Good morning, my fellow Toaster masters and distinguished guests. A question for you guys. Prepared speech and Table Topics, which one is more difficult? For me, Table Topics is like a mountain that I cannot conquer. I still remember the first time I came to the stage to make an impromptu speech. I spoke no more than four sentences including several “ah” words and long pauses. Without seeing the green card, I had ended my speech. I know I made the evaluator embarrassed, he tried his best but only find one thing to encourage me: “Your courage is good. Come here more often, you will be better and better.”
I know it was to comfort me but I followed the evaluator’s advice. I often come here, but I often dare not head up in Table Topics session, especially in English. I am afraid of having eye contact with Table Topics Master.
Until I heard Sherrie Su’s secret of success—the 3 sentences: “Believe you can do it. Do it. Keep doing it.” I become to know how to survive in Table Topics.
Believe you can do it. Believe yourself and say something, whatever! Go with the first little idea that comes into your mind. Even if it is just a little idea, start talking about it. Don’t reject it in the hope that a bigger idea will come along. For example, the question is “What is your favorite sport?” My favorite sport is basketball, and they are three reasons why I like it best. The first…The second…and babala… See, you can do it, 2 minutes go very fast.
And then, Do it. When you do it, let’s try the famous “AREM”. A means Answer, R means reason, E means Example and M means message. I will explain this tip to you through a scene. One day, a girl asked the boy:” Do you love me?” “Yes.” The boy answered the question without any hesitation. You know, girls are strange animals. When the girl heard the answer, she thought the boy was perfunctory. When the boy knew the AREM, he would answer the question like this:
A: The boy stared at the girl’s eyes, says: “Yes, dear, I love you.”
R: Because when I am with you, I always feel the warmth of home.
E: Every time I feel tired, I will regain strength only if I think of you; Every time I travel with you, I will be intoxicated with you in the mountains and rivers. Every time I walk along the street with you, I feel that the whole world belongs to us. I remember that every moment we are together.
M: Dear, I not only love you, but also love you forever.
Perfect! However, you can do it one time doesn’t stand for you can do it every time. How to make Table Topics as easy as chatting? Or eating? So, why eating is easy? Because we eat 3 meals each day at least. Now you see, the only thing to do is ~
Keep doing it. We often hear a sentence in China, “Heard many words about life, but still living a hard time.” Although we have mastered lots of tips or knowledge, we can’t gain any progress without practicing. Keep doing Table Topics. When you practice it, you can make progress gradually. Psychology research shows that insisting on doing one thing for more than 21 days will form a habit; insisting on doing one thing for 90 days will form a stable habit. Believe it or not, Practice makes perfect.
Believe you can do it. Do it. Keep doing it. These three sentences apply not only to Table Topics, but also to our life. No matter what we want to accomplish, to achieve, we must believe that we can do it at first, take action, and then work hard, find method to do it, to make it happen. During the period, we may encounter many difficulties. Keep doing it, we will make it at last. Who will conquer the mountain? The one who is always on the way climbing up and never give up.
