Toastmaster

Aug 29, 2020

One week / few days before the meeting:

The Chairperson will email you to confirm your assignment. Ask for the evening’s theme to incorporate it in your portion of the program.

Get Speaker Info:

• Confirm assignments – speakers should have their own replacements, if necessary
• Obtain necessary information – biographical data, manual project number, speech objectives, title, time limits.
• Caution speakers to be aware of the time limits for their speech.

Get General Evaluator info:

• Confirm his/her assignment
• Give him/her information – confirmed speakers and their manual assignments
• Obtain information for introduction of General Evaluator.

Plan opening comments, which will set the stage for speakers and enthuse the audience.

• Plan introductions for speakers, evaluators and General Evaluator. Use your imagination to avoid hackneyed introductions.
• In the case of speaker introductions, your introductory material can include biographical data and /or enumerate the qualifications of the speaker.
• The introduction may hint at the subject matter to be presented, but the Toastmaster must never “give away” the essence of the speech.

During the Meeting – After the break

• You will be introduced by the Sargent At Arms.  Fellow Toastmasters please join me in welcoming Toastmaster ……………………………… [After the recess, the Toastmaster takes control]

During the Prepared Speeches Session SCRIPT

Thank you Mr./Madam Chairman for that flattering introduction. Fellow Toastmasters and guests, I would now like to welcome you to the Prepared Speeches portion of the meeting. This really is the heart of Toastmasters, where members deliver speeches on a subject that they have selected and researched.

My duty here tonight will be to act as your host for this part of the meeting, which consists of a), Prepared speeches b) Evaluations c) Grammarian’s Report and the Quiz Master’s Report.

During the prepared speeches session, our Toastmasters have the opportunity to put their speaking skills to work on a selected subject that they have thoroughly researched. Much time goes into the preparation and practice for these speeches.

During the General Evaluation, Toastmasters receive valuable constructive feedback regarding their speeches and their performance in the various tasks that have been assigned to them during the course of the meeting

Evaluation forms: To assist each speaker and to develop your own listening skills, special feedback forms have been provided to each of you here. These forms are to be used to provide written feedback to the speakers.

There is also a ballot for: a) the Best Speaker, and b) the Best Evaluator.

You are strongly encouraged to use these forms during the meetings.

For the benefit of the guests:  [if guests are present and if time permits]

The Toastmasters program is based on curriculum projects called “pathways.” There are 11 specialised learning paths that give Toastmasters the opportunity to build more than 300 unique skillset competencies. Each pathway contains five levels.

These pathways guide the speakers through the basic steps of good public speaking and leadership training, each project building upon the skills learned in the previous speeches.

Tonight we will have the pleasure of listening to ………………. prepared speeches.

Our first speaker will be Evaluated by Toastmaster:____________. Could I ask the evaluator to outline the Speech Manual, the number and the objectives of the speech. If the evaluator does not outline the time please confirm what the timing is so that the timekeeper has it.

Before I introduce our first speaker, I would like to explain timing procedures for our Timekeeper:
This speech is …….. minutes long and I would like to have the Green Light at …. minutes, Yellow at …. minutes and Red at …. minutes.

[Explain the reasons for timing speakers and the fact that speakers who do not speak within the assigned time will not be eligible to the vote for “Best Speaker”.]

Our first speaker ….[give relevant information] ………………………………………………… Fellow Toastmasters, please help me welcome our first speaker [Announce “Speaker’s name”, “Speech title”, “Speech title”, “Speaker’s name” ]

[Lead applause upon completion of the speech and thank the speaker]

Thank you Toastmaster ………………………………………………

Please take a minute to give the speaker your written feedback on the special forms provided. [Repeat this process for the second and third speakers.]

REPEAT FOR ALL SPEAKERS

[After the last speech]

This concludes the Prepared Speeches portion for this evening. To summarize, we have heard the following speakers:
Speaker Name – Title of Speech
Speaker Name – Title of Speech
Speaker Name – Title of Speech

Could the Timekeeper give the official time of the speeches?

