Time to Swim
 
 


I nervously took on different roles at the Toastmaster meetings.  Being the timer seemed like an easy role so I dove into that.

Each role during a meeting is timed except for the role of Toastmaster of the evening and Table Topics master.  Using my Apple watch for timing I followed these guidelines:

Table Topics speeches:  1-2 minutes

Icebreaker speech (1st speech as a new club member): 4-6 minutes

Speech evaluator: 2-3 minutes

General evaluator (evaluates the meeting as a whole): 3-4 minutes

Speeches: 5-7 minutes (unless more time has been requested ahead of time)

30 seconds over the time limit is allowed.  A GREEN card is held up when the beginning time has been reached.  A YELLOW card is held up halfway through the time and a RED card is held up when the end time is reached.  

Sometimes I would get very involved in listening and I had to refocus fast.  I never let anyone talk longer than 10 minutes!  Just kidding.  The timing report near the end of the meeting gave me an opportunity to be in front of an audience.  Slowly my nervous self was being trained to "relax in the water" of public speaking.

Being the "Ah- grammarian" was a bit more challenging and involved more speaking up front while giving the report.  The Ah-Grammarian had to keep tally of all the speakers and any fillers (ah, er, um), repeated words, improper grammar, and incorrect words used.  The BEST part though was listening for especially creative or descriptive words or phrases.  I liked that part because sometimes a certain phrase or clever usage of descriptive words would move me and inspire ME to "just keep swimming" in life and in Toastmasters.

 

 

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