| Meeting Roles | Officer Roles | Mentoring |
Meeting Role Descriptions
- Toastmaster
- Timer
- Grammarian
- Ah Counter
- Speaker
- Table Topics Master
- General Evaluator
- Speech Evaluator
Purpose:
The Grammarian has two main roles: 1) to present the membership with the
opportunity to learn a new word and use it in their daily conversation,
and 2) to comment on the use of English during the meeting, including
misuse of words, incorrect pronunciation, (ab)use of clichés, and poor
sentence structure, as well as any interesting, unusual or particularly
effective uses of speech.
Before the Meeting: Prepare a brief but thorough summary of your role as Grammarian that
explains your role in the program to visiting guests. You can expect a
call from the General Evaluator, confirming your role.
Choose a "word of the day" that will help the membership increase their
vocabulary, a word that will be easily incorporated into everyday conversation,
but different from the way they usually express themselves. Prepare a
sentence as an example of how to use the word, and make sure you are comfortable
using the word yourself.
As you Arrive at the Meeting:
In letters large enough to be seen from the back of the room, print the
word, the part of speech and a brief definition on at least one of the
easels. Ideally, the word will be visible to both speaker and audience.
However, try not to display the word in a position where the audience
would find it distracting to any other portion of the meeting (e.g., taped
to the lectern).
During the Meeting: Throughout the meeting, listen carefully to all of the speakers and
make note of grammatical errors or exceptional uses of language. Also
keep track of the members who use the word of the day (or a variation
of the word) in their speaking roles, how many times they use it, and
whether it is used properly.
Near the end of the meeting, the General Evaluator will ask you to report
your findings. Stand beside your seat to give your report, which should
not exceed 1-2 minutes. It is okay not to read out all the names on your
list.
If you mention a grammatical error or mispronunciation, be sure to offer
the correct form. However, avoid lengthy explanations of fine points of
grammar. Also, do not apologize for your own limited knowledge of grammar.
Everybody is learning. If in doubt about a point, ask someone. This will
help everyone.
When you are finished, return control of the meeting by saying, "Madam
or Mr. General Evaluator," and take your seat.
Resources:
When called upon by the Toastmaster, stand at your seat and briefly explain
your role(s). Introduce the word of the day and encourage all in attendance
to use it in their remarks.
Grammarian Worksheet (DOC)
A.Word.A.Day
Home Page
Merriam-Webster Word of
the Day
The Grammarian
With a Heart by Pamela Price (PDF)
![[MIT logo]](../../graphics/mitlogo.gif){kind=small}