[At your discretion, exclude from the vote any speakers with timing infractions]
Using the appropriate ballot form in front of you, please take a moment to vote for the Best Speaker for the evening. For the benefits of those who are not familiar with the voting procedure, I would like to point out that the best speaker is the speaker who best achieved the required objectives of his/her speech project. Could the Sergeant At Arms please collect the ballots.

Evaluations

Now we have come to the Evaluation part of the evening, the evaluation of Prepared Speeches

Let me begin the evaluation of prepared speeches, which will be done by assigned evaluators. Before I introduce our first evaluator I would like to explain the timing procedures:

Madam/Mr. Timekeeper could you please give the Green light at 2 minutes, the Yellow at 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and the Red at 3 minutes. After the red light, the evaluators will have 30 seconds to wrap up.

[Explain the reasons for timing evaluators and the fact that evaluators who do not speak within the assigned time will not be eligible to the vote for “Best Evaluator”.]

•  Could the evaluator for speaker #1, Toastmaster …………………kindly give his/her evaluation of Toastmaster ……………………………
•  Could the evaluator for speaker #2, Toastmaster ……………………kindly give his/her evaluation of Toastmaster……………………………
•  Could the evaluator for speaker #3, Toastmaster ……………………kindly give his/her evaluation of Toastmaster……………………………

 You have just heard three evaluations from:

•  Toastmaster ………………………………………………………………………………………
•  Toastmaster………………………………………………………………………………………
•  Toastmaster……………………………………………………………………………………….

Mr./Madam Timekeeper, may I have the timings for the evaluations?
[At your discretion, exclude from the vote any evaluators with timing infractions]

Could you please take a minute to vote for the best evaluator.

Reports

Grammarian’s Report:  Could I have the Grammarian’s Report?  [Presentation of report]

Quizmasters Report:  Could we now hear the Quizmaster’s Report? [Presentation of report]

General Evaluation

Our General Evaluator for this meeting is …………………………………….. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming our General Evaluator for this evening’s program, Toastmaster ………………

Toastmasters Job Is Done———–

Quizmaster

Jul 29, 2020

The role of the Quizmaster is truly an exercise in expanding everyone’s listening skills. There are two basic responsibilities:

• Listen very carefully throughout the meeting and prepare 5 to 7 questions
• Questions should be a balance between easy to hard. No need to to get too specific or technical in your questions!
• Entire Quizmaster question period should be no more than 5-7 minutes in length.
• When called by the General Evaluator, ask a question and then call on a member to answer it.
• Thank the members when finished

Parliamentarian

Jun 29, 2020

The Parliamentarian observes the Business Session to keep track of parliamentary procedures in action. The Parliamentarian is usually an experienced Toastmaster who understands Robert’s Rules of order.

The Parliamentarian assists the Chairperson during the business session, upon the Chairperson’s request. He or she can advise on the order of business, how to proceed next, how to handle ambiguous motions, etc., at the Chair’s discretion.

The Parliamentarian gives a brief report at the end of the business session. He or she comments on how well and how fairly the Chairperson carried out the majority’s wishes regarding the business of the day. He or she also offers suggestions for improvement.

Download the Parliamentary Chart of Motions

Grammarian

May 29, 2020

Being a Grammarian is truly an exercise in expanding your listening skills. There are three responsibilities.

1. Introduce a new word to members
2. Count the hesitations and filler words
3. Comment on the interesting language used in the meeting

It is a good idea to bring a dictionary.

Prior to the Meeting

• Call your Chairperson to find the theme for the evening
• Select a word of the day and tie it to the theme if possible. Choose a word that can be used in the context of a Toastmasters meeting. Make sure the word is not too common, in order to expand your fellow Toastmasters’ vocabulary.
• Write or type the word on a sheet of paper, in letters large enough to be seen from the back of the room.

During Grammarian Introduction

When introduced, explain the role of the Grammarian.

1. Introduce a new word to members
   • State the word
   • Explain whether it is a noun, a verb, and adjective etc.
   • State the different meanings
   • Show how it can be used in a sentence.
   • Tell people how many times you would like them to strive to use it
2. Count the hesitations and filler words used by Toastmasters – ums, ahs, you knows, etc
3. Comment on the creative, imaginitive, and picteresque use of the English language, as well as the misuse of the English language.

