Conversations are discussed in an excellent new book by Alison Wood Brooks titled Talk: The science of conversation and the art of being ourselves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

On August 16, 2025 I blogged about Fifty excellent Table Topics questions from the appendix to Alison Wood Brooks’s 2025 book Talk: The science of conversation and the art of being ourselves. She also has an article on pages 28 and 29 in the August 2025 issue of Toastmaster Magazine titled Ask More, Better Questions.

 

Starting on page 12 of her book Alison says:

 

“The potential reasons for conversational engagement are vast. I find it helps to visualize them plotted on what we’ll call the conversational compass (see the figure on page 13).[My color version is shown above].

 

The conversational compass organizes what we are trying to do in all the many conversations that make up our social worlds. The relational axis runs east-west and captures the extent to which we care about serving the collective versus ourselves. High-relational purposes seek to create value for everyone in the conversation (such as when you want to make your partner laugh, help them solve a problem, or teach them something new), while low-relational purposes seek to claim value for the self (such as when you want to vent, express your own views, or exit the conversation.

 

The informational axis runs north-south. It captures the extent to which we are aiming for accurate information exchange. Many people assume that information exchange is the main reason we talk to each other – sharing information is why humans learned to communicate, after all. But assuming or over-focusing on information exchange can be misguided. Think of how often you have wanted to guard information rather than share it, how often you have sought to avoid making a hard decision, or how often you have wanted a conversation to feel easy rather than informative. Those are low-informational purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of the four quadrants of the compass contains appropriate, worthy, virtuous motives for different moments, which are reflected in the positive labels we give the quadrants: Connect, Savor, Protect, and Advance. We live- we do things with words – in all four quadrants.” [My color version is shown above]. Each chapter ends with a summary of three takeaways.

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE COORDINATION GAME: [Chapter 1, page 23]

“The idea of conversation has evolved over time and place. Today it helps to think of it as a coordination game.

Conversational goals can be plotted on the conversational compass along two dimensions: informational and relational.

The TALK maxims – Topics, Asking, Levity, Kindness – are reminders to help people achieve their goals, one conversation at a time.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a three-level topic pyramid on page 43. My color version is shown above.

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM T IS FOR TOPICS: [Chapter 2, page 55]

“Topics are the building blocks of conversation.

Small talk isn’t the enemy. Getting stuck on any one topic for too long, especially topics at the base of the topic pyramid, is the enemy.

Topic prep is your best friend.”

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM A IS FOR ASKING: [Chapter 3, page 87]

“Aim to ask more questions. Asking even insincere questions is a form of caring, and asking too many questions is rare.

Use caution with boomerasking, gotcha questions, and repeated questions.

Do ask topic-switching questions to change topics and follow-up questions to learn more,"   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Chapter 4, L is for Levity on page 94 she says that:

 

“And when it comes to thinking deeply about feelings, scholars find it helpful to take the complex constellation of human emotions and plot them on two simple dimensions: arousal (high versus low physical signals of energy, like heart rate) and valence (pleasure versus displeasure. All emotions – whether experienced during conversation or outside it – can be plotted on this chart of emotions. Here’s where some common feelings fall.” [My color version is shown above.]

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM L IS FOR LEVITY: [Chapter 4, page 117]

“Find the fun, rather than trying to be funny.

Give compliments effusively.

Don’t just grunt – LAUGH!”

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM K IS FOR KINDNESS: [Chapter 5, page 148]

“Kindness takes work. Focus on your partner’s needs before your own.

Speak respectfully. Aim to make others feel seen and known, good to be with, and worthy of care.

Listen responsively. Put in the effort to listen, and show it with your words.”

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM MANY MINDS: [Chapter 6, page 178]

“Conversation in groups is categorically different from and even more complicated than conversation in dyads. (Don’t feel bad if it feels chaotic).

Be aware of the status hierarchy in a group, which can change, even from one topic to the next.

Foster a stewardship mindset.”

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM DIFFICULT MOMENTS: [Chapter 7, page 218]

“Differences – in words, emotions, motives, and identities – can all cause moments of difficulty in conversation.

