Information for Guests

INFORMATION FOR GUESTS

BEFORE YOU REACH THE VENUE/MEETING

To find out when the club meets, how much the membership costs and how you become a member, please visit the Membership Information section.
To obtain Directions to the venue, please click on the Directions link on the left, under the Main menu section.
You can drop in for any meeting. However, it is better to e-mail a club Officer and indicate your intent to attend a meeting. Inform the officer the date you plan on attending the meeting.
If you are looking to obtain the contact information of Club Officers, please visit the Contact Us section of this website (under Main Menu section, the top left of this page).

WHAT DO YOU DO ONCE YOU REACH THE VENUE?

If you have already informed a club officer of your intent to attend a meeting, you can use the visitor kiosk (to the right of the vestibule door) to print your visitor badge.
If you are just dropping in, please be prepared to show a government issued ID to the guard at the desk, who will prepare a visitor badge for you. Please inform the guard that you are there to attend the Opportunity Talks Toastmasters meeting at the Swansea Conference room.
You may use the name Trent Turner (Club President) if needed, to obtain a Visitor Badge, unless indicated otherwise in an e-mail response from a club officer.
Once you have received your Visitor Badge, please wait in the lobby to be escorted to the Swansea Conference room, which is directly to the left of the vestibule door.
The meeting begins at 12 PM (Noon), hence it is advised to reach the venue at least 15 min. in advance.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A TOASTMASTERS MEETING?

PREPARATION: The conference room is prepared for the Toastmasters meeting by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Typically this involves arranging the furniture in the room, setting up the lectern, placing the trophies and ribbons near the lectern, distributing evaluation sheets and voting ballots etc.
MEETING KICK-OFF: The President of the club starts off the meeting. Club business is discussed first and then the meeting is handed over to the Toastmaster for the day. The Toastmaster is similar to a Conductor at an orchestra, wherein the Toastmaster conducts the entire meeting, inviting each member signed up for a particular role to perform that role when called upon.
INTRODUCTION: The next section is the introduction of all the functionaries for the meeting.
SPEECHES: We then move onto the prepared speech section where speakers who have signed up to speak (or) have been assigned a speaking duty deliver a prepared speech for a set amount of time with a specific goal.
EVALUATION: Upon completion of the prepared speeches (number of speeches per meeting ranges from 0 to 3 depending on number of signed up speakers and their availability) we move onto the Evaluation section where we obtain a shrewd yet encouraging assessment of the prepared speeches.
TABLE-TOPICS: The next section is called Table Topics, where speakers provide impromptu short speeches on certain topics. GUESTS can "test-drive" their public speaking capabilities in this section.
REPORTS: Finally we hear reports from the various functionaries and conclude the meeting.
The entire meeting lasts for about an HOUR.

EVALUATION FORMS

Evaluation forms are provided to each person at the meeting to express his/her opinion and to evaluate a prepared speech. These forms are sent to the speaker at the end of the evaluation section to provide constructive feedback to the speaker.
Filling out evaluation forms is OPTIONAL for all Guests. If a guest wishes to express his/her opinion to a speaker, it is always welcome.

TO SEE A TOASTMASTERS MEETING IN ACTION VISIT THE OPPORTUNITY TALKS TOASTMASTERS CLUB DURING A REGULAR MEETING SESSION EVERY WEDNESDAY.