Meeting roles
In a typical meeting at Brighton & Hove Speakers Club, there will be people doing roles other than giving speeches. These members help facilitate the meetings in a variety of ways, and give them experience of interacting the audience.
When called upon to do any of meeting roles, it is worth bearing in mind that every one of them gives you exposure and experience with speaking to the audience in different ways; gradually building confidence and leadership skills as you develop.
Below is a run down of the roles and links to detailed guides for those about to take those roles:
Evaluator
Every speaker is given verbal and written feedback at the meeting by an Evaluator. You are to actively listen and observe the speaker’s delivery and structure, then give recommendations on where they can improve.
General Evaluator
Not to be confused with Evaluators, the General Evaluator listens and observes to all those in the meeting who have not been evaluated, then gives feedback on their performances.
Grammarian
This role gets you to listen out for interesting uses of language, and keep count of the people using filler words and sounds during the meeting. This is presented at the end of the meeting with general comments.
Sergeant At Arms
The Sergeant At Arms is the person who calls the meeting to order at the very beginning and at the end of the break. They are there to set the ground rules with the audience on meeting etiquette and point out emergency exits, toilets and the bar.
Table Topics Evaluator
The Table Topics Evaluator gives feedback to each of the Table Topics Speakers, offering suggestions on how to improve their impromptu speaking skills.
Table Topics Master
The Table Topics Master leads the impromptu speaking section of the meeting. They will set a series of questions related to a theme of their choosing, then invite members of the audience to talk about them for 1-2 minutes.
Timekeeper
The Timekeeper is an essential part of the meeting, as the person who keeps track of time to keep things running on schedule. They quietly prompt speakers to finish their speeches, and record their timings for brief reports at the end of each segment.
Toastmaster
The Toastmaster is the meeting’s director and host, running the show by introducing speakers onto the stage, telling them what’s coming up next on the agenda, and keeping the meeting rolling!
Warm-up Master
The Warm-up is designed to get everyone in the meeting speaking. The person running the Warm-up sets up the question and gives everyone up to 15 seconds to give their response.
Zoom Master (Online Meetings Only)
The Zoom Master is the “technical floor manager” for our online meetings. They work alongside all other roles to keep things running smoothly and sends out voting ballots during the course of the meeting.
(Coming soon)