Tutorial for Time Keeper

From Austin Toastmasters (Balcones, Club #3407)

Tutorial for Time Keeper doc

You will be the Time Keeper for the first time at our next club meeting. This will be an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate and work on leadership skills associated with keeping meetings on time.

Please read/study the Competent Communications Manual, p65, right hand column on Timer. It is an excellent reference document for how to perform this role. Note that there is some amount of preparation needed to perform this role crisply.

Also, please read/study the Competent Leadership Manual, Project #4 on Time Management, p24-26. Take the self-assessment which will provide you a baseline on your Time Management skills. Bring this manual with you to the meeting, and ask a fellow Toastmaster to fill in the evaluation on p27.

For the specific timing rules for Balcones, click on the Balcones TM Timer Template link on our website - perhaps even print it out. Normally, there will be a blank Timer Template near the timing light and the stopwatch before the meeting starts. You will be filling out this document at the meeting and giving your report from it. The first column contains the standard times that agenda items should start to keep us on time. In the second column, you will be recording the actual times those items started. In the third column are places for you to list speaker names, and for prepared speakers, how much time they requested.

You will be asked if participants (table topic, speakers, and evaluators) are disqualified to receive ribbons. Times more than 30 seconds less than the Green time or more than 30 seconds more than the Red time disqualify the participant. For example, for a 5-7 minute speech, times less than 4:30 and more than 7:30 disqualify the speaker from receiving a ribbon.

Please feel free to contact me or your mentor if you need any help or if you have any questions.