Table Topic Master is without a doubt the most fun role in a Toastmasters meeting. It’s also the first long role a new member generally takes up.
As a new member, are you wondering how you can deliver upon your role as the Table Topic Master? Here are some tips to help you nail it perfectly.
Tips on choosing the Table Topics
- Keep the topics related to the theme. If the theme of the meeting is “The Perfect Life”, a good related Table Topic is “How important is money for the perfect life?” On the other hand, a topic like “Do you have a perfect wife?” while raises the humor quotient, but only confuses the Table Topic Speaker.
(Note – the idea behind keeping the topics related to the theme is to make it easy for the club members to speak impromptu on the topic. The TMOD’s script on the theme helps them ease into the subject and speak about it)
- Keep the topics simple. In the above example, even a new club member can manage to speak a few words if not two minutes about the role of money in a perfect life. On the other hand, topics like “the perfect life of a delusion psychopath” while related to the theme is not a great choice.
- Keep the topic short. A topic like “how did you envision your perfect life during childhood and how does it differ from your current idea of a perfect life” has too much to unpack. For a 2 minute impromptu speech, this topic itself hogs the first 45 seconds.
Tips on performing the role of Table Topic Master
- Mention the rules of the game before beginning the game. (Any of you can volunteer to participate in this session including the guests. Remember you have to speak on the topic for 1 to 2 minutes as mentioned by the Timer earlier.) This will also help you avoid a remark from the General Evaluator about the same.
- Most clubs give 30 seconds to think before speaking on the topic. (Although there is no such rule in the Table Topic Contest.) If your club follows this rule, mention this every time after announcing the topic.
- Repeat the Topic twice for clarity. For example, if the topic is “How important is money for the perfect life?” – the ideal way to announce this would be –
TM Name, your topic is “How important is money for the perfect life?” “How important is money for the perfect life?” You have 30 seconds to think.
- As a good Table Topic Master, it is important that you compliment every Table Topic speaker after their speech. We discussed how you can do this effectively here.
- Always choose a few club members first before picking up guests. This way the guests have an idea about the rules of the game and how to play it.
- This tip is optional. You don’t have to do so but in order to help the Grammarian; you can draft at least one topic in such a manner that it mandates the use of the Word of the day. For example, if the Word of the Day in the above example was Utopia, a topic using this can be framed as “Is utopia a ticket to your perfect life?”
Did these tips come in handy to you? Let us know.
My Meeting Roles 