The Toastmasters table topic session has one main aim: giving members the opportunity to speak of the cuff. You are generally given 1 to 2 minutes to convey your thoughts on a certain subject to your fellow members.
Table topics is one of the three main pillars of the Toastmaster meeting - impromptu speaking, prepared speaking and evaluations. As such, you will find it in most Toastmasters meetings.
And this is often the part of the meeting that scares new members the most - 'speak for one to two minutes on the full stop at the end of this sentence' (as an example). How do you organize your thoughts in five seconds and talk in a sensible and comprehensive way about your topic?
The answer to this question also gives an indication of the value of the Toastmasters table topic session - practice. Let me repeat: practice! The first time (or first few) you speak in table topics you might find that you said everything you could and finished in 25 seconds. Well done! You've taken the first step. Now the next step ... yes, you guessed it - more practice.
Some people are naturally good at spinning yarn, but not everyone is. So it is a good idea to practice, even outside of your Toastmaster meeting, to get better at speaking your mind. Just as you would train your body for sport, you need to train your impromptu speaking ability by practicing it. Think of a topic (like the full stop example of a previous paragraph) and practice speaking about it for 2 minutes. Now, repeat. Do it three or four times till you feel you said what you wanted to say and did it in a sensible and confident way.
If you do this at least once per week, some of the terror of table topics will dissipate and you will be more confident about speaking your mind. And that, after all, is what Toastmasters is about!
