A Typical Meeting

Structure of a typical meeting

To see a practical example of the structure of a typical meeting, you can take a quick look at our agenda for the upcoming meeting.

Warm up
During this portion of the meeting, the program is described, followed by a joke and an elevator pitch or a speech tip. After that, “table topics” or debates allows club members and guests to practice impromptu speaking by responding to topic questions prepared by the Table Topics Master.

Prepared Speeches
In this section, assigned members practice their public speaking skills by giving a prepared presentation from one of the Communication and Leadership Program manuals. Each project in a manual has a specific objective in an area that helps members practice different speaking techniques. The objectives are designed as guidelines to help you think about the various qualities that comprise a good speech. Some members may be just starting out, while others may be more advanced. Remember, though, all Toastmasters began just as you did and, as you learn from each project, you will be able to reach and exceed what you see in your first meetings.

Evaluations
In this section, members demonstrate their listening skills and practice their evaluation skills. Assigned members will give evaluations of the prepared speeches and of the meeting as a whole. In their feedback, the evaluators outline the impression that the speaker made on them personally, highlighting positive aspects of the speech and pointing out where there is room for improvement. Good evaluations are the hallmark of good Toastmasters.

Roles in a Meeting

The structure of a Toastmaster meeting requires a lot of different roles to be fulfilled. Prepared speakers and evaluators are just a small portion. After every meeting 13 different roles were carried out and 25 people stood on stage. Why so many? Because the goal of a Toastmaster meeting is to get almost every member on the stage to practice, practice and practice. See what these roles are about:

Toastmaster of the evening
The person who introduces key speaking roles, keeps the meeting running on schedule, and ties all the activities together. That person may also develop theme-oriented material delivered around the other speaking roles to add character and cohesiveness to the meeting.

JokeMaster
He/She starts the speaking part of the meeting with a joke to lighten the atmosphere. This provides good practice in developing verbal pacing and storytelling skills.

Elevator Pitcher & Speaking Tiper
Only to be found at the Munich Business Speakers, every other evening one member presents either an elevator pitch about his business, or gives a valuable speaking tip to improve your speech writing & delivery.

Table Topics Master
The first major portion of the meeting is to exercise our impromptu speaking skills and develop the ability to “think on your feet” in situations such as interviews, seminars, meetings, dealing with customers, etc. Members are given a question or topic and asked to speak about it for 1 to 2 minutes. Guests may also participate if they wish.

Prepared Speaker
In the days or week(s) prior to a meeting a prepared speaker will construct a speech, the topic of their own choosing, that addresses objectives and guidelines described in speech manuals. Each speech has specific objectives that vary from one speech project to the next. Speech projects are described in a basic Communications Manual along with a number of Advanced Speech Manuals.

Evaluator
A person is assigned to individually evaluate a Prepared Speaker. Each evaluator is alloted 2 to 3 minutes to deliver their comments before the group using guidelines from manuals for the speech projects. The idea is to praise aspects of a speech well-done and tactfully point out areas that in the evaluator’s eyes could be improved upon in subsequent speeches.

General Evaluator
The evaluator of anything and everything that takes place during a meeting. He / She explains the purpose of evaluations and introduces evaluators for each of the Prepared Speakers. The General Evaluator also introduces the Grammarian / Wordmaster and the Ah-Um / Filler Word Counter so that they may provide their feedback respectively that was accumulated during the course of the meeting.

Ah-Um & Filler Word Counter
The person who notes words or sounds used by most speakers as a “crutch” or “filler”; common examples are “ah”, “um”, overly generalized use of “like”, or use of “ands” to construct super-long sentences that rightfully should be split apart — you get the basic picture.

Grammarian / WordMaster
The person in this role comments on the incorrect use of the English lanugage during the meeting. They may also point out what they thought was an excellent use of language — where a speaker in any part of the meeting created a strong visual image in the mind of the listener, was colorful, or especially eloquent or articulate. In the dual capacity of the WordMaster, this person presents a “word of the day” to be used where possible by speakers in helping broaden all of our vocabularies. He / She reports at the end of the meeting who had incorporated the Word of the Day in their speaking roles.

Timer
The person who keeps track of the time (with stopwatch and three light system similar to a traffic light) for the impromptu Table Topics, prepared speeches, and speech evaluations. Many times in the real world it is required that we communicate the points of our messages within time boundaries. The timing approach during meetings helps us tailor our individual messages as practice for outside of meetings.

Officers and Officer Meetings

All Toastmaster clubs including the Munich Business Speakers have a staff of seven club officers providing structure, guidance, club goals and continuity to the group and it’s members.
These are elected once a year and serve for 12 months. Elections usually take place in June for the term July 1 to June 30. Club officers (and their rank within the club) are as follows:

President
The President is responsible for providing the supportive club environment members need to fulfill their self-development goals, for making sure that members benefit from the Toastmasters educational program, and that the club recruits new members and retains current ones..

Vice President Education
The office of the VP Education is a critical office in a Toastmasters club. The Toastmasters educational program depends on the vice president education to carry out the club’s mission. The vice president education is responsible for providing and maintaining the positive environment and the programs through which members can learn and grow. If he does the job well, your club will have satisfied members and will continue to grow. His/her efforts also will help the club become a Distinguished Club, which should be an annual goal.

Vice President Membership
The VP Membership is – with his membership committee – responsible for building membership and ensuring a strong membership base by satisfying the needs of all members. Your job is vital to the growth and success of the club.

Vice President Public Relations
The VP Public Relations is responsible for coordinating an active public relations and publicity program. His efforts help to attract new members. The job is vital to the growth and success of the club as the efforts help to attract new members.

Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for keeping clear and accurate records of club business, including membership records and correspondence with Toastmasters International’s World Headquarters and others.

Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for keeping clear and accurate financial records of club business and for seeing that the club remains financially stable. He handles financial affairs, such as member dues and purchases of any supplies or services required for the club to execute it’s mission

Sergeant at Arms
The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for maintaining club properties, arranging the meeting room and welcoming members and guests at each meeting.

During a monthly officer meeting the club’s business is handled. At the same time, the club practices effective meeting management skills, so that business can be handled quickly and efficiently. The role of a Club officer is open to ANY member. There is no reason why a new member cannot run for President without serving in any other club office.