52TableTopicIdeasfortheWholeYear.doc

52 Table Topic Ideas for the Whole Year!! (Prepared by Kathleen Wong, Lt. Gov. Education & Training 2005-2006)

Wk
Idea
Description
1.
Art
Bring pictures of abstract art. Ask members to describe what they see.
2.
Animals
Bring a variety of small stuffed animals, have participant pick one and tell a story about it.
3.
Baby name
Ask participant what name they would like to give their babies and why? Creative names encouraged!! Ask them to comment on their own name. Some names may have meanings in certain culture.
4.
Balloons
Place questions in balloons. Each speaker chooses a balloon and “pops-it” for the question.
5.
Book Report
Table Topic Master picks several books with interesting or obscure titles. Each participant is asked to pick a book, read the title and tell the audience what the story is about from the title. (Plan ahead: consider asking members to bring one book each to the next meeting, the book owner can talk about the story after the participant has given their version)
6.
Cards
Have participants pick a card from the deck. If ‘2’ is picked, then participant tells the group 2 people they fear most. If ‘7’ is picked, then participant tells the group his/her 7 wonders. If ‘10’ is picked, then participant tells the group his/her ten commandments in life. Variations are up to the Table Topic Master’s imagination! Time management is key in this one as participants will have more time to speak on their topics if a smaller number is picked whereas they will have time to maybe just list out all the things without expanding too much if bigger number is picked.
7.
Christmas Gift
Members draw names at the meeting before the Christmas party and buy a gift ($5 max) for the person whose name has been drawn. At the party, each person in turn unwrap their gift and speak about how much they have been wanting that particular gift and how they plan to use it. Pick obscure items to add more fun.
8.
Coins
Have participants pick a coin out of a bowl, then discuss or describe something significant about the year, or foreign place if it is a foreign coin.
9.
Dead or Alive
Name a famous person, dead or alive you would like to be for a day, you would like to invite to a dinner party, you would want to talk to, etc…Explain.
10.
Debate
Choose funny or serious topics. Divide the audience into two groups. Have members take turns to debate the pros and cons. A variation is to count members off in twos and ask each pair to debate on a different topic.
11.
Dear Dr. X
Dr. X has a column in the newspaper for questions on romance, marriages, teen challenges, etc… Each participant is given a “Dear Dr. X” question to respond to.
12.
Discussion
Choose local, regional, national, or international issues and discuss.
13.
Fortune Cookies
Pick a cookie, read the fortune, and take about the fortune.
14.
Food
Plan ahead. Ask members to bring in a dish/food of their own culture. Participants pick one and describe how it is made, ingredients used, occasions when the dish/food is usually served, etc… Real answers will be given by the members who brought the dish/food in at the end of the meeting when everyone enjoy the food together.
15.
Fruits/food
Table Topic Master brings a basket of various kinds of fruits. Each participant picks a fruit and talk about it. Table Topic Master can consider letting the participants keep the fruit as encouragement/reward for participation. A variation is to bring various kind of food – candy, pop corn, snack bars, etc…
16.
Gadgets
Put an assortment of oddball gadgets in a brown bag. Ask participant to pick one and explain how James Bond would use it.
17.
Gestures
Choose topics that lend themselves to gestures. Select a pair of participants – the first does the speaking only, the second person makes the gestures for the first speaker.
18.
Hats
Place a variety of hats on the table (or their photos). Each participant chooses a hat and plays the character that would wear that hat. Be creative and tell a story. E.g. baseball hat, football helmet, fishing hat, chef hat…
19.
Holidays
Ask participants to talk about holiday locations, travel tips, reasons for staying in town, things to do in town, ideal holiday, or new ways to celebrate holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc…
20.
How to
Ask “how to” questions: how to make a salad, how to change a tire, how to put up a tent. Participants can either describe with words, or gestures only (have audience guess what they’re doing).
21.
Internet
Describe favorite website and convince others to check it out.
22.
Interviews
Participants pretend to be famous people such as politicians, movie stars, writers, singers, world leaders, etc… and be interviewed by the Table Topic Master.
23.
Job Interviews
Help members prepare for job interviews by presenting interview questions to participants. A variation can be having members paired up as interviewer and interviewee.
24.
Keys
Give participants a key and ask what the key is for. Responses could be the key to success, happiness, mystery, disaster or a key to a car, jewel box, mansion. Expand with a story.
25.
Language
Have lots of sentences in Latin/French/etc.. Ask participants to read it out, tell audience its meaning, and expand..
26.
Lottery
Ask participants what they would do if they won specific amounts of money or various prizes.
27.
Memorable moments
Participants talk about their most memorable moment.
28.
Mock Trial
Participants pick to serve as a judge, lawyers, defense and plaintiff at random, and try to tackle legal problems posed to them.
29.
Murder Mystery
Table Topic Master describes the crime scene. Participants are given a prop that belongs to them but was found next to the dead body. Each participant gets a different prop for fun and variety. Table Topic Master explains the participant’s relationship with the victim and possible motive for the murder. Participant has to defend themselves. Members pick the real criminal. (real props are more fun, replace big props with pictures if needed)
30.
Music
Play old songs; ask what the songs mean to participants. Show album covers, ask for their memories.
31.
Mystery tool
Each participant is given a tool to tell the audience what it is, where it comes from, how and when to use it, etc...Choose gardening tools, sewing implements or woodworking tools which hopefully fewer members would know what they are for. Table Topic Master ends the session by giving a short explanation of the tool and its use.
32.
News
Have a number of people in the news for each participant to pick. Participant pretend to be the person and speak on the latest topic reported in the news. People to pick from can be celebrities, politicians.
33.
One tool, many applications
Each participant is given a prop to tell the audience what it is, where it comes from, how and when to use it, etc... The prop does not need to be used in its intended way. E.g. Toilet Plunger can be used to climb wall, Frisbee can be used as dog bowl/plate. One or more props can be used. (replace big props with pictures if needed)
34.
Opportunity
Describe unusual opportunities and ask how the participants would handle them.
35.
Oscars
Participants are asked to speak in praise of another member in the style of the Oscars. They can create any award, such as Best Table Topics Response on an Obscure Subject, and then to tell why the award recipient was selected for the award Let imagination run wild with awards – for work, for play, for Toastmasters, etc..
36.
Pictures
Have a series of paintings/pictures for participant to pick on and talk about what it reminds them of. The paintings/pictures need to be big enough for all members to see.
37.
People, Place, Props

