Shanghai

Leadership
Toastmasters Club

Script for
Assignment Takers

Revised August 28, 2006

Shanghai Leadership Toastmasters Club Script for Assignment Takers

Contents

RECEPTIONIST 2

GREETER 3

TOASTMASTER OF THE EVENING (TME) 5

GRAMMARIAN 7

AH COUNTER 9

TIMER 11

TABLE TOPICS MASTER (TTM) 13

TABLE TOPICS EVALUATOR (TTE) 14

LEADERSHIP TODAY FACILITATOR 15

PREPARED SPEAKER 17

INDIVIDUAL EVALUATOR (IE) 18

GENERAL EVALUATOR (GE) 19

Reminder to all role-takers: please arrive at the meeting by 18:45 if you

have a role in the meeting.

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 Receptionist
Preparation
18:30 – 18:40
• Arrive at the meeting no later than 18:30
• Set up reception materials on the reception desk
• Place copies of Toastmasters magazines and other promotion materials
on the desk
Reception
18:40 – 19:00
To Guests
• Warmly welcome them to the meeting
• Distinguish first time guests from returning guests and let them sign on
different sign-in forms
• Ask first time guests how they get to know our club and write down
specific source of information on the new guests sign-in form, e.g., the
friend’s name, the website domain, the magazine name, #1 TMC,
Pudong TMC, etc.
• Collect Rmb35 as the entrance fee
• Distribute an agenda, a voting slip and a name badge to each guest
• Count the total number of guests present and write the figure down on
the returning guests sign-in form
To Members (including members from other TMCs)
• Warmly greet them to the meeting
• Ask them to tick on the members sign-in form
• Collect Rmb20 as entrance fee
• Distribute an agenda & a voting slip and let them pick up their name
badge from the desk
• Count the total number of members and write the figure down on the
members sign-in form
• Close the door to prevent disturbance to the meeting.

During the Intermission

• Pass the sign-in forms to secretary for filing
• Fill out meeting cash flow form and make sure correct amount of
money is collected
• Pass the entrance fee together with the meeting cash flow form to
Treasurer

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 Greeter

Duties: the greeter makes sure all guests receive a warm greeting when coming to
the club. In addition the greeter is responsible for making a quick evaluation of
guests, allowing the MVP to encourage potential members to join our club.

Preparation of the meeting

• Make sure to bring the New Guest Evaluation Form (see below)
• Make sure to be at the meeting location at least 30 minutes prior to the
meeting

During the 30 minutes proceeding the meeting

• Sit next to the receptionist
• Ask guests questions from the New Guest Evaluation Form
• Ask guests for their business cards
• Hand over agenda to guests and explain them the meeting format very
briefly
• Answer initial questions guests may have
• If other officers are present, introduce guests to officers
• Show guests to their seats
• Thank guests for coming!

Just before start of the meeting

• Hand over the New Guest Evaluation Form to the MVP
• Give MVP oral instructions about guests, if necessary

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 New Guest Evaluation Form

Guest name Why are you What is your What do you Assessment
coming to the occupation expect from of guest as
Leadership and for how Leadership a potential
TM club? long have you TM? member
been doing (Yes, No,
this? not sure
yet)
I heard you I am a sourcing I would like to Yes
E.g. Jeanne had a club manager for gain more
Smith focused on XYZ company. confidence in
leadership, I have been speaking. Also I
which is a managing a feel my
topic I need to team of 3 leadership
gain more people for the experience can
proficiency in last 3 years contribute to the
club.
I read about I am at I want to No
E.g. Paul TM in 8 days university and improve my
Dupont doing a major English
in Chinese
literature

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 Toastmaster of the Evening (TME)
Duties: Act as a general host/hostess; Conduct the entire program smoothly.

Prior to the Meeting

Check with EVP or the future agenda to find out the:
Theme
Program changes
Participants
Special events, such as new member inductions, award
ceremonies or officer installations
Prepare an opening of this meeting

Upon Arrival at the Meeting

Ask every assignment taker their thoughts/opinions on the meeting
theme.
The assignment takers include Timer, Grammarian, Gender
Confusion/Ah counter, Warming Up/Table Topic/General Evaluation
session masters and prepared speech speakers.

