Agora's clubs provide a supportive and friendly environment
where you can learn and practice the basic skills of public
speaking and leadership. There you will find not only a welcoming
atmosphere that encourages practice, but you will also be part of
a community that will help you with your projects, share
experience and provide valuable feedback on the ways you can
improve. You may also find a mentor who will guide you as you
progress throughout the first projects of the basic path
Clubs can be in English or in many other languages, and
some clubs are bilingual.
Before the meeting, members choose what roles they want to
have. It can be leading the whole meeting, presenting a speech or
evaluating someone else's progress. Some of the roles you might
find include:
Meeting
Leader - The Meeting Leader is a meeting's director and host,
the Master of Ceremony. He ensures that the meeting proceeds
smoothly, coordinates stage appearances and introduces the
guests and the speakers
Timer -
Keeps track of the speaking times and signals the speakers when
they are over the allotted time.
Speaker
(Prepared Speeches) - Gives a speech on a topic of his/her
choice, designed to meet the objectives of the educational
manual he's following. Usually speeches are 5 to 7 minutes long.
Book/Movie/Thought
of the day - Delivers a short (1-2 min) speech on a book or
movie. This is one of the best roles for people that are afraid
of speaking in public
Filler
Word Counter - Listens to everyone's word usage, and tracks
awkward use or misuse of the language, as well as the use of
filler words
Grammarian
- Listens to everyone's language usage, and reports on great
expressions or grammar mistakes to be corrected. This is a role
especially useful for those attending clubs that do not use
their native language
Word /
Idiom of the Day - Provides a word or idiom for the day, which
speakers are encouraged to use to train in being flexible in
their speeches
Hot
Questions Master - Selects a topic and asks questions to random
members-victims, who have to deliver a 1-2min "minispeech" on
the subject. This trains quick thinking and reacting to
unforseeble circumstances
Evaluator
- Provides feedback to the speaker, pointing to strong points
and areas for improvement and delivers a written assessment of
the speech.
Hot
Questions Evaluator - Evaluates the performance of both the Hot
Questions Master and the victims that were chosen by him.
Meeting
Evaluator - Gives an overall evaluation of the meeting,
including the performances of the Meeting Leader, Evaluators,
Grammarian, Timer and Hot Questions Evaluator.