The duties of an Ah-Counter is to listen for words and sounds used as a “crutch” or “pause filler” by anyone who speaks during the meeting. The Ah-Counter will tally the counts for the various pause fillers and record them on the Ah-Counter Report.
Examples of pause fillers are:
- Words with inappropriate interjections such as “and, well, but, so, you know”
- Sounds may be “ah, um, er”
- Repetitive and inappropriate use of the words “OK”, “Alright/Right”, “Actually”, “I mean” etc either at the beginning or end of each sentence
- Repetitive words or phrase such as “I,I” or “so, so”, “to, to”, “This means, this means.” Or “you know, you know”
- “Pause fillers” such as lip-smacking
Note: Pauses in between sentences are not considered as “pause fillers”. It is up to the individual speakers to use “pauses” effectively in their speech to emphasise certain points.
PRIOR TO THE MEETING
Prepare a brief explanation of the duties of the Ah-Counter for the benefit of guests. Download the Ah-Counter Report below and print out a copy for your recording.
Click on the icon above to download the Ah-Counter Report template.
UPON ARRIVAL AT THE MEETING
Get a pen and a clipboard for your Ah-Counter Report from the Sergeant at Arms (SAA). Sit near the front so that you can hear each speaker clearly.
DURING THE MEETING
When the SAA starts the meeting, listen for “crutch” sounds and long pauses (use your discretion, some pauses are appropriate for dramatic effect, while some are obvious fillers where the speaker is simply buying time) used as fillers and not as a necessary part of sentence structure.
Write down how many pause filler words used by each person during all segments of the meeting. When called on by the Toastmaster of the Evening (TME), stand up and give your report verbally, addressing to each individual who has spoken during the meeting.
TIPS FOR AH-COUNTER
Being an Ah-Counter requires you to be a good listener. Therefore it is important that you do not get distracted throughout the meeting.
When giving your report, be sensitive to how the person receiving your report may feel, especially if the person used a lot of pause fillers throughout his or her speech or evaluation. An inexperience TME or guests who are not used to public speaking are most likely to have the most pause fillers. Imagine how they will feel if the Ah-Counter simply says “John Tan, 20 Ah, 15 Er, 8 OK…” Do you see my point here?
To cushion the “blow”, I would suggest that if a speaker exceeds 5 counts for a particular type of pause filler like “Er”, I would simply say that the speaker has “maxed out for Er”. Make sure that you have explained to the audience what do you mean by “maxed out” before you start giving your report. To make it even easier on the ear, you could even say “your comfort word is Er”.
If a particular speaker has very little or no pause filler, praise them. An Ah-Counter should not be viewed as a role who will only report “bad news”! Make use of this opportunity to acknowledge individuals who have done well.
If you can see that a particular speaker has a “bad” report, you can try to cushion the report by telling the audience what are some of the potential reasons. For example, TME usually speaks the longest so have more chances to use pause fillers. A newbie speaker may also have more pause fillers than the others. A speaker who is very excited by his or her speech can sometimes generate a lot of pause fillers unknowingly. If a speaker has a habit of saying “Actually” at the beginning of his or her sentences, do point that out to the speaker that subconsciously he or she has used the word “Actually” numerous times to begin the sentence.
Most importantly, as an Ah-Counter, don’t bring the speaker down with negative feedback, but to empower the speaker with the knowledge that the speaker can use to improve his or her next speech. Think of yourself as a speech coach who wants to help the speakers to do better.