GUEST PACKAGE
Southern Lights Toastmasters Club
Club website:
Toastmaster’s International website:
Welcome
By now you have probably met a few members of our club and been asked to sign the guest book. You will be formally introduced to the club early in the evening’s program. In the meantime, relax and review the contents of this package or meet other members of the club as they arrive for tonight’s meeting.
Southern Lights Toastmaster’s club was chartered December 1979. It is one of over 287 clubs in the district that extends across Alberta and Saskatchewan. Our meeting season begins in early September and runs to the end of June, although new members may join at any time during the year.
During the course of the evening we follow a regularly scheduled program which is divided into two portions. The first portion features administrative and business tasks and provides the opportunity for participants to practice speaking in special situations such as offering Invocation, Toast or use impromptu speaking skills in the “Table Topics” session. The second portion features the formal speeches and speaker evaluations, which is crucial to our success as toastmasters.
Your role as a visitor is to observe, enjoy and learn. However, should you wish to participate in Table Topics you are welcome to do so. Simply let one of the executive members know of your interest. Later in the meeting you will be asked to share your observations and impressions of our club and of tonight’s meeting. You are welcome to attend as a guest as often as you wish. Should you decide to
join the club, complete the membership form included and return it to a member of the executive.
WELCOME to our meeting; we hope to see you again soon!
Meeting Roles
In Toastmaster meetings we take on different roles to practice our communication and leadership skills in a mutually supportive environment.
Toastmaster
The main duty of the Toastmaster is to act as a genial host and conduct the program, including introducing participants. The Toastmaster role is critical to ensuring a successful meeting. For obvious reasons this task is not usually assigned to a member until he or she is quite familiar with the Club and its procedures. Program participants should be introduced in a way that excites the audience and motivates them to listen. The Toastmaster creates an atmosphere of interest, expectation, and receptivity.
Chairman
As a chairman, you are first an executive, organizing committees and directing policies. Most of your work is done outside of meetings. However, part of your duties requires you to lead business meetings, allowing a diverse group of people to discuss issues and make decisions in an orderly, timely manner. Calling a meeting to order; arranging and announcing a program; putting a motion and calling for a vote.
Table Topic Master
The Toastmasters program has a tradition—every member speaks at a meeting. The table topics session is the portion of the meeting that promotes this tradition. The purpose of “Table Topics” is to let 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 topics may be presented from which the members can draw at random.
Speaker
Evaluator
A major portion of each meeting is centered around three or more speakers. Their speeches are based on project objectives and typically last from five to seven minutes for projects in the Competent Communicator manual and Competent Leader manuals, and eight or more minutes (depending on the project) in the Advanced Communication and Leadership manuals. Remember: preparation is essential to success when you are the speaker.
After aprepared speech, the speaker receives an evaluation with positive feedback and suggestions for improvement. After you have presented a few speeches, you will be asked to serve as an evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared speakers. In addition to your verbal evaluation, you also will give the speaker a written evaluation using the guide in the manual. The evaluation you present is intended to support the speaker’s learning and growth.
This requires being fully aware of the speaker’s skill level, habits, and mannerisms, as well as his or her progress to date. If the speaker uses an effective technique or well-received gesture, tell him or her so to encouraged repeating this behavior.
Ah Counter
Timer
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 also should note when a speaker repeats a word or phrase such as “I, I” or “this means, this means.”
The Toastmaster of the meeting will call on you to explain the timing rules of the meeting. One of the lessons to be practiced in speech training is expressing a thought within a specified time. The timer is the member responsible for keeping track of time. Each segment of the meeting is timed. You should explain your duties and report clearly and precisely. This is an excellent opportunity in practicing communicating instructions-something that we do every day.
General Evaluator
The general evaluator is just what the name implies—evaluating or thinking critically about what happened during the meeting. The responsibilities are large and so are the rewards – namely for learning to improve future meetings. The general evaluator is introduced by the Toastmaster after the evaluation segment of the meeting, and upon finishing you will return control to him or her. You are responsible for the evaluation team, which consists of: the Timer, Grammarian, Ah Counter, and Table Topics Evaluator. The usual procedure is to have one evaluator per speaker, and this can be adapted as necessary. You are free to set up a different procedureyet
each evaluation should be brief and complete. Methods for conducting the evaluation sessions are limitless.
Grammarian
Being a 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.
Toastmasters – An International Movement
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization has more than 313,000 members in more than14,650 clubs in 126 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience.
Toastmasters International has community-based clubs, company employee clubs, military base clubs, specialized clubs for the blind, bilingual clubs and many others. In most parts of the world, clubs are grouped into administrative units known as districts to provide greater leadership opportunities and stronger lines of communication. Districts are in turn subdivided into areas, which usually comprise four to seven local clubs. In larger districts, several of these areas may be assigned to a unit known as a division. District Governors are elected each year to serve their districts. An Area Governor is either elected or appointed to serve your area. He or she should visit your Club at least twice during the year.
Southern Lights Executive 2017-2018
PresidentVishwadhaBusawon (587) 938-0984
VPEducationNigel Bowles
VPMembershipPaul Kardash (403) 402-1788
VPPublicRelationsWood Wang
TreasurerMikeLivingstone
SecretaryMarlene Petruch
SgtAtArmsBobWang
PastPresidentRhonda Lagace
Meetings: Wednesdays @ 6:30pm Location: Providence Renewal Centre 3005 119 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6J 5R5
Directions:
*Follow the blue sign, “Retreats and Conventions”