Toastmaster of the Evening

Yesterday I was TMoE. That is a special role. I had the honour to lead through the evening. That included straighting out the agenda, explaining the several meeting roles and then introducing the Table Topics Master, the Speakers and the General Evaluator. Of course there were some things to do in advance.

For preparation I read the manual but that was not a big help. I was looking for a step-by-step guide, in particular for what will happen at the evening. Yes, I could have taken more notes while others are TMoE but I didn't. I might do in the future to improve my future performances as I noticed that TMoE is a necessary role in the Leadership Handbook.

I was lucky in two ways. Firstly Christopher Magyar (District 59 Governor and member at the Munich Toastmasters like me) offered his help and advice but I requested it too late - he was in the States then and was only able to send some helpful hints per e-mail. But secondly Eva Beldiman send me her notes on short notice so I had everything I needed to be prepared.

At the meeting I was - as usual - only half as good prepared as I could have been. Moreover I forgot my notes at home. The upside was, this time didn't fiddle around with several papers in my hands. Finally things went well. In beginning I stuttered a little bit later I though I was a little to talkative.

I had a formal business meeting in the afternoon so I still wore my dark suit with a beige shirt and a tie. In hindsight it was the proper clothing for this role and I have got positive feedback on this.

Subjective feedback

• What they liked: Good improvisation, well organised, fluent, you dressed the part
• Things to improve: No need to talk about things that went wrong.
  

Objective feedback

• Ah-Counter: 15 (I know it was much more)

Things to share

• "We do a lot of clapping here. It makes it easier."
  
• "Feedback is the breakfast of champions"
• Eva's guide and time-line for TMoE