Does the President or Sergeant at Arms Open Club Meetings?
Oct 27
Some clubs—even some divisions—mistakenly believe the SAA opens meetings, then turns control over to the President, who turns control over to the Toastmaster of the Day.
From page 22 of the officer’s manual (the link should go straight there):
The club president opens and presides over every club, business, and executive committee meeting.
It’s my theory that this confusion results from page 7 of the Sergeant at Arms Manual:
Ensures the meeting starts on time. Notify the club president several minutes before the meeting is scheduled to begin
This doesn’t mean the sergeant at arms opens the meeting—it means the club president (or highest ranking officer attending) opens the meeting, but if they don’t appear to be paying attention to the time, the SAA can gently remind them when it gets close to time so they get ready to open the meeting.
Also, note the sample meeting agenda Toastmasters provides in certain manuals. For example, on pages 66 and 67 of the Competent Communication manual, where the very first part of the agenda lists the president calling the meeting to order.
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This presupposes a specific defitionion of “opening the meeting”, however. I’ve myself organized corporate symposia chaired by external people from academia. A representative of the company would call the audience to order, give a few points of order and then hand the meeting over to the chair, who would then open the meeting proper.