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Sergeant at Arms

The Global Toastmasters Resource

The Sergeant at Arms is the seventh-ranking club officer. In aid of your club’s goal to provide an environment in which members can learn communication and leadership skills, you are responsible for:

  • Working cooperatively and responsibly with club members in general and with the Executive Committee specifically,
  • Maintaining Club Equipment and keeping an inventory of meeting supplies,
  • Scheduling and arranging the meeting room, and
  • Greeting and welcoming club members, guests, and Toastmaster visitors

Contents

[edit] Duties

[edit] Outside of the club meeting

  • Maintain club equipment in working order and, after every meeting, ensure adequate supplies are available;
    • Ensure that your club's timer is working, its battery is good, and that you can instruct the Timer in its use.
    • Ensure that the timer lights are in good working order. If battery-powered, ensure the battery is good and that a spare battery is kept on hand.
  • Attend club Executive Committee meetings;
  • Attend district-sponsored Club Officer Training (twice each year);
  • Arrange for assistance if necessary, and find a replacement if you are not able to serve your duty at a meeting;
  • At the end of your term of office, prepare and train your successor.

[edit] In preparation for each club meeting

  • Schedule meeting location; arrange for food service at meal meetings;
    • In advance of meeting, confirm location availability.
  • Confirm that your membership list is up to date, and verify that you have contact information (including cell phone number) for each member.

[edit] At each club meeting

[edit] Before participants arrive

Arrange the room and your club's properties. Allow 30 minutes to complete these tasks, and plan to complete the work before members begin arriving (say, 15 minutes before calling the meeting to order).

  • Check room temperature
  • At front of room:
  • Near entrance to room:
    • Guest book with pen, name tags with marker
      • Guest book should include space for contact information (phone, email)
      • Each name tag should be printed with club name and number along with club contact information
    • Educational materials:
      • Promotional brochures (Catalog Nos. 99 and 100)
      • Educational materials
      • Club Newsletters
      • Toastmasters International Catalog
      • Toastmaster magazine
      • Club charter, constitution, and bylaws
  • Near rear:
    • Timer and timer lights
  • Arrange tables and chairs appropriately, and:

[edit] As participants arrive

With room preparations completed, your job is to greet participants as they arrive. Stand by the door, and remain there until the meeting begins.

  • Greet each club member, guest, and Toastmaster visitor with a smile and a welcome
  • Members to sign the attendance form
  • Guests and visitors to sign the guest book
  • Give a name tag to each person lacking one, members included
    • Your club may charge a modest fee to members who fail to appear with their club name tag
  • Arrange for each guest to sit with a member of the Social and Reception Committee;
  • Greet the area governor and other visiting officers and escort them to the club President;
    • Expect a visit at least twice each year from your Area Governor, who will observe the meeting and talk with officers
  • Ensure that each participant receives a ballot form
    • Have spare forms on hand for those who did not receive one

[edit] During the meeting

  • Ensure the meeting starts on time;
    • Make sure that everyone is seated and ready to start the meeting at the scheduled time
      • A few minutes before calling the meeting to order, remind participants that the meeting is about to begin
      • Invite people to find a place to sit
      • Ask everyone if they have a meeting agenda and ballot form
    • Call the meeting to order, if your club has the Sergeant at Arms perform this function
      • Remind participants to turn off cell phones
      • If appropriate, remind participants to pay their restaurant bill and leave a tip
      • Introduce each guest and visitor, if your club has the Sergeant at Arms perform this function
      • Give the gavel over to the President or Toastmaster per your club’s agenda
  • Sit near the door so you can greet latecomers, prevent unnecessary interruptions, and perform needed errands
    • If beverages are served during the meeting, you may want to do this service yourself to avoid having members moving around while someone is giving a speech
  • Collect ballots and tally votes for awards, if your club has the Sergeant at Arms serve this function.

[edit] After each meeting

  • Provide the club Vice President Membership with information from the Guest Book for followup.
  • Store away all club properties, making note of any materials that may require replenishing
  • Ensure that props are arranged sensibly, so your alternate will be able to find what is needed. (You may not have time to to train your alternate if an emergency prevents you from serving at the next meeting.)
  • Restore the room to its original configuration and state of cleanliness, for the benefit of good relations with the management of your club’s meeting place

[edit] Leadership

As Sergeant at Arms, you are a member of the club Executive Committee and chair your club’s Social and Reception Committee.

[edit] Executive Committee

As a member of the Executive Committee, you attend its meetings and participate in its function. You work with other members of this committee to establish club goals for the term of office and work out a plan of action to accomplish them.

Note that service in a club office on the Executive Committee contributes toward progress in the Leadership Track of the Toastmasters Educational Program.

[edit] Materials

In your capacity of club Sergeant at Arms, you need to keep and maintain certain materials and records. These you will pass on to the next office holder as you train them.

  • Membership list including emergency contact information.

[edit] Social and Reception Committee

The job of the Social and Reception Committee is to ensure that each guest (read: “new member prospect”) receives a welcome that will encourage them to ultimately become a member. And visitors (e.g., Area Governor or other district officer) should be conducted to the club President, who will know how to address their concerns. And, of course, each club member should be greeted upon arrival.

