Checklist for all the roles for a Toastmaster Meeting

When you are the:

  1. Toastmaster of the Day
  2. Thought of the Day Role
  3. Grammarian
  4. Ah Counter
  5. Posture Monitor
  6. Vote Counter
  7. Timer
  8. General Evaluator
  9. Videographer
  10. Prepared Speaker
  11. Evaluator
  12. Table Topics Master
  13. Table Topics Speaker

Toastmaster of the Day

Remember, if people don't respond, call them!

Toastmaster's tasks:

1. Make sure you got the speakers confirmed by Friday afternoon. If one of them cannot make the meeting, get a confirmation from your backup speaker. If you still cannot fill the spots, let the toastmasters know by sending the meeting’s agenda, so volunteers would have a chance to better prepare their speeches. The call for volunteers for speeches can be made on Monday, but it’s a good idea to give the speakers as much time as possible to get prepared.

2. On Monday:

  • email Speakers asking for their info (see note below)
  • Send theme-of-the-day to Thought of the Day person, Grammarian, and Table Topics Master.
  • for your Meeting Agenda, email Grammarian a request for:
  • word-of-the-day, pronunciation, definition, & sentence usage.

3. Tuesday or Wed, re-send Roles list (showing new confirmations to-date).

4. Call the Sergeant-at-Arms responsible for set-up (if you don’t get a confirmation)

5. Wed. afternoon, fill out Meeting Agenda (it's time consuming!) and run off 20-25 copies for meeting.

6. Thursday, arrive at meeting 11:30 to distribute meeting agenda at each seat. Be ready to start at 11:45.

Now, for that speaker info:

On Monday, email each speaker to provide you the following:

  • speech title
  • typed objectives (from manual)
  • length of speech
  • brief introduction

To be confident at the meeting, pencil these things in on your Meeting Agenda copy:

  • The spot where you'll ask the Assistants (Timer) to give reports after:
  • Speeches, Evaluations, and Table Topics (Grammarian and timer).
  • The spot where you'll ask for each vote (a) speakers, b) evaluators, and c) Table Topics).
  • The spot where you'll award the ribbons for these categories.

TIP #1: Call these 2 people ahead and let them know their time limits:

- Thought-of-Day (1 minute or less)

- General Evaluator (5 min. total) – should call on his/her Assistants first (1 min. each). These Assistants are: Grammarian, Posture Monitor, Ah Counter. Then the General Evaluator gives a brief (2 min or less) verbal report. Let the General Evaluator know he/she can go into more detail in the written report, so the verbal report should be brief.

TIP #2: Have fun, and make that meeting sparkle with your enthusiasm!

At the end, you turn the meeting over to the Presiding Officer (President) who will conclude with Business.

Congratulations, now your job is finished!

Thought for the Day Role

Your role is to give a Thought for the Day which can be one minute or less. This is mostly (but not restricted to) related to the Theme of the meeting (check with the Toastmaster of the Day or the scheduling website) for this one.The toastmaster will invite you to present the thought for the day (Limit this to 1 min or less) and once you are done, you turn the control back to the Toastmaster.

Grammarian:

Your role is to watch for the correct usage of the English language.

Before the meeting: Send the Word-of-the-day along with pronunciation, definition and sentence usage to the Toastmaster by Tuesday for adding to the Agenda.

At the meeting:

  • Explain your role when called upon along with the Word-of-the-day
  • Note down the who has used the Word-of-the-Day throughout the meeting (for Table Topics Speakers this is one of the ribbon-qualifying criteria!)
  • Observe any incorrect usage of English
  • Report your findings to the General Evaluator when called upon in the meeting

Ah Counter:

Your role is to make note of the verbal crutches ‘ah’, ‘um’ ‘you knows’ which speakers use during the meeting and help speakers improve their speech!

At the meeting:

  • Explain your role when called upon along
  • Make a note of the verbal crutches and sound the buzzer (for all EXCEPT Prepared Speakers)
  • Report your findings to the General Evaluator when called upon in the meeting

Posture Monitor

Your role is to make note of distracting body language like leaning, swaying, playing with the pen etc which speakers use during the meeting and help speakers improve their body language!

At the meeting:

  • Explain your role when called upon along
  • Make a note of the distracting body language and sound the BELL (for all EXCEPT Prepared Speakers)
  • Report your findings to the General Evaluator when called upon in the meeting