Toastmaster - Sample Script
by Gabriela
Two minute introduction relative to the theme
Madam President, fellow Toastmasters, and honored guests: Our theme tonight is My Survival Kit. When I heard that, my first thought was, "I don’t have a survival kit!" I wasn’t even sure what a survival kit was. So I looked it up on the Internet. According to the Survival Kit Company home page, a survival kit is a box of items, which might be useful in a particular situation. There are more than 1.4 million Web pages containing the words "survival kit." They cover almost every situation you can imagine. There are survival kits for AIDS, pregnancy, menopause, hurricanes, and identity theft. There are survival kits for teen etiquette, job hunters, dance lessons, algebra, and holidays. And of course we can’t forget the ever popular Y2K survival kit.
King County Library System has 328 different items containing the words "survival kit" in the title – here’s one of them. This survival kit is not a box of items, but a book! It even has a floppy disk! But before I impose any books on you, I’ll give you a quote from American statistician W. Edwards Deming: "Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
Introduce Roles
And with that, I’m going to ask some of you to stand and explain your duties this evening. First, let’s hear from our grammarian – Bob, will you please tell us about your duties?
Mary Ann, our timer – please tell us what you’ll be doing this evening.
Introduce Speakers
Our first speaker today is our Club’s newest member. His survival kit consists of his Franklin day planner, which he calls his portable brain, and his library card, which he told us about in his excellent icebreaker speech. This is his 2nd speech, and he told me that he plans to break all speed records in completing the speeches in this manual – or something to that effect. And now – I present to you – Chaz Simmons, "Oh Lord! It’s Hard to Be Humble."
Allow for Comment Writing & Introduce Next Speaker
Let’s take one minute to write comments for Chaz...
Our next speaker has been a member of Toastmasters for 3 years, and is working to become an advanced Toastmaster. He’s had several opportunities to use a survival kit, including once in 1967 when he was captured while sneaking into Italy from Yugoslavia. His survival kit, which was a small bag, contained a vial of caffeine, 2 beers, a silverware set, money for bribes, a diamond ring, swimming trunks, and a plastic bag. And it worked – he survived! And now – Karl Zimonyi, "What Do You Mean by Holy?"
Let’s take one minute to write comments for Karl...
Vote for Most Improved Speaker
And now let’s vote for most improved speaker. Timer, will you please tell us which speakers qualified for awards?
Remembering that learning is not compulsory, I’ll show you some more survival kits. (Show and read snippets from them.) (Some humorous or interesting snippets from books containing "Survival Kit" in the title.)
Introduce Table Topics
And now it’s time for the spontaneous part of our meeting, where we’ll get a chance to speak unprepared. Our table topics master is our Club president and area governor, and she is an advanced Toastmaster and a really neat person. When I spoke to her earlier this week, she was hanging lights that came from her Christmas survival kit. She has some tough questions lined up for us tonight. Please join me in welcoming Sheila.
Vote for Best Table Topics Response
Now let’s take a moment to vote for best table topics speaker. Timer, will you please tell us which table topics speakers qualified for awards?
Introduce General Evaluator
It’s time now for the evaluation part of our meeting, where we can all learn something – even though it’s not compulsory to learn anything. Our general evaluator for tonight recently won the humorous speech competition for area 23. His survival kit consists of a steadfast determination to avoid the roads on New Year’s Eve. He’s been in Toastmasters for 5 years, and has served as Club president, treasurer, and vice president of membership. He’s an advanced Toastmaster, and is always entertaining. Let’s have a nice welcome for Steve.
Vote for Best Evaluator
Now let’s take a moment to vote for best evaluator. Mary Ann, can you please tell us which evaluators qualified for awards? (Wait a moment for the vote.) We’ve heard about a lot of different survival kits today. I’ll leave you with a relevant quote from Oscar Wilde: "One can survive everything, nowadays, except death." And now – back to our president, Sheila.