How to Toastmaster the RDG Way

3.1. Before the Meeting

The VPE (or committee) should fill in the agenda with sign-ups a day or two after the meeting, then send out a notice. The way your club assigns roles will have it's own process; in this lesson I will use this procedure:

1. VPE pre-schedules meetings (usually assigns the Toastmaster in advance) in Easy Speak
2. VPE brings sign-up sheet to the meeting; members sign-up for roles for upcoming meetings
3. VPE updates the meetings on Easy Speak with the sign-ups, then sends out an e-mail to all members with a meeting checklist
4. After the mail goes out, the responsibility for filling remaining roles and plan the meeting falls to the Toastmaster; members should use the mail links to confirm their attendance or absence, as well as sign up for or confirm roles
5. The Toastmaster confirms sign-ups and reaches out to fill remaining roles, as well as sets the meeting theme in Easy Speak
6. The Toastmaster reaches out to speakers and requests their speech information, including introductions, to be put into Easy Speak

For step five, you may need to e-mail, text, or call members as needed. Remind them that they should login to Easy Speak.

As far as theme, you should prepare five to six mini segments to insert (see during the meeting to see where they can go). These segments should be no more than 2-3 minutes at most. There's plenty of opportunities for creativity here; these segments can range from mini-games or puzzles, segments of an ongoing story, informational tips, historical bits, and so on. Make them quick and make them concise.

As close as possible to the meeting, make sure you print out the following:

• Speaker introductions
• One detail agenda for your use
• Standard agendas for the remainder of the attendees
• Any theme-related material