Members of the Social and Reception Committee can consider adopting goals such as:

  • Ensure that each guest is greeted with a warm smile and a handshake upon arrival.
  • Ensure that each guest signs the guest book, including contact information, such as an email address, phone, and address.
  • Ensure that each guest receive a club name tag, with contact information for the club printed on it.
  • Ensure that each guest receive promotional material, such as the brochures and DVDs available from Toastmasters International, explaining Toastmasters and its benefits.
  • Ensure that each guest is seated with a club member, perhaps from the Social and Reception Committee itself, who will see to the comfort of the guest and explain the workings of the club meeting.
  • Ensure that each guest is thanked for attending the club meeting and is promised a followup call.
  • Ensure that each guest is contacted and invited to the next club meeting.

Your leadership opportunity is to foster the growth of a Social and Reception Committee that will determine its goals, decide how to carry them out, and then do so. As chair, you will track progress toward the committee’s goals, make alterations as necessary, and recognize members contributions.

[edit] Assistance and Alternate

If the tasks of setting up the meeting room and storing away afterward are too much for one person to carry out, you may want to arrange for an assistant to help you. (The experience is good training for a future Sergeant at Arms!)

Likewise, if you know you are going to be tardy or absent, ask someone to fill in for you. Remember that club members do fill in for each other from time to time, and that this practice is part of working together as a club. You ability to appropriately delegate tasks is itself a leadership skill.

[edit] Service in your club’s District governance

While not directly connected to your role as Sergeant at Arms, service as a District Officer in your club’s district is an opportunity to learn new skills and work within a wider network, while benefiting Toastmasters clubs in your area.

Note that service as a District Officer contributes toward progress in the Leadership Track of the Toastmasters Educational Program.

[edit] Calendar

The chart below follows the Sergeant at Arms through a 12-month term, showing the key items to take care of in each month. Many of the tasks repeat practically each month and each meeting. Tasks are given an abbreviation, explained in the legend.

If your term is for six months, then it will end in December, which should be treated as the month of May, below, and the incoming officer should treat December as the first month of the chart, June.

Excomm Room Props Meet Train Other
June X Prepare
July X X X X X
August X X X X X
September X X X X
October X X X X
November X X X X
December X X X X X
January X X X X X
February X X X X X
March X X X X
April X X X X
May X X X X Assemble
June X X X X Transmit

[edit] Legend

  • Excomm—Attend and participate in meetings of the Executive Committee
  • Room—Confirm meeting room availability
  • Props—Maintain club properties and supplies
  • Meet—Attend club meetings, arrive in time to set up room and then greet participants. Perform other meeting roles as required.
  • Train—Attend district-sponsored club officer training. This task appears on the chart three times in the summer; you should attend the training at least once in this time period. It also appears three times in the winter, where you should attend at least once.
  • Prepare
    • Meet with incoming Executive Committee to prepare a club success plan and club budget
    • Obtain and study manual for Sergeant at Arms
    • Obtain materials and records from the outgoing Sergeant at Arms
    • Review Toastmasters International catalog and order needed materials
  • Assemble
    • Assemble all needed materials and records for transmission to successor
  • Transmit
    • Meet with incoming Executive Committee and give materials and records to successor
    • Help prepare successor for office

[edit] Problem Solving

This section is devoted to problems that the Sergeant at Arms may encounter, with discussion of how such problems may be dealt with. Please create a minor heading for each problem, state the problem clearly, and add your discussion (be sure to identify yourself).

[edit] Problem: Club meeting room is not always in the same place

--ArthurOgawa 01:28, 25 July 2009 (UTC) According to discussions with a past Sergeant at Arms in a corporate club, there are logistical problems stemming from a confluence of factors:

  • Club meeting room is sometimes not available (preempted by management, construction, etc.)
  • Club cubby (where club properties are stored) is located in a secure area only available to company employees who work in that particular bulding

Some of the problems experienced:

  • Moving club properties to the meeting room entails tranfer between company buildings
  • If the club meeting runs overtime, Storing properties in the cubby can be difficult when the Sergeant at Arms is not a company employee

How problem has been addressed:

  • These problems are currently unresolved; please offer your suggestions and ideas!

[edit] Problem: meeting room cancelled, properties unreachable

--ArthurOgawa 22:19, 30 July 2009 (UTC) This happened to our club (Orangebelt Toastmasters) on 27 July 2009. We normally meet at a restaurant, but on that day, without notice, the restaurant was closed for parking lot renovation. Compounding the problem, all of our properties were in the locked restaurant: they were unreachable. We found an alternate meeting place at another restaurant, called all of the members, and carried on with no ballots, trophies, ribbons, timer, timing lights, lectern, or gavel.

Some thoughts:

  • I did not need to be blindsided by the restaurant's closure: as Sergeant at Arms, I should have called to confirm the meeting room, just the same as if I were arranging the meeting afresh. Once I had known that the restaurant would not be used for the meeting, I could have made arrangements to pick up the needed properties.
  • I should have had a current membership list, with cell phone numbers already programmed into my cell phone.
  • I should have had an emergency supply of properties with me. A small kit would have allowed us to proceed with fewer disruptions:
    • Signage and tape (to put up the notice on the old meeting room announcing the room change).
    • Gavel (if not a lectern).
    • National flag (small), spare club banner (small).
    • Ribbons (if not trophies).
    • Speakers envelopes and ballot forms (if not a spare ballot box).
    • Makeshift guest book, spare pen.
    • Spare nametags and marker.
    • Spare timer and timing placards.
    • Brochures, catalog, charter, constitution, bylaws.
  • Now that I think of it, the above kit would be a good thing to use, maintain, and develop constantly.

[edit] Resources

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