Extemporaneous Speaking Tips
Extemporaneous speaking is the art of public speaking with little or no preparation involved. Some find this form of off-the-cuff public speaking easy, whereas others may stutter and stumble if forced to speak without a prewritten speech. There is a benefit to being able to speak well at a moment's notice, however. According to Samuel Wong, author of the article "Extemporaneous Speech," extemporaneous speaking may have a side benefit of improving the speaker's level of confidence.
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How is an extemporaneous speech different?
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An extemporaneous speech is different from other types of public speaking because you may have little to no time to prepare any sort of remarks. Instead, you are expected to formulate a speech on the proverbial spot that will fulfill either an informative or persuasive function depending on the audience.
This form of public speaking also requires more practice than other, more scripted speeches. Wong suggests the need for practice of any kind, even in front of friends and family, to enhance your public speaking ability. Professors Paul Martin Pearson and Philip Marshall Hicks, in their aptly titled 1912 book "Extemporaneous Speaking," advocate practice and constructive criticism as the only effective learning methods when it comes to extemporaneous speech.
Tips for preparation
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Although there is typically little time to prepare for an extemporaneous speech, there are a few things you can do to improve your delivery in the time you do have.
First, the preparation of your speech is important regardless of how much time is allotted. Rambling doesn't grab the same attention as a succinct talk that includes a beginning, the main point and the conclusion. Consider these when you first receive your topic. If it's a topic you're intimately familiar with, then this step should be simpler. If, however, you need to research your topic, keeping a tunnel-vision-esque mind-set can be to your benefit.
Once you have your topic and any necessary research out of the way, organization comes into play. Jim Peterson, author of "Extemporaneous Speech Topics: 7 Things to Remember For an Extemporaneous Speech," references the need for a central idea as "the only way the audience will remember your message." Organize your speech around this central idea and refer back to it several times. This will make your speech resonate more with the audience.
Two more things to consider are the concepts of primacy and recency. These concepts are the theory that listeners will only remember the first piece of information or the last piece of information that they hear in a speech. This is important in that placing the central idea at the beginning of the speech makes it more likely to be remembered than if it is somewhere in the middle.
Most important is to use whatever time you have left to practice. Some people may be able to deliver a sparkling speech at a moment's notice, but many others need whatever rehearsal they can get. Take whatever time you may have left after your preparation and try to give the speech once to a mirror or a loved one. This practice might make the difference between your speech taking the audience by storm or boring them.
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Comments
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Extemporaneous Speech is somewhat interesting and challenging because your convincing your audience to listen carefully and their is only a short time alotted for you...