During the Meeting

Arrive early in order to confirm role takers have arrived.
Find substitutes if necessary. (Ask EVP/President to help if necessary)
Warm up the atmosphere at the beginning of the meeting by a warming
up activity.
Introduce prepared speakers by using POETS, i.e. their Position (e.g.
TM, CTM, ATM), speech Objective, the Evaluator, Time and Speech
title) and/or by their thoughts/opinions on the meeting theme.
Introduce other assignment takers by their thoughts/opinions on the
meeting theme.
Always lead the applause before & after the speaker starts/finishes.
Remain standing near the lectern after the introduction till the speaker
has acknowledged you and assumed control of the meeting, then be
seated.
Take full control of the meeting, especially when speakers go over time.

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 How to Run a Warming-up as TME?

Duties: To warm up the audience at the beginning of a meeting and create a

warm atmosphere for the entire meeting.

Suggested Activities for the Warming-up Session

• Joke telling
• Chain stories
• Tongue twisters-provide a few examples of tongue twisters, i.e. “she
sells sea shells at the seashore” and ask members to practice them.
• Riddles
• Mini-debates on uncontroversial topics or rotate debate
• Games

Reminders
• This session is short and snappy; must be very interactive with the
audience
• Give no more than 20 seconds’ explanation of your program
• Invite members who do not have assignment to participate
• Keep the session moving; keep the energy high

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 Grammarian
Duties: As a grammarian, you need to comment on the use of English during the
meeting.

Prior to the Meeting

• Prepare a brief explanation of your duty.

During the Meeting

• Listen for the vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.
• Throughout the meeting, listen to everyone’s word usage; Write down any
awkward use or misuse of the language.
• Note the good use of words.
• Give fresh viewpoints by offering the correct usage in every instance where
there was misuse instead of only explaining what was wrong.
• Report on creative language usage.

Note: There is no need to mention the name of speaker during the report when
correcting language errors.

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A Sample Script for the Grammarian
Here is your script for the introduction to Grammarian duties:
Toastmaster of the Evening, fellow members & most welcome guests: good evening! I’m
pleased to be the Grammarian of tonight’s meeting.
As a grammarian, my job is to pick out the good usage and bad usage of language during
the meeting. I will pay attention to your pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary.
At the end of the meeting, I will make a report based on my observation for you.
Toastmaster of the Evening!

A Grammarian’s Record Form

Good Usages
Good words and sentences Rhetoric Devices

Usages need to be improved

Pronunciation Grammar

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 Ah Counter
Duties: As an Ah counter, you need to note words and sounds that are a distraction
to the speech from anyone who speaks during the meeting. Eliminating these
distractions will improve the quality of your presentation.

Some examples of “Ah”s include:

• Words such as " and, well, but, so, you know"

• Sounds such as" uh, um, er"
• Repeats of a word or phrase such as "I, I" or "This means, this means."
• Errors with gender such as he for she, and him for her

Prior to the Meeting

• Prepare a brief explanation of your duty.

During the Meeting

• Throughout the meeting, listen for the “Ah”s made by every speaker and
count them accurately.
• Report the number of Ahs and gender confusion made by speakers.

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A Sample Script for the Ah Counter
Here is your script for the introduction to Ah Counter duties:
Toastmaster of the Evening, fellow members & most welcome guests: good evening! I’m
pleased to be the Ah-Counter of tonight’s meeting.
My job is to help you cure your bad speaking habits. They are sounds like “ah”, “er”
and “em” or words like “well”, “and”, “but, “so”, and “you know” etc. These annoying
sounds and words are the so-called “ahs”. Eliminating these distractions will improve
the quality of your presentation. I will count the number of the “ahs” I hear you make. At
the end of the meeting, I will make a report for you.
Toastmaster of the Evening!

An Ah-Counter’s Record Form

Speaker TM / CTM / Number of Ahs

ATM / DTM

Summary
Speakers who made zero ah.
Speakers who made ahs for
fewer than 5 times
Speakers who made ahs for
more than 5 times

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 Timer
Prior the meeting: Check the stopwatch and flags
During the meeting:
Time every session
Give a detailed report on everybody’s usage of time at the end of the meeting
Ask one member near you to time you when you give the report
Timing Rules
Prepared speeches Table Topics Evaluators
Check the speech length. Table Topics Speaker Table Topics Evaluator
Sometimes it is 5-7min, 1 min = green 2 min = green
6-8min, or 8-10mins. Also 1.5 min = yellow 2.5 min = yellow
some advanced manuals 2 min = red 3 min = red
and training session are
even longer. Also remember to time the
Prepared Speaker session. Usually it is Individual Evaluator
So if its 5-7 mins between 10-15 minutes. 2 min = green
5 mins = green When the time is up, raise 2.5 min = yellow
6 mins = yellow the red flag as the Table 3 min = red
7 mins = red Topics Master returns to
the podium after the last General Evaluator
or 8-10 mins speaker. 4 min = green
8 mins = green 4.5 min = yellow
9 mins = yellow 5 min = red
10 mins = red

Note: every speaker has 30 seconds to finish his speech/report after the red flag is
raised and it is not deemed as overtime.

