Grammarian

Being Grammarian is truly an exercise in expanding your listening skills. Your role is two-fold. First, alert members to the overuse of fillers, such as "ah", "like", "you know." Second, comment on the use of standard English during the course of the meeting.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are not comfortable with pinpointing grammar errors, concentrate on the fillers, the word of the day and colorful phrases. In order to address strict grammar, you can either ask someone with that skill to sit next to you and send you a note about any "offenses" OR give your report on the above and then ask the group to mention any errors that you have missed. Don't let a weakness in standard grammar keep you from taking this role.

PRIOR TO THE MEETING

Prepare a brief explanation of the duties of the Grammarian. You will use this only if there are guests and if the Toastmaster hasn't done this in your introduction.

Print the following tool out and study it. It will be your note-taking guide as you listen closely at the meeting. [file://\\dcncsrvrmsf14\applications\Documentation\Toastmasters\Grammarian Worksheet.xlt Grammarian Note-taking Guide]

DURING THE MEETING

Throughout the meeting, listen to everyone’s word usage. Write down any awkward use or misuse of the language (incomplete sentences, sentences that change direction in midstream, incorrect grammar, etc.) with a note of who erred. Make a note if the speaker used the “Word of the Day" (or a derivative of it) correctly, or not. Capture the "ahs" or other fillers for each person, using tick marks on your chart.

When called on by the Toastmaster, use your notes to provide feedback to the speakers. Be careful! You only have 3 minutes, so you will need to prioritize.

Skip the "picky" items and go over the ones that can be most beneficial to members. (For example, a person with only one or two "ahs" might not be mentioned.)

Try to offer the correct usage in every instance where there was misuse, rather than only saying what was wrong. Avoid general statements such as "We all need to work on word endings." It is better to say "Paul, I heard runnin' and playin'. Try next time to pronounce it running and playing."

Report on creative language usage.

Announce who used the “Word of the Day" (or a derivative of it) correctly or incorrectly. If a person has a strong accent, only mention it in the context of understanding. For instance, "Mary, try to pronounce the V ... it took me a while to catch that you were saying the word 'value'."