The main duties of the Sergeant at Arms (SAA) during a club meeting are to:
- Arrive early to help set up the meeting venue
- Start the meeting on time and make sure that the meeting schedule is adhered to
- Remind the audience to put their mobile phones to silent mode
- Download our programme sheet by scanning the QR code on the slide
- Introduce visiting toastmasters & guests at the start of the meeting by providing an “icebreaking” question
- Assit the TME to get the audience back into the hall at the end of the break
- Assist the TTM by writing down the name of each speaker on the flip chart
PRIOR TO THE MEETING
Think of an “ice-breaking” question to be asked during the introduction. Questions can be related to the theme of the meeting. Examples of such “ice-breaking” question can be “State one word that best describes you”, “What you think is a key quality of a good public speaker?” etc. The questions should not take the guests too much time to reply.
Remember, normally we have only about 5 minutes to do the icebreaker so you have to assess the situation in order to keep within the allocated time for this segment. Remind the audience that they have to keep their replies short.
Check with the Club President on the expected number of guests a day before the meeting. If many guests are expected to be at the meeting (e.g., >10 guests), it would take too long for every guest to answer the icebreaking question.
You could instead, think of an activity in which you can quickly get the audience to introduce themselves to the people sitting near them. Use the activity to bring up the energy in the room. You can then direct a specific question to just a few guests whom you have interacted with before the meeting. Pick guests who look comfortable speaking so the atmosphere stays upbeat. Or you could use a trial and tested method of randomly selecting 8 guests as described further down this write-up.
UPON ARRIVAL AT THE MEETING
Arrive early to assist the Toastmaster of the Evening (TME) and other Exco members to set up the meeting venue. Make sure we have just the right number of chairs for the meeting. Setup the guest reception counter outside of the hall.
Timing lights should be set up and tested. The bell should be placed beside the timing lights. The stand for the mobile for video recording should be present. All evaluators should be given a clipboard with some blank A4 papers and a pen.
Test out the handheld mic to be used by the SAA. Check again on the estimated number of guests.
AT THE START OF THE MEETING
Start the meeting on time (usually 7.20 pm or 7.30 pm). However, always check with the TME and Vice President of Education (VPE) before you start the meeting. This is so because the TME & VPE may want some time to make last-minute changes to the meeting programme due to unforeseen circumstances.
Three minutes before the meeting, play the count-down slide on the laptop which will display a count-down timer on the screen. After that, start getting guests and members seated.
Start by welcoming members and guests to the meeting. Remember to acknowledge any visiting District Officers (such as Division Director or Area Director) AFTER you have addressed the Club President first. Address the officers if they are present. You can start the meeting with: “A fantastic Friday evening Club President, Area D1 Director, fellow members and guests, welcome to Money Mastery Singapore Toastmasters Club!”
First thing is to ask the audience to take out their mobiles to scan the QR code on the screen to download the programme sheet. Next, ask them politely to put their phones in silent mode. You can then talk a little about the theme and what it means to you before conducting the guest introduction segment.
For the guest introduction segment, ask the guests to state their names, who invited them before answering a simple ice-breaking question related to the theme. You should get the guests and visiting-toastmasters to raise their hands to have a visual cue where they are seated. Normally we have over 20 guests so it is impossible for all of them to introduce themselves.
Proceed to pick 4 guests from each side of the hall to introduce himself/herself by answering the three questions;
- What is your name?
- Who invited you?
- The icebreaker question that you have pre-determined
You can do a demo on stage on yourself on how to answer the questions. If you have two SAA, one of them can go down the stage to be the mic-runner to pass the mic to the selected guests.
Finally, round up your segment by sharing a few thoughts and end it by introducing the TME (full TM title and name) to take over the stage or room.
DURING THE MEETING
Assit the TME to get the audience back into the hall at the end of the break. During the Table Topics Session, assist the TTM by writing down the name of each speaker on the flip chart.
TIPS FOR SAA
You are the first person in the programme to interact with the audience so it is vital that you start the meeting with lots of enthusiasm and high energy. Make the audience feel welcomed and relaxed. Be friendly, natural, and confident and the audience will reciprocate your energy. Smile!
The SAA role may seem simple, but it is very important. This is because first impressions count. A good start will set the right mood and atmosphere immediately! Therefore, it is vital that you rehearse this segment to ensure that you can lead the introduction naturally and gracefully.