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When asked to talk formally about HR or some aspect of your work, how good are you at improvising? Are you fluent and confident or does the challenge of suddenly having to talk off the cuff trigger alarm bells and maybe even reduce you to a quivering jelly?
The most accomplished improvisers leave little to chance when it comes to speaking off the cuff. “It takes me six weeks to prepare a good spontaneous speech” commented writer and presenter Mark Twain who regularly addressed huge audiences demanding to be entertained.
One of the most effective off-the-cuff speakers was science fiction writer and scientist Isaac Asimov. He regularly received standing ovations for his talks and got quite cross if he did not manage to obtain one.
Asimov relied entirely on his immense knowledge and grasp of his subjects. He claimed never to prepare his talks. Instead, he realised early in his speaking career that by speaking off the cuff “I could more easily shift moods and emotions to suit my audience.”
For Asimov, memorising a speech was too much like hard work and would then be tempting to keep on using it. That made it boring to deliver and even worse to sit through. He gave over two thousand talks in his speaking career and claims that no two were ever alike.
One of his most important techniques for talking off the cuff was really listening to his audience. He insisted on having the house lights up during his presentations because “I want to be aware of my audience.” He would notice the coughing, stirrings and sighings so that he quickly knew when to change the subject, when to be funny and when to be serious.
Some of the best HR practitioners are poor speakers mainly because they have not mastered the principles of speaking off the cuff with confidence. Confidence comes with practice but also from some basics of improvisation.
10 tips tested tips on speaking off the cuff
- Headline: chose a single point, a headline you want to convey
- Invent: give yourself permission to make it up as you go along
- Stories: use stories from your experience to bring your message to life
- Live it: don’t just tell a story, feel it, convey the emotions and the drama
- Attention: stop focusing on how you feel, instead watch your listeners closely
- Energy: sense the audience energy level and raise yours just above it
- Ideas: memorise key ideas or general principles not reams of text
- Fun: allow yourself to have fun and revel in the uncertainty of the situation
- Trust: trust that you have the knowledge and can convey it creatively
- Time: if necessary buy extra thinking time by asking a question
Do you have a favourite tip to share?
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