Quick On Your Feet

Photo provided courtesy of VietnamFreeLancer.Info

Table Topics™ can be fun. For most of us, they are even more fun when others are taking them on.  Usually, there is an awkward silence that follows the Table Topics Master (TTM) when he or she asks for someone to come up to the front for a topic. Then, there are the members who are willing to bail the TTM out and go up to the front. We all appreciate those members! 

But, if we only listen and enjoy as spectators and not participants, then we are not reaping the full benefits of conducting Table Topics in our meetings.  The Table Topics segment was designed to keep us in practice for thinking and speaking quickly on our feet. According to Toastmasters International, 

That’s why the “Table Topics” portion of the Toastmasters club meeting was developed. Table Topics provides you with the opportunity to practice impromptu speaking. By answering brief Table Topics questions, you learn how to present your thoughts clearly and convincingly, with no more than a few seconds of preparation. You also learn to listen constructively, and to think flexibly.

 We can even think of Table Topics as exercise for the mind. The more repetitions we do, the stronger we become at delivering them.  By achieving this goal, we also gain more confidence which helps us when we are put on the spot or know we may be asked to field questions during a meeting or presentation. 

However we push ourselves into participating in Table Topics, we are moving ourselves in the right direction. By taking on Table Topics, we are well on our way to becoming better thinkers, listeners, communicators, and Toastmasters. As Toastmasters we know that no one in the audience is waiting to throw a tomato at us, at least not in the meeting. We also know that we are wishing success for each other, especially at impromptu speaking. More importantly, we have all been there. Yes, at one time or another, we have all been asked something out of the blue or had to wing it. 

At the next Table Topics segment in our meeting, let’s go ahead and take the plunge.  Let's raise our hands and go to the front and prove to ourselves and to the world (cue Chariots of Fire to play in the background) that we can do it!  We can answer the topic:

What was your strangest date ever?

And everyone would love to hear it.

Plus, rumor has it; there is a pretty nifty award we can win for being the best.