A Brief Description of a Typical Club 832 Meeting
and Associated Roles

When you come to a meeting as a guest you will notice that many members participate in the meeting in ways other than speaking. Below you can find a brief summary of the various roles that our club uses. The VP of Education typically assigns members to these roles on a rotating basis but if a member is not present then volunteers are taken. Members may also request a role ahead of time.

Call to Order

• The Sergeant-at-Arms introduces the President, or presiding officer.
• The President sets the tone of the meeting and introduces the Toastmaster for the evening.

Introduction of Guests

• A member is assigned to interview a Visitor and to provide this information to the membership when called upon by the President.

Tip of the Day: (2-3 minutes)

• A short tip on speaking skills or a motivational message is presented by one of the members.

Review of the Meeting

• The VP Education asks for volunteers to fill up future program tasks for upcoming meetings and will communicate to the membership other club business as it pertains to Education.

Joke Master: (2-3 minutes)

• A member tells a short joke or a humorous anecdote. This is another chance to sharpen speaking skills.
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Toastmaster: introduction of theme: (2-3 minutes)

• The main duty of the Toastmaster is to act as a genial host and conduct the entire program, including introducing the participants. The Toastmaster creates an atmosphere of interest, expectation, and receptivity.
• He/She selects a theme for the evening, communicates with the Speakers to get information such as: what manual are they working from, what speech number, the title of the speech, and the length of the speech.
• The Toastmaster is also responsible for putting together, printing, and distributing an agenda.
• The Toastmaster is the person who keeps the meeting "on track" time wise throughout the meeting.

Speakers - Introduction of each speaker: 1 min. Speech length for Speaker: 4-30 minutes depending upon the manual and the speech number

• Newer members prepare and deliver speeches using Toastmaster International's Competent Communication Manual. Each speech outline has different speaking skills on which the members are working. Members choose their own topics.
• Advance speakers use a variety of advanced manuals that emphasize different types of speeches. This allows the members to work on a more advanced set of skills.

Table Topics: Introduction of the Table Topics Master and theme: 2-3 minutes. Table Topics speaking length: 1-2 minutes per speaker

• The Toastmasters program has a tradition that every member speaks at a meeting.
  
  The Table Topics Master (again one of the members) chooses a topic that is presented to the members. The members (and visitors) may speak on the topic for approximately one minute to work on their extemporaneous skills.
• Table Topics is an opportunity to give a one minute speech with little or no preparation.

Speech Evaluators - (2-3 minutes)

• After every prepared speech, the speaker receives an oral and a written evaluation from the evaluator. The purpose of the evaluation is to help the speaker become less self-conscious and a better speaker.
  
• Many evaluators follow the "sandwich approach", which means sandwiching suggestions for improvement and challenges to improve the speaker's speech next time between praise for skills well performed.

Timer: (1.5 minutes)

• One of the lessons to be practiced in speech training is that of expressing a thought within a specific time. The timer is the member responsible for keeping track of time during each segment of the meeting. They also operate timing lights and alert the speaker as to where he/she is during their allotted time.
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Grammarian and "Ah" Counter: (1.5 minutes)

• The grammarian has two basic responsibilities. First, to comment on the use of English during the course of the meeting and second, to note which members appropriately use the chosen word of the week. The purpose of the "ah / er" counter is to note words and sounds used as crutches or pause fillers by anyone who speaks during the meeting. They should also note when a speaker repeats words or phrases such as "you know".

Colorful Language: (1.5 minutes)

• A member volunteers to keep track of any "colorful language" that especially contributed to the success of the speech.

General Evaluator: (3-4 minutes)

• The General Evaluator is the leader of the evaluation team. He / she introduces the team, fills open positions, calls for evaluation reports at the end of the meeting and evaluates the overall meeting.

Vote

• For the Best Speech, the Best Evaluation, the best Table Topic, and the Most Improved Speaker
• All speakers are eligible for awards except a member who is delivering their first "Ice Breaker" speech.

Business Meeting

• Committee updates, minutes approved, upcoming events..
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