I like to think we have two teams running our Club.
- Firstly there is the Committee, elected by the members which run the club and oversee the activities. At Epsom Toastmasters we elect members for a one year to match the Toastmasters Year, being July – June.
- There is a second team, this is the team that runs a specific Epsom Speakers evening. The roles for each meeting are rotated through Members of the Club at every event. This means that each member has the oppoertunity to experience all of the roles, which are all speaking challanges in their own right.
The Meeting Team
The membership of this team changes every meeting, and all members are encouraged to join in taking roles for this as soon as they become members. Obviously, some roles need more knowledge and experience to take part in than others, but there are roles any member can take part in, and all of them also give you a chance to learn how the meeting runs and most include a short speech, so there is ‘stage time’ included. Toastmasters is very keen that you learn public speaking AND leadership skills, and these roles will help you with both.
So, if you are a new member, or thinking about joining, what roles can you take on from day one?
TimeKeeper – Keeping track of all the speeches and their timings means being alert the whole meeting, but it is an important role and I promise you that squeezing that Frog to stop somebody going overtime in the warm-up is quite empowering 😉
There is a longer description from this link
Videographer – Making sure all the main speeches and evaluation are recorded may seem a simple task, but for many members, the ability to watch themselves back later is a key part of their development.
There is more detail about this role from this link
Ballot Counter – Don’t be fooled, however many times you can win a ribbon, you are always wanting to win another. The Evaluations are great, but we all like a little friendly competition.
Find out a little more from this link
Warm-up – This is a great challenge for new members. Just think of a subject and then ask everyone to talk about that, or answer the question you set in 20 seconds. Nothing complicated, but you hold the stage and take control of the meeting for maybe 5 minutes!
See more about this role from this link
The Committee Team
- The President is the leader of the club. They need to make sure the committee runs well and provide strategic leadership for the club.
- VP Education is responsible for planning the roles at future meetings and all those speeches to work our way through our Toastmaster Training.
- VP Membership is responsible for the members, helping people join, find mentors and support them on their journey
- The treasurer is responsible for the club finances, collecting membership dues and paying the room hire, Toastmaster fees and other costs in running our club
- VP Public Relations is responsible for the website, all our social media accounts, meetup and other even sites and the general publicity for the club.
- The Secretary keeps all the paperwork together and the minutes of meetings
- Sargent at Arms – The Sargent at Arms is responsible for setting up the room, opening the meeting, welcoming the guests and tidying up at the end.
- The Committee can also ask other members to assist with parts of the running of the club to share the load and take advantage of specific member skills
Your committee will also take on meeting roles just like any other club member, including speeches and evalautions.