Jim Skamarakas

Over the course of our careers and personal life, we”re asked at times to speak without any type of warning. Whether it’s at a meeting, celebration, outing or to deliver a toast at a wedding. For most of us, impromptu speeches are harder to make than a prepared presentation. Why? We”re forced to think on our feet and that gives us little if any time to prepare.
We”ve listed 4 tips below to make these experiences more positive:

Tip #1. Condition Yourself Mentally To Speak Impromptu
If you’re in a meeting keep asking yourself what you would say if you were called upon at that specific moment. By doing so, you”ll be one-step of ahead of this should someone call upon you.

Tip #2. Dive Into An Example Immediately
To gain the attention of everyone, begin with a story that touches the emotions of the people in the room. There are three reasons for you to do this. They are:
1. You”ll immediately free yourself of the necessity to think hard about your next sentence; experiences are easily recounted even in impromptu situations.
2. You”ll enlist the audience’s attention right away and get them to “be part of the event” by using their imagination. This is a powerful tool in the story telling business.
3. You will give yourself an opportunity to warm-up to the subject. Think about the story, the highs and lows, the lesson learned or the outcome. Remember this: the lesson learned or the story being told can be sad, funny or serious.

Tip #3. Speak With Animation And Force
Everyone’s body and mind are interconnected so if you speak with energy, your external animation will have a beneficial effect upon your mental processes. It also projects enthusiasm to the listeners, which makes your speech a lot more interesting. Other powerful components are: walk around the room, touch someone’s shoulders to get them into the story, point out others in room who were part of the story. Don”t forget to look everyone in the eye.

Tip #4. Don’t Talk Impromptu; Give An Impromptu Talk
It’s not enough just to ramble on and string together a number of unconnected events. You must keep your ideas logically grouped around a central thought so you can get your point across. Your examples should support your central idea(s).

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