Use the receptiveness recipe – acknowledge, affirm, validate, hedge, aim to learn -to engage with opposing viewpoints.

Use situation modification and reframing when emotions get hot.”

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM APOLOGIES: [Chapter 8, page 249]

“Apologies are remarkably powerful.

Apologize frequently and sincerely – don’t make it about yourself.

Promise to change, then do what you’ve promised.”

 

 

Fifty excellent Table Topics questions from the appendix to Alison Wood Brooks’s 2025 book Talk: The science of conversation and the art of being ourselves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table Topics is the impromptu speaking part of a Toastmasters club meeting. Members each are asked a question and then answer via a one-to-two minute off-the-cuff speech.  On May 15, 2024 I blogged about My workshop presentation at the 2024 District 15 Toastmasters Conference on May 18, 2024 about Creating or Finding Great Table Topics Questions. In that post I described how great questions often are found under other phrases than just ”Table Topics Questions.”

 

A section of the appendix in the 2025 book by Alison Wood Brooks titled Talk: The science of conversation and the art of being ourselves beginning on page 265 is titled Some Topics to Try.  On pages 267 to 269 she lists Fifty Topics That You Could Raise With Anyone:

 

[01] What do you do for work? What do you like about it?

[02] What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

[03] Did you do any sports or clubs in high school?

[04] Why do you participate in online studies?

[05] Do you have any plans for the weekend?

[06] What’s something random about you?

[07] Have you read anything interesting recently?

[08] Have you tried anything new recently that was particularly fun?

[09] Are you a religious person? Why?

[10] What games have you played in the past that are most memorable?

 

[11] What is your favorite kind of music?

[12] How do you most enjoy spending time with your family? 

[13] Do you have any fruit trees, plants, or a garden?

[14] What’s your favorite movie?

[15] Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?

[16] Do you like where you live or do you want to move?

[17] Do you travel much?

[18] What do you enjoy doing when the weather is beautiful?

[19] Do you have a favorite type of food?

[20] For what in your life are you most grateful? Why?

 

[21] What was an embarrassing moment in your life?

[22] What’s the strangest thing about where you grew up?

[23] Who is the luckiest person you know? Why?

[24] If you could teleport by blinking your eyes, where would you go right now?

[25] What is the last professional sports game or match you watched?

[26] What is the last concert you attended? Why?

[27] If you had to perform music in front of a crowd, what would you do?

[28] What TV show have you watched recently?

[29] What’s the cutest thing you’ve seen a baby or child do?

[30] Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

 

[31] Would you like to be famous? In what way?

[32] Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?

[33] What would constitute a ‘perfect’ day for you?

[34] When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

[35] If you were able to live to age of ninety and retain either the mind or body of a thirty-year-old for the last sixty years of your life, which would you want?

[36] Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

[37] If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

[38] If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

[39] Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

[40] What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?

 

[41] What do you value most in a friendship?

[42] If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you now are living? Why?

[43] What does friendship mean to you?

[44] How close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?

[45] How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?

[46] When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

[47] What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

[48] If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

[49] Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item, what would it be? Why?

[50] Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?  

 

Also, on page 270 she lists her Ten Go-To Topics to Raise with Strangers:

 

{01} What are you excited about lately?

{02} What is something you’re good at but don’t like doing?

{03} What’s something you’re bad at but love to do?

{04} Is there something you’d like to learn more about?

{05} Is there something you’d like to learn how to do?

{06} What can we celebrate about you?

{07} Has someone made you laugh recently? What happened?

{08} What is something cute your {kid/friend/pet/partner} has been doing recently?

{09} Did you grow up in a city?

{10} Have you fallen in love with any new {music/books/movies/shows} lately?

 

 

Howdahell is jargon for sprinkling local knowledge into a speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A blog post by David Murray at Writing Boots on May 23, 2023 is titled Yo, Writer: Yes, Your Best Prose is Jargon-Free. But Your Negotiations with Non-Writers Should Be Jargon-y. One item of jargon he mentioned is:

 

“Howdahell: A term for a little local knowledge casually sprinkled into a speech, usually near the beginning. A commencement speaker can bring the crowd to its feet simply by making reference to having a beer at the local college watering hole. ‘Howdahell does Condoleeza Rice know about Suds on State?”

