Member Roles

Toastmaster:

• Communicate any changes in the schedule to the Secretary by the night before the meeting.

• Be prepared to change the order of speakers or get a pinch-hitter for simple roles (timer, ah counter, evaluator) in order to start the meeting on time when scheduled participants are late.

• Briefly introduce each speaker and provide transition between each part of the meeting.

• Turn meeting over to General Evaluator after Table Topics; however, after evaluation is done, the General Evaluator will turn the meeting back over to you for closing.

• The lectern area should never be empty during the meeting. Wait for each speaker to arrive up front, and give them a handshake or bow.

Timer:

• Sit in a location where you will be easily visible to the speakers (usually the back of the room).

• Make sure you understand how to operate the stopwatch and what the timing guidelines are before the meeting starts.

• Explain your role at the beginning of the meeting as clearly and briefly as possible. • Once you raise a card, keep it up until you raise the next card. Once you have raised the red card, keep it up until the speaker finishes.

• Give your report at the end of the meeting, when called on by the General Evaluator.

• General timing guidelines are as follows:

ROLE(S) GREEN YELLOW RED

. Evaluator 2 min. 2 min. 30 sec. 3 min.

Icebreaker Speech 4 min. 5 min. 6 min.

Regular Speech 5 min. 6 min. 7 min.

Table Topic Responder 1 min. 1 min. 30 sec. 2 min.

Grammarian:

• Your primary responsibility is to promote good grammar usage. Do this by pointing out good and bad grammar usage.

• When asked by the Toastmaster, report of good/bad grammar usage. Also, point out whether the New Word was used appropriately during speeches.

Speakers:

• We encourage everybody to focus on speeches in the Communication & Leadership Manual, and aim for CTM (Competent Toastmaster)!

• Talk with your Evaluator before the meeting so that he/she knows what you want to be evaluated on. He/shie can also give you input to help prepare your speech.

• Start working on your speech as soon as possible after being scheduled; allow time for rehearsal, so that you keep within the proper time limit and feel more comfortable with your speech.

• Keep a running list of topic ideas for future speeches.

• When you are working on advanced manuals, you will need to consult with the Scheduler in order to have the appropriate amount of time at a meeting.

• When giving a manual speech, bring your manual to the meeting for your Evaluator to use, and have the Educational Vice President sign your Project Completion Record.

• Time Limit: Generally five to seven minutes; check your manual for specifics

Table Topics Master

• Give a very brief introduction to your topic (one to two minutes maximum). The purpose of Table Topics is to give others a chance to speak.

• Choose topics that everybody can easily connect with and respond to, i.e., current events, seasonal topics. You can also be creative in your approach -- using props, giving people imaginary situuations, etc. -- especially when you are Table Topics Master during the second half of the meeting when you have more time. Avoid controversial and extremely personal topics such as religious or sexual matters. The topic and related questions can be either serious or humorous.

• Try not to phrase questions in such a way that they can be answered with a simple "Yes" or "No." The purpose is to stimulate a mini-speech in response. # Focus on asking questions to people who do not have roles in that particular meeting. Next, choose people who did not have major roles

• Your Table Topics session will go more smoothly if you decide ahead of time (during the rest of the meeting) who you are going to pick. Address the responder BEFORE stating the question -- this will reduce the need for repetition, and will give the responder a little more time to prepare mentally. Asking, "Who wants to answer?" is usually not effective and can create an awkward situation.

# During the first meeting, you usually need to limit your table topics session to four or five responders. Adjust according to whether the meeting is running early or late. This is another reason to limit YOUR comments. # Finish the session with a brief conclusion, then return the meeting to the Toastmaster.

General Evaluator:

• The Toastmaster will turn the meeting over to you after all speeches, usually following Table Topics. First, bring up each Evaluator for the speech evaluations. Next, ask the Timer and Ah Counter to give their reports. Finally, give an overall evaluation of the meeting.

• In your overall evaluation, focus on the Toastmaster, the Evaluators, the Timer, the Ah Counter and the Table Topics Master. Only give additional comment on the Speakers if you think the Evaluators missed something important. Don't spend time evaluating all the individual responses to Table Topics -- just mention anything that you think deserves particular praise or critique.

• Focus on positive aspects, but make mention of anything that you think could be improved. Evaluate in accordance with what each participant is supposed to achieve in their role, and keep in mind each person's level.

• Although you are not timed, please keep your comments to around five minutes. You can request assistance from the Timer if you wish. # Turn the meeting back over to the Toastmaster for closing.