Roles and Responsibilities
Learn how taking on different roles can help improve your communication and leadership skills.
TOASTMASTER
Taking on this role improves organization, time management and public speaking skills.
The Toastmaster is the meeting’s director and host. A member typically will not be assigned this role until they are thoroughly familiar with the club and its procedures. As Toastmaster, you:
- Acquire a meeting agenda from your vice president education.
- Introduce speakers during the club meeting, including their speech topic and project title.
- Ensure smooth transitions between speakers and members holding roles during the club meeting.
EVALUATOR
Taking on this role improves active listening, critical thinking and positive feedback skills.
Evaluation is the heart of the Toastmasters educational program. You observe the speeches and leadership roles of your fellow club members and offer evaluations of their efforts, and they do the same for you. As evaluator you:
- Ask those you’ve been assigned to evaluate what they will present and what they wish to achieve.
- Provide objective verbal and written evaluations for speakers.
- When giving any evaluation, offer praise as well as constructive suggestions on where the member might like to focus on for improvement.
TOPICSMASTER
Taking on this role improves active listening, time management and facilitation skills.
The Topicsmaster delivers the Table Topics portion of the meeting, which helps train members to quickly organize and express their thoughts in an impromptu setting. As Topicsmaster, you:
- Select topics in advance of the meeting that allow speakers to offer opinions.
- Give members who aren’t assigned a speaking role the opportunity to speak during the meeting by assigning impromptu talks on non-specialized themes or topics.
GRAMMARIAN
Taking on this role improves vocabulary, grammar, critical listening skills and evaluation skills
The grammarian plays an important role in helping all club members improve their grammar and vocabulary. As grammarian you:
- Introduce new words to meeting participants and monitor language and grammar usage
- Write down the language and grammar usage of all speakers, noting incomplete sentences, mispronunciations, grammatical mistakes, etc.
- At the end of the meeting, give your complete report when called on.
TIMER
Taking on this role improves time management skills.
One of the skills Toastmasters practice is expressing a thought within a specific time. The timer is responsible for monitoring time for each meeting segment and each speaker. As Timer, you:
- Acquire the timing/signalling equipment from the sergeant at arms and know how to operate it.
- Explain the timing rules and demonstrate the signal device.
- Throughout the meeting, listen carefully to each participant and signal them accordingly.
- When called to report, announce the speakers’ names and the time taken.
MEETING SPEAKER
Taking on this role improves critical thinking, confidence and public speaking skills
Every speaker is a role model, and club members learn from one another’s speeches. As a meeting speaker, you:
- Prepare, rehearse and present a speech during the club meeting.
- Discuss your goals, strengths and weaknesses with your evaluator prior to giving your speech.
Interested?
We can help you become more confident when speaking and interacting with people.
-
We offer a supportive environment where you can practise and improve your communication and public speaking skills.
-
We also offer leadership development pathways for members looking for career progression.