 

He also said it at Pro Rhetoric on May 25, 2023 in an article titled “The Lehrman Landing” – and Other Jargon Speechwriters Should Use Constantly. I blogged about two jargon items in that article. One was in a post on June 13, 2025 titled The Four Part Close for a speech is also known as “The Lehrman Landing.” Another was in a post on June 19, 2025 titled Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is a framework for persuasive speeches.

 

Robert Lehrman’s 2010 book, The Political Speechwriter’s Companion: A guide for writers and speakers says on page 147 that howdahell was invented by Eric Schnure. Another article by Elena Veatch at The Campaign Workshop on August 19, 2019 titled Speechwriting: 7 Questions with Eric Schnure has Eric explain:

 

“I like to say that every speech should have a ‘howdahell’ moment. That’s where the audience says to themselves, ‘How the hell did she/he know that about me, my school, my town, my hopes and fears?’ I don’t mean that in a Big Brother kind of way. Instead, it's about creating a moment of community and commonality. When a speaker achieves that - it can be powerful stuff.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will get to know our audience and find a howdahell by asking some of them questions. On January 8, 2024 I blogged about The 5Ws and 1H (or Kipling Method) for planning public speaking or other communication.

 

My devil cartoon was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

Fifty questions for a first date which also can be used in Table Topics at a Toastmasters club meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Back on February 12, 2018 I had blogged about Falling in love and Table Topics questions. A half-dozen articles in the last six months describe sets of fifty or more first-date questions which also can be used for the impromptu Table Topics section at a Toastmasters club meeting.

 

One article by Sanjana Gupta at VeryWellMind on September 18, 2024 is titled 50 First Date Questions to Make a Great Impression. Hers are divided into three categories:

 

Casual and Light-Hearted Questions [20]

Deep and Meaningful Questions [20]

Questions for Navigating Awkward Silences [10]

 

A second article by Chanel Campbell at The Glowing Muse on October 28, 2024 is titled 50 Good Questions to Ask on a First Date. Hers are divided into five categories:

 

Ice-Breaker First Date Questions [10]

Funny First Date Questions [10]

Flirty First Date Questions [10]

Deep and Meaningful Questions [10]

Light-hearted First Date Questions [10]

 

A third article by Emily Weaver at PopSugar on January 29, 2025 is titled 70+ First-Date Questions to Keep the Conversation Moving. Her six categories with 76 are:

 

Funny First-Date Questions [11]

Important First-Date Questions [12]

Ice-Breaker First-Date Questions [15]

Flirty First-Date Questions [12]

Serious First-Date Questions [14]

Would-You-Rather First-Date Questions [12]

 

A fourth article at Lifebulb on February 4, 2025 that has 58 questions is titled First Date Questions to Get to Know Someone Deeper. There are four categories:

 

Ice Breaker Questions [10]

Questions to Get to Know Someone [10]

Deep Conversation Starters [20]

Compatibility Questions [18]

 

A fifth article by Jenna Ryu at SELF on February 12, 2025 is titled 50 Non-Awkward Questions for a First Date That’ll Actually Spark a Connection. Her three categories are

 

If you want to start off light and casual [14]

If you’re looking to learn more about them – without overstepping [20]

If you’re ready to suss out your compatibility [16]

 

A sixth article by Isabelle Eyman at Camille Styles on February 14, 2025 is titled 50 Thoughtful First Date Questions That Skip the Small Talk. Her five categories are:

 

Getting to Know Each Other [10]

Personal Interests and Hobbies [10]

Life Values and Beliefs [10]

Fun and Lighthearted Questions to Ask on a First Date [10]

Future Goals and Ambitions [10]

 

Her ten about getting to know each other are:

 

 1] What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

 2] How would you describe your perfect day?

 3] What’s something you’re passionate about?

 4] What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?

 5] Do you have a favorite childhood memory that still makes you smile?

 6] What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend?

 7] If you could lve anywhere in the world for a year, where would it be?

 8] What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

 9] Who or what inspires you most?

