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John Paterson, Miranda Toastmaster, explains the history and judging criteria of the Parliamentarian Contest
The Parliamentarian Contest is unique to Miranda Toastmasters. It was initiated to commemorate the passion of Barnum F Tooth, who was President of the Club in 1970. Barry was a stickler for the strict following of Renton’s Rules for all Club business meetings.
I joined the club in 1979 and can remember many times when Barry, who was a huge and impressive man, stood to raise ‘points of order’ and ‘move dissent from the Chairman’s ruling’. I was a new Toastmaster, just learning the leadership roles offered by Toastmasters and Barry made it an interesting exercise to say the least.
The first winner of the award was Garo Hartoonian, who won the inaugural contest in 1992/93.
This award is now 35 years old and we need our new members to take an active interest in the roles of Chairman and Parliamentarian to keep the tradition alive.
Our Club has reduced the number of meetings where we have a full business session, in favour of presenting more educational presentations. This is in part because the Westminster Rules for running a meeting can be confusing for those visitors and new members who are not familiar with the process of running a meeting using 400-year-old rules.
If anyone watches Question Time when the Federal Parliament is sitting they will rarely be inspired by the way both Government and Opposition perform. They should be consoled by the fact that the Speaker is trying to maintain control by using the same rules that we use to run our meetings.
While the experience gained may not be directly translated into your daily life, I have found the lessons learned have proved valuable when participating in business, strata and executive meetings.
Parliamentarian role
The role of the Parliamentarian is to evaluate the Chairman’s performance in conducting a Club meeting.
There are a few key points which a Parliamentarian can use to evaluate a Chairman:
- Did the meeting start on time?
- Did the Chairman adequately prepare?
- Was the Chairman decisive?
- Was the Chairman fair and impartial?
- Were matters handled correctly?
- Try to refer to at least one paragraph in Renton’s
- COMMEND/COMMEND/RECOMMEND/PRAISE
Above all, have fun!
Judging criteria
Contest judges assess each Parliamentarian Evaluation according to strict criteria. Out of a possible 100 points, judges will measure each Evaluation on four elements: The value of each element is as follows:
- 40% for Analytical Quality: Clear, focused
- 30% for Recommendations: Positive, Specific, Helpful
- 15% for Technique: Sympathetic, Sensitive, Motivational
- 15% for Summation: Concise, Encouraging
Timing
The length of the Evaluation is 2 to 3 minutes.
Contestants will be disqualified if the Evaluation is less than 1 minute 30 seconds or more than 3 minutes 30 seconds.
Have a go
Every member can compete in the Parliamentarian Contest. I would encourage everyone to stretch their Parliamentarian skills.
About the author
John Paterson joined Toastmasters in 1979. He has held many committee roles at Miranda Toastmasters, including three times as club president. John enjoys the challenges of a complex business session.