Grandiose Speeches

These Table Topics prompted some over-the-top speeches. Try them at your next meeting!

• You've won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Amazing! How did you achieve this recognition?
  
• It's a sunny May day and you're feeling warm in your academic robe. You've just been awarded an honorary PhD at [prestigious university]. What will you say to the eager students, proud parents, and bored faculty in your Commencement address?
  
• You've just been exonerated for a major crime. Relieved, you address the court one last time. What do you say?
  
• Incredibly, your startup company grew to $10 million in revenues and 20 employees in one year. Tell the interviewer from Fast Company magazine how you did it.
  
• The applause is deafening, the audience glittering, the theater magnificent. You've just won an Oscar at the Academy Awards. Let's hear your acceptance speech!
  
• It's been an unbelievable journey. But, as you look over the record crowds at the National Mall, you cannot wait to begin your Inauguration speech.
  
• You're on a T.V. talk show promoting your surprise best-seller. "What was your book about?" the host asks eagerly, leaning forward.
  
• It's your funeral. Sorry, you're dead, but the person who knows you the best gives your eulogy. What do they say?

I paired this with a slideshow depicting the actual audiences a presenter would see at the above events. Perhaps it stimulated the participants, because this Table Topics session was a hit!