Here is how our meetings work ...

We meet every  Tuesday at noon from 12:00 PM to 1 PM at the AT&T building (Map).  The meetings are organized in a structured manner with club members volunteering to take different roles in the meeting each week.  The meeting structure is deliberately designed such that as many meeting participants as possible get an opportunity to speak.  The duties and responsibilities of the various roles are outlined below:

The Presiding Officer
Pledge and Ballot Counter
Greeter
Toastmaster
Grammarian
Timer
Prepared Speaker(s)
Table Topics Master
Table Topics Speaker(s)
General Evaluator
Speech Evaluator(s)

Presiding Officer:  This is usually the club President, but can be any officer of the club. The presiding officer shall
  1. Open the meeting on time.
  2. Ask the Pledge to lead the participants in the Pledge of Allegiance
  3. Ask the Greeter to introduce any guests at the meeting
  4. Introduce the Toastmaster of the meeting, and transfer control of the meeting to that person. 
  5. At the end of the meeting, conduct a brief club business discussion. This may consist of voting on changes to the club, notifying club members of upcoming events, or relaying important deadlines. 
  6. Adjourn the meeting on time.
Pledge and Ballot Counter: Any club member can sign up for this role. The pledge and ballot counter shall:
  1. Lead the Pledge of Allegiance when asked by the Presiding Officer. 
  2. Tally the votes for Best Speaker, Best Table Topics Speaker, and Best Evaluator. All meeting participants vote on who they thought were the Best Prepared Speaker, Best Table Topics Speaker and Best Evaluator of the day, and pass it to this ballot counter to be tallied. 
  3. Announce the results of the vote when asked by the General Evaluator.
Toastmaster:  Any club member can sign-up for this role.  The Toastmaster can be thought of as the master-of-ceremony for that meeting. The Toastmaster must keep the meeting running on schedule, and generally is responsible for the overall success of the meeting.  The Toastmaster shall:
  1. Ensure all other volunteers will be present at the meeting to fulfill their roles, and that they know what is expected of them. 
  2. Prepare the agenda, and distribute copies of it at the meeting
  3. Set the theme for the meeting.  The theme can be anything the Toastmaster likes (e.g. Traditions, Innovations, Current Affairs, etc).  At the beginning, the Toastmaster may speak about the theme very briefly.  He or she may gather comments on the theme from other participants prior to the meeting, and use these comments as part of their introductions. Throughout the meeting, the Toastmaster may comment on the theme as the meeting transitions from one part to the other.  
  4. Introduce the Grammarian, and ask to explain his or her duties. 
  5. Introduce the Timer, and ask to explain his or her duties.
  6. Introduce the Speech Evaluator(s) and ask him or her to read the objectives of the prepared speaker.  
  7. Introduce the Prepared Speaker(s).  Announce the title and number of the prepared speech.  
  8. Introduce the Table Topics Master.
  9. Introduce the General Evaluator.
  10. Give some closing comments on the theme 
  11. Solicit feedback and comments from the guests.
  12. Return control to the Presiding Officer. 

Greeter: Any club member who is an employee of CSC can sign-up for this role.  The Greeter is the first face of the Arboretum Club to its guests.  The Greeter shall:

