Special Meeting: Table Topics Practice: September 7, 2024

Two creative approaches

We had our September Special Meeting focused on Table Topics (impromptu) speeches online. (Though our Regular Meetings are on the third Saturday of the month in a hybrid style connecting the venue with online participants via Zoom, we usually have a monthly online special meeting.)

At this meeting, the facilitator, Marilyn, took two creative approaches. The first one is the content arrangement. When we had Table Topics practice sessions in the past, we used a long breakout session in which members took turns giving a topic, delivering a speech on that topic, and timing the speech time. We normally had listeners provide feedback right after a speech before moving on to the next speaker. This time, we had three shorter breakout sessions, during which we take turns practicing a Table Topics. After the breakouts were over, we came back to the main room and Marily asked some members for their own reflection on their own speeches. This was less discouraging for newer members than having someone else evaluate their speeches.

The other creative approach was about the topics provided in the main Table Topics Session. Marilyn chose simple words and phrases rather than questions, which we tend to see often in our meetings. This one came after our August Special Meeting on August 3, when I delivered a speech titled "Don't Answer" to encourage members to "deliver a speech on a topic" rather than simply answer a question. This forced members to think about what message to include in the conclusion of the speech. This worked superbly.

We look forward to having more creative special meetings going forward.

(Tenten)