10] What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

 

I have a good reply to the eighth question. When I was serving as a medic I once had to take footprints of all our aircrew. (Footprints are one way to identify the dead after a crash and fire). I mentioned that on November 10, 2024 when I blogged about Some memories of the Air Force Reserve – for Veterans Day. The Air Force manual had vague and useless advice about inking the glass plate used for prints. But the Treasury Department had a manual on Palm Prints with great specific advice: just put a sheet of white paper beneath the glass, and then ink until you can barely see the paper. Problem solved.

 

The silhouette came from Openclipart.

 

Asking ‘magic’ questions in conversations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asking open-ended questions is an important skill for conducting conversations. From the Nampa Public Library I found and enjoyed skimming a 2022 book by Phil M Jones titled Exactly What to Say: Your Personal Guide to the Mastery of Magic Words. An earlier 2017 version instead is titled Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact. The cover for the 2022 book has the abbreviation EWTS vertically, while the 2017 one spells out Exactly What to Say. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both sets of words are shown above, with numbers in brackets for the [2017 version].

Peter Kang discussed the earlier book on August 6, 2017 in an article titled Thoughts on “Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact” by Phil M Jones. And there is an even earlier 26-page pdf of an article by Phil M. Jones at ReSound on September 2014 titled Magic Words: 17 ways to influence, persuade and encourage people to take action.

 

There is a useful 44 minute YouTube video from Meny Hoffman at PtexGroup on April 1, 2024 titled Learn the Magic Words, Become a Sales Master: A Conversation with Phil M. Jones. An example Phil uses begins with What Do You Know, followed by What is Your Experience, and Would It Help If.

 

On August 29, 2024 I blogged about Thirty questions to engage someone, beyond How Are You?

 

Images of a questioning man and woman were modified from those at Openclipart.

 

 

Thirty questions to engage someone, beyond How Are You?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can always use open-ended questions for starting conversations, or as topics for impromptu speeches (like Table Topics at a Toastmasters club meeting). There is an article by Wendy Rose Gould at VeryWellMind on August 25, 2024 titled 30 Questions to Engage Someone Beyond ‘How Are You?”

 

With the contractions removed, her thirty questions (for three categories of familiarity) are:

 

Someone You Have Just Met

What is your connection to (this event/the host/this location)?

What do you think about the music/vibe here?

Did you come with anyone, and who are you hoping to meet? (i.e. business contacts, new friends, etc.)

Have you been here before, and what inspired you to attend?

How did you find yourself here today?

What did you think about (specific part of the event, such as a speech, performance, or activity)?

What do you usually order/do here?

How did you find out about this (place/event)?

Have you met anyone here that you thought was especially unique or interesting?

Any big plans for later in the day/tomorrow?

 

Someone You Already Know

What has been going on since the last time we met up?

Whatever happened with (XYZ thing they brought up last time)?

Have you experienced anything new that’s impacted who you are lately?

Anything exciting going on in your life?

Have you learned or discovered anything cool lately?

What are you most excited about in life right now?

Have any new goals or plans you’re working on?

Read/watched anything good since we last met up?

How is (person important to them) doing?

What is a rose (good thing) and a thorn (bad thing) happening in your life right now?

 

Someone You Have Known a Long Time

What has been on your mind and heart lately?

How are you really doing? Is there anything I can do to support you right now?

How have you been doing with (challenge/goal)?

How have you been spending your time, and what have you been investing your energy into lately?

What are you looking forward to today/this week/this weekend?

How is it going with (person important to them)?

Is there anything you have wanted to talk about with me lately?

What was your high and low today?

Any major life or work updates?

Is there anything you would like to share {which] you are proud of that I can celebrate with you?

 

The silhouettes image came from here at Openclipart.

 

The 5Ws and 1H (or Kipling Method) for planning public speaking or other communication

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some ideas are so old they have gotten different names. For example, there is a Wikipedia article on the Five Ws (really Five Ws and one H) questions shown above which says they can be traced back to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics:

 

“For in acts we must take note of who did it, by what aids or instruments he did it (with), what he did, where he did it, why he did it, how and when he did it.”

