Fun Meeting Themes

 Toastmasters meetings often exist at an intersection of fun and learning.  Here is a list of some of the most memorable and fun meeting themes I've seen, some of which I even led myself.

Olympics - Early in my Toastmasters journey, a club member led an Olympic-themed.  We create and explained our own flags and took part in "minute to win it" style games.  I brought the theme back during the most recent summer Olympics with "events" like "Table Tennis Topics" (two people would "ping pong" back and forth when answering a table topics question) and an effective body language contest (ie charades).  We even had trophies for the top "athletes".

Super Heroes -  With this theme, I challenged those present to adapt a super hero persona and we led a council of super heroes in place of the meeting.  It was a fun challenge to take on the perspective of fictional characters, and this could be adapted for any set of characters.

Christmas Council - Last year, we practiced our Parliamentary Procedure with a "Christmas Council" in which we debated and voted on various Christmas-related topics such as whether the elves in Santa's workshop deserve a pay raise.

Backwards Meeting - With this meeting theme, which I've seen in multiple clubs, the meeting runs backwards with speech evaluations first, then table topics, and finally speeches.  This format is a real challenge for the speakers because they must try to adapt their speeches to the "evaluations" given at the beginning of the meeting.  It's a real treat for those watching them try to do so!

Festivus - One of my clubs has an annual tradition of celebrating "A Festivus For The Rest of Us" complete with the "airing of grievances" (roasting) and "feats of (verbal) strength" to demonstrate creative language and true mastery of grammar.

Talk Like a Pirate Day - This same club also celebrates Talk Like a Pirate Day annually, complete with costumes, "arr" counter, and encouragement to use creative pirate words like "scallywag" and "keelhaul".

The Great Debate - We've had many of these in one of my clubs.  Two speakers - each taking opposite sides of a devise topic such as "Should we preserve old buildings?" or "Does pineapple belong on pizza?"  Table topics gives the audience a chance to weigh in, and the club votes on who made the more compelling points.

There are many other fun meeting themes I've experienced over the years, but these are just a few that put a twist on the traditional Toastmasters format and/or force us to step outside our comfort zones.  By finding new and creative approaches to Toastmasters, we can keep things interesting and fun while continuing to learn and grow together!