The Table Topics master brings questions or prompts for impromptu speeches (table topics).

• Think about your theme or overall direction for your table topics session. Take time to explain what you are going to do.
• Explain the table topics process briefly: Time is 1-2 min with 30 seconds of grace time. Remind them to use the word for the day.
• The theme for table topics can be whatever that you like: examples – friendship, Halloween, homework, sports, hobbies, vacations, movies, fiction, school locker room, back to school, video games, colors, summer, winter, etc. The sky is the limit as to where you can take it.
• Be innovative in designing your table topics. Make table topics interesting for the group. Have fun with it.
• Think of questions that are easy to relate to for the members. Speakers are learning how to think on their feet, stay in the moment, and develop a point.

At the start of your table topics session:

• Remind everyone to use word of the day – explain to all what that is.
• Remind toasties that the time limit for their answer is 1-2 min with 30 seconds of grace time.
• For the days when we do voting for the best table topics speaker, emphasize that they need to use word of the day and also make time limit to qualify for the award.

Order of speakers for table topics:

1. Members that don’t have a role in the meeting – this helps make sure that everyone gets chance to speak at least once.
2. Vote Counter, Timer, Ah Counter, Grammarian, Toastmaster, General Evaluator
3. Evaluators
4. Speakers

At the end of your table topics session:

• Ask for the grammarian’s report for the usage of the word of the day.
• Ask for the timer’s report.
• All members that met time limits and used word for the day qualify for the best table topics speakers award. Announce that list to all, and invite voting.

The Toastmaster for the meeting serves as an anchor and leader for the day.

What does the Toastmaster for a meeting do?

1. Plan the meeting. Communicate with different role players, budget time for different roles, and create a meeting plan.
2. Run the meeting as per the plan, and make adjustments at the meeting as required.

With our club, coaches do the first part of creating the meeting plan in most cases. We encourage experienced toasties to take it on. See more in the IDEA TWO part towards the end of the article.

Each of our toasties should do the second part – that is, anchor the meeting at the class using the coach’s plan.

How to be a credible meeting anchor?

• Be there at the meeting 10 minutes early. Feel the place. The meeting is your show. To run it effectively, you need to be “present” mentally and emotionally.
• Understand meeting sequence and time budget. We have limited time at meetings with a very packed schedule. Track the timeline as the session progresses and make adjustments to end the meeting on time.
• You have a lot of time to think when speakers speak. Use that to stay engaged and prepare for the next step.
• Okay, and encouraged to have a little humor with your comments while transitioning between speakers; at the same time helps to be crisp, so the session ends on time.
• Initiate, and lead the applause every time a speaker is about to start a presentation or end it.
• Be a facilitator. Help everyone at the meeting. Being on the lookout to help others before and during the session will work wonders for your comfort level as a leader.
• As always, have fun.
• Again, the meeting is your show. Seize the reins. Act your part.

A Technique to Introduce Speakers

Speaker’s Name, Speech Title … Speech Title, Speaker’s Name

For example, Grishma, The Fight for Freedom… The Fight for Freedom, Grishma
(Grishma is a speaker in this example, and “The Fight for Freedom” is her speech title.)

Until you get comfortable with introductions, let’s use this technique.

Additional, optional ideas for more fun with the role of Toastmaster

[Note: do this after you have done the part of Toastmaster at least a couple of times. Talk to your coaches ahead of time so they understand what you are planning as well.]

IDEA ONE:

1. Think of a theme for the meeting. It can be anything you’d like: Examples – Harry Potter, movies, fiction books, sports, school, friendship, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, winter break, video games, theme parks, flowers, fruits, ice cream, vegetables, storytelling, dystopian books, fiction, non-fiction, hobbies, school clubs, etc.
2. Work with table topics master, maybe, and see if their table topics can also use the theme. (Only table topics master gets to decide questions to ask, they can take the theme to prepare.)
3. Let the grammarian know about your theme; they can select a word of the day that might go with it. (Grammarian gets to decide the word on their own, of course.)
4. Towards the beginning of the meeting, use 2-3 minutes to set the tone with your theme. Describe your perspective, context, and direction with the theme.
5. During the meeting, if you see an opportunity to plug-in thoughts related to the theme with your comments, feel free to do that. Keep the overall flow still crisp, though.
6. At the end of the meeting, wrap it up, tying it back to your theme with closing comments.

When you run a meeting like this, you get more experience and flavor of staging and running a show with a specific theme.

