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Professor: Herman,
are you paying attention to this lecture?
Herman: Uh, huh?
Well, yes, Professor, I certainly am.
Professor: OK,
then, Herman, please explain why the unified field theory negates both
Newton's third law of motion and the Heisenberg principle, giving three
examples.
Herman: Ah, um,
well, you know, golly, duh, humm…
Sound
familiar? We have all been asked tough questions, often on a daily basis,
and how we answer those questions not only is a demonstration of our
communication skills, but also affects our relationships with bosses,
friends, spouses, and casual acquaintances.
To
improve our communication skills, Toastmasters International has developed
the Table Topics session.
Table Topics – What is it?
Table Topics is the impromptu speaking session of a Toastmasters meeting.
Individuals respond to questions asked by the moderator (Table Topics
Master) with unrehearsed mini-speeches.
The
topics range from politics and current events to hobbies and
entertainment. All questions are “general knowledge,” so don't expect to
be asked to explain why the unified field theory negates both Newton's
third law of motion and the Heisenberg Principle, giving three examples.
One of
the objectives is to allow persons, who do not have a speaking role as a
prepared speaker or evaluator to speak in the meeting, so that everyone
has an opportunity to participate.
Table
Topics is fast, lively, and entertaining.
Table
Topics Develops Skills –
Table Topics is
specifically designed to develop four essential communication skills:
1.Listening, 2.Thinking, 3.Organizing, 4.Speaking
It has
often been said that God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason –
that we should listen twice as much as we speak. Obviously, when the Table
Topics Master asks the question, the Table Topics Speaker must hear and
understand the question, if he is to give a rational answer.
He must
develop his listening skills to determine what the Table Topics Master
actually said, rather than what he wanted or expected the Table Topics
Master to say.
He then
must quickly think of what he will say in response. In the process, the
Table Topics Speaker needs to organize the various items to be covered in
the response, so the audience will easily comprehend the logic of what he
is saying.
Finally, the Table Topics speaker opens his mouth and a mini-speech pours
forth with all of the eloquence of William Shakespeare at his finest – or
so we would hope.
Table
Topics Procedure
The Table Topic
Procedure is actually quite simple
1.Ask the question, 2.Call on an individual, 3. Repeat the question
Unfortunately, this simple procedure is often violated to the detriment of
the objectives of the Table Topics session.
We have
all seen instances where the Table Topics Master asks for volunteers or
calls on someone before asking the question. Or, perhaps the Table Topics
Master wants to play a game with people pulling questions out of a box.
The
problem with these techniques is that the rest of the audience is
discouraged from listening to the questions, as everyone has a tendency to
lose interest in a conversation that does not involve them. To fulfill the
objectives of full participation and developing listening skills, simply
follow the simple procedures.
Some
Table Topics “Don'ts” –
Don't
try to intimidate members at the beginning of the Table Topics session.
Saying Table Topics is horrifying, frightening, difficult, or scary serves
no useful purpose whatsoever.
The
objective of Toastmasters is to help people to develop their communication
and leadership skills. To do this, we must encourage people to be
confident. Frightening or intimidating people does not generate
confidence.
Make
Table Topics into a relaxed and fun session, and members will gain
confidence and improve their speaking skills at the same time.
Also,
don't turn Table Topics into a farce.
I have
seen Table Topics disintegrate from a useful learning session into a
travesty and embarrassment, when people are given the option of singing a
song, telling a stupid joke, or otherwise acting silly or infantile,
rather than answering the question.
This is
not a legitimate Table Topics option.
Again,
Table Topics should be a fun learning experience, but it should not
devolve into the goofiness of a junior high school locker room.
Table
Topics – A Mini-speech
Table Topics or any
impromptu speaking opportunity is really a mini-speech.
Organization is important to any form of communication, as disorganized
communication impairs comprehension. Consequently, a Table Topics response
requires organization based on an opening, a body, and a conclusion.
Table
Topics – The Beginning
You can start your
Table Topics response with:
“Table Topics Master, fellow Toastmasters, and welcome guests.”
This is a courtesy
greeting, which also gives you a few seconds to evaluate the question,
think, and organize an answer.
For
Heaven's sake, DO NOT SAY – “Good evening!,” “Good afternoon!,”
etc.
This
not only wastes valuable time, but also bores people half to death. We do
not need to hear “Good evening!,” “Good afternoon!,” etc. from
every speaker, only from the person, who opens the meeting. Once is
enough!!
Table
Topics Opening
The opening of the
Table Topics response should catch the attention of the audience and
provide an initial reference point for the response. There are several
ways that this can be done:
1.
Restate the question –
“Thank you for asking me to speak on…”
2.
Give or make up a quote –
“Abraham Lincoln (or George Bernard Shaw) once said…”
3.Use humor –
“I've been waiting for 8 ½ months for someone to ask me that question!"
One of
the worst ways of catching the audience attention is asking a
question of the audience.
First,
it is the Table Topics Speaker that is supposed to answer the question.
Second,
throwing a rhetorical question to the audience risks no answer, or even
worse, the wrong answer. Usually, asking a question simply falls flat –
boring the audience.
Table
Topics Body Format
The
body of the Table Topics response should follow an organized format, which
can be done in several ways.
For
example:
1. Past, Present,
Future
2.
Before and After
3.
Compare and Contrast
To
organize the answer to the question, pick one format and follow it
throughout your response.
Table
Topics Summary
When the Table Topics
Speaker is ready to bring his answer to a close, he should give a very
brief summary of his answer by using one of the following:
1.
"To summarize…."
2.
"So, in answer to the question…"
3.“Thus, my thoughts on the subject vary from A to Z.”
Remember, the summary is important, because it reemphasizes what you have
said and tells the audience that you are about to finish.
Table
Topics Ending
Some techniques for
closing the response include:
1. Restate the question.
2. Restate the opening quote.
3. Repeat the same humor.
Two
important points to remember:
1.Don't
introduce new material.
2.Don't
just walk off. Return control to the Table Topics Master.
Table Topics – Contest Procedure
Our Spring Convention features a Table Topics Contest, in which each
Division will send representatives. This is sure to be an exciting
experience for the participants and a good learning experience for the
audience.
Each
speaker will give an impromptu mini-speech of 1 to 2 minutes in length.
All
contestants are taken out of the room and brought back in one by one to
speak on the same topic.
Since
no contestant hears the topic before it is his turn to speak, the judges
can evaluated each contestants' impromptu speaking abilities.
Table
Topics Judges evaluate each Table Topics Speaker on Speech Development
(30%), Effectiveness (25%), Physical (15%), Voice (15%), and Language
(15%). The Contest Judge's Guide further explains each category.
Table
Topics Questions
Table Topics questions will
be based on generally available information, as noted above. The question
could be as simple as:
What
was the most exciting thing you did during Chinese New Year?
Or:
What one thing would you do to improve Taiwan's environment, if you were
the Director of Environmental Protection?
Everyone will have sufficient knowledge to answer the question, but the
contest winner will be the person who has shown the judges that he has the
best listening, thinking, organizing, and speaking skills.
While
Table Topics is an impromptu speaking session, these skills can be
developed with practice, deliberation, and diligence.
Table
Topics -- Your opportunity
Table Topics is your
opportunity to enhance your listening, thinking, organizing, and speaking
skills, while learning to meet the communication challenges of everyday
life.
By
effectively using Table Topics, you will have a lively and stimulating
club program.
By L. J.
Lamb, ATM-G, CL
President, Prestige Toastmasters Club |
