Topping Table Topics - My Stories

Nearly everyone's first Toastmasters speaking experience is a Table Topic. Some love it; some hate it. I generally enjoy Table Topics, but many fear brain freeze: having no idea what to say -- and everyone staring at them.

Although I may not know what the Table Topic will be, there are still ways I prepare and tactics I use. In fact, these are the very skills I have used in job interviews and social situations with great success.
 
One of my strategies is to keep 1-3 stories in mind with the hope that the Table Topic can be somehow redirected smoothly into one of those stories.

Some stories I have used are:

• Showing my son his first earthworm when he was 4. He pulled the worm apart.
• A brief telling of a contest speech I had previously done.
• My contest evaluation that was interrupted by the fire alarm.
• How I nearly got married in a Star Trek uniform.
• The backstory behind one of my songs.
• How my son determined babies come from Babies-R-Us.
• Scoring a goal in soccer from half field.

The underlying commonality, each of these stories are personal stories. The advantage is that I already know these stories, and I have told them many times. Telling these stories as a Table Topic is really no different than when I tell them over dinner,  riding in a car, or talking on the phone.

Sometimes none of the stories I had prepared fit nicely with the Table Topic provided. In some cases, I have ignored the Table Topic or contorted my response so I can tell my story anyway. In other cases, I have to abandon this strategy and a different one.

I have used this tactic to great success in speech contests, and I have also used it in job interviews -- and it has landed me job offers.

I am always interested in developing more stories to add to my repertoire. The more I have, the more I can draw on when the unexpected is thrust upon me. Uncertainty does not preclude preparation!