Toastmaster

Description

This is the primary leadership position and is rotated through the most experienced members. The Toastmaster coordinates and runs the weekly meeting and acts as gracious host for the other members. The Toastmaster also insures that the meeting will run and end on time as specified by adjusting breaks, Table Topics and keeping others aware of the time.

Responsibilities prior to meeting

Begin organizing your meeting on the Friday before you are to be Toastmaster. If you wish the meeting to have a theme, begin planning early and let the members know ahead of time.

Begin by confirming job Responsibilities for the upcoming meeting by either sending an email to the members with jobs or confirming in person at the current meeting. It is the individual members responsibility to inform you if they will not be able to fulfill their meeting role and to find a replacement. However, you should be proactive as the success or lack of success will reflect on you.

Request introductions from the speakers and find out how long their speeches are as this will factor into your time planning. The introduction should include the speech project title, project goal/objectives, manual, background on the speaker and any special notes about the speech the speaker may need to inform the audience of.

Create an agenda for the meeting. Sample agendas are available on this Web site (Agenda Sample). First determine the lenght of ecah of the three speeches. Add maximum times plus 3 minutes for the silent minutes following each speaker. If an induction or a busniness transaction is planned for that day, the president need more time. Once the times are determined, adjust TT, Joke, and ending report times to fit in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Make 20-25 copies and distribute to the members at the meeting.

Responsibilities during meeting

Keep the meeting flowing smoothly by providing segue ways between events and “dead time” such as when members are writing comments. There are many opportunities as Toastmaster to practice impromptu speaking by commenting on speeches, commenting on meeting occurrences, tying speaker introductions into other events etc.

Keep the meeting running on time! Keep an eye on the clock and adjust breaks, Table Topics, support role reports to finish by 7:45 a.m.

Special notes