A Toastmasters meeting only works when a dozen small jobs land on a dozen different people. New members often don't know what those jobs are, and officers spend their week trying to fill them. Here is what each role does, and how Toastmanagers keeps them filled without the chasing.
The roles that lead the meeting
Toastmaster
The host of the meeting. The Toastmaster introduces each participant, keeps the energy up, and keeps the agenda on time. It takes the most preparation of any role, so it suits members who have done a few others first. Our Toastmaster guide has a full plan.
Table Topics Master
Prepares the impromptu questions, introduces them, and decides who answers. The session usually runs 10 to 20 minutes. See the Table Topics Master guide for question ideas.
General Evaluator
Runs the evaluation part of the meeting and leads the evaluation team. The General Evaluator also comments on the meeting as a whole: timing, preparation, and how well each role was carried out. Read the General Evaluator guide.
The roles that speak and give feedback
Speaker
Presents a prepared speech, usually tied to a Pathways project. Most speeches run 5 to 7 minutes.
Evaluator
Each speaker gets an evaluator, who gives spoken and written feedback. Spoken evaluations usually run 2 to 3 minutes. Our Evaluator guide shows how to structure one.
The roles that support the meeting
Timer
Tracks how long each person speaks and signals green, yellow, and red. A good first role. See the Timer guide.
Ah-Counter
Listens for filler words and sounds such as "um", "ah", "so", and "you know", then reports during the evaluation portion. Here is the Ah-Counter guide.
Grammarian
Introduces a Word of the Day, listens to how language is used, and reports near the end. Here is the Grammarian guide.
Which roles suit new members?
- First month: Timer, Ah-Counter, or a Table Topics answer
- Next: Grammarian and a first speech
- After a few meetings: Evaluator and Table Topics Master
- Once comfortable: Toastmaster and General Evaluator
How clubs usually fall behind on roles
The problem is rarely the roles. It is the admin around them. A shared spreadsheet shows who is on the schedule, but a plain Sheet emails nobody and can't tell you who has gone months without a turn. A group chat buries last week's sign-ups under this week's messages. On Easy-Speak, reminders are sent by the meeting manager, so somebody still has to remember to do it.
The easier way: Toastmanagers
Toastmanagers is free club software built around this exact job.
- Auto-assign fills empty roles using each member's history, their "prefer", "avoid", and "never" preferences, and the dates they will be away.
- Automatic reminders go out 7 days and 1 day before every role, with an optional same-day reminder.
- Role requests let members ask for any role, not only speeches.
- Your own role list. Add, rename, or remove roles so the schedule matches how your club really runs.
- Agenda PDF in one click, built from the schedule, so names are never retyped.
Fill Every Role Without the Spreadsheet
Auto-assign balances roles across your whole club, and reminders go out on their own.
Get Started FreeNo credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many roles does a typical meeting have?
A standard meeting has around a dozen once you count each speaker and evaluator separately. Smaller clubs often combine a few.
Can one person hold two roles?
Yes, and small clubs often need to. Toastmanagers has a setting that allows multiple roles per member. Our small club guide covers which roles combine well.
Do guests take roles?
Guests usually just watch, and are welcome to try a Table Topic if they want to.