Fun Table Topics Ideas for Toastmaster Meetings
Conversation Starters, Sample Questions & Interesting Speech Topics
Jun 17, 2009
Acting as Table Topics Master or Moderator can be fun, but does require advance preparation.
These creative ideas on how to handle Table Topics are for experienced and advanced Toastmasters, or for very ambitious beginners. For first time Table Topics Masters, it is a good idea to check with the mentor or coach, as well as read the basic information in the back of the basic communication and speech manual.
While Table Topic conversation cards are a good idea for individual questions, this article contains more elaborate ideas on how to develop questions around themes.
Practice the Impromptu Speaking Skill of Gracefully Changing the Subject
As a general rule, the Table Topic respondent has this option any time.
Using this as the theme, though, the idea is for each Table Topics response to NOT answer the question posed. The participants’ goal is to gracefully change the subject and talk about something else.
Interesting Table Topics From Fortune Cookies
If ambitious, make the cookies from scratch. Alternately, if creative, type up fortunes ahead of time, cut them up, and let the Table Topic participants draw from a hat.
Or just use real fortune cookies from a restaurant. It's nice to ask the restaurant owner for a stack of cards or promotional coupons and promote the restaurant to the club members.
Speaking Topics From Junk Mail
Save up junk mail for a week and bring it in for club members to open it. Invite them to talk about why they are responding to it and how they would benefit from it, or how they would handle a letter of complaint.
Bring in information about how to opt out of junk mail. This is valuable information about how to go green, and edifying to the general membership.
Use Pennies for Table Topics Ideas
Ask each Table Topics participant to draw a penny, look at the year, and talk about a memory from that year. To make the exercise more playful and less stressful, remind club members that no one can see the year of the penny they draw, so if they don’t like the year, they can make one up. For that matter, they can make up a story or memory.
Newspaper Clippings as Table Topic Starters
Find inspiration for questions and topics from a local newspaper. Here are creative suggestions for how to use any of the following as Table Topics Master or Moderator:
- Headlines. Don't bring the story, just bring the headline and ask the Table Topic respondent to tell the story.
- Comic strips. Have the Table Topic respondent elaborate on the funny story.
- Ads. Have the person pretend they are the owner of the business who placed the ad and explain the philosophy of the ad, the response off the ad, the cost of the ad, or describe the ad campaign. Or, ask how the consumer is responding to the ad.
Campaign Speeches as a Table Topics Theme
This can be a creative way to make officer elections fun in April, May, or June. Dedicate a whole meeting to the theme of political campaigns, and ask participants to give a mini campaign speech during Table Topics.
Even if the members are not running for an officer position in the club, they can role play with their answer as if they were running for office.
Alternately, have this in October, just before general elections and talk about local politics, role playing campaign speeches of local officials.
Planning is less stressful and more productive when there is a theme to work with. Share these ideas with other club members so that the Table Topics portion of the Toastmasters meeting is always exciting, different, creative and fun.
Resources
How to Come Up With Creative Themes for a Toastmasters Meeting
Interactive Table Topics Ideas and Variations. This article explains how to facilitate skits, interviews, dialog, role playing, and more.
