Toastmaster Roles

The President serves as the Club's chief executive officer, responsible for general supervision and operation of the Club. The President presides at Club meetings and directs the Club in a way which meets the educational growth and leadership needs of members. In cooperation with the Executive team, the president establishes long-term and short-term plans for Club growth.

The Vice President Public Relations develops, implements and administers a program that maintains a positive image of Toastmasters for all members, guests and the general public. He or she is responsible for internal and external public relations for the Club, including but not limited to: preparing and distributing news releases regarding Club activities; publicizing Club events; working with Club officers to develop literature about the Club; representing the Club with the media. The Vice President Public Relations works with the Club bulletin editor, serves as chairman of the Public Relations Committee, and is fourth-ranking Club officer.

The Immediate Past President provides guidance and serves as a resource to Club officers and members. The Immediate Past President chairs the Nominating Committee, assists in the preparation of the Club Success Plan and promotes the Club's efforts to become a Distinguished Club.

A major portion of each meeting is centered around three or more speakers. Their speeches are prepared (based on manual project objectives) and should last from five to seven minutes for the basic manual and eight or more minutes, depending on the assigment, for the advanced manuals.

Preparation is essential to success when you are the speaker. Every speech should be well-prepared and rehearsed to ensure quality. Remember, club members learn from one another's speeches. Every speaker is a role model.

After every speech, an evaluation is made. After you have presented a few speeches, you will be asked to serve as an evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared speakers for the meeting. In addition to your oral evaluation, you will also give the speaker a written evaluation from the manual. The evaluation presented by you can make the difference between a worthwhile or a wasted meeting for your speaker. The purpose of the evaluation is to help the speaker become less self-conscious. This requires that you become fully aware of the speaker's skill level, habits and mannerisms as well as his or her progress to date. If there is a technique the speaker uses or some gesture made that receives a good response from the audience, tell the speaker so he or she will be encouraged to use it again.

You will be called on to explain the timing rules by the Toastmaster. One of the lessons to be practiced in speech training is that of expressing a thought within a specific time interval. The timer is the member responsible for keeping track of time. Each segment os the meeting is timed. Your explanation of your duties and report to the club should be communicated clearly and precisely. This exercise is an excellent opportunity in practicing communicating instructions... something that we do every day.

Toastmasters has a tradition -- every member speaks at a meeting. The Table Topics session is that portion of the meeting which insures this tradition. The purpose of this period is to have members "think on their feet" and speak for a minute or so. The Topics master prepares and issues the topics; originality is desirable as much as possible. Each speaker may be given an individual subject or a choice of subjects may be presented from which the members can draw at random.

The general evaluator is just what the name implies. . . an evaluator of anything and everything that takes place throughout the meeting. The responsibility is large, but so are the rewards. The general evaluator is responsible to the Toastmaster who will introduce you; at the conclusion of the evaluation segment of the meeting, you will reeturn control to him or her. You are responsible for the evaluation team. The usual procedure is to have one evaluator for each major speaker, but this is not necessary. You are free to set up any procedure you wish, but each evaluation should be brief, yet complete. Methods for conducting the evaluation sessions are limitless. Review the Effective Speech Evaluation manual for ideas.

As Toastmaster of the Day you face the task of introducing the other members of the program. If the Toastmaster does not perform the duties well, an entire meeting can end in failure. Therefore, this task is not usually assigned to a member until he or she is quite familiar with the club and its procedures. The primary duty of the Toastmaster is to act as a genial host and conduct the entire program. Program participants should be introduced in such a manner as to prepare the audience to listen with excitement and rapt attention. It is the Toastmaster who creates an atmosphere of interest, expectation and receptivity.

Being the grammarian is truly an exercise in expanding your listening skills. You have two basic responsibilities: first, to introduce new words to members, and second, to comment on the use of English during the course of the meeting.

The purpose of the ah counter is to note words and sounds used as a "crutch" or "pause filler" by anyone who speaks during the meeting. Words may be inappropriate interjections such as "and," "well," "but," "so," "you know." Sounds may be "ah," "um," "er." You should also note when a speaker repeats a word or phrase such as "I, I" or "This means, this means."

The Presiding Officer initiates the meeting and conducts the business session. The role of Presiding Officer is filled by the club President. If the Club President is unable to fulfill these duties the Vice President of Education fills in. Then the Vice President Membership, Vice President Public Relations, Secretary, Treasurer, and finally Sergeant at Arms.

Some clubs choose to have a "Jokemaster" present a joke or present a humorous reading at their meetings. This is an excellent opportunity to practice presenting a joke and helps to lighten the mood of the club's meetings.

The Parlementarian monitors the clubs parlematary process and reports on exceptions to the process and/or enforces parlementary procedures.

The purpose of the Wordmaster is to watch for excpetional uses of language.

The Treatmaster is responsible for bringing a light snack to the meeting. Usually the treatmaster will be asked to explain what they have brought as part of the General Evaluators introduction of helpers.

Some clubs choose to begin their meetings with a prayer or motivational thought. The Invocator/Motivator presents this. This person usually leads the club in the "Pledge of Allegiance" as well.