Good evening ladies and gentlemen,
Table Topics is often one of the most "dreaded" section in any Toastmasters meeting. You will be given a topic that you are totally not aware and "unprepared" for, and speak for 2 and a half minutes.
Quoting Mark Twain, the father of American literature:
"It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."
I find his statement is quite true. But we are only given 10 seconds to prepare for impromptu speech. The answer: Preparation is done BEFORE the impromptu speech.
How can we prepare for impromptu speech? We don't even know the topic before hand?
It is possible, by having some handy "tools" in your hand. The secret sauce to great impromptu speech is SPEECH STRUCTURE.
There are 5 types of commonly used speech structure, termed by yours sincerely:
- The "Lawyer" (Position - Reason - Example/Evidence - Point)
- The "Marketer" (Awareness - Interest - Desire - Action)
- The "Leader" (Past - Present - Future)
- The "Storyteller"(As is - Conflict - Resolution - Lesson)
- The "Advisor" (Compare and Contrast - Advantages vs Disadvantages)
The "Lawyer"
(Position - Reason - Example/Evidence - Point)
Do you have great idea and you want to persuade others to accept it? The "Lawyer" structure may help you. Explain or state your main point or point of view (i.e position), elaborate on reasons you hold it, give examples/evidence to build credibility and finish it by repeating your key point.
For example:
- Nasi lemak is the national cuisine of Malaysia (Point)
- It represents the colorful and diverse culture we have in Malaysia. Each represents an unique flavor and ethnicity preference, yet sharing the same base - rice cooked in coconut milk (Reasons)
- There are many varieties of nasi lemak. The Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya, Hakka and Jawa version to name a few (Examples/Evidence)
- Nasi lemak indeed reflects uniqueness of Malaysia and our national unity (Point)
The "Marketer"
(Awareness - Interest - Desire - Action)
If you want to inspire and spark actions, the "Marketer" structure is the one you go to. Grab attention by projecting powerful, or even controversial images that audience can relate to. Build up interest among your listener by giving them reasons to listen, follow by telling benefits for them, that triggers their desire to meet their needs. Close it with the call to action.
Steve Jobs speech on first iPhone is a classical example:
- Well, today we are introducing three revolutionary products of this class (Attention)
- Three things: a widescreen iPod with touch controls; a revolutionary mobile phone; and a breakthrough Internet communicator. These are not three separate devices, this is one device. We call it iPhone (Interest)
- Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone (implying state-of-the-art, highly Desirable)
- and here it is (Asking audience to take action by paying attention)
Steve Jobs is the grandmaster of this model. He layered his speech with multiple layers of AIDA model and created a climax at the end. The full transcript is as the link:
The "Leader"
(Past-Present-Future)
This is a simple and powerful speech structure that can be nicely used when creating a vision for your audience. You can start by describing what had happened, the current state we are in and casting the vision of what future holds for us. This structure blends well with the storyteller structure. To build credibility, description of the past and current need to be based on facts, though the speaker can provide his own interpretations.
Example:
- Over the past 10 years, Marvel Studio had brought us timeless entertainment to the grand scene. The Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and most notable, the Avengers series. (Past)
- As we still reminiscence on these classics, Marvel have introduced Phase 4 series, to fill in the story gaps, putting closure and building momentum for the future series. We see that in WandaVision sitcom series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (both were nominated in Emmy Award) and most recently, Loki (Present)
- The future of Marvel Phase 4 and 5 are exciting. Be prepared to be awed by the Eternal series, introduction of new characters e.g. She-Hulk and She-Thor. Marvel will attempt to challenge our comfort zone by producing the first horror movie in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Stay tune, fans of Marvel, for we will have Marvel-ous years ahead. (Future)
The greatest masterpiece speech in the modern history, "I have a dream" by Martin Luther King, demonstrated the very essence and power of this speech structure.
The "Storyteller"
(As is - Conflict - Resolution - Lesson)
The "Storyteller" is the most versatile speech structure of all. It can be used in many occasions. It is a great pattern to use when mentoring others. Choose a story from your past, or you had heard/read of that carries the message you want to get across. End it with the point you want to make.
"As is" is the scenario before the main character (ie hero) was in before going into quest
"Conflict" is the struggles that hero faced and what caused the hero to behave in certain manner. There are only 3 types of conflicts: Internal conflict; Interpersonal conflict (with others) and conflict with environment that hero have no control over
"Resolution" is the climax of the story, is how the hero overcome his challenges and conflicts. What was the ending scenario for the hero. There are only 3 types of resolution: Victory, defeat and make peace.
"Lesson" is the core message that storyteller wants the audience to take back. It is moral of the story, values, interpretations and conclusion of story events by storyteller.
All great movies regardless of genre used the similar structure. To apply in Table Topics, it can be as simple as the example below:
- I wanted to have breakfast with my family this morning (As is)
- I wanted to have nasi lemak, but my kids wanted to have roti canai and my wife had strange craving for Indian masala tea. I do not want to have roti canai or masala tea (Conflict)
- But we decided to go mamak at SS15 who served all the dishes we wanted (Resolution)
- Find a common point to our different problems. Family harmony is more important than having my favorite breakfast (Lesson)
The "Advisor"
(Compare and Contrast - Advantages vs Disadvantages)
The is the best structure when you are given a topic of choice. It is also very effective if you want to persuade someone to pick one of several options, or at least, consider them.
Start of by listing down the topics of comparison. Follow by that, speak about advantages and disadvantages of each choice. Give evidence/examples on each point. Close it with conclusion or the choice you would like to make.
The very typical topic is "Health vs Wealth"
You can start of by:
- Advantages of "Health". Health is the source of life, allow us to carry out our activities in the way we want it to be.
- Disadvantages of "Health" (consider to interpret in different context). But what's the point of health, if we can't even afford something we like, or our relationships with others are miserable?
- Advantage of "Wealth". With money, we can purchase many materials we want.
- Disadvantages of "Wealth" But money, cannot purchase happiness or health. However, it can enhance the experience and improve quality of life
- Conclusion: Health is a priority. It will be best to have wealth to enhance life experience. Life is too short to be unhealthy and poor.
Closing
These are the speech structure commonly used in Table Topics. Do note that you can always layer the structure within. For example, you can use Storyteller as main arc and extensive Advisor structure when describing the conflicts. That will add more colors, depth and breath into your Table Topics.
These speech structures can be extended to your prepared speech projects. I suggest to consciously practice these structure in your daily communication. You can even apply these into your emails, powerpoint presentation.
"The ability to organize thoughts into a short and powerful speech is the first step towards communication mastery. "
Reference:
- https://thegeekyleader.com/2013/09/29/how-to-organize-your-speech/
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell, 1949
Graphics designed using Canva
Presentation slides download available at Slideshare:
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