The format of a Carrigaline Toastmasters meeting

There is a certain formality to a Toastmasters meeting. This is intentional as it ensures that the emphasis is placed on the speakers and that the timetable is respected. In fact it is the job of the Toastmaster for the meeting to make sure everything happens in the order it should and that the meeting finishes on time. Each Club Officer will normally introduce their role at every meeting. Taking on the role of Toastmaster or Topicsmaster is a part of the training that Toastmasters provides.

The President will open the meeting and formally welcome the members and any guests or visitors. The President will then had control of the meeting over to the Toastmaster.

The Toastmaster will normally explain his or her role and introduce the Topicsmaster, General Evaluator, Timekeeper, and Sergeant at Arms. The Toastmaster will then inform the members of any changes to the published agenda. He or she can explain the sequence of events for the meeting and any exceptional circumstances that he or she may be introducing. Examples are an "ah" counter or an Area or District Officer that may wish to address the meeting. The Toastmaster then introduces and hands over control of the meeting to the Topicsmaster.

The Topicsmaster explains his or her role and explains an special rules that will apply to the topics session. He or she may limit the number of topics replies to an individual topic to two. In Carrigaline the practice is to announce the topic and then put it to a named individual but some clubs throw all topics open to the general meeting. Guests who are new to Toastmasters will not normally be asked to reply but may do so if they wish. The time for a reply is 2 mins at which time a bell is rung and the speaker must wrap up.

The Toastmaster announces a break for tea/coffee after the topics session.

After the break the project speeches start. These speeches are projects taken from various Toastmasters manual and are prepared in advance by the speakers. A speech may or may not be evaluated depending on the requirements of the particular project or manual. Remember it is the speakers overall performance as a speaker that is evaluated and not just the content. For this reason the objectives of the speech project will normally be read out by the evaluator prior to the speech.

Once the speech projects are completed the Toastmaster will ask the General Evaluator to evaluate the meeting. The General Evaluator will first comment of the each of the officers officiating at that particular meeting and then ask the individual Evaluators to give their evaluations. After each evaluation the General Evaluator will evaluate the evaluations and ideally not re-evaluate the speeches. Once that is finished it's back to the Toastmaster.

The Toastmaster will introduce any visiting officers who wish to speak before handing control of the meeting back to the President of the club.

If there is any club business to be attended to or discussed, the President not addresses those items, makes her or his final comments and ideally closes the meeting at 10 pm.

This is all, of course, ideally.

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The roles of the officers at a Carrigaline Toastmasters meeting

The President is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Toastmaster is a member of the club and changes for each meeting. He or she is responsible for the smooth running of the meeting and for ensuring that it starts and finishes on time. For Carrigaline Toastmaster this means starting at 8pm and finishing at 10pm. The Toastmaster will introduce each of the speakers in turn. The Toastmaster should ideally give a short introduction to each speaker, ask the appropriate evaluator to read out the speakers project objectives and time for the speech, remind the Timekeeper of when the timer lights are switched and then formally introduce the speaker and speech title. Once all the project speeches are finished the Toastmaster will ask the General Evaluator to come to the podium and start the evaluation process. The Toastmaster will hand back control of the meeting to the President once all the project speeches are finished. See the Toastmasters Work Card for guidance on what to do if you take on this role during a meeting.

The Topicsmaster is a member of the club and changes for each meeting. The Topicsmaster selects hers or his topics with the idea of challenging the members present according to their ability. See the Topicsmasters Work Card for more detail on what the Topicsmasters should do to prepare for a meeting and during a meeting.

The General Evaluator is normally an experienced member of the club and changes for each meeting.

The Speech Evaluator is a member of the club who has already completed a number of projects and changes for each speaker.

The Sergeant at Arms is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Timekeeper is a member of the club and changes for each meeting. See the Timekeepers Work Card for a more detailed list of the job.

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The roles of the officers of a Toastmasters Club

The President is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Immediate Past President is also a member of the committee and serves for a term of one year after their year of office as president.

The Vice President Education is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Vice President Membership is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Vice President Public Relations is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Secretary is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Treasurer is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

The Sergeant at Arms is elected at the AGM and serves for a term of one year.

