Being the Grammarian improves critical thinking, listening, and planning skills.

When called upon by the General Evaluator, the Grammarian explains their role and introduces the word of the day. The Grammarian's job is to monitor and notate both grammatical errors and exemplary use of grammar. When introducing the word of the day, the Grammarian explains the meaning of the word and uses it in a sentence. The word, definition, and example sentence should be given to the General Evaluator prior to the meeting in order to include it on the agenda. 

Tips for presenting the word of the day during a virtual meeting:

• Copy and paste word, definition and sentence in the zoom chat. You may need to post it a few times in between speeches.

• Create a powerpoint slide that includes the word. When introducing the word in your introduction in the beginning of the meeting, do a screen share so people can visually see the information.

• Take ownership on how you would want to introduce the word of the day info to zoom attendees.

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During the meeting:

• Monitor and notate where grammar can be improved, such as 

  • Colloquialisms - ya’ll, gonna, wanna, aint. Tools: spell out words while writing your speech instead of using contractions such as “can’t”, “won’t”- practice saying cannot, will not and prevent them in verbal speech, avoid using nondescript filler words like “very”, “alot”, “many”, and replace them with a precise figure like 50%.

  • Non-sequiturs- current statement does not follow the previous statement. Ex: “In my experience, volunteering at the homeless shelter helped pave my future career path in community development. My passion is in environmental science.” In this example, the speaker should add a sentence to describe an experience that stemmed their passion in environmental science with a transition.

  • Incomplete sentences- Ex. "I went to school and yeah."

  • Word repetitions- Ex: “I love writing speeches at the library and sharing it with my friends and creating drafts before my toastmasters meeting.” In this example, the speaker used the word “and” repeatedly. While practicing your speech, try to catch yourself when using multiple filler words, write the # of times the words were used, and edit your speech. Use a thesaurus to prevent word repetitions.

  • Offensive language- not limited to curse words. Emphasizes the differences between people or implying one group is superior to another.

• ​ Monitor and notate exemplary uses of grammar, such as:

  • Use of figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors​

    • For more examples of figures of speech, check out this article.​

  • Word choice

• Report format while presenting: (Speaker), I heard (grammar error(s)). For your next speech, try using (suggestion(s)).

  • Example: For our prepared speakers, I heard run-on sentences. For your next speech try using transitions in between sentences such as "however," "in addition," or "in contrast." During the Table Topics Session, I heard a couple of word repetitions. In order to improve your language usage, try to end your sentence if you catch yourself repeating the word "and." Sentence variation and structure can reduce repetition and add flavor to your thoughts while speaking during the Table Topics session participation.

• At the end of the meeting, provide your report on who used the Word of the Day and if they used it correctly. Also provide your Grammar Master report.

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