A Sample Script for the Timer

Toastmaster of the Evening, fellow members & most welcome guests: good evening! I
am the timer tonight, to help you finish your speech on time.
Prepared speakers, please note the following rules:
- When you see the green flag, you have used the minimum required time and you
have qualified.
- The yellow flag means you have one minute left, and
- When the red flag is held up, please conclude your speech within 30 seconds.
Table Topic speakers and Evaluators, please note the following rules:
- When you see the green flag, you have qualified.
- The yellow flag means you have 30 seconds left, and
- When the red flag is held up, please conclude your speech within 30 seconds.
At the end of the meeting, I will give up a detailed report. Thank you. Toastmaster of the
Evening!

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A Timer’s Record Form

Timer ____________ Date _______

Position Speaker Allocated Time taken

time (min)
Meeting opening and guest intro SAA 3
Welcome and Intro of TME President 2
Toastmasters of Evening (TME) 4
with Warming-up session
Intro of Timer Role 1
Intro of Grammarian Role 1
Intro of Gender Confusion and 1
Ah Counter role
Table Topics Master (TTM)
Leadership Today Facilitator
TT Speaker 1 1-2
TT Speaker 2 1-2
TT Speaker 3 1-2
TT Speaker 4 1-2
TT Speaker 5 1-2
TT Speaker 6 1-2
TT Speaker 7 1-2
TT Speaker 8 1-2
TT Speaker 9 1-2
TT Speaker 10 1-2
TT Table Topic Evaluator (TTE)
Prepared Speaker 1
Prepared Speaker 2
Prepared Speaker 3
Prepared Speaker 4
Individual Evaluators 1 2-3
Individual Evaluators 2 2-3
Individual Evaluators 3 2-3
Individual Evaluators 4 2-3
Grammarian 1-2
Ah Counter 1
General Evaluation 4-5
100” on Positive Change 100”
Let the guest talk
Awards/Close 1

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 Table Topics Master (TTM)
Guidelines

How to choose Table Topics questions: How to choose Table Topics speakers:
DO DO
1. Prepare specific questions related to 1. Choose an experienced member first
the theme of the meeting. (CTM or above)

2. Prepare at least 8 questions for a 15 2. Select members who do not have an

minute session. assignment first (see members list attached
and tonight’s agenda).

3. Ask your mentor or an experienced 3. Ask the question first, then call
member if you are not sure how to member’s name or number. (Before the
prepare questions meeting you can give numbers to about 8 people,
then call numbers at random.)

DO NOT: 4. Finally choose one or two guests.

4. Make the questions too long or too
complicated. DO NOT:
5. Call a guest as the first speaker
5. Choose racial, religious, sexual, and 6. Call more guests than members
topics of bad taste. Current events are
good topics.

A Sample Script for the Table Topic Master

Here is your script for the introduction to TTM duties:
Toastmaster of the Evening, fellow members & most welcome guests: good evening! I
am the Table Topics Master tonight.
Table Topics or unprepared speaking is to help members think on their feet.
Tonight the theme of the meeting is <see agenda>
I will ask questions based around this theme. After I have read out the questions, I will
choose a member to come up and give a 1-2 minute speech to answer this question. So
listen carefully.
After the session you will be asked to vote on the Best Table Topics speaker. Please write
down your choice on the voting slips provided and return to me. Thank you.

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 Table Topics Evaluator (TTE)
A Sample Script for the Table Topics Evaluator
Here is your script for the introduction to TTE duties:
Toastmaster of the Evening, fellow members & most welcome guests: good evening! I
am the Table Topics Evaluator.
The purpose of evaluating the Table Topics session is to identify ways to improve the flow
and quality of the session as a whole.
This means the preparation of the Table Topics master, the types of questions chosen and
the speakers selected will be evaluated.
If TTE session is 5 minutes, please evaluate the TT speakers. If it’s 3 minutes, please just
evaluate TTM’s performance.

Evaluation of Table Topics Master Evaluation of Flow

1. How well did the questions relate to 1. Was the first speaker called up an
the theme? experienced member (CTM or above) or
speaker?

2. How appropriate were the questions? 2. Were all members who are not doing
(easy to understand, on suitable topics) assignments called upon to speak?

