extemporaneous speech

extemporaneous speech

The Power of Extemporaneous Speech

1. The Definition and Importance of Extemporaneous Speech

Extemporaneous speaking, as distinguished from the memorized or impromptu speech, is defined as the presentation of a carefully planned and rehearsed speech, spoken in a conversational manner using brief notes. The key to this definition is that extemporaneous speaking involves a prepared speech, but the speech is rehearsed only in its organization and vividness of language, and its delivery is spoken spontaneously, using the particular words and organization which seem most effective at the time in the light of the speaker’s knowledge of his subject and his audience. It is this method of delivery that constitutes the great merit and peculiar value of extemporaneous speaking. For extemporaneous delivery is the one mode of speech preparation which trains the entire mind and personality of the speaker for effective public communication, whether he is speaking in ordinary conversation, teaching, sales talks, participating in groups or community meetings, interviewing on the radio, or discussing and debating in other publics. Extemporaneous speech is of great importance for several reasons. First, it is the most helpful type of speech preparation for improving general speaking skill. Second, the very nature of extemporaneous delivery makes possible a flexibility and responsiveness to the immediate situation which no other method of preparation can attain. Third, the essential characteristics of extemp are also the characteristics of effective oral communication in many fields, and extemp is therefore the best type of speech preparation for persons training for those fields.

2. Techniques for Effective Extemporaneous Speaking

Organizing the speech – “Plan to speak on your subject persuasively. The structure of your speech is the first step in this process. The speech should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction should catch the audience’s attention and relate to the subject. This is the time to establish credibility on the topic and to establish a rapport with the audience. Also, in the introduction, you should preview the main points of your speech. The body is where you establish the main points of your speech. Each main point should be a cause and effect or a deduction and induction argument. This is where you will support your main points with evidence and logic. Finally, the conclusion should summarize the speech and re-emphasize the main points. Set a mood for the audience to better remember your speech.” Speak conversationally. – “Speaking conversationally is the way to get the message across to the audience. It is the opposite of reading a manuscript and it makes the speaker more persuasive. The extemporaneous speech should sound like a polished casual talk. Articulation is the key to a good delivery. It is important not to rush through the speech. Use changes in pitch and pauses for effect when speaking. Make sure you don’t sound monotonous. Also, emphasize words that are key to understanding your argument.”

3. The Benefits of Extemporaneous Speech

Extemporaneous speech, the art of speaking off the cuff, can be utilized in many ways. Extemporaneous speech does not only exhibit positive effects during its delivery, the preparation stage also provides many advantages to the speaker. This type of speech is particularly valuable in debate as it is a way of promoting one’s position in relation to others in a quick and efficient manner. Extemporaneous speaking is perhaps the most practiced form of public speaking, in that it can be done in the classroom and is often used in various oratorial contests. The practice acquired in extemporaneous speaking can be useful in several situations throughout one’s life. With more and more employers looking for people who can comfortably talk in front of others, extemporaneous speaking is a great way to develop essential communication skills. Because the speeches do not have to be memorized, it is possible to become a skillful extemporaneous speaker without a huge time investment.

4. Overcoming Challenges in Extemporaneous Speaking

The preparation involved in confidence is complex and multifaceted. Firstly, having a strong self-belief that you are capable of speaking proficiently off the cuff is a good start. This belief will manifest itself in your speech as the conviction in your voice, which is very important as seen earlier on. Self-belief can often be boosted by visualization, which is a common tactic used in sports psychology. Try to picture yourself speaking confidently and fluently, imagine the questions being asked and you responding with strong, coherent arguments. Some people find it useful to record themselves speaking in a made-up impromptu scenario and listen back to it, analyzing their own performance. This can be an effective way of identifying what needs to be improved in your speaking style.

Being able to speak effectively in an impromptu setting can be difficult, but there are many ways to overcome these challenges. Beginning with physical preparation, one of the most difficult things to do is to stand confidently and still. Audiences easily become distracted by nervous movement, and seeing as the speaker may not have conscious control over what they are doing with their arms, this can be a tough obstacle to overcome. Also, maintaining eye contact is particularly hard in impromptu speaking because the ideas are being generated on the spot and it can be easy to lose one’s train of thought while looking into somebody’s eyes. It is easy to say that confidence is the best remedy for all of the above issues, but can often be a difficult thing to “just have.”

5. Mastering the Art of Extemporaneous Speech

The greatest hindrance to fluent, forceful, and effective speech is the over-anxiety of the speaker. If one is unduly troubled about the effect that he is producing, if his concern for the impression that he is making on his hearers is greater than his concern for his subject, he has already failed. Self-consciousness is upon the beginning of paralysis. In all speaking two things are of paramount importance: the thing said and the way of saying, the form and the matter. But to concentrate the mind unduly upon the way is not the best way of securing the highest excellence in way. There are highly subtle forms of error and the worst of these is a certain subjective and unhealthy search after supposed perfections that are over much associated with the speaker’s own personality. The ideal speaker is the man who effaces himself and addresses himself to the hearer simply and solely as a man and a brother. The supreme excellence in way is that the way be at once so adequate and so unobserved as to lead the listener to think little of the way and much of the thing that is done. Tutorial direction upon the way is efficient only insofar as it entails no laborious appraisal and analysis of the way itself. It is far easier to show a man how not to do a thing than how to do it. And the line between the negative and positive direction is in practice hard to draw. The study and imitation of the device of others will often produce a trick or mannerism that is always artificial and frequently absurd. The speaker must be put in the best possible way without being much told of the doing and must be left to cultivate the rare art of high accomplishment. Now extemporaneous speech is a mode of speech that by removing the more direct pressures for careful preparation to that which may go before and the more direct checks upon revision brings form more into a matter and makes possible the closest union of the matter with the overt act of expression. Here then it may be asked is not the conscious pursuit of the art of extemporaneous speech contradictory of what has just been laid down concerning the best way and the negative direction of attaining it. The answer is no and no because the basic antithesis between extemporaneous speech and speech of other kinds has been misconceived. Extemporaneous speech is opposed to writing and to speaking from memory but is in no way opposed to special preparation of the matter and is the way of and cannot be special preparation of the matter and is the way of and cannot be the negative direction in any speech task that has been well learned. Practice whatever is an imitation of the doing the positive direction. If there are easier and harder ways of getting a deed well done the mean is to adopt the way that is wisest for going in the endeavor itself. When the special preparation and practice of a given piece of matter has led to the conviction that it is worthy of the best expression that the speaker can give it the direct action is to make best upon it then and there. The ideal is not the mere ability to say things well but the habit of saying that and every other thing in the best possible way. Now if the matter be a permanent possession we shall have the absorbed matter and the high accomplishment in way with some approximation to the unconsciousness of the way that is its ideal. But the examination of certain causes that breed failure in extemporaneous speech is here set not to take obediently but for the overcoming.