My Table Topics On Wisdom and Proverbs

I was Table Topics Master at Tampines West Toastmasters Club on Sunday April 14th 2019, appointed at the last moment and I had no topics planned. I should have had a page of table topics written on a blank page at the back of my diary for just such an occasion.

The President should - let's say could - have had a set of topics ready, written on card index cards, for a last minute replacement for the girl who was  supposed to be Table Topics Master but was unable to attend. She should - let's say could - have sent in her table topics for somebody else to read. That's assuming she had prepared.

Fortunately, I always carry the old Competent Leader manual which evaluates as a table topics master. One of the things it suggests is that table topics should be related to the theme of the meeting. So, even if I had prepared, I would have needed to adapt my topics to the theme of the meeting.

I knew already that our meeting's guests included two non-Toastmasters who had come through Meetup. So I first described the meaning of the title Table Topics and the purpose of table topics:

Table Topics are impromptu speeches giving an opportunity to speak unprepared to those who are not speaking in a prepared, scheduled speech.

Picking Numbers
Singaporeans like gambling and luck and lucky numbers and Table Topics Masters often give them the choice of numbers to pick. This delays everybody whilst they decide to pick a number. Only the speaker bothers to wonder what to say.

Announce Topic Before Speaker
Instead I shall follow the principle of the clubs I have attended in the UK, in London, where I announce the topic and everybody is obliged to think up an answer, just in case they get picked on.

Volunteers
I shall ask for a volunteer. Somebody might have an urgent desire to speak and tell some personal story or experience. However, after a short, few seconds, if nobody volunteers, to avoid further delay, I shall pick somebody.

Quotation
The theme of the day was a quotation:
Wisdom is what you achieve after making a stupid mistake.

The word of the day was wisdom, or the root word wise. Somebody in the audience suggested adding the adverb wisely.

I wrote down ten topics but was only allowed time for seven:
1 What wisdom or wise words did you hear from a teacher when you were in primary or secondary school?
2 What wisdom did you learn from parents, grandparents or family?
3 What wisdom did you learn not from words but from watching how somebody else used their skill or experience or creativity?
4 What wisdom have you learned from the Internet's videos or YouTube. ...
5 What words of wisdom did you hear in a proverb which you found memorable?
6 Do you follow the advice of words of wisdom attributed to Benjamin Franklin: A place for everything and Everything in its place.
7 What wisdom would you impart to children, your children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces, or children you teach?

The topics evoked the following responses:
4 From YouTube I learned from a football coach that you must be patient. Other clubs spent a lot of money poaching the top players from other clubs. Instead, he picked schoolboys who already showed talent and spend years training them. Eventually they became top players loyal to his team.
2 From my mother I learned to cook. At first I let her cook. Then I realized I would be working overseas and would have to cook for myself, so I started learning from her.
6 No. If you visited my house, you would see that it is a mess. There is no place for anything and nothing is in its place. I wish the cutlery was all in the kitchen instead of the bathroom. I would love to be organized. But that just is not me. If I were organized in all aspects of my life, it would make my life much easier. I was late today because I spent ten minutes hunting for an umbrella. So, no, I do not follow this advice. But I wish that I did.

Angela Lansbury, ALB, ACG, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

German from the President, a former policeman on traffic lights, and chocolates

From left: Jesus, President Jayanthiny, Michael, Krzysztof.

Photo taken and edited by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

"As mentoring co-ordinator I sent around a piece of paper for people to give their name and the name of their mentor. I am mentoring co-ordinator with a committee of Lorna and Ruth.

"The evening opened with Jayanthiny addressing us in German. I know there are German speaking clubs but I don’t think this has ever been done before in an English speaking club. 

"Some people did not recognize which language she was speaking. It was an original idea and I am very keen to see us speaking languages and learning languages. 

Jayanthiny, President of Harrovian Speakers' Club, with the club banner, Michael beside her, on the right tall Krzysztof and Jesus. Photo taken and edited by Angela Lansbury. Copyright 2017. 

"It would have been useful to distribute a handout with the German. I hope she does this again. Next time I would like to hear alternating sentences translated - a sentence in German then Jayanthiny or another could have read the translation in English. 

"That is what you might do at a wedding. I have written books on wedding speeches and wedding etiquette and this is what I would recommend to an audience of mixed languages. 

"Toastmasters has a German manual. Next time I would also like to be emailed the introduction in advance as I am learning German through Duolingo. I could also have acted as interpreter and translated it on paper and at the meeting for my own benefit or for everybody else’s. (I have done simultaneous translation from French at conferences.)

"One of my dreams is to start a multi-lingual online Toastmasters Club. Or an advanced club which is multi-lingual.

"Democracy was the theme of Harrovians' Speakers' Club meeting on Monday June 5th 2017. Toastmaster of the Evening and VPE Sushil had chosen this subject.

"Our first speaker, Adam, was missing because his wife was about to give birth. Everybody had sent him good wishes on Whats Ap during the day. 

"Jesus entertained us with a series of jokes about the funny things children say. 

“Jayanthiny’s speech gave us strategies for selling, five steps, starting with knowing your customers or audience, ending with making sure they see themselves enjoying the successful solution to a problem

"Seema encouraged us to do High Performance Leadership. I learned that you can do this at any stage of your Toastmasters path, although it comes in as an option for the CL manual project on mentoring. 

"Michael Francis gave an entertaining ice breaker speech about his career as a policeman in Wembley. He tested us on our knowledge of real traffic lights, not the ones we use to time speeches. 

"Amparo’s speech topics were bang up to date on the subject of democracy.  Sushil encouraged us all to vote in the elections in the UK held nationally next Thursday.

"When I wrote  the above paragraph, I first wrote that Sushil encouraged us to vote. That was ambiguous. In this context you might have though I meant to encourage us to vote for best speaker. I don't know if he noticed it. He didn't mention it, but he could have linked voting for the best speaker in a Toastmasters meeting to voting in the elections.

"In the interval we were treated to chocolates by a visitor who is planning a chocolate business They taste as good as they look. I do hope she becomes a member!"

Photo taken and edited by Angela Lansbury. Copyright 2017.

I am a professional author and photographer, so If you copy this text elsewhere please quote me and give me the photo credits. Please give me a photo credit for "Photographs by Angela Lansbury.” Or if you are using them to promote Toastmasters on a Toastmaster website "Photos courtesy of Angela Lansbury." If you wish you may add, in the style of Wikipedia : “Photos edited and uploaded to this newsletter / website by user ...(your name)."

Angela Lansbury, author of:

Wedding Speeches and Toasts. (Word Lock and Cassell.)

Quick quotations. (See Lulu and Amazon.)

Who said what when? (Quotations by day of the year. See Lulu.com and Amazon.)

Please bookmark your favourite pasts and share links to them.

How to convince members to mentor others?

TM has an educational workshop on mentoring with the slides you show and a question and answer session at the end.

Give examples of a mentor and a mentee session. Being a mentor is just like being an evaluator. You both get points and learn. Sometimes the mentor only has to listen as the mentee talks through the problems, discusses one, two or three solutions, and finds the action and decides to do it. A mentor is evaluated in the CL manual. You could add the public mentoring session by running publicly through how the mentoring is then evaluated.

Angela Lansbury, author of Quick Quotations.