13 Members and 1 Guest were in attendance as Sunny served as Toastmaster to an all Table Topics night. Five people were wearing Christmas sweaters with some being uglier than others. #Praveen

We started on time and ended around 25 minutes early to share food and holiday cheer. The spread was diverse including chicken enchilada casserole from Geoff, Sunny’s famous dumplings, pumpkin pie from Danny and George brought empanadas from Patisserie Cafe in Mooresville.

Scott shared how his search for a Christmas inspired outfit led him to some reindeer antlers. He told the group how he put them on earlier and started practicing a Table Topics question about them. He noticed how the pace of his speech helped him stay calm and form a coherent story. He encouraged the group to focus on their pacing for the same effect. Easier said than done when standing in front of an audience.

The word of the day was “Goodwill” which means friendly, helpful, or cooperative feelings or attitude. The group used it 8 times if you include the Goodwill store! 🙂

Sunny sprinkled in some interesting facts about Christmas in China. She taught the group how to say Merry Christmas and Santa Claus in Chinese. She also told how commercialized the holiday has become and used selling apples as an example. “People give apples on Christmas Eve because in Chinese Christmas Eve is called “Ping’an Ye” (平安夜), meaning peaceful or quiet evening, which has been translated from the carol ‘Silent Night’. The word for apple in Mandarin is “píngguǒ” (苹果) which sounds like the word for peace.”(-whychristmas.com) So selling apples is a gimmicky way to connect the theme and give consumers another reason to buy something.

Sunny prepared Christmas inspired Table Topics questions and everyone participated. Once again we had a tie so Geoff awarded top prize to George for his unexpected, colorful Christmas memory story.

For future reference, the ballot counter should refrain from voting. If there is a tie, then he/she should vote to break it without announcing there was a tie.

In her General Evaluation, Nicole highlighted how she enjoyed Sunny’s small interjections of commentary following most Table Topics responses. This helps the transition between speakers and keeps the meeting lively. A great example of this MC technique is Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune. Watch his interaction with the players during their introductions. Just a couple sentences of commentary can add value and make the interaction more entertaining. Try it next time you serve as Toastmaster or Table Topics Master.

We often highlight how great speakers are authentic. In searching for a Pat Sajak video I came across this 4 minute interview where he talks about how he got his start as the Show’s Host. It’s fascinating and demonstrates the power of being yourself:

We are meeting next week 12/23 but NOT meeting on 12/30.

Happy Holidays!