The role of Speaker is central to the Toastmasters journey, and should be balanced with other roles in Club meetings and events. Taking on other roles helps you to gain greater organizational skills, to listen, to practice critical thinking, feedback and motivation, and also improves time management abilities, and enables other members to complete their speeches.
Please schedule your speech in advance using our EasySpeak tool at this link: https://toastmasterclub.org/ or contact the Vice President Education.
Before the meeting
If you wish to present a slide deck (e.g. PowerPoint) with your speech, please contact the Sergeant at Arms at least 1 day in advance. Don’t rely on email alone, as your email may get lost in a spam filter; we would suggest using WhatsApp so you can get clear confirmation that they have seen your message. The Sergeant at Arms will identify 1 laptop for use by all presenters, and ensure all slide decks are loaded onto it in advance, in order to minimise fuss during the meeting itself.
If you are using any other props or visual aids, let the Sergeant at Arms know about it. Make sure you are able to set up your items in a minute or less.
Check the agenda before the meeting to find out who your evaluator will be. Let them know the objectives of the project you are completing from your Pathway. Let them know if you want them to pay particular attention to any specific aspect of the speech. Provide them with a copy of the Evaluation Guide for your specific project, which you can download directly from your project in BaseCamp.
During the meeting
At the required time your evaluator will introduce you and invite you up to the stage. If you need a minute to set up any props or visual aids, ask the timer to give you a minute on the clock. Once that minute is up, it’s time to deliver your speech.
You should end your speech after the green, amber or red light has been shown. If you continue more than 30 seconds after the red light, your speech may be disqualified from any voting. Once you have finished, hand the stage back to the Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), and return to your seat.
If there is a vote for best speaker, you are still allowed to cast a vote. The voting is anonymous, so you can vote for yourself if you wish.
Later in the meeting you will normally be given verbal feedback in a short speech by your evaluator. Please take this feedback in good faith, and remember that your evaluator is practicing their own feedback skills, and delivering a speech of their own.
After the meeting
After the meeting, thank your evaluator and ask them to provide you with written feedback in the next few days. Ideally they will follow the Evaluation Guide for your specific project, which you can download directly from your project in BaseCamp, but any format which works well for you both is fine.
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