Script for role of Timer in Toastmasters

Hello everyone.

About a few days back, I read something very fascinating in a marketing book. It said some people may be financially rich but everyone is time poor. To elaborate, people today have multiple things jostling for their attention and therefore, your company’s marketing efforts should not waste their time.

If you think about it, for a public speaker this is equally true.  When a speaker takes too much time to arrive at their central point, or speak beyond their time limit, a time poor audience may choose to abandon them. It is therefore very important to deliver your perfect message in the time allotted to you.

This is the very essence of the role of a timer in Toastmasters. In Toastmasters, every session has a predefined time limit for the speaker. As a timer, it is my duty to let speakers be aware of their time when they are on the stage.

For the prepared speech section, the time allotted is 5 to 7 minutes. At 5 minutes I will flash the green card, at 6 the yellow and at 7 the red card.

For the Table Topic session the time allotted is 1 to 2 minutes. At 1 minute, I will flash the green card, at 1.5 the yellow and at 2 the red card.

And for the speech evaluations, the time limit is 2 to 3 minutes. At 2 minutes, I will flash the green card, at 2.5 the yellow and at 3 minutes the red card.

There is a grace period of 30 seconds after the red card is flashed each time to wrap up your speech.

I hope all the speakers strive to be within their allotted time limit. I will be back with my report towards the end of the meeting.

Thank You