Andrii Sedniev - Magic of Impromptu Speaking

Imaginethat you participate in a public speaking workshop. During the Q&A section, you ask the trainer, John, can you please tell ? And John answers with humor, interesting stories and great delivery techniques. The audience applauds. You think, Wow. John is obviously an amazing impromptu speaker. I would never be able to answer a question off the cuff so well.

You might not know that John has conducted this workshop hundreds of times and answered your question more than once before. He tried different versions of the answer, analyzed various audience reactions and eventually chose the answer that got the best audience response.

Imagine that in the afternoon you turn on the TV and see a politician answering questions on a show. He sounds very smooth, confident and eloquent. You may think, Wow, this politician really knows what he is talking about. He has a gift for speaking impromptu. I wish I could speak like he does.

You might not know, though, that the interview questions were sent in advance and that the politician has not only rehearsed and practiced the answers, but also rejected some of the questions.

Imagine that on Sunday night you go to see an improv show with your family. At the beginning of the show, one of the actors tells the audience, Please shout out a random word. We will use it later in our performance. After getting the words, the improv actors sing a song or create funny sketches. You laugh through the entire evening and say, These guys are so talented. I cant believe they just did that amazing show without any preparation.

What you might not know is that the group has practiced the same sketch with different words numerous times. Parts of the song and parts of the sketch are well rehearsed. Also, some people in the audience are friends of the actors and the words they shout are predetermined.

Does knowing this information make the improv show less exciting for you? No. Does the answer of the politician seem less professional? No. Does John the trainer sound less interesting? Of course not.

No matter how well you can think on your feet, a completely improvised answer can rarely be better than a prepared one. To get ready for impromptu speaking competitions, the contestants prepare and rehearse short blocks of the speech and stories that they can use in response to many different questions. Once they go on stage, they partially speak off the cuff and partially use the rehearsed blocks. The audience laughs, applauds and enjoys the speech. Everybody sees the end result. Few people know how the impressive impromptu speech is prepared.

Certainly, there are great shows, interviews and Q&A answers that are done completely off the cuff, but the best are always prepared, at least partially. To become a great impromptu speaker you need to learn how to eliminate the impromptu factor as much as possible.