Then place the word of the day along with it’s definition and usage into the chat box.

During Evaluation

When called by the General Evaluator, stand by your chair and give your report:

• State how many times the word was used and by whom
• State how many hesitations and filler words were used
• Speak to the creative use of language that you heard. Try to offer the correct usage in every instance in which there was a misuse, instead of only explaining what was wrong.

In this role, it is not necessary to name Toastmasters who make errors. Give special attention to those who used language in great ways!

General Evaluator

Mar 29, 2020

Prior to the Meeting

The Chair will email the roster to everyone, and ask for confirmation of attendance.  Evaluators will be asked to confirm their attendance to you.  Follow up with them if they do not respond prior to the meeting. Evaluators should have their own replacements, if necessary.

Understanding The Role – Overview

• The preparation to evaluate the meeting officers is done throughout the meeting, while the evaluation of evaluators is done only once the evaluators have done their job, towards the end of the meeting.
• Even though the preparation starts with the officers (form 1) and ends with the evaluators (form 2), when presenting the report, evaluate the evaluators first, and the officers second. 
• Evaluating the evaluators should take 3 minutes, and evaluating the officers should take 2 minutes. 

Understanding The Role – Evaluating The Meeting Officers

• Throughout the meeting, after each officer has spoken, jot down very brief notes on Form 1.
• If the officer has done a “proper job,” without anything outstanding, don’t write anything.
• Just before presenting your report, look at your notes, and see which ones are “important to mention,” either because the job was very well done, or because the officer missed some important point (examples: a Grammarian’s word that was used many time, a toast that was too long or unclear about the name of the person we were toasting, a Table Topics Master who didn’t give clear instructions, a quizmaster who added a special twist to the questions, a Parliamentarian who did a very thorough job, etc.)
• Put a check mark beside the names of the people who have done a “proper job.” During the report, announce that some people have done well and just mention their names. They need to hear they have performed adequately, even without details. The check mark will make it easy to find the names quickly.
• Then, give a more detailed account on the 3 to 5 roles and officers that you have identified as “important to mention.”
• If you have to emphasize something that was not done well, turn it into a lesson for the future, when other Toastmasters will have to do this role.
• This part of the report (done last) should take no more than 2 minutes. 

Form 1 – Evaluating the Meeting Officers

Understanding The Role – Evaluating the Evaluators

• In order to save time, fill your form during the evaluation, while the evaluator is speaking, even if you have to add more notes at the end.
• Don’t write sentences, just bullet points.
• Put yourself in the shoes of the speaker who was evaluated. How would you feel? Would you know how to perform better the next time? Was the evaluator unclear at times? Would you have liked more suggestions?
• It is important to have a few notes in the first column (what was good in the evaluation). If you don’t know what would make it better, don’t write anything and don’t mention this part. Always finish your evaluation of each evaluator with something positive.

Form 2 – Evaluating the Evaluators

Script – General Evaluator Report

Thank you Toastmaster ……………….. for that nice introduction, and welcome to the last part of the Prepared Speeches Session, the Evaluation.

The function of a General Evaluator is to provide feedback to the meeting’s participants. It is like holding up a mirror to reflect your performance back you. Feedback is an essential element of the learning process and is meant to encourage the drive to excellence and self-improvement.

My report is in 2 parts:

• Evaluating the evaluators
• Evaluating the meeting officers

Timekeeper, may I have the green at 4 minutes, amber at 5 minutes, and red at 6 minutes.

Give the report following the instructions and using the forms above

At the end of your report, highlight something positive or funny about one aspect – just one – such as the club, the members, the progress of some members, the theme of the evening, the way you feel, etc. You are one of the last people to speak. It is essential to leave the audience with a good feeling about the meeting.

Awards

It is now your role to hand out the awards for Best Table topic, Best Evaluator and Best Speaker.  Lead the applause and encourage the crowd to cheer the winners! 

Return control back to the Chair.

last updated January 15, 2021