Guest Introducer

The main purpose of the Guest Introducer is to facilitate the task of inviting guests to introduce themselves.

The main responsibilities of the Guest Introducer are:

To speak to guests before the start of the meeting and make a list of names
To invite guests to stand up one-by-one and give a short introduction about themselves

Prior to the meeting

Introduce yourself to the guests

Locate the guests (perhaps guided by whoever is responsible for greeting new arrivals) and explain your role as Guest Introducer. Say that guests are usually asked to say a few short words about themselves near the start of the meeting.

Make a list of names and make sure you are confident in the pronunciation of any tricky ones.

In the rare case that a guest does not want to introduce themselves (e.g. because of nerves) make a note of this and exclude them from the introductions.

During the meeting

Keep an eye out for late arrivals

Make a note of any guests arriving after the meeting has started. If you are not sure whether a late arrival is a guest or a member, quietly ask another member to clarify.

Facilitate the individual introductions

When prompted by the Toastmaster, step up to the front of the room, give a short introduction and invite guests one-by-one to stand and briefly say something about themselves.

Here’s an example introduction:

Guests are always welcome to our meetings and so it’s great to see some here tonight. We’d like to get to know you a little better so I’d like to get each of our guests to briefly introduce themselves.

Ask guests to stand up, but make it clear there is no need to come to the front of the room. This introduces unnecessary delays.

Make sure you give a clear structure, for example: “Please say your name, what you do for a living, and briefly what brings you to Toastmasters.”

Introduce the guests in turn, according to where they are sitting in the audience, e.g. left-to-right, front-to-back.

If guests arrive after the start of the meeting, make sure you still include them in the introductions. You might say something like: “I wasn’t able to get your name earlier, but you sir, would you like to stand up and introduce yourself?”

When you’ve reached the last guest, make sure you haven’t missed anyone, for example by saying: “I think that’s everyone. Is there anyone I’ve missed out?”.

Hand back to the Toastmaster

Make any closing remarks, for example “It’s great to see so many new faces!” and then hand confidently back to the Toastmaster with a handshake.