Club History
Oak Bay Toastmasters was founded in November, 1994 as “GVHS Toastmasters”. It was revived on May 5th, 1998 as “Oak Bay Toastmasters” by five members, two of whom are still members today – Darren Marr and Paul Ralfs. It is dedicated people like Darren and Paul who have helped Oak Bay Toastmasters achieve recognition for its’ quality speakers.

Accomplishments

• First community-oriented club in Victoria since 1986.
• President’s Distinguished Club status for eight consecutive years
• 7 Area Governors and 2 Division Governors
• 2 Award Winning Speakers
• 6 Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM)

Membership
Oak Bay Toastmaster’s membership does fluctuate during a year, but averages 25 to 30 members. The wide range of ages and ethnic origins makes us a diverse, fun, yet professional group; our members include students, lawyers, people with challenges, stay at home parents and retirees. Everyone is welcome.

Club roles
Our meetings don’t last long, yet the majority of our members have an opportunity to speak at every meeting. After a brief welcoming, we begin with a few, short prepared roles and several quick impromptu speeches. There is a brief break, followed by two to three longer speeches. Before closing, all speakers are evaluated to highlight their strengths and suggest improvements.

Toastmaster — The primary duty of the Toastmaster is to act as a genial host and conduct the entire program. It is the Toastmaster who creates the atmosphere of interest, expectation and receptivity. This task is usually assigned to members who are quite familiar with the club.

Greeter — The Greeter introduces the people who have come to the meeting as guests. The purpose is to make guests feel welcome by introducing them to the other members.

Timer — The Timer is responsible for keeping track of time. Each segment of the meeting is timed. The Timer explains the timing rules at the beginning of the meeting and provides a report at the end.

Grammarian — The Grammarian has two roles: first, to expand our vocabulary by introducing a Word of the Day to be used by members throughout the evening and second, to comment on the use and misuse of English during the meeting.

Inspiration — The Inspiration consists of giving a short story, poem, quote or speech. The object of the speech is to leave everyone with something inspiring to consider.

Smile Story — The smile story is a short, humorous speech. The object is to make people laugh with a short and clean joke.

Table Topics Master — The purpose of the Table Topics session is to have members "think on their feet" and give impromptu speeches. The Table Topics Master prepares and issues original topics. He or she looks for volunteer speakers and can also encourage members by calling on them at random.

Educational — This session is presented by an experienced Toastmaster as an educational speech. It can be on any relevant subject such as speech preparation, evaluation, meeting procedure, officer duties, and member obligations.

Toast — The purpose of the Toast is to give a toast on something distinctive and memorable. Generally, the toast is given on a topical and interesting subject, person or activity.

Speaker(s) — Each Speaker gives a prepared speech, which is often five to seven minutes for the basic manual. There are usually two to three speakers in a meeting, with both new and experienced members participating.

General Evaluator — As an experienced Toastmaster, the General Evaluator chairs this portion of the meeting, and is responsible for the evaluation team. Following the other evaluators, the General Evaluator evaluates everything that takes place throughout the meeting. He or she will comment on the Table Topics Evaluator and main Speech Evaluators, but not on the speakers themselves. A good evaluation is firm, fair and friendly. Improvement is encouraged and constructive comments offered.

Table Topics Evaluator — The Table Topics Evaluator takes notes on the performance of speakers during the Table Topics Session and gives them evaluations.

Speakers’ Evaluators — The Speakers’ Evaluators evaluate a prepared speech. In addition to an oral evaluation, they give the speaker a written evaluation from the manual.

Quizmaster — The Quizmaster comes up with questions from the speeches throughout the evening and presents them to other members as a quiz. The purpose is to improve our listening skills.