IDEA TWO:

1. Take over meeting planning for the week when you are the Toastmaster.
2. Send messages to different speakers to get their speech titles, speech time, etc.
3. Communicate, and coordinate with all in your club group.
4. Set a meeting theme using IDEA ONE above.
5. Prepare a meeting plan along with a time budget.
6. Please bring a printed meeting plan, and give it to everything.

When a toastie plans, coordinates, and communicates like this, they step into the role of leadership even more.

Food for Thought  🙂

• Is there an activity where you spend a good chunk of time? Why and how do you enjoy that?
• Is there a hobby that energizes you? If yes, why or how?
• What draws a more profound meaning or passion if you are in a school club and enjoy it?
• Are you involved in a voluntary organization? How is it helping you make a difference in some way?
• What kind of books and readings appeal to you, and why?
• What interests you more about different subjects or topics you learn at school?
• What kind of experiences has stayed close to your heart? What emotions do they inspire in you (happiness, fear, challenge, anxiety, fun, etc.)?
• What worries you? What brings anxiety to you? Maybe there is a concern or a cause close to your heart.
• Is there a dream or a goal that ignites a fire for you from the inside?
• Is there a movie that left a lasting impression on you? Why?
• Describe a problem you’ve solved or a question you’d like to explain.
• What were your favorite events (e.g., performances, exhibits, competitions, conferences, etc.) in recent years?
• Did any of the current events intrigue you or make you think?
• Are there any new ideas, topics, or subjects that intrigue you? What are those? Why?
• What brings fun and excitement to your life?
• Is there a belief or idea you have challenged or would like to do so? Why?
• Any other specific topic or conversation that intrigued you – examples:
  • Carbonated drinks – are they good for you?
  • Why preserving the water is so crucial to our climate?
  • Paper recycling
  • An initiative or idea that is helping with alternative energy or alleviating global warming
  • A topic from one of your science classes, social studies, or history class: a few examples I have seen – artificial intelligence, robotics, culture, and the background of a specific country or group of people
• A problem that can add value to your audience
  • A knowledge topic
  • Your unique perspective and take on a topic
  • Something that shows how you think to solve a specific problem potentially

Your Speech Project Objective(s)

At Toastmasters, you prepare for a speech to achieve a specific project’s objectives. The speech topic should make it easier for you to accomplish the project objectives.

Examples:

1. If your speech project is about researching a topic:
   1. Would sharing a personal story help? Probably not, as you won’t have much room to study and use it.
   2. Would a speech topic on nanotechnology work? Probably yes, since the theme would create an opportunity to research, compile ideas and present them with your speech.
2. If your speech project is about using vocal variety:
   1. Would telling a story help? Probably yes. Voice inflections can help you develop emotional connections; dialogues in your account can easily lend themselves to vocal variety.
   2. Would sharing a personal experience help? Probably yes.
   3. Would presenting a technical topic help? Yes, and No.
      • Yes, if you consciously attempt to inject passion into your delivery. (It would still be more complex than the first two options.)
      • No, if the focus on content removes your emotional ability to engage.

Note: Maintain a speech bank for yourself. Whenever an idea pops in, please write it down in your Toastmasters notebook. The speech bank can come in handy while brainstorming speech topics for your next presentation(s).

> PREPARED SPEECHES

> Role of  Toastmaster

> Role of Table Topics Master

> Role of Vote Counter

> Role of Grammarian

> Role of Ah-Counter

> Role of Timer

YOUR ROLE AS GENERAL EVALUATOR

The general evaluator runs the evaluations part of the meeting:

1. Introduces evaluators
2. Requests timing reports and voting for the Best Evaluator award
3. Requests ah-counter report, grammarian report
4. Gives their feedback on the meeting and may provide specific feedback/ideas to each evaluator – this should all be done in 2-3 minutes.

How to be a credible general evaluator?

• Think about all that we are trying to do with the theme of credibility – all different aspects of it, all four priorities.
• Listen carefully, and take notes.
• Use the opportunity to share if you had ideas, observations, or points in your notes that weren’t covered in other evaluations and reports.
• If you have specific feedback for any role players, bring it up. Again, keep it very specific, and avoid general statements.
• Think of evaluation speeches critically. If you thought of opportunities for feedback on specific objectives of a speech project, feel free to bring them up. (Now, this is a very comprehensive skill; you have to think about the goals of every speech project. Do the best you can on this part. Still, an excellent idea to start thinking about it. It will do wonders for your communication capabilities.)
• The general evaluation is your evaluation of the meeting. It is your opinion, your reaction. Use the speech evaluation techniques here as well, except that you are giving feedback to several individuals, not just one.

