50 Ideas For Table Topics
The
following are 50 topics compiled from the Internet. Many of the
ideas were duplicates and the origin unknown. Therefore, proper
credit is not attributed.
- A
courtroom scene -- Member "A" has been accused of stealing
a pig from Member "B's" front yard. Member "C"
-- Act as a character witness for "A." Member "D"
-- having had pork chops at A's home what can you add to the evidence.
etc.
- Ask
each speaker to describe his/her life if he/she was an object,
i.e., a mirror, a table, a chair, a briefcase, a door, etc.
- Ask
the speaker to talk about the bumper sticker, real or imagined,
on their car. They can include "Sky diving - A Natural High"
and "Protected by Smith & Wesson" and many others.
- At
five years old, we all dream to be a teacher or a fireman. At
fifteen years old, we all dream to play or sing with a rock'nroll
band. But, tell us why your dream would be to be a shoe (or some
other object)?
- Bring
in a bag of coins and have each speaker talk about something that
happened or something they were doing in the year that is stamped
on the coin.
- Collect
some products off the grocery shelf or hardware store. Each TT
speaker selects one of the items out of a bag and has to do a
TV commercial on that product.
- Cut
pictures (no captions) from the newspaper or magazine. Have the
speaker pick one and tell the club what is happening in the picture.
- Everyone
writes down a secret about themselves that no one in the club
knows about. Each speaker takes one of the notes, reads it, and
states who they think wrote the note and why.

- Give
each speaker a "Dear Abby" question and have them give
their advice. These could made up by the Table Topics Master or
real ones clipped from the advice columns.
- Give
each speaker a sheet of paper with weird pictures drawn by a child
(or you) and have the speaker be an art critic discussing the
significance (or lack thereof) of the work.
- Give
each speaker a simple situation to speak on, e.g., "Your
day at the beach" or "Your day at the zoo." While
they are speaker, yell out a single irrelevant word that the speaker
must try to include in his/her topic. (About six words per speaker
- depending on their experience). For example, the speaker may
say "I was walking along the sand and admiring the blue sky,"
and then the topic master yells 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 colored bathing
suit."
- Give
the speaker a quotation to interpret.
- Give
the speaker a strange and unheard word from the dictionary and
ask them tell everyone what they think this word means. At the
end, give the real definition.
- Give
the speaker a title to a book that they have just authored and
are promoting tour and them explain to the members why we should
all rush out and buy wonderful book.
- Give
the speaker an unusual object and describe what it is and how
it is used. As an alternate, ask the speaker to sell the object
to the club.
- Hand
out small plastic containers with cotton wool soaked in a scent
- dettol, perfume, etc. and asked the speaker what memories the
scent evoked.
- Have
a series of acronyms MMP, IRD, NBC, NASA etc. Ask for new meanings.
- Have
an object in a bag that the speaker has to feel and describe to
the club. The club then guesses what was described. Alternatively,
the respondent may look at the object before describing it.
- Have
each speaker discuss a time (real or imagined, but preferably
real) when they saw or met a celebrity.
- Have
each speaker open a small box or bag with an item in it and describe
what is in the box without telling everyone what is in the box, i.e., a mirror.
- Have
each speaker pick from a bowl full of Chinese fortune cookies
and have them read their fortune and interpret it to means to
them. Note: Make sure everyone gets a cookie whether they speak
or not.
- If
there are people in your club born in different areas (and/or
different countries), try this: "What do people think they
know about your birthplace that isn't true?"
- 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 go back in time and talk to yourself at the age of ten,
what advice would you give yourself?
- If
you could travel back in time to meet anyone in your family's
history, whom would you most want to meet?
- If
you had to wear a button with a maximum of five words what would
it be and why?
- Jeopardy!
Come up with six question categories and then make five questions
for each category. Take a poster board and make pockets for each
question. Label the categories at the top of each column and have
the speaker select from a category. You get the idea.
- Make
personalised license plates, hand one to a person and ask "What
type of vehicle are you and who owns you?" Some examples:
ICU4DK SLO4X4 RWIDO MYCAR
TRAVLN
- Obtain
a list of all of the cabinet ministers. Ask each speaker to explain
what they would do if they were a particular Minister, i.e., "What
would you do if you were the Minister of Transportation?"
- Put
everyday stuff into a bag and let each speaker select an item
to discuss. However, the year is 2525 and the speaker is an archaeologist.
