Posts Tagged ‘table topics’

Living High on Life – Agape Toastmasters Table Topics

Friday, April 23rd, 2010
Tomorrow morning, I am the Table Topics Master of the day. The theme (which Ty the Toastmaster is responsible for, not me) is "Puff...Puff...Pass! Livin' Hiiiiiigh on Life! What's Your Internal Peace Pipe That Keeps You High?" When Ty told me the theme, I immediately heard Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder playing in my mind. So, I decided to look up the lyrics. They are awesome (read below). I am going to use snippets of the lyrics as a springboard for table topics. Should be inspiring. By the way, in case you're wondering how I ever got into Stevie Wonder, he was very popular in the '70s when I was a kid and I admired his spirit back then. I currently have an episode of Soul Train saved in my Tivo featuring young Stevie Wonder as the guest. He writes a song on the spot just for the Soul Train audience and is amazingly shy. Don Cornelius asks him, "When did you figure out you had so much talent" and Stevie bashfully replies, "I haven't." I love this music and the spirit behind it. Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder Lyrics People keep on learnin' Soldiers keep on warrin' World keep on turnin' Cause it won't be too long Powers keep on lyin' While your people keep on dyin' World keep on turnin' Cause it won't be too long I'm so darn glad he let me try it again Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then Gonna keep on tryin' Till I reach the highest ground Teachers keep on teachin' Preachers keep on preachin' World keep on turnin' Cause it won't be too long Oh no Lovers keep on lovin' Believers keep on believin' Sleepers just stop sleepin' Cause it won't be too long Oh no I'm so glad that he let me try it again Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin I'm so glad that I know more than I knew then Gonna keep on tryin' Till I reach my highest ground...Whew! Till I reach my highest ground No one's gonna bring me down Oh no Till I reach my highest ground Don't you let nobody bring you down (they'll sho 'nuff try) God is gonna show you higher ground He's the only friend you have around Buy music by Stevie Wonder on iTunes What you listen to makes you who you are. Create the Life You Want with a free hypnosis MP3 at icreatehabits.com

A Tea Party Toast for Tina Tessina

Thursday, January 21st, 2010
This past Sunday I realized one of the many ways my Toastmasters training comes in handy. In this video, you'll see how the hostess of the party invites each person in attendance to light a candle and "tell the birthday girl why you're glad she was born." None of us was prepared for this speech, including me. However, thanks to my many hours of training in Toastmasters, I have improved my impromptu speaking skills. Toastmasters helps you to think on your feet and teaches you skills like vocal variety, body language and storytelling. After I told Tina why I'm glad she was born, someone said "good speech". I simply held my hands out, shrugged my shoulders and replied, "Toastmasters!" Toastmasters is an International organization. Find out more on their website. See more speech videos on my YouTube Channel. Subscribe today.
If you need help learning how to love yourself as you are, consider the Love Your Body, Love Yourself hypnosis and affirmation CD or the Donate Your Weight program.

Toastmasters Theme: Your Favorite Music for Holiday Cheer

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
I was recently the Toastmaster of the day at Agape Toastmasters and it was only a few days before most major December holidays. Since I'm such a music freak, I chose the topic "Your Favorite Music for Holiday Cheer". I created a playlist for the meeting on my iPod and brought my speaker doc to the meeting. At various points throughout the meeting I would play a snippet of music that was holiday oriented and coincided with something else going on in the meeting. Our Table Topics master, Rhonda Fields was great about integrating music into her topics of the day which included: 1. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight…” What would it be like to have your heart be light this Holiday season? What creates that lightness for you? Are there any troubles that you would put out of sight? 2. When you were a child do you remember your senses reacting to the holidays? Please share with us any smells, sounds, songs, images that you remember and how you felt about them? 3. What can you tell us about Rudolph the Reindeer’s background, his relationships, that glow thing going on with his nose - and anything else you know that might give us the true story about him… 4. If heaven and nature were to sing – as they do in the lyrics of the song “Joy to the World”– what would that look like, feel like, sound like to you… 5. If you were the God-parent to a 5 year old child who had not been around music much, what holiday song might you teach them to sing with you and why? What would that be like for you? 6. The first time you heard the lyrics to “Jingle Bells” – where might you have been? What was your world like at the time? How did you feel about that song, or any holiday song - and what was it like to be you back then? 7. If you were to pick a subject for a new holiday song that might open your heart, what would it be about? Tell us more about that song – the lyrics, the sound, the feeling… 8. If you could create the sounds, smells, images of a holiday afternoon that personally brought you joy, no matter what the rest of the world was doing – what might that be like? Please tell us about it… 9. If you could have a well-known singer, or any other person, (dead or alive) sing a holiday song to you, who would that be? What song would you choose? What locale would you choose and what would that experience be like for you? 10. In the lyrics from “The Christmas Song”, we are told: “Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright. Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight.” What might make the season bright for you? What makes your eyes all aglow? Has there ever been a holiday season that was brighter or more “all aglow” for you - and why? I'd like to use music again next time I lead table topics. I was thinking I could play a snippet of music and speak some lyrics to get the topic started then let the unsuspecting Toastmaster get creative and add her/his own twist to finish it off. Have you tried using music in your table topics or speeches? If so, let us know about it.