For members
Your role, explained
Every role rotates through the membership, so at some point each of these will be yours. Tap a role for the full cheat-sheet — most of this you can skim the night before.
Toastmaster of the Evening
You own the meeting end-to-end: picking the theme, setting the agenda, and shaping how the night flows. It builds public speaking, planning, process design, and time-management skills all at once — anyone can do it, and you should just go for it.
Volunteering: tell the President or VP Education, ideally two meetings ahead.
Two weeks before: confirm the theme, sketch how you'd like the night to flow, and start filling roles via the club's WhatsApp group / shared spreadsheet.
Days before: finalise the agenda, prepare your own intro/reflection remarks, confirm every participant has what they need (props, tech, etc.), and email the final agenda to the President/VPE by the Sunday prior.
On the night: arrive early to help set the room. You're the emcee — sit up front, stand and speak with energy on cue, lead the applause, keep transitions smooth, and always know what's coming next on the agenda.
General Evaluator
You assess anything in the meeting that isn't otherwise evaluated — from arrival to close — and report your findings and suggestions at the end.
Highlight how members performed in their assigned roles: their preparation, organisation, timeliness, enthusiasm, and how well they carried out their duties. When reviewing the speech & Table Topics evaluators specifically, check: did the introduction set the scene well? Were the speaker's personal goals referenced? Was the "sandwich" technique used — commendation, recommendation, encouragement? Did they open positively, offer at least one (but not more than three) suggestions, and close with encouragement?
Evaluating a Speech (Speech & Table Topics Evaluators)
Listen and observe, then give feedback that helps the speaker and the whole club improve. It's one of the most transferable skills Toastmasters teaches.
When evaluating: approach every speech with honesty while staying positive. Focus on the speaker's own goals for self-improvement. Evaluate what the speaker did, not who they are. Report what you saw, heard, and felt.
Five things to keep in mind:
- Review the project's evaluation guidelines beforehand and discuss objectives with the speaker
- Use "I" language — "I believe…", "I suggest…" — never "you should have…" or "you failed to…"
- Evaluate the speech, not the person
- Promote self-esteem — motivate with sincere praise and constructive suggestions
- Always end on a positive note
Four cornerstones of a strong evaluation: analytical quality (clear, specific strengths and weaknesses), practical recommendations, a sensitive but encouraging technique, and a positive, well-summarised close.
Introducing a Speaker
A good introduction sets the tone, builds interest, and establishes the speaker's credibility — done badly, it can confuse or deflate both speaker and audience.
Know your speaker: ask about their background, achievements, and goal for this speech ahead of time.
Prepare it properly: avoid generic, vague descriptions. Focus on what's genuinely interesting and relevant, keep language simple and jargon-free, and bring real enthusiasm.
Inform, entertain, inspire: a fact, a joke, a quote, a story, or a good question can all build anticipation — just don't overshadow the speaker.
Hand over cleanly: invite the audience to welcome the speaker by repeating their name and speech title.
Timer
Time everything, from start to finish, using the meeting agenda to record each person's time. Check the lights and buzzer are working before you start.
The lights: Green = qualifying time, Amber = target time, Red = finish time. The buzzer is everyone's cue to applaud the speaker as they sit down.
Example: for a 5–7 minute speech, green comes on at 5 minutes, amber at 6, red at 7, and the buzzer rings at 7:30.
Your report: keep it clear, direct, and concise — read through each segment's time in order, and call out anything that ran long or helped the meeting catch up. There's a printable timer's chart (PDF) to keep beside you.
Table Topics Master
You set and ask the questions for Table Topics — great practice for facilitation and keeping a room moving. Prepare up to about 14 questions, and brief the room clearly on what's being evaluated and the timings before you start.
Good questions are: clear, short, open-ended (avoid yes/no answers), on-theme, and a little unpredictable — props are fair game too.
Announcing: state the question clearly, repeat it, build a beat of suspense, then call the speaker up and repeat it once more as they walk forward.
Order: call up members who haven't had a role yet before inviting guests, so guests have a sense of what's expected first.
Keep it moving: lead the applause, thank each speaker briefly and specifically, then move straight to the next question — no rambling recaps.
RAVER
A uniquely Concord Yaralla role: the floor is yours for four to five minutes, in whichever form you like.
- Rant — sound off on a current topic, or just get something off your chest
- Anecdote — tell a story from your past
- Verse — read a poem you've written, or a favourite passage
- Entertainment — sing, dance, or otherwise bring some pizzazz
- Riddle — challenge the room with a puzzle or a pun
The mission is simple: inject some fun, humour, and your own perspective into the meeting. This role is your canvas.
Um/Ah/Filler Words Counter
You help members notice filler words — um, ah, uh, er, like, okay, so, and well — that creep in while they're thinking or nervous, usually without realising it.
Write down everyone's name, then mark it each time you catch a filler word as they speak. It takes practice — if you get absorbed in a great speech and miss a beat, that's fine, just do your best. Context matters too: words like "and" or "so" are often fine unless overused or used to open a sentence.
At the start, briefly explain your role and give an example or two. At the end, go through your list and let each person know their count and which words came up most.
Returning Officer
You manage the club election for Most Impressive Participant (MIP) and Best Role Player (BRP) — a fair, free, efficient vote, followed by presenting the awards. As the officer running it, you're ineligible to be voted for yourself.
Before the meeting: plan your steps, and have voting papers and certificates ready (bring spares for spoiled or lost ballots).
Your intro (about a minute): explain what's being voted on, who's eligible, and that everyone — including guests — gets one vote each. Remind the room to hold onto their paper until you begin the count at the end.
Counting: sort into piles by first-place vote, count the largest piles, and build a winners' list, then repeat for the second vote.
Presenting: position the President and photographer, build a little energy as you call up place-getters, and congratulate everyone.
Afterwards: a quick self-evaluation, then brief the next meeting's Returning Officer on anything you learned.
Preparing your very first speech instead? Start here →