Typical Meeting Contents

Sergeant-at-Arms sets up room; greets attendees; starts meeting with introduction of Presiding Officer

Presiding Officer welcomes everyone and identifies guests and handles any club business and may give a few announcements. Optionally, the Presiding Officer may assist the Toastmaster in filling agenda slots discreetly.

Word of the Day (should have arrived early to put word, definition and sample sentence on board) is introduced. Gives the information on the board to the group. [Club acknowledges use of the word by knocking on wood.]

Toastmaster of the Day is introduced. May give short anecdote or tell short story when time permits. Discreetly fills slots in the agenda and the meeting is previewed. Throughout the meeting, the Toastmaster guards the lectern, provides transitional statements and keeps control

The Table Topics Master is introduced and begins to pose questions to the audience. Volunteers are requested, but some questions may be assigned to specific people. Each speaker should target 1-2 minutes

Each speaker is introduced in turn by the Toastmaster. Any visual aids should be arranged prior to the meeting. Time limits set in the bulletin should be targeted and given to the timer and the evaluator before the meeting

The General Evaluator is introduced and may give some meeting analysis at that time, or defer it to later. Comments, whenever given should focus on the structure of the meeting and the keeping of club agenda rules as stated in this presentation. The GE may also evaluate those he/she introduces, such as the evaluators, the grammarian and the timer

Each Evaluator [who should make arrangement with the speaker before the meeting to obtain the manual and their projected time] is introduced and gives a 2-3 minute analysis of their speaker. The evaluator should accent the positive and use constructive criticism when necessary at the end of the presentation

The Grammarian is introduced by the GE and will make comments on grammar, word usage (such as the work of the day), and other language issues. All "ahs" and similar pause words are tabulated and reported at this time as well.

The Timer is introduced by the GE and will give a time report, at minimum, for the Table Topics participants, Main Speakers, and Evaluators. Other items on the agenda may also be timed as the timer deems noteworthy. A stop watch and timer flip card set are provided to assist in these duties. The flip cards are green, yellow and red and are to be used for the aid of the Main Speakers. The red card may also be used to give a subtle hint to anyone else on the agenda that they are taking much more than their allotted time on the agenda.

{The green card is raised 2 minutes before the target time. The yellow card is raised 1 minute before the target time. The red card is raised at the target time. [Some modification to this is made at certain meetings.] }

The General Evaluator makes any final comments and relinquishes control back to the Presiding Officer

The Presiding Officer conducts any additional business, makes new, or emphasizes already given, announcements and adjourns the meeting. [The PO will ask guests if they have any comments about the meeting as time allows.]