For any new member or guest in a Toastmasters meeting, the purpose and role of the Ah counter does not become clear instantly. Often, it takes a few meetings to fully realise the importance of the job of the Ah counter.
When you are the Ah counter, it is your duty to make sure your role is well understood by your audience right at the very beginning. This can be achieved by making sure that the introduction of your role is so relevant that it strikes a chord with your audience right away.
Look at the following introduction speech for an ah counter.
No single statement in the history of Indian Media has been as impactful as this one – “The Nation wants to know.” Can you guess whom does this belong to? Yes Arnab Goswami. This single statement has raised the career graph of Arnab Goswami so high that the entire nation knows him now.
But imagine if Arnab Goswami said “The nation um wants to know” instead of “The nation wants to know.” Would it have made that impact? Or just imagine if Arnab Goswami asked the participants in his debate show questions like “Whats your um view on that?” He would have never sounded as assertive and bold as he does now. No wonder Arnab Goswami is India’s most viewed journalist.
Fellow Toastmasters, that is the power of a speech sans filler words. It makes you effective and bold so that your audience sits up and listens to every word you say.
My role as an Ah counter today is make you aware of the filler words you use during your speeches. I will keep track of words like um, ah, and, you know, etc that you use and let you know towards the end of the meeting so that you can work upon them and become bold and efficient like Mr. Arnab Goswami.
Over to you the General Evaluator.
Doesn’t an introduction like that make the role of an ah counter clear immediately? Next time when you are the ah counter, make sure you let your audience know the importance of your role.
Have you got another introduction that makes ah counter’s role crystal clear. Let us know.
My Meeting Roles 