Chapter 54 Develop the skills of extemporaneous speaking

For the speaker, establishing a harmonious relationship with the audience is the key to a successful speech.But impromptu speech is actually not as difficult as we imagined. We can even regard it as a natural and cordial chat with friends in our own living room. For the speaker, establishing a harmonious relationship with the audience is the key to a successful speech.But impromptu speech is actually not as difficult as we imagined. We can even regard it as a natural and cordial chat with friends in our own living room. At a recent gathering for the inauguration of a new laboratory at a pharmaceutical company, six scientific researchers gave concluding remarks describing how chemists and biologists are working on new vaccines against infectious diseases— —Research on new antibiotics against viral infections and new sedatives to relieve tension.They first experimented with animals, and then experimented with humans, and the results were satisfactory.

Some shopping mall leaders and government officials were also among the crowd at the party.One of the officials said to the director of research: "It's amazing, your men are magicians. But why don't you tell me?" "I can only speak to my own feet, but I dare not face the audience." The director of research said sadly. "We haven't heard from our research chief yet, he doesn't like to give formal speeches, so I thought I'd just ask him to say a few words to us," the chair explained. Encouraged by everyone, the director stood up and struggled to say a few words.He just apologized for not being able to elaborate, that's all he said.

As an outstanding talent in the industry, his speech ability is no different from that of ordinary people, clumsy and confused.In fact, it is not so difficult, he can learn to speak impromptu.I have yet to see a single determined student in my training class fail to learn this trick.What they had at the beginning was what the director of research did not have—the attitude of resolutely and courageously defeating failure.Then, it takes an unshakable will to speak no matter how difficult it is. "With preparation and practice, there is no difficulty at all," you say, "but if an unexpected speech comes up, I'm really overwhelmed."

Being able to organize your thoughts and give a talk in a hurry is sometimes more important than a speech after a long and hard preparation.Modern business needs, as well as the freedom of modern oral communication, make this impromptu speaking ability indispensable.We need to organize our thoughts quickly and form words and sentences fluently.Many decisions affecting industry and government today are made not by one person but at a conference table.Individuals can speak individually, but in this brainstorming meeting, his words must be strong in order to have an impact on the collective decision.This is why extemporaneous speeches should be lively and prominent.

Any normal person, anyone in control of himself, can give acceptable, and sometimes brilliant, extemporaneous speeches.There are of course several ways to help you express yourself fluently when you are suddenly asked to speak a few words. One is to adopt a method that some famous actors have used. Many years ago, Douglas Fairbank wrote an article for American Magazine about a puzzle game in which Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and he played nearly every night for two years. Play.This is not just a game anymore, but also includes the most difficult exercise in public speaking skills-thinking on your feet.According to Fairbank, the "game" goes like this:

"Each of us wrote down a topic on a small piece of paper, then folded the paper and mixed it together. One of us took out the topic and asked to stand up and speak on that topic for a minute. The same topic was never used. Twice. One night I had to talk about 'lampshades'. If you think it's easy, try it. But somehow I got through. "Importantly, we've all become more alert since we started playing the game. We've also learned more about a wide variety of topics. But, more usefully, we've all learned to collect ourselves on any topic in an instant. knowledge and ideas, we learned how to think standing up."

In my training classes, I will often ask my students to get up and give impromptu speeches.My experience tells me that this practice does two things: ——it can increase the confidence of the people in the class, believing that they can stand and think; ——This kind of experience makes them more calm and confident when they give prepared speeches. They know that even when they're giving a prepared speech, there are times when their minds suddenly go blank, but they have a foundation in extemporaneous speaking, and they can talk coherently until they get back to the original topic. . So, students are always notified like this: "I will give you speeches on different topics tonight. You won't know what your topic is until you stand up. Good luck to everyone!"

The result would be something like this: accountants find themselves talking about advertising, and advertising salesmen find themselves talking about kindergarten; maybe the teacher's topic is banking, and the banker's topic is school teaching; to discuss transportation. Did they find it hard to finally give up?Nothing like this has ever happened!They do not regard themselves as authorities on the topic, but after careful consideration, they relate the topic to what they are familiar with.They may not speak very well when they first try this method, but they have the courage to stand up and open their mouths to speak!Some find it easier, some find it difficult, but overall, it's a thrill and a thrill.They saw that they could use powers they could not believe they could have.

They can do it, and I'm sure anyone can do it - use your willpower and faith - and the more you try, the easier it will be. Another method we have is the connection technique of extemporaneous speech.This is a very exciting feature of our training classes.We tell a student to start a story in the most fantastic way he can think of.For example: "I was flying a helicopter a few days ago. Suddenly, a large group of flying saucers approached me, and I was forced to descend. Unexpectedly, a small person in the flying saucers started to shoot at me. I..." The bell rings and the man's time is up.Then another student continues and must continue the story.By the time everyone has finished speaking, the story may have ended by the canals of Mars, or in the halls of Congress.

This method works well for developing impromptu speaking skills.The more practice of this kind a man can acquire, the more at ease he will be with any situation that may arise when he has to give a speech.