The Sergeant-At-Arms arrives about 6:45 a.m. and unlocks the doors to our meeting room at Grand Terrace City Hall.  Any member who wishes to arrive early is encouraged to do so and together they set-up the tables, chairs, lectern, flag, banner, timing lights, start the coffee, bring out educational materials, etc.
 
The Toastmaster for the day arrives about 6:50 and puts the finishing touches on the meeting's agenda (making additional assignments as needed).  The Sergeant-At-Arms calls the meeting to order promptly at 7:00 a.m. and turns control of the meeting to the Club President.

The President asks for the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, introduces guests, makes and asks for business announcements, calls on the Jokemaster of the Day, and then introduces the Toastmaster of the Day.  Note that all responsibilities, except elected positions, are rotated through the membership on a weekly basis thus everyone gets a chance to learn by doing.

The Toastmaster introduces the theme for the day as well as their staff of Timer, Grammarian, Ah/Vote Counter, and Volume Control Moderator.  A Timer is needed as all speeches, table topics, and evaluations are timed (in preparation for the real world).  A Grammarian gives the group a word of the day which should be used by the members while speaking, particularly during Table Topics.  The Grammarian also listens for fractured speech and word misuse.
 
The Ah/Vote Counter listens for Ah's and other verbal crutches as well as collects the votes (everyone votes for best Speaker, Table Topics, and Evaluator).  The Volume Control Moderator rates the vocal volume of each participant thus encouraging everyone to 'Speak Up!'
 
There are generally three Speakers.  Speeches are composed by the Speaker based upon the project speech they are working on and can be on any subject (within good taste).  Before each speech the Speaker's Evaluator is asked by the Toastmaster to give the audience the Speakers objectives.  The Toastmaster introduces each pair of Evaluator and Speaker in turn.
 
Speeches range in length from 3 minutes to 20+ minutes with most of them being about 7 minutes long.  At the completion of all the speeches the Timer gives their report and optionally disqualifies (from the voting) speakers who are over time.  Everyone then votes for best Speaker.

The Toastmaster next introduces and turns control of the meeting over to the Table Topics Master.  The Table Topics Master calls on individuals to speak extemporaneously on a question posed by the Table Topics Master (generally based on the meeting's theme).  The individual called on then speaks for approximately two minutes on the subject.
 
After the time for Table Topics has been exhausted the Table Topics Master calls for the Timer's and Grammarian's reports.  Everyone votes for best Table Topics speaker and the Table Topics Master returns control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.

The Toastmaster then introduces the General Evaluator who proceeds to call on each of the Evaluators in turn.  The Evaluators each give a three minute critique of their Speakers speech.  Evaluations are meant to encourage and support with one or two points included on which the Speaker could improve upon.
 
After the Evaluations, the General Evaluator asks for a Timer's report and the group votes for best Evaluator.  The General Evaluator also calls on the Ah Counter, Grammarian, and Volume Control Moderator for their reports and gives a general evaluation of the meeting (what went right and one or two things that need improving upon).  The General Evaluator also gives the Good Day Award to the person in the audience who did something special during the meeting or for the club.  The General Evaluator then turns control of the meeting to the Toastmaster.

The Toastmaster of the Day awards the ribbons for Best Table Topics, Best Evaluator, and Best Speaker and returns control of the meeting to the President.

The President asks for visitor comments, last minute announcements, and the Thought for the Day.  The meeting is adjourned at approximately 8:15 a.m.

After the meeting, the tables, chairs, banner, etc. are taken down and the room is returned to its previous condition.  A smaller group of Toastmasters which have 'rumbly tummys' then go off to breakfast for about 45 minutes.  Of course everyone is always invited ... the boss will understand.

The above is a 'typical' meeting but other meeting formats may apply, such as the backwards meeting (where everything is done in reverse order), special leadership or communication meetings where one member presents a special Toastmaster International program, debates, etc.  The format is varied to keep things interesting and enable speakers to give longer speeches toward their project goals.

In short, our meetings are structured and professional though friendly and supportive.  Come join us and see what a difference Toastmasters will make in your life!