They will explain their opinion as to what the item was back in
the 20th. Century and how it was used.
- Read
a paragraph from different letters to the editor of your local
paper and have the members respond with their opinions.
- Some
people say a little white lie is sometimes okay. What do you think?
- Sometimes
making change is like teaching a pig how to sing, it only frustrates
you and annoys the pig. When was the last time you "taught
a pig how to sing?"
- Sometimes
when you look at a big task, it's important to approach it just
like you would eating an elephant: one bite at a time. Which end
would you start at and why?
- Spend
a minute or so reviewing basic introductions. Then bring up each
speaker and have them pull an object out of a bag, and have them
introduce what they have extracted. (Vegetables work well...."It's
MR. CARROT!!!! Please introduce Mr. Carrot as our next speaker."
Not only do people get practice with introductions, but they get
to take home a part of a salad.)
- Take
the first line from a song and have the speaker explain what inspired
them to begin this song with this phrase.
- The
speaker picks a white elephant wrapped gift and explains why it
is the most wonderful gift in the world.
- There's
a saying that the difference between involvement and commitment
is like that of a chicken or a pig to breakfast. The chicken is
involved, and the pig is committed. When it comes to life, which
are you, a chicken or a pig?
- Think
of 4 or 5 unusual situations that would normally be considered
bad news. Challenge your speakers to make them good news instead.
Some ideas: (1) Youre the mayor of Hamilton. Godzilla just
trashed the downtown area. Explain why that's good for Hamiltonians.
(2) Aliens just vaporised the Beehive. You're the Prime Minister.
Make the first speech afterwards about why this is good news.
(3) You just put your car through the garage door. Tell your spouse
or significant other why this is good news.
- What
annually televised sporting event is an absolute must-see for
you?
- What
national attraction or tourist site should every New Zealander
see at least once?
- What
sound, other than ringing, would you want your telephone to make?
- What
would you do if you arrived at the airport barely on time after
dodging bad traffic and realised that you forgot your tickets?
- Write
down different "accomplishments" (best underwater basket
weaver, best nuclear power plant designer, best TV remote control
switcher, etc.) on pieces of paper. A speaker selects the award
and must "award" it to another member. That member must
get up and "accept" the award.
- Write
words on small pieces of paper or index cards. Have each speaker
pick four pieces of paper or cards and make up a story using all
4 words. (You can also require using the "word of the day".)
Variations of the word are ok (If the word is "microscope",
then "microscopic" may be used in the story).
- You
are a fly on the tail fin of a Boeing 747 that has fallen asleep.
You awaken and the plane is going 400 miles per hour! How you
feel?
- On
small slips of paper write out some unusual or very descriptive
colours (day-glo orange, pea green, flamingo pink etc), make a
list of questions along the lines of:
Explain
why all your clothes this summer will be in this color
Tell
the person to your right why he/she should buy a car in this color.
Ask the speaker to pick a slip and ask them the next question on the
list. You never know what you'll get.
- Have
the speaker discuss a weird place to live and defend the place
as a nice place to live, such as:
- Next
to a nuclear power plant.
- In
a swamp.
- Bottom
of the Grand Canyon.
- Top
of Mt Cook.
- Each
person would be given one line and would have to weave a story
from it. Here are a dozen different story lines to use: "The
Impromptu Murders"
- It
was a dark and stormy night as lightning flashed through the window
pane.....
- When
the guests heard the noise they stumbled down the hallway only
to discover....
- The
police arrived and asked everyone to....
- Fearing
for my own safety I told the Police, "I couldn't have done
it because I....."
- Seeing
that now was the right time, the butler stepped forward and declared.....
- Old
Mrs. Marple didn't think anyone knew about her relationship with
the deceased. I then stood up and told the group.....
- Gasping
for breath and holding her throat, the maid stumbled into the
drawing room....
- It
was then that the front door burst open and who should step in
but....
- "No!",
I cried. "It was I who did it, for you see the dead man was
my........"
- Surprising
everyone, the dead man picked himself up off of the floor, looked
around at the gathering and said.....
- Just
when all had felt the mystery solved, the light went out.....
- The
policeman then stepped forward and announced to the guests, with
a big smile on his face....
- Tell
us why you plan to paint your house this colour
Swiped from Aspiring Club
(Hamilton NZ)s newsletter Aspirations Aug 99.
How to do Tabletopics Master
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