  1. Sign-in guests and non-CSC employees with the building receptionist, and escort them to the meeting room.
  2. Ensure that guests sign our club's guest book and receive the club information packet. 
  3. Introduce the guests during the meeting when asked by the Presiding Officer. 
Grammarian:  Any club member can sign-up for this role.  The Grammarian is the English language cop of the meeting. The Grammarian shall:
  1. Describe his or her role when asked by the Toastmaster
  2. Pick out a word for the day before the meeting, and present it while explaining his or her duties.  The Grammarian may also prominently display the word of the day in the meeting room for all to see, and encourage participants to use it.   
  3. Keep track of filler words such as "ah", "um", "so', "but", etc.
  4. Keep track of repetitive usage of words.
  5. Keep track of the obvious and not-so-obvious grammar mistakes. 
  6. Make a note of good usage of the English language, such as colorful phrases, vivid description, idiomatic expressions, good word choice, etc. 
  7. Keep a note of participants using the word of the day.
  8. Present his or her observations and comments when the General Evaluator asks for the Grammarian's report. 
Timer:  Any member can sign-up for this role.  The Timer shall:
  1. Describe his or her duties when asked by the Toastmaster.
  2. Keep time on each prepared speech, table topics speech, and speech evaluation speech. Display the green card when the speaker reaches the minimum limit, yellow card at mid-range of limit, and red card at the maximum limit.  Each speaker usually has 30 seconds leeway on either side of the limits in order to be qualified for any contest. 
  3. Report on the time taken by each speaker when asked by the General Evaluator. 
Prepared Speakers:  Any member can sign-up for this role.  The Prepared Speakers represent the heart of the Toastmasters program. A carefully prescribed course of ten speeches, each crafted to allow the member to learn an additional skill, forms the Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Program, commonly referred to as the "basic manual." Each Speaker presents a project from either the Toastmasters basic manual or one of the Toastmasters advanced manuals. These speeches, often called "manual speeches," each have specific objectives, and the Speaker's performance is evaluated on his or her ability to meet those objectives. The prepared speakers shall:
  1. Have their speeches prepared and goals reviewed with the Speech Evaluator before the meeting.
  2. Deliver the speech when asked by the Toastmaster.
Table Topics Master:  Any member can sign-up for this role.  The Table Topics master leads our club in the impromptu speaking portion of the meeting. Despite the apprehension this portion of the meeting causes some of us, we find Table Topics to be one of the most beneficial exercises in Toastmasters! The Table Topics Master shall:
  1. Lead the table-topics portion of the meeting.
  2. Begin with a brief explanation of why and how table topics is conducted.  
  3. Prepare a set of questions (topics) for members to respond on the spot.  These questions or topics may be (not mandatory) tied to the theme of the meeting.  
  4. Give the topic and then call on a member to respond. 
  5. After at least one member has given a table topics speech, ask if any of the guests would like to participate. Guests do not have to participate in Table Topics unless they  want to.
  6. Give out more topics and call on more members. The number of topics will depend on the available time.  
  7. At the end of all table-topics speeches, ask the Timer if the speakers were on time.
  8. Ask all participants at the meeting to vote for the best table-topics speech and pass their votes to the Ballot Counter. 
  9. Return control to the Toastmaster when done. 
Table Topics Speakers: This is the time to "think on your feet" and practice those extemporaneous speaking skills. Each of us face situations like Table Topics every day whenever we are asked a question about something we were not specifically prepared to discuss. Each Speaker called on does his or her best to tackle the topic presented by the Table Topics Master. The Speaker’s objective is to organize his or her thoughts about the topic into a clear and concise presentation. If the topic is something the speaker has no opinion on or is not interested in, he or she may take a tangential route and change the topic to something that he or she is comfortable taking about.   The idea is to practice the ability of thinking and talking on ones feet without fretting. Any member or guest may oblige to be a Table Topics Speaker when requested.  The Table Topics Speaker (s) shall:
  1. Deliver a 1-2 minute speech when asked by the Table Topics Master.
General Evaluator:  Any club member can sign-up to be a General Evaluator.  The General Evaluator shall:
  1. Ensure that Speech Evaluators are in attendance.
  2. Introduce the Speech Evaluator(s) and ask them to provide their evaluations.
  3. Ask the timer if the Speech Evaluator(s) were on time.
  4. Ask all meeting participants to vote for the best evaluator and pass it to the Ballot Counter.
  5. Ask the Grammarian to present his or her report
  6. Ask the Timer to present his or her report.
  7. Ask the Ballot Counter to declare the winners of the best speaker, best evaluator and best table topics speaker award. 
  8. Hand-out the awards for the winners.
  9. Provide feedback on the meeting as a whole and evaluate all of the meeting participants with the exception of the Prepared Speakers, each of whom has his or her own Speech Evaluator.  Point out the skills the participants have already mastered, areas in which they can improve, and suggests how they can improve.
  10. Return control to the Toastmaster when done. 
Speech Evaluators:  Any club member can sign-up to be a Speech Evaluator.  The Speech evaluator shall:
  1. Review objectives with the speaker before the meeting. Each manual speech have several specific objectives laid out.  The speaker may request that he or she be evaluated for personal objectives in addition to those listed in the manual.  
  2. Listen attentively to the speech, and record impressions of how well the Speaker met the goals.
  3. Make notes on positive accomplishments and suggestions for further improvements.
  4. Make a 2-3 minute speech reporting the observations made when asked by the General Evaluator. 
  5. Provide a written evaluation in the speakers manual. 

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