Table Topics –

Think Fast!! A Toastmasters Training Workshop

byL. J. Lamb, ATM-G, CL3

PresidentPrestige Toastmasters Club

Taipei, Taiwan

Table Topics – What is it?

1. Table Topics is the impromptu session of a Toastmasters meeting, when individuals respond to questions with unrehearsed mini-speeches.

2. The topics range from politics and current events to hobbies and entertainment.

3. Table Topics is fast, lively, and entertaining.

Table Topics Develops Skills

1. Listening

2. Thinking

3. Organizing

4. Speaking

Table Topics Procedure

1. Ask the question

2. Call on an individual

3. Repeat the question

Table Topics – A mini-speech

Table Topics or any impromptu speaking opportunity is really a mini-speech, that requires an opening, a body, and a conclusion.

Table Topics Beginning

“Table Topics Master, fellow Toastmasters, and welcome guests.”

This is a courtesy greeting, which also gives you a few seconds to evaluate the question and think of an answer.

DO NOT SAY – “Good evening!”

Table Topics Opening

1. Restate the question – “Thank you for asking me to speak on…”

2. Give or make up a quote – “Abraham Lincoln once said…”

3. Use humor –“I’ve been waiting a full six months for someone

to ask me that question!"

Table Topics Body Format

1. Past, Present, or Future

2. Before and After

3. Compare and Contrast

To organize the answer to the question, pick a format and follow it throughout your response.

Table Topics Summary

1. "To summarize…."

2. "So, in answer to the question…"

3. “Thus, my thoughts on the subject of X vary from Y to Z.”

The summary is important, because it reemphasizes what you have said and tells the audience that you are about to finish.

Table Topics Ending

1. Restate the question.

2. Restate the opening quote.

3. Repeat the same humor.

-- Don’t introduce new material.-- Return control the the Table Topics

Master.

Table Topics – Contest Procedure

1 to 2 minutes in length. Impromptu speaking. All contestants are taken out of the

room and brought back in one by one to speak on the same topic.

Since no contestant hears the topic before it is his turn to speak, the judges can evaluated each contestants’ impromptu speaking abilities.

Table Topics Judge’s Guide

Judge’s Official Ballot Form

Table Topics – Sample Question #1

What was the most exciting thing you did during Chinese New Year?

Table Topics – Sample Question #2

What one thing would you do to improve Taiwan’s environment, if you were the Director of Environmental Protection?

Table Topics – Q & A

Now is the time for your questions.

Table Topics -- Your opportunity

Table Topics is your opportunity to enhance your listening, thinking, organizing, speaking skills and learn to meet the communication challenges of everyday life.

By effectively using Table Topics, you will have a lively and stimulating club program.