It's a 20 minute part of the club meeting during which every member has a chance to speak for approximately 1-2 minutes on a topic suggested by the Hot Topic Master.
It's aimed at helping people to learn to think quickly and to express their thoughts clearly and logically without sufficient preparation. It gives all the members an opportunity to improve their listening and speaking skills.
Hot Topic Discussion is a good chance for people without public speaking experience to start speaking publicly, and to meet the audience face to face.
If you want to say something during the discussion, just raise your hand and wait until the Hot Topic Master gives you the floor, then come up to the platform and keep to the point.
If you are the Hot Topic Master, you should choose an exciting or controversial topic and prepare several questions which will help the participants explore it thoroughly. The topic you choose must be really interesting for your fellow-members and one they have a lot to say about. It's recommended to choose a topic that people are supposed to have very different opinions about (NOTE: politics are prohibited). Your questions should be clear, easy to understand and should inspire people to answer them.
At the meeting you present the topic for discussion (it should take you no more than 1-3 minutes) and motivate the audience to speak about it, asking questions you have prepared. Call on speakers from the club's members, starting with those who are not on the agenda, ask them to come up to the platform, listen with interest and attention, ask additional questions if you like, and don't forget to thank the speakers. In case the audience is shy and not eager to speak, just appoint the speakers yourself. After each question you discuss, summarize the information and do so as well at the end of the Hot Topic Discussion (but bear in mind that your remarks in the course of the discussion should be brief). Watch the time and prevent people from speaking for too long (you have only 20 minutes!), encourage the speakers to use the Word of the Day.
As the Hot Topic Master you are to organize your fellow-members' speaking activity and keep the whole process of discussion under control, which contributes greatly to developing your own listening, speaking and leadership skills.