All right, you've looked on the schedule and you see that you have been assigned a position at the next meeting. Or perhaps another member has called you up and asked you to substitute for him or her at the meeting. What do you do now?

First, while this seems obvious, ask yourself, "Can I fulfill this assignment?" If, for example, you will be out of town on the day of the meeting, you won't be able to! In that case, it is up to you to find a replacement, then tell the appropriate people in the calling chain. If you will be at the meeting, then your responsibilities will vary depending on your assignment.

What assignments are there? There are seven different ones: Toastmaster, Speaker, Table-topics Master, Meeting Evaluator, Speaker Evaluator, Grammarian, and Timer. Besides the responsibilities this assignment may have at the meeting, some of these may require you to participate in the "phone tree." Specifically, the Toastmaster should call the Speakers, the Meeting Evaluator, and the Table-topics Master at least a week before the meeting; and the Meeting Evaluator should call the Speaker Evaluators, the Grammarian, and the Timer. However, don't wait for someone to call you! Take the initiative if you haven't been called yet, and make the calls for which you are responsible.

Each of the assignments are discussed in detail below.

The Toastmaster's responsibility is to run the educational and business portions of the meeting. There are two duties for the educational portion of the meeting: introducing those having assignments, and keeping the meeting running on time. Refer to Section 3 for the complete meeting timeline.

Remember that you should have called the Speakers, the Meeting Evaluator, and the Table-topics Master as part of the phone tree. When you talked with these people, you should have gotten business and personal information with which to introduce them. Useful items are the number of years the Toastmaster has been in their current job and in Toastmasters; what department or center he or she is in; any awards received through Toastmasters (e.g., CTM — Competent Toastmaster); and any hobbies or interests he or she has. Make sure that you know how to pronounce their names, too. In addition, for the main speakers, you should verify that the speech they are giving is as listed in the schedule. (If it is not, inform the Educational Vice President.) You should also find out each speaker's speech title for the agenda.

You should also prepare the agenda before the meeting. You are responsible for updating the agenda with the names of those members scheduled with responsiblities. You should provide 25 copies of agenda to the Sergeant-at-Arms, so that he or she can pass it out to everyone as they arrive. You can get a Microsoft Word template for the agenda from the previous Toastmaster or from any of the officers.

At the meeting, please ask the guests to introduce themselves. Then point out to the audience the grammarian and the timer. (You should check with the Meeting Evaluator before the meeting whether there were any changes to either of these two positions.) Review any (other) changes in the agenda.

The Secretary or his/her delegate should have given you an attendance list before the meeting. After you have done the above items, pass around this attendance list, asking members and guests to check off their names (correcting any errors, and adding names if they are not present). If you did not receive this attendance list, just pass around a piece of paper, and ask those present to write their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. Make sure the Secretary gets the attendance list at the end of the meeting.

As the Toastmaster you are also the Wordmaster for the day. You will introduce a word to the meeting. If possible, note the word, with its definition and its use in a sentence, in the agenda. Write the word on the board and challenge all meeting participants to use the word when they speak. You should use the word yourself at some point during the meeting.

You must then explain the timing rules for the main speakers. The speakers have time limits as specified in the Toastmasters Communication and Leadership manual.

Note that you may be introducing an advanced speaker, who has a manual that you do not have. Ask this speaker ahead of time for the time limits.

To explain the timing rules, instruct the timer to hold up the green flag at the lower limit of the allowable time period, a yellow flag at the mid-point of the time period, and a red flag at the upper limit of the time period. 30 seconds after the upper limit has passed, the timer should press a bell or buzzer, and the speaker must sit down. For example, if the speaker must speak from between five and seven minutes, then the green is displayed at five minutes, the yellow at six, the red at seven, and the bell is rung at seven minutes 30 seconds.

Are your new members unsure how to perform their duties? Are there things experienced members should know but don't, or have forgotten?

One possible way is to bring home the need for more basic education about Toastmasters. It should be fun and educational, and it should not take much time. The way to do this is to have a One-Minute Toastmaster's speech that will have information and education about Toastmaster's program.

It is really a nice segment of our meeting that will benefit our guests and any member who has not attended for a while. Also, the Toastmaster can sharpen his/her communication capabilities because he/she has to deliver this speech in sixty seconds and be understood too!

The one-minute speech is not only a great way to educate, but the members can really take the information to heart, use it, thus getting more out of the club meetings.

You should also explain to the audience the evaluation slips. Explain that speakers use these to improve their skills, and it is very helpful to them if everyone writes down a few good points and a few areas of improvement.

This done, introduce the first speaker, give the title of the speech, and tell the audience what the purpose of the speech is. (e.g., "This is speech 5; the purpose is to have the speaker vary the volume, pitch and delivery of his or her voice." See the Communications and Leadership manual for the purpose of the speech. For advanced manuals, ask the speaker before the meeting or check the Sergeant-at-Arms' briefcase for that manual.) After your introduction, wait until the speaker has walked up to the podium, shake hands with him/her, and return to your seat. After the speaker has finished, return to the podium, shake hands with the speaker, and ask everyone to fill out the evaluation slip for that speaker (allow up to 1 minute). Repeat this process for the next two speakers.