 

That also is known as the Kipling Method, based on his poem The Elephant’s Child from the 1902 book of Just So Stories which opens with:

 

“I keep six honest serving men: 

(they taught me all I knew).

Their names are What and Where

and When and How and Why and Who.

I send the over land and sea, I send them east and west;

but after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest.”

 

Those six questions are in an article by Carma Spence at PublicSpeakingSuperPowers on December 1, 2010 titled The 5 Ws and an H of Public Speaking. They also are in a second article at Speak2Impress on June 10, 2019 titled The “5 Ws and 1 H” of Public Speaking. And, they appear in a third article by Danish Khan Yousafzai at LinkedIn Pulse on February 22, 2023 titled Mastering Communication with the 5W1H Rule.

 

Wikipedia has another article on the Five Whys for problem solving, which came from Taiichi Ohno of Toyota Motor Corporation. There is yet another article by Jon Miller at THE MANUFACTURER on November 17, 2009 titled The Kipling Method vs the Ohno Method.

 

Would you buy a used car from this man?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A photograph can leave a strong impression. We saw the first real and scowling mug shot of Donald Trump, described in an article by Brian Bennett and Nik Popli at TIME on August 24, 2023 titled Here is Trump’s Mug Shot, the First Ever of a Former President, and in another article by Jonathan J. Cooper at APNews on August 25, 2023 titled One image, one face, one American moment: The Donald Trump mug shot.

 

Since April Trump’s campaign has been peddling a fake mugshot captioned “NOT GUILTY.”

 

The real one immediately reminded me of the title and my captioned image for this post. Would you buy a used car from this man? had been used with a picture of Richard Nixon by both the 1960 and 1968 Democratic presidential campaigns.

 

Way back on June 23, 2010 I had a post titled Would you buy a used car from these men?

 

UPDATE: September 4, 2023

 

There is an article by Tom Boggioni on September 2, 2023 at Raw Story titled Trump’s mugshot T-shirt cash grab could backfire and cost him millions: legal experts. It explains that the Fulton County Sheriff’s department likely owns the mugshot – and therefore could sue Trump for infringing their copyright.  

 

A practical process for writing any speech – from the Professional Speechwriters Association

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a twelve-page article (a PSA whitepaper) by Michael Long at the Professional Speechwriters Association (PSA) titled One Step at a Time: A Practical Process for Writing Any Speech. It briefly describes and then discusses the following six steps:

 

Step 1: Assess the event and the speaker

Step 2: Create a spec sheet

Step 3: Identify the big ideas and put them in order

Step 4: Add evidence

Step 5: Write the open and the end

Step 6: Make it better [polish everything]

 

There is another ten-page article (also a PSA whitepaper) by David Murray titled Speechwriting, FAQ (and subtitled Honest answers to the ten toughest questions communicators {and their bosses} ask about creating compelling speeches and presentations).

 

There also is an 18-page pdf version of an article (another a PSA whitepaper) by Boe Workman titled Writers of the Lost Art: “Rhetorical Perspective,” and the Future of Speechwriting, which I had previously discussed in a post on January 23, 2023 titled What is the future of speechwriting? I found them all at the PSA Resources web page.

 

The cartoon image of a woman came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Job interview questions about soft skills also can be used for Table Topics questions at Toastmasters club meetings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table Topics is the impromptu speaking section of a Toastmasters club meeting. That is where members without roles in running the meeting participate by providing one-to-two-minute answers to questions. Table Topics is discussed in a brief article by Greg Lewis on pages 26 and 27 of the January 2022 Toastmaster Magazine titled The two sides of Table Topics.

 

Where can you find good ideas for questions to ask? One obvious way is to just Google the phrase “Table Topics Questions”, perhaps adding filetype:pdf. In a previous post on November 21, 2022 I discussed how Conversation Starters also can be used for Table Topics questions. And on November 12, 2022 I blogged about how Writing prompts can also be used for Table Topics questions.

 

Still another source is questions used for job interviews. In your local public library system you likely can find several books with questions and answers. Three examples are: Ronald W. Fry’s  2016 book, 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions, Matthew DeLuca’s 1997 book, Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions, and Peter Veruki’s 1999 book, The 250 Job Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked and the answers that will get you hired. Ten questions from Peter Veruki’s book are:

 

What’s your dream job?  

