One of our founders, Rene, made a presentation titled "A Toastmaster Wears Many Hats," detailing the responsibilities of each role taker and some tips to make a difference serving in each.
Since the role of a speaker is obvious and we've learned quite a lot about the evaluator role, going through the Evaluation Contest, she focused the other roles, namely, Toastmaster of the Day, General Evaluator, Table Topics Master, Ah-Counter, and Grammarian.
She came up with a sentence for each role that eloquently summarizes their respective tasks and purposes. Those are:
Toastmaster of the Day RUNS THE SHOW.
General Evaluator ASSESSES ALL.
Table Topics Master INVOLVES EVERYONE.
Ah-Counter CATCHES OUR WORDS AND SOUNDS.
Grammarian WATCHES OUR WORDS.
Those sentences describe their role succinctly and precisely.
The latter half of her presentation was focused on the role of Grammarian because this particular meeting was called "Grammarian Special" and had three members serving as Grammarians. They listened to Rene's presentation and did their best.
Rene explained things to listen for:
Awkward use or misuse of the language
- incomplete sentences
- sentences that change direction in midstream or non-sequiturs (it does not follow)
- grammatical mistakes
(a) verb tenses
(b) singular-plural disagreement
- malapropisms - (mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one)
- mispronunciations, intonations, and word stresses
- distracting phrasing
- weed out weak words that don't add to the message
- an overuse of "empty modifiers" like "very," "nice," and "fun" which take up space
- let speakers know of gender-neutral language that connects rather than divides the audience
- call attention to vivid descriptions, on-point metaphors, and appealing rhythms
- point out rhetorical devices
- use of figurative language
- point out humorous twists
Wow! The list is overwhelmingly comprehensive!! Don't worry, though. You don't have to cover them all. Your time for your report is limited and there's only so much listeners can absorb. Yet, her list is educational and motivating. Truth be told, I've delivered a similar talk in other clubs myself and still, found something valuable in her presentation. The three relatively new Grammarians at the meeting must have learned quite a lot from her presentation and their experience puttiing to practice what they learned.
We're all grateful for the opportunity to learn from more experienced members like this.
If you are interested in improving your English skills and public speaking skills, join us at one of our meetings!
Written by Tenten
