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EDIT FEEDBACK VERSION HISTORY USAGE
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can decide what you are going to talk about and include topics you want to
talk about.
TERM[ EDIT ]
impromptu
Improvised; without prior preparation.
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FULL TEXT[ EDIT ]
Impromptu Speech
An impromptu speech is given with little or no preparation, yet almost
always with some advanceknowledge on the topic. When called to
speak "off the cuff" on the "spur of the moment," is is usually because
the speaker is quite knowledgeable about the subject. For example, if
called on to speak in class, a student might give a short impromptu
speech about a topic that was in the assigned readings. Business
meetings also use a "check in" to tell everyone else about a current
project. In small informal meetings, the audience will interrupt an
impromptu speech and ask questions, which helps guide the speech
and the information that is presented. When campaigning, politicians
sometimes respond to reporters or voters almost anywhere and at any
time.
Mohamed el-Beltagy, running for the lower house of Parliament, stops to give an
impromptu speech in the median dividing the main road of his neighborhood in Cairo.
Advantages
Remember that you are generally in control of the content you are
presenting, so you can include topics that you want to talk about.
Additionally, you can use personal examples from experience to
support what you are saying. Since you are an authority on the topic,
you want to speak with conviction like you really mean it. Your
delivery will naturally be more conversational and spontaneous. Since
you are not prepared with pages of notes, you are more likely to speak
directly to the audience just like if you were speaking to another person
in a conversation.
Disadvantages
Since you are not well-prepared, you may have difficulty thinking of
what to say or formulating the ideas once you get up to speak. Although
you are familiar with the topic, your speech may lack details and
supporting information. If the audience is passive and does not ask
questions to guide you, you may overlook some significant content.
Hopefully, someone in the audience will ask questions so you can fill in
gaps. Additionally, impromptu speaking is rarely appropriate for
occasions which require more reasoned discourse with supporting
ideas or more formal events.
Make a few notes for yourself on a card, phone, or iPad. Or, text
yourself a few single words to remind yourself of the important ideas.
If you do not know what to say next, you can summarize and
paraphrase what you have just said, and then will probably be ready to
move on to the next topic.
Remember that, in most situations, you will know more about
the subject than the audience. Usually you will not be called up to
speak impromptu about something you know nothing about, so you
have probably spoken about the general topic before or you probably
have knowledge to share with others.
Talk like you mean it. In other words speak with conviction. You
Retrieved
25
Apr.
from https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/boundless-communicationstextbook/delivering-the-speech-12/methods-of-delivery-62/impromptu-speeches-248-1482/
2016