Impromptu Practice

According to its website, TableTopics started when its creator, Christy Clark, was on her way to a holiday cocktail party. She was trying to think of interesting conversation starters because the thought of another evening of small talk was more than she could handle. She jotted down a few questions and tried them out on her fellow party goers. And the result is TableTopics - a collection of conversation starter sets meant to spark fun, interesting and meaningful discussions around the dinner table, at parties, on road trips - or wherever. 

During our Excellence in Speaking course, the faculty at Ty Boyd, Inc. get students on their feet to practice speaking accurately, intelligently and articulately. Most of the talking that we do on any given day is impromptu speaking and we have found that off the cuff practice is a good warm up for thinking on your feet in meetings and in daily conversations. Extemporaneous speaking - without preparation and without notes - can be overwhelming, but throughout the Excellence in Speaking course, we give you dozens of opportunities to practice what we preach.

We recently heard from one of our clients at AAA telling us that she and her colleagues, who are also Excellence in Speaking alumni, get together for a bi-monthly meeting to re-sharpen their communication tools. They take turns drawing a card from the TableTopics box and speak for 2 minutes. She wrote to tell us that she is amazed by the dramatic changes she has seen in those employees who attend the practice session on a regular basis.

We'd all like to achieve excellence without the drudgery of practice. But chances are, that's just not going to happen. But...if you practice, you will be ready, you will be effective and you will succeed as a communicator. Practice is a simple tool that is available to all of us no matter what our skills are in other areas. No matter how resonant our voice, no matter how naturally effortless our posture, no matter what kind of smile we have or how good our eye connection is - we can all practice. 

And...lest you think that conversation is losing its art in an increasingly digital world - you'll be happy to know that there's an app for that....TableTopics is available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch offering a host of questions designed to jump-start conversations and give you the ability to practice.