A typical Brussels Toastmasters meeting is made up of 20 to 30 people. The meeting starts promptly at 7:30 pm and generally finishes up around 10:00 pm.

An outline of the major speaking roles and events of a typical meeting is as follows:

§ The Sergeant-at-Arms calls the meeting to order and introduces the Club President who announces any club news and introduces the guests.

§ The Toastmaster of the Evening is a club member who leads the meeting, acting as master of ceremonies for the evening.

§ Table Topics:

o This is a segment of improvised speaking, which is led by the Table Topics Master. He/she prepares a topic and questions in advance to pose to various members of the audience who are NOT advised beforehand. Therefore there is no preparation or rehearsal on the part of people who are chosen to answer a table topic question.

o Table Topics challenges the audience to listen well, think fast and communicate effectively. Topics can be fun or serious, on virtually any subject possible. Participants have two minutes to respond/elaborate on the subject. The audience votes for the Best Table Topic speaker.

§ Short break where dinner is served

§ Prepared Speeches:

o Three to five club members give prepared speeches which fulfill objectives described in the basic and advanced manuals supplied by Toastmasters International. Most speeches last five to seven minutes. Advanced speeches can last longer.

o Speech topics are chosen by the speaker and can be on any subject desired. You will enjoy the diversity of the speeches and speaking styles. The audience votes for the Best Speaker of the evening.

§ Evaluations:

o Each prepared speech is assigned an individual Evaluator. The purpose of evaluations is to offer constructive feedback to help members become better speakers. Evaluators acknowledge what was done well and may have suggestions for improvement. Each Evaluation lasts 2 to 3 minutes. The audience votes on the Best Evaluator.

§ There are also short evaluations by the Grammarian, who reports on our use of language, the Timer, who has noted the duration of each presentation, and the Ah-Counter, who keeps track of every um, ah and other speech stumbles. The General Evaluator then assesses the entire meeting.

§ Vote counting: The winners of the voting for Best Speaker and Best Evaluator are announced.

§ Closing: Guests have a chance to share their impressions of the evening.

Guests are welcome to visit a meeting with no further obligation. Click here on how to be our guest.