The TME (Toastmaster of the evening) is responsible for coordinating the entire meeting and is the ‘host’ for the night, so he/she must ensure that timings are adhered to so that the evening flows correctly and every member is given the opportunity to complete their required role. The TME very much sets the tone for the meeting and ensures that everyone works together to provide a fun and motivational atmosphere where people can practice and build their skills. Time Management is part of your Leadership journey and forms a vital part in educating all members to adhere to the allocated time for their role. Whilst there is a degree of flexibility at club level, timing is taken very seriously at Contest level resulting in disqualification if speakers overrun their time. The meeting agenda shows a detailed grid of the times permitted for each of the roles and this forms a guideline for the TME.
The TME role does allow for an element of flexibility and permits you to express your own skills in hosting an event. You may wish to add some humour or points of interest during the evening to prevent any awkward periods of silence such as when the votes are being collected.
Before the meeting
A Template will be provided to guide you through the evening.
Before the meeting begins the TME must liaise with the Vice President of Education to see if there are any late changes to the agenda and obtain the details of any visitors or guests.
He/She should speak briefly to all those with roles to ensure that they are prepared and have no concerns.
During the meeting
The President will introduce you to the stage area where you should welcome any visitors or guests.
Before the Speakers begin the TME will call upon the Timer, General Evaluator, Ah-counter & Grammarian to describe their role and introduce the word of the day. The TME should also confirm how the stage area is passed from one member to the other with a handshake and the need for a hearty round of applause to welcome all members to the stage area.
When the prepared speakers have finished their speech the TME will ask the timer to indicate 60 seconds in order that the audience can complete their feedback slips.
At the end of the prepared speaking section, table topic speaking section and evaluation section the TME will ask the timer to announce the recorded timings and ask the audience to vote for the best speaker, most improved speaker, best table topic speaker, best evaluator and ask the Sergeant at Arms to collect the votes.
Where speakers have exceeded their permitted time the TME will decide if they are eligible for the voting or not.
At the end of the meeting
Once all the speakers have presented and evaluations are complete the TME will hand back the stage to the Club President to make the evening’s awards and close the meeting.
Please ensure that you have your first 2 pathways levels completed when you undertake this role.
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