Weekly meetings

In-person meetings are every Thursday at 6:45 pm until 9 pm at the Allen Reuter Centre in Cambridge, Ontario.

Our club provides a friendly and supportive environment where members develop their communication and leadership skills each week in an energized meeting.

Guests are welcome anytime
and are under no pressure to speak. Let us know you're coming for more information. Guests must register with us before they are admitted to one of our meetings due to building security.


What to expect at a meeting

As a guest, you are under no pressure to speak. A member will introduce you to the group and you will receive a warm round of applause.

Speaking of applause, guests are often surprised at the amount of that goes on. Applause is given to members when they approach the lectern and when they leave. This shows appreciation to the speaker and a thank you for your performance. 

There is no dress code at Cambridge Toastmasters, dress comfortably and come out and enjoy the meeting.


Sample Agenda

The following is a sample agenda for our meetings. Each meeting is designed to give every member a chance to participate if they choose to do so. 

Each role is filled by members on a voluntary basis. The meeting roles allow us to develop our speaking and organization skills while giving us the opportunity to participate in every meeting.

Join us at our next meeting to see this agenda in action!

First half of the meeting

Time

Role

Description

6:55 - 7:00

SAA

Our Sergeant at Arms brings the meeting to order, starting by reviewing our housekeeping rules, safety details, and our club details within the Toastmasters International organization. Finally, an enthusiastic introduction for the meeting Chair is performed.

7:00 - 7:03

Chair

The Chairperson is responsible for the evening's entire program and introduces each of the members for their roles below.


The Chairperson will ask a Cambridge Toastmaster member to introduce guest. Guests are not required to speak.

7:03 - 7:06

Invocation

Our Invocator presents a short and appropriate invocation suitable to the occasion at the beginning of the meeting, ending with a Toast.

7:06 - 7:08

Humour

The purpose of this presentation is to use humour in a one to two minute presentation.

7:08 - 7:11

Grammarian

The Grammarian of the meeting must record and point out obvious and subtle mistakes in word usage, grammar and pronunciation.

The Grammarian will also introduce a word of the week to help club members expand their vocabulary.

Lastly, the Grammarian will act as a quizmaster, asking a few questions at the end of the meeting to test our member's listening skills.

7:11 - 7:12

Ah Counter

The Ah Counter will count the number filler or repetitive words used when everyone is speaking. For example “Er“, “Um“, “Ah“, “You Know“, “I Mean” will be counted. These are fillers that impact the effectiveness in delivering a speech. 


A report is provided at the end of the meeting.

7:12 - 7:22

Education

The duty of the Educator is to provide a 5 to 10 minute presentation about a topic, which is relevant to the education of the members. An education speech is typically focused on improving club member's communication and leadership skills.

7:22 - 7:32

Table Topics

Table Topics® is a long-standing Toastmasters tradition intended to help members develop their ability to organize their thoughts quickly and respond to an impromptu question or topic.


The Table Topics Master will give a brief description of Table Topics and then call on respondents at random.


Respondents will practice expressing their thoughts clearly and succinctly, lasting one to two minutes.

7:33 - 7:43

Business

As members of Cambridge Toastmasters, we want to keep up with all the happenings around us including at Toastmasters International. The business segment allows us to take advantage of Toastmaster opportunities available in the future.

Second half of the meeting

Time

Role

Description

7:44 - 8:18

Toastmaster & Prepared Speeches

The Toastmaster is responsible for the entire formal speaking session of our agenda. The Toastmaster introduces each speaker.

Speeches are based on objectives from the Toastmasters Pathways education program, and are usually 5 to 7 minutes in length.


Speaker 1

A Toastmaster prepared speech.


Speaker 2

A Toastmaster prepared speech.


Speaker 3

A Toastmaster prepared speech.

8:18 - 8:40

General Evaluator

The job of the General Evaluator is to act as consultant for the entire meeting and the “Toastmaster” of the evaluation portion of the meeting.

The General Evaluator introduces each speech evaluator which are 2-3 minutes in length each.


Evaluator 1

Present an oral evaluation for Speaker 1.


Evaluator 2

Present an oral evaluation for Speaker 2.


Evaluator 3

Present an oral evaluation for Speaker 3.

8:40 - 8:45

Chair

Awards Presentation
Guests comments (optional)
Further Business For The Good Of Toastmasters
Thought of the Week

Timer

Helping ensure the meeting stays on time and that our speakers are aware their speech duration, the Timer role is important to a successful meeting.