How to Curate Table Topics Questions
This week, I was the Table Topics Master at the Bangkok Advanced Toastmasters Club Meeting #211. The theme of the meeting was “Breathless: Master Your Presence” I was very excited to take this role because I haven’t done it for a year!
What it is
Table Topics is a signature activity in Toastmasters. It is an impromptu public speaking session where both members and guests can participate. Unlike the Prepared Speeches, Table Topics questions put the speakers in the spotlight and keep them on their toes. They have little to no time to think, so they must improvise!
The objective of the session is to improve the confidence, creativity, and clarity of the speakers. It is a friendly challenge!
How it works
As the Table Topics Master, you have to prepare speaking prompts. The prompts must be open-ended, so the speakers can fully exercise their public speaking skills. It should not be too difficult, because difficult questions will leave the respondents frozen with fear. Remember that the objective of the Table Topics is to challenge the speakers with a friendly prompt!
There are many types of Table Topics prompts:
A phrase to which the participants must respond
A question that the participants must elaborate
A sentence that the participants can make into a story
Each participant has 1-2 minutes to answer the prompt. During the speaking time, the Timekeeper will keep the time and show the following time signals:
Green card for 1 minute
Yellow card for 1.30 minutes
Red card for 2 minutes
Connect it to the meeting theme
Great Table Topics questions should address the theme of the meeting. For this week, our Toastmaster of the Day was Suresh Munisamy. Because he is a Yoga Master, Suresh carefully selected the theme about breathing which, in his words, is a delicate thread that links together the entrance and the exit of our lives. Breaths are a vital source to manage and cope with our own emotions.
As you can see in my Table Topics questions below, I curated the prompts around Suresh’s theme, to maintain the integrity and the consistency of the overall meeting experience. Thus, the questions are about breathing.
I also find this article extremely helpful in sparking my creativity and guiding me as I created the prompts: How to Write Table Topics Questions by Michael Tanenbaum, CC, CL.
Ready? Here are my questions:
1. “Inhale the future, exhale the past”
2. Describe an experience that left you breathless.
3. “Breathing is a gift”
4. You have a magical can of air freshener. It can fill your room with your favorite smell. Describe the smell.
5. Describe the most breath-taking experience you’ve ever had
6. The doorbell rang. The young boy went to answer the door. When he opened it, he saw something that took his breath away. Describe what he saw.
7. Air is vital to stay alive.
______ is vital to feel alive.
What makes you feel alive?
8. “A bit of fresh air a day keeps the doctor away.”
To my delight, the questions were well-received. I was awed by the guests’ and members’ answers. They were a mosaic of beautiful memories, words of wisdom, and playful creativity. That’s what I love about Toastmasters. Beautiful moments are made, and you feel humbled every day.
In conclusion, Table Topics is a true test of your public speaking skill. Because the prompt put you on the spot, you must improvise and maintain a confident presence. This is a highly valuable skill that can be applied to job interviews, presentations, and difficult Q&A’s.
The strength of a speaker is not only your ability to deliver a prepared speech but also your ability to handle unexpected questions. I hope the prompts I shared here sparked your creativity and inspired you to make your own!
