Table Topics Secrets Revealed

Here’s some tips on how to win a Table Topics Contest or session.

Think of your response as a mini-speech with an opening, a body and ending.

The Opening:

Open with a bang to catch the judges’ attention. Raise your voice as you dramatise a story.  Use props. Stand on a chair.  Shred a piece of paper. Use your handerchief.  Throw your pen on the floor. Sing a song. Lie on the floor.

One of the memorable acts was a toastmaster standing on a chair to enact a suicide attempt.

The Body:

Tell a personal story.  To inform the audience is not good enough. Strives to P.I.E. the audience – Persuade, Inspire, and Entertain.

If most of the contestants support the motion, be a contrarian. Take the opposing view. Take the path less taken. Stand out from rest by taking an unconventional view.

The Ending:

End with one lesson that you want the audience to take home.  End with a poem or a quotation.

Preparation:

If you are preparing for a competition, practice by asking your friends to throw table topics questions at you. For every topic, there are more than one way to respond. When you exercise your brain often enough, you will not suffer brain freeze. Preparation is the key to confidence.  If you do well in your training with people throwing all kinds of topic at you, you will have more confidence in the competition.

When you tackle enough topics, you will know for sure that nothing is going to faze you or catch you by surprise. In my ebook, I have listed all the topics for you to practice.  Over the years I have compiled a collection of table topics and I observed you can group them by a certain categories.

When you are at the stage, enter into the zone. When superman wears his costume, suddenly he thinks and behave like a superman. You don’t see him flying in his office suit with his briefcase, do you?

Think like an actor/actress and play the role. Think like a singer and sing as if you believe every word from your mouth. That will bring out the passion and emotion in you.

I hope these tips are helpful to you.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Table Topics ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.