9 Fun Table Topics Ideas

1. Walking Dictionary

The Table Topicsmaster picks an obscure (but actual) word from the dictionary, and the respondent comes up with (or makes up) a convincing definition of that word and gives examples of its usage.

2. Life As an Object

Ask the respondents to describe their life as if they were an object in the meeting room. (e.g., a book, a table, a chair, a briefcase, a door, a pair of glasses, etc.)

3. Color Your World

On your next trip to a home improvement store, pick up a paint color chart. At the meeting, pick out unusual colors (e.g., day-glo orange, pea green, flamingo pink). Then ask questions along these lines: Why do you plan to paint your house this color? Why do you want to buy a car in this color?

4. Add-the-Caption

Select interesting pictures from magazines or newspapers without ­captions. At the meeting, choose one at random and asks the respondent to provide a caption and then discuss what is going on in the picture. (e.g., a man is sitting at a desk reading while another person is looking out the window, or two workers are showing off a dirty sports jersey).

5. A Second Chance

Suppose you could go back in time and talk to yourself at age 10 (15, 20 or 30, etc.). What advice would you give yourself?

6. The Day I Met Elvis

Each respondent tells about a time (real or imagined, but preferably real) when they ran into a celebrity.

7. Home Is Where the Heart Is

Discuss an unusual or inconvenient place to live and defend why it is a nice place to live. Examples: next to a nuclear power plant; in a swamp; bottom of the Grand Canyon; top of the Matterhorn; beside a landfill.

8. Did You Know That I Once ... ?

Each respondent is required to tell an amazing story about themselves. The members then vote on whether each speaker was telling the truth or lying. The respondent who fooled the most people either way wins the ribbon for Best Table Topics.

9. It Was a Very Good Year

Bring a bag of coins (or collect them at the meeting). Each respondent pulls a coin from the bag and talks about the mint year stamped on the coin. It could be something in history or something that happened to the respondent during that year.

Steve Chen, DTM, PID, is a member of Suffolk Toastmasters club in Setauket, New York, and was a finalist in the 2013 District 46 Table Topics Contest.