Feedback I gave to Dennis of HOD, plus general notes on How To Be A Toastmaster

I was very impressed that you (Dennis) took a day off work to prepare. 

Another option is to do your phoning around and emailing the previous weekend.  Maybe tell all members by email that speakers must contact their mentor to rehearse a week in advance and have their speech title and project numbers on the programme a week in advance. Have a backup speaker who would otherwise be on the agenda the following week, so no speaker has to prepare a speech at the last moment to fill in for a dropout. Ensure that people who need to do speeches for completing manuals, work presentations, weddings, are given priority, yet nobody is constantly pushed out to make way for VIPs.

You were very smooth and confident, calm and excellent as a toastmaster. I particularly liked the informative and positive sentences (which I noted at the time on the back of the programme):

'Sign the register so that in the case of an emergency (such as fire) we can know who came to the meeting so we can do a count.’ Very useful explaining that, because otherwise, people think only newcomers need to sign.

'I don’t expect you to run as fast as Usain Bolt.’ Amusing,attention-gettingg.

'We want to see your warmth.’ Warm.

'Toastmasters is a family.’ Positive.

'I'd like to introduce …’ Positive.

What else could you add to enhance your role if you do it again? (Watch others on video and at later meetings, noticing what you like and don’t like.)

I was Toastmaster twice in Singapore on the two nights before I flew home this week. From my two experiences plus yours I have compiled these notes 

You explained the location of toilets. Good. You asked phones switched to silent. 

Appoint Sergeant at Arms to sit near projector to help and move tables. 

Meeter and greeter should stay by door to give agenda to latecomers, smile and show them an empty chair.

VIP visitors such as area director can be put on the agenda and welcomed. 

GIFTS

(Rich in house clubs such as financial companies print a pen and notebook company colours with company name and wrap them in seasonal paper and present them to visiting Toastmasters or other VIPs doing roles such General Evaluator. Smaller clubs on small budgets (or clubs with no budget but a generous member or area governor or Toastmaster from another club) go to Poundshop and buy a dozen cheap pencils or notebooks and present one gift to each person who does a topic, answers a quiz question, travels miles across the city to be an evaluator, listing Area Governor doing the twice yearly inspection or GE etc.) Leftover chocolates from Xmas, or the wrapped in foil chocolate biscuit from the break time food would work just as well.

SAA should ensure milk and food is being organized - avoid last minute panic which stresses the President and everybody in the room. Fruit such as washed grapes or bananas should be provided because many people are on diets or should be on diets and it’s daft to have a speech at every meeting telling Toastmasters to eat more fruit and less sugar and then serve them only sugared cereal biscuits. Provide water for anybody speaking over ten minutes such as a half hour or full hour presentation. Keep the water away from paperwork and electrics.

Check speakers with slides have the needed adapter, and/or printouts of slides, and/or slides on a thumb drive, and/or another member with a laptop which does work with the club adapters and/or the slides in Word and not Apple’s Keynote if the other person has a non-apple /Android phone.

SPEAKING AND VOTING LIST

Sergeant at Arms to LIST On Board (or project on screen from a laptop)

1 Introductions: Say (eg your name, your club, your job, your hobby (For the benefit of those who don’t understand, forget, or latecomers).

2 Topic Speaker's name, one word subject, time (to help voting) and so you don’t forget voting

3 Prepared Speaker, speech title, time

4 Evaluator, speech title, time

VOICE CHECKS

Ask timer and speakers and evaluators to do a sound check to be sure people in the back row can hear the speaker.

Clear floor of bags and papers before taking photo. 

Ensure the photographer is included in one of the photos. 

MANUALS

1 Write in advance to speakers reminding them to bring their manuals. (Add this to the agenda emailed in advance.)

MATCH SPEAKERS AND EVALUATORS

Match advanced speakers with advanced evaluators. Check the speaker is happy with the evaluator. Some speakers would like a change of evaluator for a new viewpoint or more detailed feedback. Other speakers might prefer continuity so the evaluator can comment on how the speaker has improved.

MENTORS

Mention the speaker’s mentor to give the mentor credit and encourage newcomers to ask for a mentor.

Brief evaluators to start evaluations and and end evaluations with a compliment and sandwich by giving one useful suggestion on how to improve their subject matter or presentation. (They should avoid giving only praise and no helpful suggestions - if they can’t think of one they can ask around during the interval). Also try to prevent evaluators giving an entirely damning evolution about not fulfilling the objectives which depresses the speaker and the audience. They should say how much the speaker would benefit by building on their existing speech to enhance it. Pathways requires you to repeat your first speech using the the suggested enhancements - so the evaluator has to give suggestions, and the speaker has to repeat the speech.

PHOTO NEW MEMBER AT MEETING START WITH THEIR MENTOR

Check evaluators know where to find objectives in the manual. Ask evaluators to sign and return speakers’ manuals to speakers. Remind evaluators to bring manuals so that they can get credit in the leadership manual for evaluating.  Mike Freedman suggested that an advanced speaker should try to do an Advanced project rather than constantly reporting the basic manual, to develop both speaker and evaluator and impress guests and provide variety in the meeting.  Photo copy the bass manual and one or two of the advanced manuals so that if an evaluator and speaker don’t have manuals you can email or whats ap the objectives and the evaluation sheet. 

