Guidelines for the Grammarian Role in Toastmasters - By Chuck Jernstedt, CTM
Disclaimer:
If some of the following seems familiar, it is because I borrowed the good parts
from Joe Masino’s excellent “Toastmaster Guidelines”.
The Grammarian guides us all toward
clearly conveying our ideas, by educating us in careful and proper word-choice
and word-usage. The Grammarian’s role is much more than that of grammatically
critiquing a single or several speakers. The Grammarian’s role is to highlight
good usage, as well as mispronounced words, careless enunciation, and improper
or inappropriate language. The Grammarian doesn’t “nitpick” for mistakes, but
points them out when apparent, and pays compliments when due.
Timing
The Grammarian keeps within the assigned time limit. Two minutes is
generally enough—never over three. Stays within field of criticism—does not
duplicate other evaluators. The Grammarian, upon completion, returns control of
the meeting to the Toastmaster.
Word/Phrase Usage
The Grammarian corrects improper word and phrase usage, such as
confusion of “dangerous twins”, grammatical errors, awkward syntax, slurring of
word-endings and off-color or inappropriate language. The Grammarian also points
out excessive use of “word fillers” or “trite phrases”.
Word fillers
Phrases such as “You know”, or “If you will” are word fillers. While
such phrases have their place, they should not be used as placeholders for
vacant thoughts (although as a last resort, almost any meaningful word beats an
“ah”).
Trite or Hackneyed Phrases
An example of a trite phrase might be, “I found it interesting”, which
tends to be overused, and often adds little to a narrative. “Stimulating”,
“inspirational”, or “awe-inspiring” are examples of words that are more
descriptive than “interesting”, which (if applicable) might be used instead.
Dangerous Twins
These are words that sound similar to the untrained ear, but may have
completely different meanings. Speakers who habitually confuse dangerous twins
can furnish endless merriment to an astute audience. But no matter how
entertaining such speakers may be, it is the Grammarian’s duty to let them in on
the fun – and not to keep a private log, without informing the hapless souls.
Some less exciting examples of dangerous twins are: affect & effect, ordinance &
ordnance, preclude & prelude, titled & entitled, tread & thread. I’ve got much
better examples of “Dangerous Twins” in my private collection – examples so
dangerous that they make these look like kid’s stuff. For example, “He is a
veritable repository of information.” Unfortunately, in the interest of
propriety, this is not the place for me to present the word that was
inadvertently used in place of “repository”. Which brings us to another role of
the Grammarian: observing whether all material presented is appropriate.
Appropriate Language/Material
For reasons that will presently be described, it is the Grammarian’s
duty to be aware of what language and material is appropriate, and to remind
Toastmasters of the pitfalls of “crossing the line”. Although no single
Toastmaster is empowered to “lay down the law” as to what is “right and wrong”,
there are generally accepted guidelines that Toastmasters should obey.
The occasional titillating suggestion or aside is by all means appropriate.
Without it, speech (and life itself) would be dull indeed. But there is a line
that should not be crossed. As we become ever more aware of our multicultural
world, that line becomes ever more difficult to discern.
But discern it we must, if we are to be successful Toastmasters. And discern it
we must, if we hope by speaking to advance our chosen livelihoods. Why?
For one reason, a speaker may not know an audience as well as suspected, or may
encounter an audience newcomer, or the speech may be recorded (even without the
speakers knowledge) and presented to an entirely different audience than that
originally intended.
What Constitutes Inappropriate
Material for Toastmasters?
A major goal of Toastmasters is to prepare us to present our thoughts on
a high plane. That goal simply is not achievable if inappropriate language or
material is presented, as such things are of the lowest plane. Any material is
deemed inappropriate that may reasonably be expected to make any member of an
audience feel uncomfortable, for whatever reason.
As Toastmasters, we are preparing ourselves for success, whether in commerce,
the professions, or other avenues. We cannot hope to succeed by making others
feel uncomfortable, much less if we do so unintentionally. Therefore vulgar or
“off-color” language (though regarded as standard in certain spheres) is
inappropriate for Toastmasters, as it may make some uncomfortable by offending
them.
The more juicy the “tidbit”, the more it should be savored in private - and any
public setting, no matter how secluded it appears, is not private. Many an
erstwhile-prominent public figure regrets (now too late) not having followed the
foregoing sage advice. If one wishes to “Speak up to get ahead” two rules should
be followed:
Rule 1) “If in doubt, leave it out.”
Rule 2) “If not in doubt, check it out.”
It is the Grammarian’s role to observe whether speakers have followed both rules
in preparing their speeches.
Gender
Note that these guidelines are presented entirely in genderless format.
Unless I’ve missed something, one should not find a single “he”, “she”, “her”,
“him” or “his” - although I may have slipped in a “his’n” in a few places.
(That’s supposed to be a joke.) Also, I believe this lack of gender was not
obvious.
The English language is special in that it is one of the few languages that has
no articles that have a gender. Spanish has “el” or “la”, for example, and
German has “der”, “die” or “das”. English always uses “the”. Therefore, as
English-speakers, we should have little difficulty in presenting material in a
genderless format, when writing or speaking about people in general.
More and more employers, (particularly governmental agencies), favor genderless
presentation when writing about people generally. At one job, we revised an
entire quality control manual to eliminate any gender-words (in addition to
technical changes).
Here are some smooth ways to avoid using gender-words when speaking or writing
in a general context, without alternatively using “she/he”, “he/she”, or “they”
all over the place:
