November 12, 2025

If you have ever felt your heart race when someone says it is your turn during Table Topics, you are in good company. During this week’s special workshop with Fursey Gotuaco, a two time finalist in the World Championship of Public Speaking, toastmasters openly shared their biggest challenges. Some had too many ideas at once. Some had none. Others struggled to stay relevant, struggled with structure, or simply struggled to understand what was being asked. The spotlight felt too bright, and even simple questions suddenly felt intimidating.

Fursey demonstrated this beautifully when he asked everyone to do something extremely simple. He asked them to spell their names. Even then, people hesitated. Their voices wavered. They chose to type their names in the chat rather than say them out loud. The fear was not about knowing the answer. It was about being judged for something personal.

This became the foundation of the workshop. The struggle in Table Topics is rarely the question itself. The real challenge is the internal noise. The rush of self criticism. The fear of being wrong. The concern about going off track. The worry about misunderstanding the prompt. These are the thoughts that stop people before they even begin.

Fursey reminded everyone that the purpose of Table Topics is not to deliver a perfect one to two minute speech. Toastmasters was never meant to create people who are only great within Toastmasters. It is meant to help them become great everywhere else. In real life, impromptu speaking is messy and unpredictable. A boss may suddenly ask you to connect one topic to another. An interviewer may ask you to apply a personal story to a job you hope to get. Conversations shift direction constantly. These are the moments when agility matters more than perfection.

From the start, Fursey encouraged everyone to relax. He joked about getting rid of the suit and not treating the experience as stiff or formal. The first job in any impromptu moment is to engage the listener. He urged participants to be colorful, playful, and expressive.

To warm people up, he asked very simple questions. Colors. Foods. Cities. Cars. Friends. These are prompts where it is almost impossible to be wrong. The goal was to help participants practice speaking without fear or overthinking.

Fursey explained that our minds try to protect us by over editing. Even though our thoughts move quickly, the thoughts we notice most tend to be negative. They whisper warnings and limitations. He encouraged everyone to keep thinking even while speaking and to remain open to ideas rather than shutting them down before they appear.

After the warm up, he gradually moved toward short personal stories. He asked participants to think of moments involving resilience, loyalty, creativity, analytical thinking, or relationships. These types of stories become anchors. They help you answer unexpected questions with sincerity and confidence.

This is especially powerful during job interviews where questions about leadership, mistakes, challenges, and personal experiences are guaranteed to appear. Table Topics becomes real life in these situations, because you are required to talk about your own life and apply it to a new and unfamiliar context.

One of the strongest reminders from the workshop was simple. Do not look for reasons to stop yourself. When you silence your ideas, you silence the best parts of your thinking. When you stay open, the words begin to flow. Fursey emphasized that your first idea, even if imperfect, can lead you somewhere surprising and meaningful if you let it.

The workshop ultimately showed that impromptu speaking is not about sounding polished. It is about trusting yourself. It is about staying present. And it is about having the courage to speak even when your inner critic is loud. When you stop chasing perfection, you finally give yourself the freedom to express what is already inside you.

See you at our next workshop!