Every Toastmasters meeting is run by a master of ceremonies called The Toastmaster.  Each meeting has three parts.

In the first part, the Toastmaster will introduce two or three prepared speakers who will each give a short planned presentation lasting from 5 to seven minutes.Each presentation will be an assignment from a Toastmasters Manual such as the Basic Manual for new members or one of the 15 different Advanced Manuals other members may choose from. 

After the speakers are done and club members have had a chance to write each speaker a few sentences about how each presentation came across, the Toastmaster will introduce the Topicmaster who will lead Table Topics,the next portion of the meeting.  Table Topics is about impromptu speaking.  Guests are exempt from being called upon, unless they wish to participate.  Let the Topicmaster know ahead of time if you want to participate.

Each speaker in this portion of the meeting must speak for at least one minute and no longer than 2.5 minutes.  Briefly, the  the goal of the table topic speaker is to stand up and make sense for at least one minute.

After the Tabletopics speakers have finished, the Topicmaster returns control of the meeting to the Toastmaster who introduces the General Evaluator who leads the Evaluation portion of the meeting.  Each of the prepared speakers who spoke at the beginning of the meeting has been assigned an evaluator.  Each evaluator will talk about his impressions of the speech that was assigned to him.  Evaluators deliver observations of what they feel went well, what they think needs work along with some constructive  suggstions on how to improve the presentation.

The evaluation portion is also where members assigned to observe aspects of the meeting deliver their reports.  If a word of the day was assigned, the Wordmaster will report on how many times and by whom, the word was used.  The Grammarian will point out moments of excellent gramatical usage such as an impressive turn of phrase that helped underscore a point as well as mistakes and other usages that appeared to distract the audience from what was being said. The Timer will point out whether speakers stayed within the alloted time limits. In many clubs the General Evaluator will report on his or  her impressions of the meeting, sometimes commenting on the evaluations of the prepared speakers.

After the evaluation portion of the meeting, control is returned to the Toastmaster and after a discussion of the assignments for next week's meeting; the meeting is closed by the Toastmaster or the Club President.

Each meeting is replete with opportunities to speak and hone your skills.

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