Adam Kornfield

This is Part 2 on Impromptu Speaking and Table Topics where I discuss selecting Your Idea.  (In Part 1 I discussed Preparation)

A strong point accompanied by a personal story can make a massive impact on your audience. I discuss this idea below (in 2 min or less):

(Check back on Friday for Part 3: Execution and Performance)

Its a challenge.  Get asked a question, then immediately speak about it for 1-2 minutes.

Success in impromptu speaking is about creating a system, it isn’t luck. In a three part video series, I outline:

1. Preparation
2. Selecting your idea
3. Execution and performance

In Part 1, I start by talking about preparation, (the video is short, 2 minutes!).

(Check back on Wednesday for Part 2: Selecting Your Idea)

Thats the purpose of Table Topics. You’re given a question, then you have about 15 seconds to figure a solid and compelling 1-2 minute answer. Its meant to simulate sitting at a dinner table or interview and being asked a question.

At my club, New York Toastmasters, we had our competition on Monday night. We had an amazing turnout with 10 contestants involved. Its very stressful sitting in a sealed room, waiting for your turn to be called out. Everyone gets the same question, but you can’t hear the others answering.

Below is my response. Its good he repeated the question, because at first I couldn’t even understand it! Fortunately I did well in the competition and will compete in the next round sometime in September.