Meeting Agenda

 

Please download the Meeting Agenda:

For guests, a Toastmasters meeting, while exciting and enjoyable, can often be a bit of puzzle due to the structure of the meeting. The information provided on meeting roles in this section aims to assist guests so that they can understand the structure and various roles during a regular meeting.

Guide to Meeting Roles

CHAIR: The primary duty of the Chair is to call the meeting to order, introduce the head table (Chair, Toastmaster, Table Topics Master and General Evaluator), make appointments and changes to the agenda, ensure guests are acknowledged, and close the meeting.

TOASTMASTER: The primary duty of the Toastmaster is to act as the Master of Ceremonies and host the entire program. This includes introducing the Table Topics Master and the speakers and providing a smooth transition between meeting sections and speeches. The Toastmaster creates an atmosphere of interest and expectation.

TABLE TOPICS MASTER: The Table Topics Master conducts the portion of the meeting that encourages members to think on their feet. Impromptu 1-2 minute speeches are given by members in response to a theme introduced by the Table Topics Master. Guests are welcome to participate in Table Topics if they choose.

GENERAL EVALUATOR: The General Evaluator conducts the evaluation segment of the meeting, including reports by various participants, and is responsible for making sure that each speaker receives a quality oral evaluation. The General Evaluator also makes an overall evaluation of the evaluators and the meeting.

SPEECH EVALUATOR: The Speech Evaluator's primary role is to help speakers improve their skills by providing constructive comments on a speaker's strengths and weaknesses and offering suggestions for improvement.

SPEAKER: Speakers work out of manuals to deliver prepared assignments. Different manual assignments have different objectives, but the primary purpose of all of them is to help members become more experienced, confident public speakers.

GRAMMARIAN: The grammarian presents the Word of the Day to reflect the meeting's daily theme. They also help members identify the use of poor English grammar, and count how many times the Word of the Day is used. This is an exercise in listening skills for those who take this role.

"AH" COUNTER: The purpose of this position is to help members by identifying the use of crutch words such as "ah", "um", "er", "so" or "but". This is also an exercise in listening skills, and at our Club is combined with the role of Grammarian.

QUIZ MASTER: The Quiz Master tests the members' listening skills by asking questions about things that have been said during the meeting.

TIMER: The timer records the time used by Table Topics respondents, speakers and evaluators. Manual speeches usually have time objectives of 5-7 minutes. Table Topics speeches are from 1-2 minutes and evaluations average 2-3 minutes.