Give an example of how you saw a project through, despite obstacles.

How do you regroup when things haven’t gone as planned?

What personal skill or life habit have you struggled to improve?

What’s the most creative or innovative project you’ve worked on?

Describe an improvement you personally initiated.

What’s your most productive or ideal work setting?

Do you prefer continuity in structure or frequent change in your daily work?

Tell me what you learned from a recent book.

What things impress you in colleagues?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about Google searches? It is helpful to also add the jargon phrase, “soft skills.” That sounds like it might describe activities like pillow fights (shown above). But soft skills (also known as core or common skills) are those common to all professions – like public speaking, problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking, etc. There is a long post by Juste Semetaite at the Toggl blog on November 4, 2022 titled 100 Soft Skills Assessment and Interview Questions.

 

The job interview silhouettes came from Openclipart, and the pillow fight came from the Library of Congress.

A 2005 online survey of 16 problems that can affect presentations found the speaker being too nervous ranked last for both harmfulness and frequency

 

Back in 2006 there was a 100-page ebook by Andy Goodman titled Why Bad Presentations Happen To Good Causes, which you can download from the Goodman Center. I blogged about it on August 10, 2008 in a post titled Free e-book on presentations, with a great story.

 

An appendix in that ebook describes an online survey done beginning on January 5, 2005 which had 2,501 responses. It listed 16 problems that can affect presentations, and asked both how frequent and how harmful that was. Frequency was reported on a scale from 1 = Never to 5 = Always, and harmfulness on a scale from 1 = Not harmful at all to 5 = Extremely harmful. Answers were reported on pages 84 and 85 as tables of percentages for each of those five levels (plus Don’t know). But it is not obvious how to compare those percentages between questions.

 

 On October 30, 2015 I blogged about how According to the 2015 Chapman Survey of American Fears, adults are less than Afraid of federal government Corruption and only Slightly Afraid of Public Speaking. That post showed how to calculate a Fear Score from their survey results. These results can be summarized by a Harmfulness Score (or a Frequency Score) similarly calculated by a linear formula and reported on a scale from 1 to 5):

 

Harmfulness Score = [1*(Level 1 %) +  2*(Leve1 2 %)

+ 3*(Leve1 3 %) + 4*(Leve1 4 %) + 5*(Leve1 5%)]/100     

 

Based on harmfulness 13 of 16 problems were ranked above 3 (middle of the scale), but based on frequency just 2 of 16 were.  Harmfulness Scores and rankings for the sixteen problems [and Frequency Scores and their rankings] are as follows:

 

01) The speaker was not well prepared: 4.18 [2.43 #13]

02) The speaker did not connect with the audience: 4.04 [2.91 #3]

03) The material was poorly organized: 3.89 [2.72 #7]

04) The objective was not made relevant to the audience’s concerns: 3.86 [2.72 #8]

05) The overall objective of the talk was not clear to the audience: 3.81 [2.56 #11]

06) The presentation ran too long: 3.5 [3.21 #2]

07) Time was not allocated to ask questions or engage the presenter in a discussion: 3.44 [2.87 #4]  

08) The presentation duplicated the content of the slides and/or handouts without adding anything significant: 3.44 [3.40 #1]

09) The amount of material presented was overwhelming: 3.39 [2.81 #6]

10) Technical problems (e.g. poor sound system, malfunctioning projector) disrupted the presentation: 3.37 [2.60 #10]

11) The material was overly complex: 3.34 [2.39 #14]

12) Sufficient time was not allowed for the presenter to cover all the material: 3.22 [2.84 #5]

13) There was not enough information to help the audience make a decision or reach a conclusion: 3.21 [2.49 #12]

14) The presentation was not tailored to the size of the audience: 2.89 [2.38 #15]

15) Translating the material into PowerPoint templates (e.g. bullet lists) made it more difficult to understand, less interesting, or both 2.84 [2.64 #9]

16) The speaker was too nervous: 2.82 [2.18, #16]

 

Note that The speaker was too nervous ranked #16 based on both harmfulness and frequency. So novice speakers (like new Toastmasters) shouldn’t sweat over that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar charts for both scales are shown above.

