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The Topicsmaster states the question or topic briefly and then calls on a member or guest at random to respond. Each Table Topics speaker receives a different topic or question.
As a Table Topics speaker, you may stand next to your chair or move to the lectern to give your response depending on the policy of your club. The Topicsmaster will specify the allotted time for responses.
Help with Impromptu Speaking:
In real life, TT can be used in daily conversation: at a party, in a business meeting, in court, during a parole hearing, for job interviews or any time you are interacting with others.
Here are a few tricks that you may find helpful.
The most important element of speaking off-the-cuff is structure. Structure separates a clear message from panic-stricken, adrenalin-induced, stream of consciousness, word-association, meandering presentation.
How do you prepare structure on-the-fly? That’s simple. Don’t. Prepare ahead of time. Have a mental model for answering questions. A generic model that I use for answering most Table Topics questions is Thesis-Point-Point. The thesis is the premise, the one sentence that summarizes your point of view. Point 1 and Point 2 are the two points that you will use to support, expand on, and explain your thesis.
The most important element of speaking off-the-cuff is structure. Structure separates a clear message from panic-stricken, adrenalin-induced, stream of consciousness, word-association, meandering presentation.
Or use the P.R.E.P. method: Point-Reason-Example-Point. Make your Point, give a Reason you believe this Point is valid, give an Example, then restate your Point.
Identify the common speech structures and practice using them until they become a part of your subconscious. Don’t try to think of them as you speak; know them before you speak. When you consistently identify the structures, you use in your prepared speeches, you are more likely to have them available in your subconscious for Table Topics. Here are many of the common structures:
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- Don’t Panic - If you can, just stop caring about table topics. Remember, everyone in the audience has been in your position, has probably dried up at some point and is willing you to do well, so you don’t need to worry about their reaction.
- Buy Time - Give yourself time for your nerves to die down and for you to think of something to say. If you need to, just talk for a while about something vaguely related to the theme, or even about something totally unrelated: sooner or later, inspiration will come.
- Go with the first little idea - Sooner or later, a little idea will pop into your head. Even if it’s just a little idea, start talking about it. Don’t reject it in the hope that a bigger idea will come along: the little idea must be expressed first. If you do reject it, it’ll sulk, and will block the big idea from ever getting through.
- Express an opinion, right at the start - Unless you’re a beginner, try not to give a long introduction. Instead, answer the question or express an opinion, and do so at the start. This is easier for closed questions (e.g. “What was your favorite holiday?”), but you can also do it for open questions (e.g. “Talk about holidays”). So long as you can seize your little idea and turn it into something concrete.
- Remember the rule of threes - You can put some structure into your speech by breaking it down into three main points that justify your opinion or reinforce it. (For example, “My best holiday ever was in Tibet, and there are three reasons why.”), You don’t need them all before you start: instead, you can think of the first point while answering the question, then think of the second point while talking about the first, and so on. It’s surprising how often this works.
- Know when to stop - Try not to ramble your way through a long conclusion. Instead, recap your answer and the main points of your speech, finish with a punchy ending and hand back to the table topics master.
- Draw on your own experiences - When you’re given a table topic, you can ask yourself if there’s anything in your own experience that will answer the question or illustrate your argument. As well as making it easier for you to answer the question, a personal reply will often sound more heartfelt that other answers you might give.
- Be eccentric - The best topics are often those where the speaker avoids a serious or conventional answer, and instead tried something unusual or entertaining. For example, you can deliver your speech in character, or deliver an unexpected or contrarian argument. By doing this, you can grab the audience’s attention, and can free yourself from the constraints of a conventional approach.
- Keep doing table topics - Finally, keep practicing. The more you do it, the less nervous you’ll become, the easier you’ll find it, and the more you’ll enjoy it.
