|
SPEAKER
A major portion of each meeting is centered
around two or more
speakers. Their speeches are prepared based on
manual project objectives
and should last from five to seven minutes for
projects in the basic Communication
and Leadership Program manual and eight or
more minutes, depending on the
assignment, for projects in the Advanced
Communication and Leadership Program
manuals.
Preparation is essential to
success when you are the
speaker.
EVALUATOR
After every prepared speech, the speaker
receives an evaluation.
After you have presented a few speeches, you will be
asked to serve as an
evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared
speakers for the meeting.
In addition to your oral evaluation, you will also
give the speaker a written
evaluation using the guide in the manual. The
evaluation you present can
make the difference between a worthwhile or a wasted
speech for your
speaker. The purpose of the evaluation is to
help the speaker become less
self-conscious and a better speaker. This
requires that you be fully aware
of the speaker's skill level, habits, and
mannerisms, as well as his or her
progress to date. If the speaker uses a
technique or some gesture that
receives a good response from the audience, tell the
speaker so he or she will
be encouraged to use it again.
TIMER / VOTE
COUNTER
The Toastmaster of the meeting will call
on you to explain the timing
rules. One of the lessons to be practiced in
speech training is that of
expressing a thought within a specific 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 to the Club clearly and
precisely. This exercise is an excellent
opportunity in practicing
communication instructions - something that we do
every day.
The vote counter
will tally the votes cast for the meetings best
speaker, best evaluator and best table topics.
This is a friendly competition
that rewards the individuals that have the their
best.
TABLE
TOPICS MASTER
The Toastmasters program has a tradition -
every member speaks at a
meeting. The Table Topics session is that
portion of the meeting which
insures this tradition. The purpose of this
period is to have members
"think on their feet" and speak for a minute or
so. The table
topics master prepares and issues the topics;
originality is desirable as much
as possible. Each speaker may be given and
individual subject or a choice
of subjects may be presented from which the members
can draw at random.
GENERAL OR MASTER
EVALUATOR
The general evaluator is just what the
name implies - an evaluator of
anything and everything that takes place throughout
the meeting. The
responsibilities are large, but so are the
rewards. The general evaluator
is responsible to the Toastmaster who will introduce
you; at the conclusion of
the evaluation segment of the meeting, 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 if the club has
one. The usual procedure is to have one
evaluator for each major speaker,
but this is not necessary. You are free to set
up any procedure you wish,
but each evaluation should be brief, yet
complete. Methods for conduction
the evaluation sessions are limitless. Review
the Effective Speech
Evaluation manual for ideas.
TOASTMASTER
The main duty of the Toastmaster is to act
as a genial host and conduct
the entire program, including introducing
participants. If the Toastmaster
does not perform the duties well, an entire meeting
can end in failure.
For obvious reasons this task is not usually
assigned to a member until he ore
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
WAG MASTER (Word of
the Day, Ah Counter, and Grammarian)
Being grammarian and word of the day 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.
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
should also note when a speaker repeats a word or
phrase such as "I, I" or "This means, this means."
QUIZ MASTER
It is the job of the quiz master to use excellent
listening skills during the meeting. The quiz
master will then ask a series of questions that
tests the fellow Toastmasters ability to listen and
comprehend any portion of the meeting.
|