After all speeches have been completed, ask the timer whether there were any disqualifications (over or under time limit; remember that there is a 30 second "grace" period both over and under) of the speakers. Tell the audience that they should now vote for the best speaker, but cannot consider those who have been disqualified. Ask everyone to take the differing experience levels of the speakers into account when voting. Also ask them to fold each evaluation slip in half, writing the speaker's name on the outside, and pass in those slips as well as the votes for best speaker to the Sergeant-at-Arms.

You can now introduce the Table-topics Master. Again, wait at the podium until he/she gets there, shake hands with him/her, and sit down. Keep close track of the time; table topics should not go beyond about 12:45 p.m. Advise the Table-topics Master when he or she does not have any more time. Return to the podium and shake hands with the Table-topics Master.

Now introduce the Meeting Evaluator, and shake hands with him/her when she gets to the podium. After the evaluation portion of the meeting, return to the podium and shake hands with the Meeting Evaluator once again. Keep close track of the time; the meeting evaluation portion of the meeting should not go beyond about 12:55 p.m.

You should now begin the business portion of the meeting. You ask the members present for any old business, then for any new business. Ask the members if anyone has changes to the minutes from the last meeting; after that, get approval for the minutes. You can invite guests to stay after the meeting if they have questions (if another group is waiting for the conference room, suggest that guests meet outside the conference room). You should make sure that all guests have someone to talk with after the meeting.

The Sergeant-at-Arms will give you the results of the balloting for best speaker, table-topics speaker, and evaluator. You will present the trophies and certificates at this time. Remind those receiving the trophies that they should bring them back at the next meeting. Adjourn the meeting.

You should prepare your speech as soon as possible. You will be giving the next speech in your manual — you cannot give a "general" speech until you become a CTM. You may "skip around" in the manual; however, you can only do this after giving the first five manual speeches. Read your manual for the speech you will be giving. (If you have any questions, contact the Educational Vice President or your mentor, if you have one.) Make sure you practice your speech! If you have problems with the time limit, rewrite your speech — you cannot change the time limits in the manual! If you have any areas you are working on to improve, let your evaluator know so that he or she can look out for those areas. Be sure to bring your CTM manual to the meeting for your evaluator to complete. Also, the Vice President of Education should sign your manual on the Record of Assignments form in the back of the manual.

When you are introduced by the Toastmaster, walk up to the podium and shake hands with him/her. If you are wearing a jacket or blazer, make sure it is buttoned. Begin your speech by saying, "Thank you {Mister, Madame} Toastmaster. Fellow toastmasters and guests..." When you are finished with your speech, look at the Toastmaster and say, "{Mister, Madame} Toastmaster." Do not say "thank you"! The audience should be thanking you for giving the speech, not the other way around! Wait until the Toastmaster returns to the podium, shake hands with him/her, and return to your seat.

Start thinking of table-topics questions as soon as possible. You should have five to seven questions selected before the meeting. (You may want to have more if there are only two speakers.) The questions should be "answerable," but do not necessarily have to be very easy. However, easy questions are allowable, too. If you wish, you may design your questions with a given Toastmaster member in mind. For example, you may know (from his or her past speeches) that a member has a certain hobby. You can create a question about this hobby that you know this member can answer. You may also wish to have a question which has a short narrative at the beginning or ask questions with a common theme.

After you are introduced by the Toastmaster, shake hands with him or her. Then explain the timing rules for table topics. To explain the timing rules, instruct the timer to hold up the green flag at the one-minute mark, a yellow flag at one minute 30 seconds, and a red flag at two minutes. At two minutes 30 seconds, the timer should press a bell or buzzer, and the table-topics speaker must sit down.

Ask for volunteers from the audience. Note that both members and guests are eligible to participate in table topics. If you don't get enough volunteers, pick several people at random. Ask a question, and pick one of the volunteers to answer. No one can volunteer to answer a given question. After you shake hands with the table topics speaker, write down his or her name on the board. When the member has finished speaking, shake hands with him or her, ask your next question, and pick another volunteer. You may not "re-use" questions.

When you have finished asking all your questions, or if the Toastmaster has told you that you do not have any time left, ask the timer whether any speakers were disqualified. Remember that there is a 30-second "grace" period, so that if a table-topics speaker spoke for less than 30 seconds or more than two minutes 30 seconds, he or she is disqualified. Instruct the audience to vote for the best table-topics speaker (of those qualified) and pass the ballots for the best table-topics speaker to the Sergeant-at-Arms. Now return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.

