Assignment Guide: Toastmaster

A general outline of the Toastmasters duties can be found in your "Communications and Leadership Program" manual. However, there are some points which need to be highlighted.
Duties

When you preside, you are responsible for the meeting's success or failure. It is up to you, in meeting this function, to be sure participants are present and prepared.

You should have appropriate comments at the opening of the meeting, after you have been introduced by the opener, to set the stage -- especially if you have a theme.

You are responsible for the introduction of each speaker, the Table Topics Master, and the General Evaluator.

You will be introducing each of your assistants and having each assistant explain his/her own role.

Remember to notify the Timer if there is a change in the time limit for any portion of your meeting.

When introducing the Grammarian, be sure to ask for the word of the day.

Call for the vote for Best Speaker and Best Table Topic Speaker prior to the scheduled evaluations.

When control of the meeting is returned to you by the General Evaluator, call for the vote for Best Evaluator if the General Evaluator has not done it.

Ask for assistants reports, if not done by the General Evaluator.

Return control of the meeting to the President (VP of Education if President absent).

Important Points to Remember

Start calling your assigned people at least one week in advance of your meeting. Make sure they remember their assignments with a follow-up call the morning of the meeting. Use voice-mail or email as much as possible to reduce your workload.

If you have trouble getting at least two speakers, call the VP of Education to ask whether anyone has volunteered to do additional speaking.

Keep the tempo of the meeting going.

Prepare your agenda early. Prepare yourself to conduct an interesting and successful meeting. Agendas should go out by email the Monday before the meeting. Members who don't have email should be sent an agenda by US Mail the Friday before the meeting.

Toastmasters who do not have access to Battelle email or voice-mail should coordinate with a Battelle staff member for these services. This will greatly reduce your workload.