As Table Topics Master this week, here is some guidance to help you be successful while facilitating member improvement in impromptu speaking.
Before the Meeting
- Prepare 10–12 open-ended questions for members and/or guests who are there with no assigned roles. Prepare questions that vary in difficulty (easier questions for newer members or guests, harder questions for veteran Toastmasters). Prepare questions that need little set-up from you. Remember, your goal is to get others to speak, and to speak as little as possible yourself, allowing more people a chance to answer questions.
- Get to the meeting site early and pick up the "Best Speaker," "Best Evaluator," and "Best Table Topics Master" award certificates from the Sergeant at Arms and have an officer sign them. Also take a "Vicki Treciak Spirit Award" certificate and give it to the General Evaluator.
- Work with the Toastmaster and General Evaluator to verify who has a function. Keep track of who arrives and develop a list of members available to question. If guests are in attendance, save easier questions and invite (but do not require) them to participate. If the number of members without roles is low and all have been called upon, you may comfortably ask the members assigned to Joke Master, Word of Wisdom, Word Master, Ah Counter, Grammarian, or Timer.
During the Segment
- When called up by the Toastmaster, briefly explain to the members and guests the importance of Table Topics in everyday life — interview questions, dating, speaking with co-workers, and so on.
- Since the Table Topics Master role is to get others to speak, take as little time as possible to present facts and thoughts about the evening's theme as a lead-up to the questions.
- When asking questions of veteran members, ask the question first and then call on the member to answer. This demands active listening from the entire member base, and requires everyone to begin formulating an answer in case they are called.
- When asking questions of newer members and/or guests, call their name first before asking the question. If a guest is invited to participate but chooses not to, that is OK — just move on to another guest or member.
Timing
- Try to ask all the questions you prepared — no fewer than 7, but as many as you can get started by 7:30. If there is time, as confirmed in advance with the Toastmaster and General Evaluator, you may start a question as late as 7:33.
Wrapping Up
- After the last question has been asked and answered, request a Timer's report to verify who met the time requirements. Then ask members and guests to vote for the Table Topics participant who best answered the question.
- Let members and guests know that votes will be collected and counted later in the meeting by you (the Table Topics Master) before calling the Toastmaster back to the lectern to facilitate the meeting further.
Thanks for your help making this upcoming meeting great.
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