It was a couple of years ago when I had accepted to be the Chief Judge in one the Toastmasters clubs’ annual contest. The club was holding the Table Topics and International Speech contests on that night, and as it was at the time, I had to prepare the Table Topics questions. The contest began and the contestants were introduced to the audience and the judges. The first contestant proceeded with drawing a question from the three provided and the rest of the contestants were escorted by the Sergeant-at-Arms to the isolation room. The question was then read twice to the first contestant by the contest chair and was invited to comment accordingly. 17
The response given was clearly indicating that the contestant did not understand it. I thought to myself that perhaps the contestant was not very well prepared. Time was up and the second contestant was called to the stage. The question was read twice to her too, and likewise, her response also showed that she did not understand it. Once more, I thought to myself that perhaps she is a beginner and does not have much experience. There were seven contestants on that night, and the first five could not respond to the question given in an appropriate way. It was then that I started thinking differently. Perhaps the problem was not with the contestants but with the question itself. Although it was written in a simple language, but perhaps it was not easy to understand it, or understand the concept behind it. I took the decision as the Chief Judge and stopped the contest. I consulted the issue with a DTM who was present on that night and we both agreed that the question was not suitable for the purpose. I apologized to the contestants and to the club members. I then sat to myself for a few minutes and drafted another question and handed it over to the contest chair. December 16