3. Were there enough questions? 3. Did the Table Topics Master ask the
question before calling up the speaker?

4. How well did the Table Topics 4. How many guests were called versus
Master prepare? members? (should be more members)

5. Did the Table Topics Master shake 5. Did the session end on time?
the hand of each speaker before and
after the speech?

A Table Topics Evaluation Form

Pass your written evaluation to the Table Topics Master after your oral evaluation.
Date: Name of Table Topics Master:
Name of Table Topics Evaluator:

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 Leadership Today Facilitator
Role Duties
Duties: Facilitate the Leadership Today Session on the leadership theme used for the
meeting. Leadership Today is a feature session in our club. It is designed to let
audience share their ideas and opinions on a specific leadership topic. The facilitator
is to provide a setting that everybody can participate instead of one person giving a
winded speech on the topic.

Prior to the Meeting

Check with EVP or the future agenda to find out the:
Theme
Prepare a facilitated session around the theme with objectives to:
Engage the audience with the topic
Generate a variety of perspectives and views from the audience (i.e.,
not all one sided)
Attempt to lead the audience towards some conclusions on the subject
(e.g., a question or hypothesis posed at beginning leading to a
conclusion or application at the end.)
Write a short paragraph for around 50-100 words on the theme to
prepare audience for the session.
Co-ordinate in advance with any supporting members for the session,
organizing and delegating preparation with them as appropriate

During the Meeting

Fully brief any other members supporting the facilitator about their
roles and how they will fit into the session at the start of the meeting
Facilitate the Leadership Today session
Facilitation Suggestions
Clarify the discussion topic or question in writing for the
audience at the beginning of the session.
Content: do your research and provide new content that is not
common knowledge to everyone in the room, unless you are
going to view common information in a new way.
Provide a roadmap of the process you will be using for the
session. For example, “Today we are going to look at a few
traits of historic world leaders. As a group we will analyze
each person and then discuss the merits of their common traits.”
Or “This evening we are going to discuss two leadership traits:
being task oriented or people oriented. For the sake of the
discussion we are going to say that ‘a balance’ is not the best
solution, one should be more important than the other. I’ll
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 introduce some research findings, we will divide the group into
two sides and you’ll make case for which trait is more
important.”
Different Points of View: seek to view the topic from different
points of view.
Gender. (e.g., Do men and women view this
differently?)
Age. (e.g., How does this issue effect senior adults
and young adults differently?)
Personality. (e.g., How do more emotional people
manage this problem differently?)
Roles: (e.g., boss, employee, teacher, parent, poor,
urban, etc. (e.g., If you were the boss, would you have
answered the question the same way?)
Nationality: (e.g., Why don’t people in Europe do it
that way?)
Giving Feedback about comments. There are several ways you
can comment on an audience members comment:
Praise the comment
Question the comment
Ask another audience member to give their perspective
on the comment
Do not give any feedback. Being random at giving
feedback makes you less predictable.
Conclude with a “take home point.” Something new that the
audience can apply in their lives.
Manage your time well.

After Meeting
Write a 200-250 words’ summary of the session entitled “Last
Meeting’s Reflections on Leadership” and send to EVP – a summary of
the variety of perspectives and insights brought up during the session.

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 Prepared Speaker
Duties: Prepare, rehearse and deliver the speeches from Toastmasters manual;
Learn from other speakers.

Prior to the Meeting

Give your speech title to EVP a week before the meeting.
Talk with your mentor to develop strong speech content.
Practice your final script at least five times; Record and re-listen to
your rehearsals.
Prepare visual aids (if necessary).
Bring your manual to the meeting to give to your individual evaluator.

Entering the Room

Arrive early to check microphone, lighting, visual aids or writing
board.
Dress appropriately & comfortably.

During the Meeting

Shake hands with TME before your speech.
Always acknowledge the Toastmaster and audience at the beginning.
Present the speech according to the manual.
Wait for the TME to return to the lectern.
NEVER thank / apologize to audience.
Listen to your and other member’s evaluation for helpful hints.
Ask other members to comment on your speech.

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 Individual Evaluator (IE)
Duties: Help the speaker become less self-conscious and a better speaker.

Prior to the Meeting

• Review carefully the Effective Speech Evaluation manual, which you
received in your New Member Kit.
• Study the project objectives as well as the evaluation guide in the manual.

Upon Arrival at the Meeting

• Look for the speaker and get his or her manual.
• Confer with the speaker to see if he or she has any specific things for you to
watch for during the talk.

