As Table Topic Evaluator your role is to provide feedback to the Table Topic Master and also to all the participants of the Table Topic session. This means that you have to evaluate many people, in a short period of time (both to write your evaluations and also to present them to the audience).

The most important person to evaluate is the Table Topics Master: you should evaluate if he explained properly the goal of the table topics, if he clearly reads each question so that the participants and audience understand the goal of each participant, if the proposed table topics were appropriate for the impromptu speeches. The table topics session is the part of the meeting where the members that did not participate in the session have an opportunity to speak, so the Table Topics master should select the participants among the members (it is not advisable to pick guests, it is also not advisable to request volunteers as one of the roles of the Table Topics Master is to select participants). Always try to be constructive and encouraging with your comments.

There are usually many participants, so it is quite difficult to take notes for all of them and remember everything you would like to say during your evaluation. A good advice, don’t try to say too much about each of them, just one positive thing and one possible advice for improvement should be enough. Impromptu speeches are difficult for many people, so try to be constructive and it is important that your comments encourage the participants to improve next time.

Depending on the Toastmaster of the Day, you may be called right before the Table Topics session to explain the goals of the session, so better prepare a quick explanation just in case you are called. Remember that the main goal is to practice impromptu speeches. Speakers have to talk between 1 and 2 minutes, and they should try to create a “small speech”, trying to use a speech structure if possible (opening-body-conclusion).

Last but not least, if you have a mentor ask him/her for advice about your role, about the club, and about any other doubt that you may have regarding Toastmasters. Don’t wait for him/her to contact you!