Mastering Impromptu Speeches: Tips for Impactful Delivery
School
Stony Brook University**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
COM 120
Subject
Communications
Date
Dec 11, 2024
Pages
3
Uploaded by MegaKomodoDragonPerson678
Veronica BerbertProfessor Caleb LamontCom 120.3622 September 2024There are many instances where impromptu speeches can come up in both your personaland professional life. In a professional setting, impromptu speeches can be given whenpresenting in front of an audience such as clients and they ask you questions about what you arepresenting. One can also encounter an impromptu speech even during an interview. When you’resitting in front of the interviewer and they are asking you questions about yourself and yourconnection to the potential job, it is like you are giving a speech. In a personal setting, anexample of an impromptu speech could be giving a toast at a friend's wedding or even engagingin a debate with your friends. You are put on the spot in front of an audience to give a speechabout a certain topic.One thing that I believe I did well during my speech was holding eye contact with myaudience while I was speaking. Given it was through a camera screen, but I did my best to stayfocused on my peers that I was speaking to and not to aimlessly look through the room. It doesmake more of an impact when you hold eye contact with your audience as it allows you toappear more poised and confident in what you are speaking about. Another thing I did well in myopinion was keeping my tone of voice level and in tune with what I was speaking about. Whenpresenting, you don't want to be all over the place when you’re talking. In terms of the content Ishared, I answered the question given to me well, making sure to stay on topic and relevant. Itied in college life to my answer as we were on a panel talking to incoming freshmen.
To enhance the delivery of my speech, I could have started off with a strong introduction.I don’t think my first line was as impactful or engaging as it could have been. As it was overzoom, it is a little harder to fully engage your audience so you just have to try harder. In terms ofcontent, I think I added very relevant examples and information that many incoming freshmencould relate to. I could’ve gone more in depth with my examples of embracing other’sdifferences and those around you so the message would come off clearer.My speech was decently organized. I definitely think I could have structured it better intothe introduction - body - conclusion format but it is something I will try harder for in my nextspeech. My first few sentences followed an introduction pretty well and the examples I gavecould be seen as the body, however at the end I could've had a more structured, clean conclusionparagraph that wrapped up everything I said. To improve the organization of my speech, I couldhave taken a second to bullet out my main points in my head first and structure everything elseout around that so I came off more cohesive.I do feel that I set an appropriate emotional tone for my speech and the audience I wasaddressing. As Stony Brook University is a very diverse campus, I made sure that I didn’t sayanything that would come across biased or racist in any way. I also made sure to keep it relevantto something incoming freshmen could relate to.I spoke in English and tried to talk as slowly and clearly as possible. I do have a problemwith speaking too fast sometimes, but coming to a school that is so diverse, it is important tospeak clearly and english could not be everyone's first language. I also tried to speak moreproperly and use words that seem more mature. I think that the language I used would make meseem credible however I could’ve definitely used a wider vocabulary.
From my impromptu speech, I learned that it’s ok to take a second to think about whatyou’re going to say before you say it. This not only allows you to go over anything you shouldn'tbe saying but gives you a second to form a cohesive, well thought out response. I can build onthis experience by structuring my speeches more and trying to make more of an impact on myaudience.