So you’ve been told, Next week your it, The dreaded Topic Master. You’ve seen the Masters of the trade do their thing, and it’s pretty difficult at times to be creative. Sure you could do current events or whatever, but how do you make the most out of being the TopicMaster.
Here’s some tips to help you gain confidence in the position…
1. First off, you’re not being put on the spot to answer a topic. Remember, you are the person that are putting jitters in the stomachs of other Toastmasters. Some people enjoy dealing with that feeling, and others are just learning to make those butterflies soar like eagles.
2. Next, do what you know. Make yourself feel comfortable by using topics and questions that you are knowledgable about. For instance, if you know a lot about computers per se, you could ask questions that would both educate, and entertain about computers. Toastmaster Bender, please explain how the processor speed differs from the bus speed. Just make sure you know the answer, and follow up the presentation of the topics with the information. If they answered it correctly, be encouraging!
3. Not all topics are verbal. I’ve seen where people will use objects that are not of the everyday variety, and ask someone to describe the usage. Or you may even have to describe an ink blot, or feel an object in a bag that you can not see. The creativity is in your hands.
4. Be creative. You aren’t limited by anything, with the exception of time, and good taste.
You can ask people to…
- act out their favorite part of a play, or lines from a favorite speech.
- make a poem up, based on using a color, or animal.
- sing a song.
- Pretend it is an official Tabletopics contest.
- Run a mock news roundtable discussion.
- Have a debate.
- Describe the last movie they saw, or books they’ve read.
- What would it would be like to live in another time period, or on another planet.
- Pretend your a famous person.
So hopefully with this information, you will be able to present a round of Table Topics that will Inform, Educate, and help people to lose that nervousness when they are surprised with having to give that speech on the fly.
