My second time as timer

The second time I was timer it was a new club and the members were all busy giving speeches and evaluations. I had been invited along by the area director and club sponsor who was busy, fully occupied with others tasks as the Toastmaster of the evening and Language Evaluator and General Evaluator. She had invited me along as I wanted to visit clubs in Singapore (every night of my working holiday) and she needed extra people to help and experienced people to show all the novices at the new club how to do roles. Therefor this time I was the sole timer. I uttered a feeble protest but she briskly reassured me that I could do it. No point in adding to the general mood of 'Oh, gosh, this is my first time - not sure I can do it.' I was part of the old timers team and supposed to be bright and confident. My role was to do the job, look confident. Being sole timer at a club felt like more responsibility than being shared timer at a contest. Whether you are joint timer, or in my case one of three, somebody else can be sharing the responsibility, the credit and blame, and discuss any uncertainly. On the other hand, if you are acting alone, nobody knows what you are doing. So, in theory, you can announce glibly that the speaker was on time, and make up any number if questioned, and nobody is likely to query you. Often at club level in a new club, the actual number of seconds seems irrelevant. All that they really want is to know is, was I a) In time (don't worry - well done!) b) Disqualified by only a second or two (nearly there - just be careful) or e) Wildly out of time! (Must watch the time. However good your speech is, you won't win. Any other idiot with a short speech not half as good as yours will beat you. Don't let that happen! On the other hand, your 'I could have done better' speech can win - if the other better speaker gets carried away and goes wildly over time.) What usually happens? To any guests, and for me for several years, the timer's lists of numbers meant nothing. First of all I didn't know the names. The first speaker ..... (name I can't remember so I don't know who it was and don't care about the person nor can I recall whether they were over brief or longwinded. Then lists of numbers: 1 minute 31 seconds, 2 minutes and four seconds, three minutes and ten seconds. You just stop listening. Whilst you try to work out whether the first person was on time, you miss the next number. Another way of announcing at a blue meeting when you are short of time (or didn't keep accurate records) is to announce 'Everybody was on time'. To the newcomers, without a proper explanation, the disqualifications sound like an arbitrary way of penalising people you don't like on a technicality. You also want to make every explanation positive. In theory, if anybody has a video they can replay the speech and check the time. But in most contests a video is not allowed, except at the finals in the USA where an official video company makes a video which can be sold or distributed. The best, most amusing and most useful timer report I saw recently at a club turned the timing report into exhortations rather than lists of numbers. "All speakers except one were on time - please applaud those who were on time. Now, groans and sobs please for Michael, who was liquified. Sniff, Sob, wipe eyes. Now, cheer up. It's only a game. It's a learning experience. Next time he'll be on time." "Now the good news in detail. Speaker a - our wonderful Wendy with the blonde wig, spoke enthusiastically about the joys of motoring, and finished promptly at two minutes twenty five seconds. Well timed, but what a worry - two thirty is the limit, my hand was shaking , reaching for the buzzer - another five seconds and she would have been disqualified! "Jimmy, our horseback riding enthusiast, ran out of things to say but was encouraged to complete the mini topics speech with a summary, and reached one minute one second. The minimum length for a topic is one minute, so those last two vital seconds qualified him for your voting."

Angela Lansbury, CL, ACG.