Evaluators can make notes on their phones and read back from their phones - using less paper and making less litter to clear up at the end of the evening.

Explain the manuals to guests.

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL HISTORY & BENEFITS

Give a brief history of Toastmasters ‘for the benefit of visitors’. Numbers of clubs in the UK and worldwide, members, etc (Keep these facts on a card or better still memorise them. Express surprise and amazement at the opportunities for friendship when travelling or on holiday. 

Explain to visitors the hand shaking, applause, and terms of address. 

HOD President Martin Doe says - these are handy to practice because you will find it easier to remember these Rules of Procedure (at a rotary club) or at a wedding or other event.

SEATING & BRIEFING TOASTMASTER & PRESIDENT

SEATING AND BRIEFING

List topics evaluator on the programme. Ensure topics master knows the topics evaluator so they don’t ask the topic evaluator to speak and then get rejected.

SEATING & BRIEFING LATECOMER EVALUATORS

If an evaluator for speaker 2 is late, you risk a situation when speaker 2 runs across the room to hand a manual to evaluator 2 and whisper or chat loudly to valuator 2 about which project, whilst speaker one is trying to speak and hold audience attention.

Ensure each speaker who has no evaluator sits near the door by an empty chair and has instructions written on a note to hand to the late evaluator. If necessary, tell the whole audience that you want them to hand each other notes written in capital letters, and not talk during project speeches nor any other stage presentation.

GROUP PHOTO

Add group photo to the agenda. Ideally organise the photo at end of first half because some people leave early, and/or during the interval. You as Toastmaster or / VPE ? President can use the photo as an excuse to write to the guests and say hope they enjoyed the meeting and here’s a photo of the group with you in such and such a row. Get the photographer to email the photo while at the meeting so it can go straight up onto Facebook next day.

Ask people to come forward and sit in the front row.

CHAIRS

Ensure a spare chair is near the door so latecomers don’t feel embarrassed and don’t lurk visibly at the door distracting speakers and disrupting the speakers by walking across the room to a distant empty chair.

Call people back five minutes before you need them after the interval to allow them time to rush to the toilets (of which there are only two or three toilets between 25 guests)

In the interval ensure that guests are introduced to somebody and not left standing alone.

Before the break and/or at the end of the meeting ask guests what they thought of the meeting and if they are likely to want to join a Toastmasters club.

Give the names of the people who did topics (write the names on the flipchart or project onto the screen and give their subject in one word eg, holidays, toastmasters, cats, Calcutta.

ENTHUSIASTIC INTRODUCTIONS

Find one word to introduce each person - write it on the programme (agenda). If you don’t have time or don’t know anything, make up an alliterative compliment to make the speaker and audience laugh and smile - you can invent these in advance eg Marvellous Martin, ‘I am the delightful, dedicated Dennis, Toastmaster of the Day’, Here is jolly Justin, please welcome  Super Sina, Marvellous Manish, Amazing Michael/ Marvellous Michael, Angelic Angela Lansbury, Delightful Denise, Special Sonia, Spanish Sonia, Able Angela Hook, (with two members called Angela, please add the surname, Generous Gill, - you could even email people in advance and ask if there’s one word which sums them up,   

VIDEOS & SLIDES

Check people using videos or slides have set them up in advance to prevent delays.  

REMOVING PAPERS FROM LECTERN 

Remove papers left behind by speakers from the lectern because that muddles you and others, sends bits of paper flying when you grab one and others tumble, and people go home without vital information such as their speech notes.

REMOVING VOTING SLIPS AND TALLIES

Remove any note showing numbers of votes. Good practice at club level so you remember at Toastmasters and other public contests. In contests I have experienced major disruption three times: an irate ‘loser’ attacking the judges, blaming a fellow contestant, heckling the winner at the closing ceremony, later writing to demand that the chief judge be prevented from judging again and asking judge to resign from Toastmasters. ( That’s not counting events where I was not present: 

a wrong announcements at a Toastmasters Contest which we all heard about it at an Area Club Officer Training - 

plus ongoing repercussions for a Toastmaster making the wrong announcement at a Miss World contest.) 

Put the voting count in your pocket and throw it away elsewhere. Don’t leave it on the lectern, nor in the bin.

At club meetings a speaker finding they had only one vote or none could be demoralised and depressed. You don’t have to have names on the ballot sheet or voting count to know that if nobody voted for you, your best friend or wife or President voted for somebody else or didn’t bother to vote at all so you missed out on a ribbon or lost a contest, or to feel that nobody in the club likes you.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ask around at break time if anybody wants to make announcements.

End with clear announcement of the date of the next meeting for visitors to put in their diaries. 

Allow time for announcements. Check in advance if the President or visiting area director or member of another club has an announcement so instead of last minutes discussion across the room and exchanges with you like an afterthought, they can be welcomed on stage.

CLOSING ADDRESS

Don’t just mutter, ‘That’s it. 'bye'. End with a cheer or round of applause!

Angela Lansbury CL ACG

annalondon8@gmail.com

Author, travel writer, photographer, speaker.

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