As Meeting Evaluator, you control the evaluation portion of the meeting. You begin by explaining the timing rules for evaluators. To explain the timing rules, instruct the timer to hold up the green flag after the evaluator has spoken for two minutes, the yellow flag at two minutes 30 seconds, and the red flag after three minutes. At three minutes 30 seconds, the timer should press a bell or buzzer, and the evaluator must sit down.

Now introduce the first evaluator. This is not a formal introduction; just give the person's name. (e.g., "To evaluate our first speaker, we have Jane Smith." Or "Jane Smith will be evaluating John Q. Public.") Shake hands with the evaluator, and move to the side while he or she gives the evaluation. After the evaluator has finished, shake hands with him or her and continue with the next evaluator. Remind everyone to fill out the evaluation slip for each evaluator (allow up to 1 minute). When all evaluators are finished, ask the timer whether any were disqualified (speaking for less than one minute 30 seconds or more than three minutes 30 seconds), and instruct the audience to vote for the best evaluator.

While the audience is voting, ask the Timer for the report on "uhs," "ums," and "you knows". The Timer may give the report from his or her seat. Remind the members to pay a penny to the bank for each such infraction. (The Sergeant-at-Arms has the bank.) Then ask the Grammarian for any grammatical mistakes made during the meeting. The Grammarian may give the report from his or her seat or may wish to be at the podium. If he or she moves to the podium, remember to shake hands with him or her.

After the Grammarian's report, you will give your evaluation of the meeting as a whole. You give within three minutes maximum your complete evaluation of the entire meeting from the Call to Order through the individual evaluations. Cover every event on the program to this point, with one exception: do not evaluate the speakers again.

You do evaluate the individual evaluators; the timer and his/her proper use of timing flags and bell; and comment on the facilities and program. What you say should be carefully planned and worded to compliment on good points and to criticize weak points sincerely. However, to only criticize is not enough: always add your recommendations for improvement.

After you have finished, return control of the meeting to the Toastmaster. Wait for the Toastmaster to get to the podium, shake hands with him or her, and return to your seat.

You have an important responsibility in the meeting. A speaker can greatly improve his or her speaking abilities if the evaluator presents a good evaluation. As soon as you know that you are evaluating, find out who the speaker is. Ask the speaker whether he or she wants you to look for anything in particular. (e.g., a speaker may be working on not speaking too fast, and will want you to check whether the speed of his/her delivery is good.) Check your Communications and Leadership manual for what the speaker must do for the speech that he or she will be giving. At the meeting, the Educational Vice President will give you a copy of the evaluation guide for the speech if the speaker does not give you his or her manual to write your evaluation in.

During the speech, pay particular attention to whether the speaker is meeting the specific objectives of the assignment. You may note, for example, that the speaker is not using a wide range of gestures. However, this speaker may be only giving his or her second speech; the speech on using gestures is the fourth. You can note places where gestures could have been effectively used, but do not over-emphasize an area for improvement that the speaker will be concentrating on in a later speech. However, just because a speaker has finished an assignment doesn't mean that he or she can forget what he has learned! For example, if the speaker is giving the fifth speech (vocal variety), he or she should remember the lessons learned in the previous speeches (speak earnestly, organize the speech, and use body language). Fill out the evaluation guide as accurately as possible.

When the Meeting Evaluator introduces you, shake his/her hand, and address the audience as follows: "{Mister, Madame} Meeting Evaluator, fellow Toastmasters, guests, and especially [speaker's name]." Highlight your comments from the evaluation guide; you do not have to say everything you wrote down. Remember that you will be giving the evaluation guide to the speaker after you give your evaluation. Also remember that you have two to three minutes for your evaluation. Just like the Meeting Evaluator, you should point out the speaker's good qualities; in addition, not only should you show his/her weak points, you should also say how he/she could improve. After you finish, look at the Meeting Evaluator, say, "{Mister, Madame} Meeting Evaluator," shake hands with him or her, and return to your seat. Give the evaluation guide to the speaker either before sitting down or after the meeting.

As Grammarian, you should listen for any grammatical mistakes made or words mispronounced in the meeting. Note these for each person who speaks in the meeting.

When the Meeting Evaluator asks you for your report, keep track of how much time you have. If it looks like the meeting will be running late, give only the major points of the report. Otherwise, you can give the entire report.

The Toastmaster, Table-topics Master, and Meeting Evaluator should explain the rules for timing main speakers, table-topics speakers, and evaluators, respectively. Read Sections 2.2, 2.4, and 2.5 for a detailed explanation of the rules.

The timer should always be seated in the center of the room at the back - directly opposite the podium. Once you raise the first green flag, you may leave it in place until it is time for the yellow flag. Leave the yellow flag raised until it is time for the red flag. You will be asked to give a report on disqualifications; remember that main speakers, table-topics speakers, and evaluators are allowed to speak 30 seconds less than the lower time limit and still not disqualify.

As Timer, you should also count how many "space fillers" (uh, um, you know) each person uses. Whenever anyone gets up to speak write down his or her name and tally the number of space-fillers he or she uses.