements need to be made and what business needs to be conducted. If the next week's Toastmaster isn't at the meeting s/he confirms that they know about the schedule.	S/he presides over the business meeting. At the end of the meeting, if next week's schedule hasn't been previewed, preview next week's schedule.
Sergeant At Arms		S/he is the club host. This includes arranging the meeting room and greets the members and guests.
Speakers	They prepare their speech based on the guidelines in the basic manual, advanced manual or special Toastmaster project they are working on. The manual provides the goals and format, but the topic is the speaker's choice.	They provide the evaluator with their manual. They deliver the speech. After the speech, they have the VP of Education sign their manual for the speech.
Table Topics Participants		They deliver a short impromptu speech using the topic and format provided by the topic master. (Guests can participate introduce themselves or pass.)
Timer		S/he provides an overview of his/her duties at the start of the meeting. S/he helps keep the meeting running on time. This involves timing the different portions of the meeting. Provides a brief report during the evaluation portion of the meeting.
Toastmaster	S/he prepares the agenda for that meeting. This includes contacting the scheduled participants to confirm their attendance. (In some clubs, the General Evaluator calls the people in the evaluation portion of the meeting.) If the Toastmaster sets a theme for the meeting, they will inform the other participants when they call.	S/he acts as the master of ceremonies. This involves setting the mood of the meeting, introducing the speakers and participants, and maintains the overall flow of the meeting
Topicmaster	The topicmaster selects the topic and format for table topics. If you want to try something different, a list of ideas is available at "http://www.oocities.org/rick_clements/ideas.htm". The table topics may be tied into the theme.	S/he provides an overview of table topics at the start of the meeting. S/he presides over the impromptu discussion. This involves giving the club a topic and the format for table topics. This may involve adjusting the time limits for that meeting. We try to involve everyone at each meeting. If time is short, the evaluators, speakers and Toastmaster can be eliminated because they already have major speaking roles. If time is very short, only call on people without any meeting role. If there are guests at the meeting, announce their three options (participate, introduce themselves or pass).
VP of Education	S/he plans meeting assignments and programs a month at a time.	S/he presides in the absence of the President, and is available for advice and assistance.

Information for people looking to join the Daylighters or an other Toastmasters club. View page with index.

Ideas for Toastmasters. A collection of meeting ideas, ideas for officers and speech ideas.

(house) Rick's home page with index or without index

Last Updated: $Date: 2001/08/12 21:53:55 $ GMT