 

A startling statistic about Idaho agriculture for opening a presentation

You might open a presentation by asking your audience: What Idaho agricultural product is most valuable? Some would say that’s a silly question - right on our license plates it says FAMOUS POTATOES.

But on October 11, 2019 the United States Department of Agriculture had a press release titled Value of Idaho’s 2018 Agricultural Production Totals $7.69 Billion, which listed the top five products (as are shown above in a bar chart). Potatoes ($1.03 billion) only were third, exceeded by both milk ($2.38 billion) and  cattle ($1.41 billion).

I saw that press release discussed in a newspaper article by Nicole Foy in the Idaho Statesman on January 4, 2020 titled These products top the list for driving Idaho’s ag economy. (Hint: it isn’t spuds). Where does all that milk go? Some goes into a million-square-foot Chobani facility in Twin Falls - the world’s largest yogurt plant.

An image of an Idaho license plate came from Wikimedia Commons.

Table Topics - judging magazines by their covers

Table Topics is the impromptu speaking section of a Toastmasters club meeting, where people give one to two minute answers to questions. Ideas for those questions (the role of Table Topics Master) can come from anywhere. This topic came from looking at the magazine rack while I was standing in a supermarket checkout line at WINCO.

It occurred to me the National Enquirer has a  very misleading title. Based on the stories shown on the cover, it instead really should be titled Misbehaving or Dying Celebrities, as is shown above.

On February 17, 2019 I blogged about Table Topics – Tell us about another magazine with a similar title. When I got around to being Table Topics Master for our last meeting in March, I realized that I needed to provide more information than just the title. For each magazine I brought both some background information and a copy of a cover (showing article titles).  

  

I also suggested how the answer might be aimed. Was an adjective in the title rather weak? For example, back on June 5, 2016 I had blogged about Was Fairview really the best street name you could come up with? Why just Fair, and not Good, Better, or Best (the categories from a Sears catalog)? I also noted you might change an adjective to its opposite, like Clean Eating into Dirty  Eating. Here are four examples.

One woman got a cover from Good Housekeeping (which began way back in 1885). Story titles included Awesome Makeover Ideas for Every Room, Top-Tested Solutions for Dry Skin, and Your Happiest and Healthiest Year Ever. She said the title should also be a superlative, like Very Best Housekeeping –  to top Better Homes and Gardens. I don’t have time to waste hearing merely good ideas.  

I gave one man a two-year-old cover from the National Enquirer with a feature story titled Cher Dying, and noted that Cher seem to still be with us. He said that’s just what they want you to believe. She actually died but was reanimated - we secretly have that technology. The Queen of England also has died but was brought back.

A retired club member got the March 2016 issue of Sunset magazine, with article titles of A Modern Guide to Mexico City, Easy Spring Brunch Ideas, and Design a Daring Succulent Container Combo. I told him the magazine began in 1898, and once had the subtitle of The Magazine of Western Living. (Currently the subtitle is Experience the West, but it only is in the Table of Contents). He asked if the magazine was for people in their sunset years, and might better be called Grandparent’s Digest. Another possible title, Coasting Downhill, is shown above. Later I found that at Lenny Mud you can buy a $10 ceramic picture frame with a pretend cover titled Grandparent DIGEST and subtitled The Magazine for the Grandest Family Members. One article title is 365 Ways to Spoil Children. Also, the April 8, 2019 issue of The New Yorker had a cartoon on page 29 showing a cover for Grandma Digest with titles like Top Ten Pieces of Furniture to Wrap in Plastic.

Another woman got the February 2019 cover for Real Simple (subtitled Life Made Easier). I pointed out that issue had 130 pages. She said if it really was simple, then it would be less complicated and more like thirty pages long. And don’t give me a long discussion of how to cleverly organize my kitchen – just tell me to throw some things out. Later I realized that you could start from that title and change it into Real Pimple (the teen magazine of zits).

Images of an old man on a bicycle and a painting of Marat both came from Wikimedia Commons.