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The officers of Carrigaline Toastmasters Club for the year 2006/2007

The officers of the club for the coming year, who make up the committee responsible for the running of the club, are as follows:

• The President is Seamus McInerney.
• Last years President is Tim Forde.
• Vice President Education is Phil Soltan
• Vice President Public Relations is Sean Murphy
• Vice President Membership is Celine McGrath.
• Secretary/Treasurer is Ms Jean Cunningham.
• Sargeant-at-Arms is Séan Doherty.

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Timekeepers Work Card

1. Check that you have a stop watch, lights (or some way of indicating minutes to the speaker), pen and paper.
2. Note the following for your report:
   • Start time of meeting
   • When the President passes control to the Toastmaster
   • When the topics session ends and tea/coffee break begins
   • When the meeting resumes
   • The duration of each speech
3. When asked by the Toastmaster, demonstrate the lights
4. Ring the bell after two minutes for each topics reply
5. Give your report (as per 2 above) to the General Evaluator when requested
6. Ring the bell after two minutes for each evaluator or as indicated by the General Evaluator..

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Toastmasters Work Card

1. Get the programme/agenda from the VPE and note any special requirements.
2. One week before the meeting contact:
   • The General Evaluator - remind him/her to contact the speech evaluators
   • The Topicsmaster - agree the format of the meeting with regard to the proposed agenda
3. On the night of the meeting:
   • Thank the President and accept control of the meeting
   • Explain the function of the Toastmaster, the format of the meeting and any changes to the published agenda
   • Introduce the officers of the meeting: Topicsmaster, Timekeeper, Sergeant-at-arms, General Evaluator.
   • Hand control of the meeting over to the Topicsmaster.
   • After topics accept control of the meeting and announce Tea/coffee break and the time you intend to resume.
   • After tea/coffee explain the format of the rest of the meeting
   • Explain the timing and lights
   • For each speaker:
     • Give a short introduction for the speaker
     • Introduce the evaluator and ask them to give the objectives of the speech. (Note the time allowed)
     • Restate the time allowed to the timekeeper indicating when the green, yellow and red lamps should be lit.
     • Introduce the speaker: "With a speech entitled 'What the Butler Saw", would you please welcome Mary Jones". (Stay standing until the speaker starts speaking)
   • After all the programmed speakers have spoken, introduce the General Evaluator and hand over control of the meeting to him/her.
   • After the evaluation process is complete, accept control of the meeting, express your appreciation to all who contributed and hand control back to the club president.

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Topicsmasters Work Card

1. Prior to the meeting.
   • Check with the Toastmaster to find out if a theme meeting is scheduled. If so, prepare topics to carry out that theme. If no theme is scheduled, choose a wide selection of topics.
   • Do not repeat the previous week's Topics ideas or items. Find out who the prepared speakers, evaluators, general evaluator and Toastmaster are so you can call on the other members first. Only if time permits at the end of the Topics session, should you call on program participants (speakers last).
   • When choosing your specific questions: Select ones that will inspire the speakers to expound on them, give their opinions, etc.; don't make the questions too long or complicated-phrase them in such a way that the speakers will know clearly what you want them to talk about.
   • Keep your comments short. Your job is to give others a chance to speak, not to give a series of mini-talks yourself.
   • Remember, Table Topics has a two-fold purpose: First, to give everyone in the room an opportunity to speak especially those who are not on the program, and, second, to get people to learn to "think and speak on their feet.
   • Decide how many reply's you will allow for a topic: by the second or third reply people have had a lot of time to think.
2. During the meeting.
   • When introduced, briefly state the purpose of the Topics session. Set the stage for your Topics program. Keep your remarks brief but enthusiastic.
   • If the club has a "Word of the Day," encourage speakers to use the word in their response.
   • Keep the program rolling; be certain everyone understands the maximum time they have for their response and how the timing lights/device works (if the timer hasn't already done so).
   • State the question briefly-then call on a respondent. This serves two purposes: First, it holds everyone's attention-each one is thinking of a response should he or she be called on to speak: and second, it adds to the value of the impromptu element by giving everyone an opportunity to improve his or her -better listening and thinking- skills.
   • Call on speakers it random. Avoid going around the room in the order in which people are sitting.
   • Give each participant a different question. Don't ask two people the same thing unless you ask each specifically to give the pro or con side.
   • Watch your total time! Check the printed agenda for the total time allotted to Topics and adjust the number of questions to end your segment on time. Even if your portion started late, try to end on time to avoid the total meeting running overtime.