GUEST PACKAGE
Southern Lights Toastmasters Club
Club website: http://www.southernlights.ca
Toastmaster’s International website: http://www.toastmasters.org
Welcome
By now you have probably met a few members of our club and been
asked to sign the guest book. You will be formally introduced to the club
early in the evening’s program. In the meantime, relax and review the
contents of this package or meet other members of the club as they arrive
for tonight’s meeting.
Southern Lights Toastmaster’s club was chartered December 1979. It is
one of over 287 clubs in the district that extends across Alberta and
Saskatchewan. Our meeting season begins in early September and runs
to the end of June, although new members may join at any time during the
year.
During the course of the evening we follow a regularly scheduled program which is divided into two portions.
The first portion features administrative and business tasks and provides the opportunity for participants to
practice speaking in special situations such as offering Invocation, Toast or use impromptu speaking skills in
the “Table Topics” session. The second portion features the formal speeches and speaker evaluations, which
is crucial to our success as toastmasters.
Your role as a visitor is to observe, enjoy and learn. However, should you wish to participate in Table Topics
you are welcome to do so. Simply let one of the executive members know of your interest. Later in the meeting
you will be asked to share your observations and impressions of our club and of tonight’s meeting. You are
welcome to attend as a guest as often as you wish. Should you decide to
join the club, complete the membership form included and return it to a
member of the executive.
Successful
Public Speaker Tips:
WELCOME to our meeting; we hope to see you again soon!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Know the room
Know your audience
Know your material
Relax and breathe
Visualize yourself
giving your speech
Realize that people
want you to succeed
Avoid apologizing
Concentrate on the
message, not the
medium
Turn nervousness into
positive energy, and
Meeting Roles
In Toastmaster meetings we take on different roles to practice our communication and leadership skills in a
mutually supportive environment.
Toastmaster
The main duty of the Toastmaster is to act as a genial host and conduct the program, including
introducing participants. The Toastmaster role is critical to ensuring a successful meeting. For
obvious reasons this task is not usually assigned to a member until he or she is quite familiar
with the Club and its procedures. Program participants should be introduced in a way that
excites the audience and motivates them to listen. The Toastmaster creates an atmosphere of
interest, expectation, and receptivity.
Chairman
As a chairman, you are first an executive, organizing committees and directing policies. Most
of your work is done outside of meetings. However, part of your duties requires you to lead
business meetings, allowing a diverse group of people to discuss issues and make decisions
in an orderly, timely manner. Calling a meeting to order; arranging and announcing a
program; putting a motion and calling for a vote.
Table Topic Master
The Toastmasters program has a tradition—every member speaks at a meeting. The
table topics session is thr portion of the meeting that promotes this tradition. The purpose
of “Table Topics” is to let members “think on their feet” and speak for a minute or so. The
topics master prepares and issues the topics; originality is desirable as much as possible.
Each speaker may be given an individual subject or a choice of topics may be presented
from which the members can draw at random.
Speaker
A major portion of each meeting is centered around three or more speakers. Their
speeches are based on project objectives and typically last from five to seven minutes for
projects in the Competent Communicator manual and Competent Leader manuals, and
eight or more minutes (depending on the project) in the Advanced Communication and
Leadership manuals. Remember: preparation is essential to success when you are the
speaker.
Evaluator
Aft er a prepared speech, the speaker receives an evaluation with positive feedback and
suggestions for improvement. After you have presented a few speeches, you will be
asked to serve as an evaluator and will evaluate one of the prepared speakers. In
addition to your verbal evaluation, you also will give the speaker a written evaluation
using the guide in the manual. The evaluation you present is intended to support the
speaker’s learning and growth.
er
2
This requires being fully aware of the speaker’s skill level, habits, and mannerisms, as well as his or her
progress to date. If the speaker uses an effective technique or well-received gesture, tell him or her so to
encouraged repeating this behavior.
Ah Counter
The purpose of the Ah Counter is to note words and sounds used as a “crutch” or “pause filler”
by anyone who speaks during the meeting. Words may be inappropriate interjections such as
“and, well, but, so, you know”. Sounds may be “ah, um, er”. You also should note when a
speaker repeats a word or phrase such as “I, I” or “this means, this means.”
Timer
The Toastmaster of the meeting will call on you to explain the timing rules of the meeting.
One of the lessons to be practiced in speech training is expressing a thought within a
specified time. The timer is the member responsible for keeping track of time. Each segment
of the meeting is timed. You should explain your duties and report clearly and precisely. This
is an excellent opportunity in practicing communicating instructions-something that we do
every day.
General Evaluator
The general evaluator is just what the name implies—evaluating or thinking critically about what
happened during the meeting. The responsibilities are large and so are the rewards – namely
for learning to improve future meetings. The general evaluator is introduced by the Toastmaster
after the evaluation segment of the meeting, and upon finishing you will return control to him or
her. You are responsible for the evaluation team, which consists of: the Timer, Grammarian,
Ah Counter, and Table Topics Evaluator. The usual procedure is to have one evaluator per
speaker, and this can be adapted as necessary. You are free to set up a different procedure yet
each evaluation should be brief and complete. Methods for conducting the evaluation sessions are limitless.
Grammarian
Being a grammarian is truly an exercise in expanding your listening skills. You have
two basic responsibilities: First, to introduce new words to members, and second, to
comment on the use of English during the course of the meeting.
Toastmasters – An International Movement
Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership
skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California,
the organization has more than 313,000 members in more than14,650 clubs in 126 countries. Since 1924,
Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an
audience.
Toastmasters International has community-based clubs, company employee clubs, military base clubs,
specialized clubs for the blind, bilingual clubs and many others. In most parts of the world, clubs are grouped
into administrative units known as districts to provide greater leadership opportunities and stronger lines of
communication. Districts are in turn subdivided into areas, which usually comprise four to seven local clubs. In
larger districts, several of these areas may be assigned to a unit known as a division. District Governors are
elected each year to serve their districts. An Area Governor is either elected or appointed to serve your area.
He or she should visit your Club at least twice during the year.
3
Southern Lights Executive 2016 – 2017
President
Rhonda Lagace (780) 722-3494 email: [email protected]
VP Education
Darryl Hauge
VP Membership
Kelly Stark (780)758-5589 email: [email protected]
VP Public Relations
Marlene Petruch
Treasurer
Nigel Bowles
Secretary
Lin Liu
Sgt At Arms
Pat Cunningham
Past President
Pat Cunningham
Meetings: Wednesdays @ 6:30pm
Location: Providence Renewal Centre
3005 119 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6J 5R5
Directions: http://bit.ly/1sEBX9U
*Follow the blue sign, “Retreats and Conventions”
4