Activity #1: What if…?
Instructions for Topicsmaster:
1. Take out the slips of paper in the envelope (see examples below). Hold them with your fingers
and fan them out with the text facing you.
2. Ask a volunteer to take one of the slips of paper. Have him/her read out the question and
answer it in 30 seconds.
3. Repeat with another volunteer until all the slips of paper are done.
4. Encourage the speakers to use the word of the day.
Examples:
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If you could be any age again for one week, what age and why?
If you could fly in a hot-air balloon over any city in the world, what city would you choose?
If you could travel back in time to meet anyone in your family’s history, whom would you most
want to meet?
Activity #2: What were you doing in the year….?
Instructions for Topicsmaster:
1. Collect 3 coins from your table mates.
2. Ask a volunteer to pick one of the coins.
3. Ask the volunteer to speak about something that happened or something you were doing in
the year stamped on the coin.
4. Repeat until the 3 coins have been used.
5. Encourage the speakers to use the word of the day.
6. Remember to return the coins to their owners.
Activity #3: TV Commercial
Instructions for Topicsmaster:
1. Tell your table mates that they are going to create a 30-second TV commercial on a product in
the envelope.
2. Ask a volunteer to choose one of the pictures from the envelope.
3. Ask for another volunteer and repeat with the other 2 pictures.
4. Encourage the speakers to use the word of the day.
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Activity #4: Improv Story
Instructions for the Topicsmaster:
1. Ask for 2 volunteers.
2. Tell the volunteers that they will each talk for 60-seconds on a simple topic, such as “My
vacation”, “My favourite moment”, “A typical day in my classroom”, etc. During the speech,
any of the table mates will be allowed to say a single irrelevant word that the speaker must
incorporate into the story.
3. For example, the speaker may say “I was walking along the sand and admiring the blue sky”,
and then someone at the table may yell out “tiger”. This word must be included in the topic.
The speaker may then say, “I met someone who thought I looked great in my tiger-coloured
bathing suit”.
4. Repeat with a different topic for the next volunteer.
Vote for Best Table Topics Speaker
Instructions for Sergeant-At-Arms:
1. Distribute one ballot per person at your table (including yourself).
2. Ask everyone to fill in the ballot with their vote of who they thought was the best Table Topics
Speaker at their table.
3. Collect the votes and do a quick tally.
4. Announce the winner and present him/her with the prize in the envelope.
Time Management
Instructions for the Timer:
As the Timer, you are responsible for keeping the activity on track and on time. Most activities will be
30 seconds per person and some may be 60 seconds. Your job is to use the coloured cards (green,
yellow, red) to indicate to the speaker how much time is remaining. Speakers should try to be within
+5 or -5 seconds of the time limit.
In a 30-second activity, show the following cards at the intervals indicated below:
20 seconds =
green
25 seconds =
yellow
30 seconds =
red
In a 60-second activity, show the following:
40 seconds =
green
50 seconds =
yellow
60 seconds =
red
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