Impromptu Speech

By Erwin Parengkuan

When someone is asked to convey a short message spontaneously and the message must be clearly understood by the person speaking to give the impact of new knowledge or action, that is what impromptu speech (IS) means.In every line and channel of communication, both formal and informal, we consciously or unconsciously often do this.It's time for us to maximize this ability to make our speaking goals have the impact we say.

Dalam sebuah ujian online untuk para murid-murid advance kelas public speaking, dimana mereka diminta untuk presentasi selama 3-5 menit dengan menampilkan slides presentasi yang sudah dipersiapkan. Saya menambahkan tugas mendadak agar mereka melakukan IS, tentu reaksi mereka kaget, karena ini tidak ada dalam agenda ujian. Lantas saya menjelaskan kenapa tugas baru ini saya lakukan. Kemudian saya memberikan satu topik dan tujuan mereka menyampaikannya dengan tujuan lawan bicara mempunyai informasi baru/bertindak. Alhasil 50% dari peserta gagal dalam berbicara secara spontan.

Sebelum sesi berlangsung, saya bercerita dengan seorang kawan baru setelah ia memberikan band aid kepada saya, ia tanya “memang kenapa kakinya mas?

What should we prepare to make a spontaneous and impactful speech?There are 5 important factors that you must pay attention to:

1. Tidak bertele-tele, langsung utarakan apa yang ingin anda sampaikan

2. It must contain information that is useful for the person you are talking to, this is a difficulty factor for those who do not have the appropriate information.Failure to do this on the second point will mean that the person you are talking to will not "buy" what you are saying.Of course the answer is that we must have valid knowledge/insight

3. Avoid repeating words, this requires self-awareness in choosing the right words to support your information.If you have a tendency to repeat words because you cannot arrange them well then the impact on the other person besides being reluctant to listen to your next sentence will be ineffective in carrying out IS.

4. Pay attention to the real needs of the person you are talking to, is this in line with what they are looking for or not?

5. Don't deliver IS in a tendentious way, set the tempo of your speech, not in a high and patronizing tone.Control your voice and facial expressions.A low tone is always appropriate to convey your suggestions

If you continue to practice the five factors above in everyday communication, it will make you an effective and inspiring communicator, because you can always provide the right information/solution to the person you are talking to regarding what you convey and need.For example, after watching a film and want to motivate the person you are talking to to watch a film that you think is good, try doing IS, but first see if the person you are talking to likes the same type of film?If not and you feel it is important for him to watch, give a pithy reason why he should watch it, what benefits he will get from watching the film you recommend.The two examples above will be clear to you and it is important that every opportunity we take (especially in a work context) we give a positive influence from what we convey.The impact is that our communication skills increase, the amount of data we have increases and we become a new inspiration for them, making them always happy to meet us.