During the Meeting

• Record your impressions of the speech in the manual along with your
answers to the evaluation questions.
• Begin and end your evaluation with a note of encouragement or praise.
• Praise a successful speech and tell why it was successful.
• Give the speaker the deserved praise and constructive suggestions in the
manner you would like to receive them when you are the speaker.

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 General Evaluator (GE)
Duties: Evaluate everything that takes place throughout the meeting; Help
individual evaluators.

Prior to the Meeting

• Check with TME to find out how the program will be conducted.
• Prepare a brief but thorough talk on the purpose, techniques, and benefits of
evaluation.
• Prepare to evaluate the strengths and improvement areas for individual
evaluators.

Upon Arrival at the Meeting

• Check if every evaluator and speaker is present.
• Ask the TME if any agenda changes have been made.

During the Meeting

• Observe the setting, the transitions, session masters, TME and flow of the
meeting.
• When introduced to conduct the evaluation phase of the meeting, go to the
lectern and introduce each evaluator. After each recitation, thank the
evaluator for his or her efforts.
• Call for Grammarian’s report.
• Call for Ah Counter’s report.
• Call for timer's report.
• Wrap up by giving your general evaluation of the meeting.
• Take notes of what happens in the meeting.

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GE Report Form

You do not need to mention everything – as the time is limited. This form can also
help you write your GE report; please email your GE report to Secretary on
Wednesday. Please do not evaluate content that has already been evaluated. So do not
evaluate Prepared Speakers or Table Topics speakers.

Things I liked Things to improve

Setting
Reception desk

Room set up
Seats / mic / comfort

People
SAA
Turn off mobiles?

How many new guests were

introduced?

Mission & 4 taboos

Create welcomed feeling

TME
Introduce meeting theme?

Warm up the audience?

Introduce every speaker

using a structure?

E.g. POETS / speakers

background / speakers
opinion on the theme.

Timer / Grammarian
Explain roles clearly

Individual Evaluators
Fair evaluation?

How to improve?

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 Things I liked Things to improve
Sessions
(where applicable)
Table Topics
Linked to meeting theme?

How to improve session?

Leadership Today (see

details in the next page)
Involvement? Value?

Facilitation skill?

Training
What could members learn?

New member induction

Q&A / Voting / Smooth

Transitions
Did all speakers shake
hands with the session
masters?

Time
Time meeting start?

Did all the sessions &

speakers finish on time?

Other
Overall impressions

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Evaluating the Leadership Today Facilitator

Area Evaluated Topics for Evaluation

Set-up of Session Were the purpose and objectives of Leadership Today
communicated at start?

Were guidelines given by the facilitator as to how the

session was going to conducted (e.g., today discussion
will be in three parts…)?
Content Preparation Did the facilitator prepare content sufficiently relevant
to the theme of the meeting?

Had the facilitator prepared relevant content to be used

to prompt and drive discussion that was relevant to the
theme?
Audience Understanding Was a clear and logical structure used to coordinate
discussions on the theme? (e.g., framework,
sub-themes)
Audience Engagement Did the audience seem to enjoy the subject and become
involved?

Were both guests and members involved?

Did the Facilitator engage people directly by asking

questions or for their opinion? Did the facilitator
engage people by bringing up one of their potential
experiences / opinions that would contribute to the
discussion?

Control of the Session Did the facilitator take control of the discussion when
comments slipped too far off course or became too
chaotic?

Did the facilitator redirect a member when they

misunderstood the theme or?

Did the facilitator ensure that a variety of perspectives

was gathered from the audience (i.e., not all same
perspective)?

Did the facilitator ensure that discussion was

sufficiently evenly spread amongst audience members
(i.e., not all 2 people contributing)?
Transition and Feedback Did the facilitator transition well from audience
member to audience member and in between topics?

Did the facilitator provide relevant feedback and

reinforcement (e.g, repeat and clarify) to make points
made by audience members clear for everyone? And
point out the notable points?
Conclusion of session Did the facilitator bring the session to a close by
summarizing some of the main points that had been
brought out by the discussion?

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Appendix: Toastmasters Club Craft
1. Toastmasters history: please check
http://www.toastmasters.org/pdfs/OutofthePast.pdf (You must have Acrobat
Reader to read this file. You can free down load Acrobat Reader from
www.adobe.com)

2. Toastmasters Mission/Vision:
http://www.toastmasters.org/pdfs/Mission&Vision.pdf (You must have Acrobat
Reader to read this file. You can free down load Acrobat Reader from
www.adobe.com)

3. Shanghai Leadership Toastmasters Club: founded in March 1st 2006.

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