Topics participants only have two minutes to give a mini speech therefore the Topics should be on subjects that everyone can say something about in that time. Firstly choose a theme i.e. recent news, sports, learning, hobbies etc. then break this down into say 8-10 different topics under the one theme creating a stand- alone topic. Think about what it is you want people to speak about and give it some thought and prepare well. The time allowed for your session will determine how many speakers you can get to take part.
Make your own notes and choose members from the audience who are not on the programme and try to make your first participant a longer serving member to enable newer members to see and listen to what is expected of them should they be called. There may well be times when attendance means you will have to ask those on the programme to take part. Please do not ask the Timekeeper or the General Evaluator, they have enough to concentrate on during the evening and do not need distractions. Give the timing required to the Timekeeper, state the Topic and introduce each participant stating what it is they are going to speak about. For instance, a theme could be “Unusual Hobbies.” The first could be ‘tell us how you play croquet’. The second could be ‘what is required to do patchwork’ etc.
Remember this is your session as Topics Master so it is up to you to introduce it well and decide which way you are going to call up members whether by using envelopes or calling them cold. If you call cold, state the topic first and then call on someone, that way everyone will have to listen carefully to what you are saying in case they are in the hot seat! When your session is finished, close it properly by calling on the Timekeeper for timings and then giving a resume of who spoke on what. It is then you request the audience to vote for who they thought gave the best topic. You then hand back to the Toastmaster for the evening.
From Speakeasy 168 – February 2013