Toastmasters: If you were...

I've been working on my public speaking on the side, attending meetings of Toastmasters; for those of you not familiar with the format, half of the meeting is dedicated prepared speeches (I had to give my 2nd speech last night) and "Table Topics" where members are randomly called upon to deliver an "off the cuff" 2 minute speech on a topic chosen by the Table Topics leader.

I like when the Table Topics are fun and creative, and last night's meeting had some good questions that I wanted to share.

• If you were king of the world, what would you do? (assume you're the same person you are now, with no additional superpowers)

• If you could be any professional sports figure, what sport would you play and who would you be?

• If you were 20 years old again, what would you do?

• If you had the chance to teach one subject of your choice, to any age, what would it be?

I often use the last one in my coaching sessions when helping clients get back in touch with their passions. I also ask a variation of it with the same goal - "If you had 30 minutes of prime-time TV, what would you talk about?"

These are great questions to get any crowd talking. Here are my answers:

• If I were king, I would help people fulfill their potential, be happy, and become good leaders/role models for others (either through education, loans, mentoring programs, promoting good people to lead in government and other public areas, etc.)
  
• Pro sport: I would be a tennis player - minimal injuries, good to stay in shape, easy to do into old age, lots of tournaments, and good money!
• Repeating life at 20 (knowing what I know now), I think I would drink less and learn more in college.
  
• Teaching a subject: I'd like to help college/post-college people think about themselves, their goals, and their mindsets.
  

With Thanksgiving coming up, these questions might come in handy when you run out of conversation. They're also just interesting to think about how you'd answer them.

• How would you answer these questions?
• Which of these do you like best?

Please comment!