Your job as table topics master is to choose a theme for impromptu speeches and act as host for that part of the evening. At Chiltern Speakers, we have table topics at the beginning as a warm-up for the prepared speeches.
Before the evening
Come up with a loose theme to link your topics and at least six or seven specific topics. Themes that have been successful in the past are:
- Dictionary words that no-one is likely to have heard of – they have to invent a meaning.
- Headlines with a word missing – the speakers supply their choice of word and then let their imagination go.
- Smells – the Table Topics master brought little pots containing spices, soap, lime juice and chocolate and asked the speakers to say what memories the smell triggered.
- Animals – simply a list of animals, and each speaker gets one and says what it makes them think about.
Tip: Don’t make it too complicated. The speaker’s challenge is to think on their feet and put together a coherent two-minute speech in seconds. They don’t need to grapple with political concepts or know anything about the latest news.
On the night
- Ask about the current method for selecting speakers when you arrive. It should be as random as possible, and you may find there are number cards in use so that all you have to do is to call out a number.
- When you are invited to speak, start by explaining your theme briefly.
- Read out an individual topic first and then select the individual to come up and speak about it. That way everyone has to consider the topic seriously for a few seconds because it could be them!
- Welcome the person up to the front and shake their hand. When they have finished, thank them and shake their hand again.
- Repeat as many times as required. After four or five, check with the Toastmaster how much time you have left and how many more topics you should introduce.
- At the end, summarise briefly saying who spoke about which topic to help club members to vote for the best speaker.
I hope you enjoy it, and don’t forget to post your thoughts on the blog in the next few days.