Have 3 piles of cards ready: 1 with names of people, 1 with names of places, 1 with picture of a prop. Participants are to pick 1 card from each pile and create a story.
38.
Present and accept awards
One pile of cards have name of awards. Another pile has two cards: presenter and recipient. Participants pick one card from each pile, take on the role and speak.
39.
Quotes
Provide a quote or saying. Ask participants to explain where it originated and what it means (not necessarily the real meaning). Have fun and be creative.
40.
Sales
Ask questions from “Jeopardy” or dating-game type questions: “Bachelor # 1, if you could take this lady anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? What would you both do there?”
41.
Shoes
Have participant pick from a bag of various kinds of shoes and then tell a story.
42.
Story Chain
Table Topic Master starts a story and speaks for about one minute. Then call on another member to continue the story for another minute. The member can call on another member ‘at random’ to continue the story. This provides an opportunity for everyone to practice their listening skills and be creative.
43.
Table Topic
Table Topic on top of table topic! The Table Topic Master starts off with one table topic for a participant. When the participant finishes the topic within time limit, he/she immediately comes up with a new topic relating to the meeting’s theme for the next table topic participant of his/her choice.
44.
Tall tale
Any tale will do.
45.
Toast
Have participants propose a toast based on occasion picked.
46.
Toastmasters meeting Roles
Participants have to explain the meeting official role he/she picked from the bag.
47.
Traditions
Ask participants to talk about a tradition they like/dislike here or back in their own home country. Topics to be picked can be: describe the tradition that involves most people/food/costumes/money….
48.
Wedding
Ask participants to speak on experience around weddings, e.g. best/worst/most memorable wedding attending, ideal wedding, should wedding cake still be part of a wedding, etc…
49.
Word
Research into words and ask participants to explain. E.g. Why is ‘apart’ used in the word ‘apartment’ when people are living close to each other in a building? A challenge for everyone to be creative!
50.
Word
Give participants a word and ask them to elaborate on it or build a story around it. A variation is to ask the participant to flip open a page in the dictionary and pick a word instead.
51.
Yellow Pages
Have members picked an ad at random and ask them to convince everyone that they must buy something from them or use their service.
52.
Zoo
If you could be any animal in a Zoo, what would it be and why? Act like the animal while talking.