How to give an impromptu speech

Jerry Rawlings, during one of the Daily Trust’s Annual Dialogues in Abuja, was asked to give a speech. For the first time, I realised that intelligent statesmen too, were capable of contributing a cascade of sonorous unremarkable nonsense. You would be forgiven to think that the former president of Ghana would draw from his rich […]

Jerry Rawlings, during one of the Daily Trust’s Annual Dialogues in Abuja, was asked to give a speech. For the first time, I realised that intelligent statesmen too, were capable of contributing a cascade of sonorous unremarkable nonsense. You would be forgiven to think that the former president of Ghana would draw from his rich experiences (including of difficult transitions) to give a coherent speech about nation building in Africa.  That didn’t happen. Indeed, his admirers shrank in their seats out of embarrassment. When we discussed the speech later with one of the editors, Hajiya Aisha Umar, she said: “The man was simply not prepared.”
Like in Rawlings case, there’s no scale large enough to quantify the damage you can do to a simple topic when you’re not prepared. Regular speech is hard enough. Of that, (another Jerry) Seinfeld said: “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
The task becomes more challenging when you have little or no time to prepare.
But whether you’re a politician, a student, businessman or a religious leader, you have been asked before to ‘say something.’  How did that go for you?  You were likely to have babbled on until you found your coherence. Or you felt embarrassed by the monumental failure you made of the speech.  Fear no more.  Never leave an impromptu speech to chance again.  Instantly regain your confidence and give a memorable speech.  Use the following techniques as ready templates for any occasion.
Books have been written to address the problems induced by invitations to give impromptu speeches, including ‘The Magic of Impromptu Speaking’ by Andrii Sedniev.  But today, you don’t need a book.  I’m going to give you two techniques you can use any time you’re asked to write or speak without preparation.
How to tackle an impromptu speech
The structure of the first technique contains three moves: the past, the present, the future.   That’s it! Talk about the person’s or subject’s past. Talk about the present and talk about the future. You can do this with any subject. If you don’t know enough of the topic to make these three moves, you can quickly find out. This way, you’ll always be ready to give speeches – always!
The following examples would illustrate the point:
School: The good old days, the messy present and the potential for the future.
Country: The difficulties of the past, the corruption of today and how technology can engender efficiency tomorrow.
Friend: His troublesome past, his sense of responsibility of today and the beautiful family he’s going to have tomorrow. You get the idea.
Another way to tackle an impromptu speech
Something you can also talk about of anything is the merits and demerits, the advantages and disadvantages. This would make you sound natural, as everything has its bright and bad sides.
For a longer speech, you can combine the two techniques and make all the five moves.
Example:
“I’m going to tell you about the distressing past, the interesting present and what the future holds for this [thing].  After that, I’ll tell you its advantages.  And since nothing is perfect, I should point out the demerits too.”
However, my advice is, to keep things simple, just stay with one technique. Either use the present, past and future or the advantages and disadvantages structure.
Some would argue that this may be too simple, that it may not be sufficient for all occasions. But a dead great man once said that in simplicity lies genius. I’m not saying these are the only ways to deliver an impromptu speech, but they should be sufficient for most occasions and needs.
With this skill under your belt, next time you’re asked to speak, you will bounce to the rostrum instead of being consumed by fear. Mostly, in public speaking, it is lack of preparation that induces fear. Now you will always be prepared. You’ll always be ready.
If you look closely, you can see that I used the same technique in this article. How you struggled in the past was described, then I described how you’re going to change that (the present) and I described your future prospects if you used the techniques.
For more on how to create a memorable impromptu speech under 30 seconds, read books like Andrii Sedniev’s, ‘Magic of Impromptu Speaking.’ You can get links to get such books on my blog: www.IbraheemDooba.com