Student Meeting Roles

---

Taking on this role improves time management skills.

One of the skills club members practice is expressing a thought within a specific time. The timer is responsible for monitoring the time for each meeting segment and each speaker. See Timer’s worksheet for more information.

Here is a recorded example on the Speak & Shine Academy YouTube channel, which demonstrates how a timer explains her role at the beginning of the meeting.

To use Zoom Virtual Backgrounds for timing signals, you may download these wallpaper files:

Green Background, Yellow Background, and Red Background.

For online meetings, the Sergeant at Arms will start the meeting with a quick presentation to welcome members/guests and to go over the Zoom etiquette.  Please click here to download the Google Slides and the Script.

Here is a recorded example of the Sergeant at Arms meeting role on the Speak & Shine Academy YouTube channel.

Giving an online presentation professionally is an important real-life skill and it takes practice. Thus, we require the Sergeant at Arms to give their presentation in a professional way:

During the presentation, the Google Slides should be running in View|Slideshow mode and shared on Zoom properly.

Most people cannot remember the Script. If you need to read the script, it's highly recommended that you print out the script ahead of time. That way, you don't unknowingly share the script file on Zoom or face other problems when presenting the slides properly. When you read the script, please keep your script near eye level so that you appear to look at the audience.

The Presiding Officer will lead the meeting after the Sergeant at Arms has started the meeting.

The Presiding Officer greets members, leads a greeting exercise, calls the Inspirator and the Lecturer, and then passes the meeting over to the Host of the Day.

At the end of the meeting, the Presiding Officer announces the next meeting location/date/time and adjourns the meeting.

Here is a sample script for the Presiding Officer role.  Please make sure that you customize the script according to your meeting agenda before the meeting.

At the beginning part of the club meeting, the Presiding Officer greets members and leads a greeting exercise. 

The presiding officer announces the meeting theme and then invites each club member to participate in a greeting exercise (30 seconds to 1 minute for each member). This exercise also warms up their voice and tests their microphones. Here is a sample script for the greeting:

1. “Thank you, Mr./Madam Presiding Officer!”

2. “Fellow members and honored guests, it’s great to see you online”

3. “I am ______. (For the first meeting of a semester, introduce a bit more about yourself to help the new members to know everyone: What state and city I live in, which school I go and my grade level.)"

4. “[I will be _____.]” (If you don't have a role, skip this sentence. If you have a meeting role, please use one sentence to state your meeting role. Wait for the formal meeting segment to tell your joke/quote or explain your role in more detail.)

5. Say a few sentences about the meeting theme or a subject of the Presiding Officer’s choice.

6. “Back to you, Mr./Madam Presiding Officer.”

Host of the Day acts as the meeting host.  He or she first describes the program and introduces facilitators.  Next, he/she conducts the meeting according to the meeting agenda.

Here is a sample script for the Host of the Day at a regular meeting.

Here is a sample script for the Host of the Day at a Speechathon.

Here is a sample script for the Host of the Day at an Impromptu Speech Marathon.

Please make sure that you customize the script according to your meeting agenda before the meeting.

The Inspirational Moment at our club is a thought of the day or a moment of reflection. It is something that you find interesting or significant and want to share with the group. Click the Inspirational Moment Worksheet for more information.

Each club member shall give one prepared speech every semester.  Before giving the speech, the member will practice the speech with Dr. Sunny in a one-to-one coaching session.  Here is the action list:

1. Schedule your coaching session at least two weeks before your speaking date.             Dr. Sunny uses Calendly to receive your reservation: https://calendly.com/dr-sunny/prepared-speech-coaching-speak-shine-youth-club
2. Email your speech draft to Dr. Sunny (dr.sunny@speakandshine.org) at least one week before the date of your coaching session or two weeks before your speaking date, whichever comes first. Dr. Sunny will review your speech draft and email you feedback to revise your speech.
3. Practice your speech delivery and record three speaking times
4. Join your speech coaching session
5. At least three days before your speaking date, email your speech introduction to the Host of the Day (according to the meeting agenda of your speaking date), the Club Coach (dr.sunny@speakandshine.org).  The Host of the Day would know how to introduce you as the speaker at the meeting.
6. Attend the club meeting and deliver your prepared speech.

To understand the proper format for a speech introduction, please click How to write a speech introduction for a club meeting.

For informative speeches, please follow the Informative Speech Outline Example.

By Default, your speech should be 2-4 minutes long.

Speech evaluation is designed to practice active listening skills and to provide constructive feedback.

The Sandwich Method for Speech Evaluation Structure:

One of the most effective ways to structure your speech evaluation is the Sandwich Method. Here is a template for this structure written by Dr. Sunny Fridge. Please feel free to download this template and bring it to the club meetings. When you are a speech evaluator, you can fill the blanks with your thoughts according to your speech observation and analysis.

When you effectively use the Sandwich Method, you can easily develop a positive, constructive, and meaningful speech evaluation!

The Impromptu Master delivers the impromptu speech segment of the meeting, which helps train members to quickly organize and express their thoughts in an impromptu setting. Here are detailed instructions and a sample script (regular meeting) for this role.  For an Impromptu Speech Marathon, please see section Host of the Day for another version of the script.

The Impromptu Master shall submit the customized script and the list of impromptu topics to the Club Coach and the Club Coordinator (dr.sunny@speakandshine.org & ispeakshine@gmail.com) 3~7 days before the meeting.  The Club Coach or the Club Coordinator will review the script and the topics and recommend revisions if necessary.

The purpose of the Ah-Counter is to note any overused words or filler sounds used as a crutch by anyone who speaks during the meeting.

Ah-Counter worksheet

Here is a recorded example on the Speak & Shine Academy YouTube channel, which demonstrates how an Ah-Counter explains her role at the beginning of the meeting.

♣Tips:

When someone has said a particular filler word more than 8 times, you may stop counting this filler word.  For example, you may say it in your report:" 3 'so', 2 'you know', and more than 8 'en's".  That way, it saves your time, and the report doesn't sound too harsh on the speaker.  What the speaker needs to know is that he/she has said many 'en's, but no need to know he/she had said 'en's 56 times.

Grammarian is an important role during a meeting. The Grammarian helps fellow members improve their grammar and vocabulary.

As Grammarian, you make a note of any incorrect grammar used by any speakers. You function as a part of the meeting’s evaluation team and give a report at the end of the meeting of any incorrect grammar and particularly effective language usage. Being Grammarian is truly an exercise in expanding your listening skills. It is a great opportunity to learn the names of your fellow members and to refresh your own knowledge of grammar. 

Grammarian worksheet

Here is a recorded example on the Speak & Shine Academy YouTube channel, which demonstrates how a Grammarian explains her role at the beginning of the meeting.

* If the meeting doesn't have a separate Wordmaster, the Grammarian role will incorporate the Wordmaster role.

The Wordmaster helps fellow members practice using the Word of the Day, therefore enhancing their vocabulary. 

Wordmaster worksheet.

The Body Language Monitor focuses on the visual portion of our online meeting.  You are responsible for watching all meeting participants, not just speakers, and providing constructive feedback for improvement. 

Body Language Monitor worksheet

The Chat Monitor facilitates the communications of members and guests through the Zoom chat feature.

Chat Monitor worksheet