Pro Tips

Speaking Tips and Advice from Athenians "Experts"This new section is intended to help share the wealth of experience contained within Athenians amongst our club members. Typically the information originates from an educational speech delivered on a club night. Of course nothing beats hearing it first hand, but if you didn't make it, or need a recap try looking here.


Pro Tips #01 Table Topics - The Genius of William bottled at last.Thanks to William for these tips and to Calum for sharing this by email a few months back.
  • Think of possible answers and follow-ups as each topic speaker speaks, if not before. This will get your brain in jogging and wake you up for your run at it.
  • Look out for theme of topics. What sort of ideas should you be thinking?
  • Listen to keywords as other speakers talk. Refer to keywords. It could be just a word that you kick off your topic from.
  • If you know you are doing a topic sit strategically. If you are to walk to a certain place to deliver, then by sitting near middle or back will give you more time to think.
  • A Slightly formal introduction can give you time to think, e.g. Madam topics master, fellow toastmasters... Mom, Dad etc. Also repeating question will serve same function. You can be crafty and repeat your interpretation of the question you have chosen to answer.
  • Don't be afraid to pause and smile at your audience. This will buy you thinking time, and the audience will think you really like them.
  • Concentrate on your own topic and doing the best with what you know.
  • Avoid comparing yourself with others, as this will distract and put you off your best performance. So don't worry about how you are doing - that is the job of the evaluator.
  • What if your tongue gets stuck in the back of your throat?
    A. Refer back to previous topics.
    B. Tell a story. Think of anecdote and try making it relevant. E.g.: "This reminds me of..."
    C. Bring in the audience by asking them questions. They are your friends. Draw them in. eg a member recently asked the audience what the Yeti was.
    D. If all else fails - bluff! Nothing wrong with making it up. Story telling is a craft on its own. Politicians do it all the time.
  • For more experienced speakers, remember a final impression is as important as a first impression. So as you go up to do your topic, think about your direction and conclusion. Too many potentially strong topics peter out at the end, often as speakers see the red light and panic.
  • Trust yourself to stop in time. This means not thinking too much about your timing, but be aware you have a minute and a half to speak. So shorten those long stories.
  • Use your imagination. Let it run riot. Live out that fantasy. Try this: drop yourself in the middle of a situation. A good start is by making pictures, and tell a story from those pictures. Less practiced speakers can even afford to ignore the audience at first and pay attention only to the mental pictures they are creating in their minds if preferred.
  • You can call your audience to action. Get audience to react to something controversial. This will make your topic livelier and leave a lasting impression.
  • Above all enjoy table topics. Look on them as a parlour game and fun. Sooner or later you will enjoy them, and remember whilst you are up here that the audience are your friends.
  • How do you know topic will be relevant to audience? The easiest way is through looking at your audience's age, nationalities, dress and previous speakers.
  • What type of topics win competitions?
    A.Humour is popular. Who doesn't love a good laugh? Always have at least a couple of one-liners in your mind for any potential topic.
    B.End table topic with a serious message or call to action.
    C.Ask yourself how the table topic can be meaningful to you and the audience, either use this meaning in your call to action only, or structure your whole topic around this meaning.
  • How to prepare long term.
    A.Constantly obsess while away, even on holiday. You'll have plenty of anecdotes. E.g. "When I was away in..."
    B.Look on stressful situations as a good story. E.g. being mugged or charged at by an elephant (mugged by a person, not an elephant). Remember a happy event is happy but an awful event makes a great story.
    C.It's worth writing anecdotes and stories or jokes down. You'll be amazed at what you forget. How many dreams do you remember? The most humorous table topics speakers have often prepared being funny. E.g.: Look at Stephen King when he wrote a whole story on one word, which he remembered by writing on the dust on his rear windscreen.
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