How Escarpment Toastmasters Uses Google Forms

By Bryn Snow, C.C. DL 2

With the advent of online meetings, voting for Best Speaker, Best Table Topics, Best Evaluator or trying to offer comments on speeches has hit a snag.

Of course, we used to pass out the little strips of paper, carefully cut up, distributed pens and asked participants to offer their votes.

With online meetings during Covid 19, so many things have needed to change.

However, Escarpment Toastmasters has figured out an easy way to vote and send results to the Club Secretary or Sergeant at Arms.

Louis Li, a member of Milton Toastmasters, who helped as Club Mentor with Escarpment Toastmasters as they achieved Charter Status in March of this year, showed members how to use Google Forms to make voting easy.

Simply go to Google Forms https://www.google.com/forms/about/, select the Free Personal version, and create a Form.

Here is a screenshot from their home page:

Create the Form and place a link to it in the Chat box during the meeting. Our Sergeant at Arms posts the link to the voting Form immediately following the speech or presentation. Then members are given a minute or two to fill out the Form. 

 Here is a sample Form I created. As you can see there are many options in creating Forms:

Which prompts you to fill out additional information – email addresses, etc. Or you can choose to create a pre-filled link which you can paste into the Chat box of your Zoom platform. Links are clicked on by members, and they can fill out the form, and hit Send and it will be sent to the Sergeant at Arms or Secretary who in turn forwards it to the Speaker.

Escarpment Toastmasters uses this every week. It is an effective way to vote and comment.

Bryn Snow is the President of Escarpment Toastmasters and a Milton,ON area writer and blogger.