Coaches do a lot of this at our meetings. It is a good idea for members to start developing this.

Use CL manual projects to think of all the different aspects of it. For example, active listening, critical thinking, time management, facilitation, planning, encouraging others, etc.

WHAT IS AN EVALUATION WHEN YOU ARE AN EVALUATOR? 

It is your reaction to the speech as it came across to you: what you saw, heard, and felt in the message.

If different individuals give evaluation feedback to the same speaker, will that be different? The answer is yes: each person has a different perspective, state of mind, temperament, and background to feel and perceive the speech.

You organize the evaluation as a 2-3 min speech to share your feedback and reaction to the speech.

WHAT IS AN EVALUATION FOR A SPEAKER RECEIVING IT?

• It is an opportunity for the speaker to see how a fellow toastie received their speech.
• It is a helpful peer-to-peer support system to improve and learn.

The speaker should appreciate feedback from the evaluator. The evaluator, a fellow toastie, listens to the speech presentation carefully, thinks critically about the project objectives, writes notes, prepares detailed feedback, and sincerely attempts to deliver it constructively.

At a Toastmasters meeting, the speaker avoids interrupting, countering, talking back, or arguing with an evaluator in the middle of the evaluation.

TOASTMASTERS’ SPIRIT WITH EVALUATIONS 

A Toastie genuinely cares for fellow toasties in the group.

At Toastmasters, we encourage every teenager to get on their cutting edge, stretch their comfort zone, and try new ideas. So, an evaluator shares their reaction in a very positive and constructive way. The evaluation could be an opportunity to make friends with a new speaker or sometimes take the speaker in your wings. An evaluator always roots for the success of a fellow toastie making a speech attempt.

Think about it from the speaker’s perspective. Examples:

1. It is an Ice Breaker speech where the speaker stands up for a prepared presentation for the first time. In that case, it is essential not to overwhelm them with too many areas to improve: accentuate the positives a little bit more, maybe to encourage them.
2. You are giving feedback to an experienced speaker preparing for a competition or a critical school presentation. In that case, the speaker might find detailed insights for improvement more helpful.

Q: What if you disagree with a viewpoint a speaker shares in their speech?
A: Focus on the speaker’s project objectives and how well you think they achieved them. It is an absolute NO-NO to counter the speaker or argue against their take in your evaluation.

Q: Do you have to agree with the speaker’s viewpoint even if you don’t believe in it?
A: As an evaluator, you don’t have to agree or disagree with the speaker’s opinion or message. Look at it from the speaker’s perspective: think of what they did well and where they could improve to achieve their goals.

For example, what if you see a lot of value in social media and the speaker’s message was social media is the worst thing that happened to teenagers? Try to understand what they tried to convey and how well you think they succeeded in developing the statement. Probably okay to mention that your opinion on it was different, but the focus of an evaluation should be on what the speaker did well and where they could improve to develop their intended message.

Q: Do you share what a speaker could have done differently for a more substantial impact or impression on you?
A: Yes. Evaluations are the heart and soul of toastmasters and an incredibly empowering tool for teenagers to grow and develop. Seeing a genuine perspective from a fellow teenager toastie regarding how their message was received and perceived is priceless. Speakers can use it to understand how to improve.

The critical success factor with the role of an evaluator is to ensure the message doesn’t come across as a judgment or a piece of advice. Use the techniques from our one-pager on delivering the message (it is PDF and opens in a new tab when you click here.)

Q: Do you share what came across effectively from the speech?
A: Yes. An evaluation isn’t just a fault-finding mission; it should also include positives from the speech.

TIPS TO BE EFFECTIVE AS AN EVALUATOR

1. Review the project objectives before the speech.
2. Write down notes while listening to the speech.
3. Focus on the project objectives while putting your thoughts together. Each project targets a specific area, for example, organizing your message, using descriptive language, vocal variety, body language, visual aids, persuading your audience, etc.
4. Smile and address the speaker using their name.
5. Make your feedback specific – pull in particular instances and details from the speech and use that when you give an evaluation. The speaker can understand and relate to your feedback when you do that.

---

Read and take the printed copy of our PDF note on evaluations to the meeting. Click here to download. It opens in a new tab.

---