Toastmasters Bratislava

It took me a few month before serving as a Timer in a meeting.

Indeed, it was not until I decided to fulfill the Time management project from the Competent leadership manual. I then considered it would be an easy role. Like all roles, it’s a little bit more difficult than it looks…

From an external point of view, the Timer just has to control the time and show the green, yellow and red card when needed. But when you actually have to do it, you realize there are a few obstacles. First, it’s not always that easy to know when to start… Second, it’s not always easy to notice that we reached a step (green, yellow, or red) !

The trouble actually starts when the timer get captured by the speech. He then forgets to follow the clock… and the board comes directly from white to red ! It is a situation that I lived as a speaker. I was surprised I still did not reach the green signal, and I asked the speaker if I still had time. He then realized that I was already overtime by more than one minute… (on the other hand, it is always better to have a timer who forgets to time you because he is too much interested by your speech, than having a timer who forgets to time you because he is sleeping…)

What to do to make it easier ?

This is why I looked on the internet to find a few resources…

I found a lot of softwares, free or not, and with a quick search, you should also find some. For instance, directly on the Toastmasters international website…

I finally chose two softwares that fitted my needs.

The first one is for PC. It is Time Toaster. It is very practical, and can even replace your cards or lights if the screen is facing the speaker.

Not only can you choose the time allocated, but you can also track it in a text file. Very useful for Table topics session !

Last but not least, you see the real time and a progress bar. You might want to hide it in a Toastmasters session with a piece of paper, but it is still very useful when rehearsing.

And to make it even better, it is FREE !

The other one I found is more practical, as you just need a phone. In my case, it is an iPhone, but I am sure you can find the equivalent for other smart-phones. There are various software available for toastmasters’ purpose. I invite you to type “toastmasters” in a search engine, and you will find a full list of them.

I use Speechmate. I find it easy to use on the field: see the pictures below. You choose the speech type, you press start, and the lights automatically flash up. You cannot really miss it ! In addition, you can use sounds, either to help you or the speaker.

I successfully used this tool as a Timer in an international contest, as a Timer in my club, and even in other roles to keep track (Table topics evaluator, Toastmaster of the evening, etc). The right tool ! Small and simple ! There is a free version with a few preset times (enough at the beginning), and a full version where you can set up your own times.

As all roles, Timer seems easier than it really is. By finding the right tools, you can improve a lot your performance when serving in it.

The nicest thing, indeed, is that you will be able to enjoy the speeches and still time them right.