It’s great to be back online!! I’m trying to remember what life was like before the internet, but I think I’ve repressed those memories. To say the least, the past few weeks of intermittent access to the net was no fun at all. With all that behind me, I’m going to press forward and resume a full blogging schedule.
In my last post, I discussed some of the advantages of scripting your speech. If you took the time to read the comments, you would have noticed Thrice disagreed with my post and gave his observations about scripting a speech vs. extemporaneous speaking. Because he made a number of relevant points, I thought it would be best to respond to his comments in a post so everyone can read it.
By the way, I appreciate it whenever you leave comments. Whether you agree with me or not doesn’t matter. If you’re commenting, it means I’ve written something that strikes a chord and makes you think. So please keep the comments coming. I’ve responded to Thrice’s comments one at a time.
“I’m afraid I fall on the other side of the debate on scripted speeches. Sacrificing naturalness in search of clarity is too high a price, and I don’t even see the need to pay it.”
I think the most common misconception about a written speech is that it doesn’t sound natural. If the speech is poorly written, it will sound unnatural. And if it’s written the way you would write an essay, it will also sound unnatural. But if you know how to write for the ear, the speech will sound natural. After all, movies scripts are written. So the fault is not with scripting the speech, the fault is with the writing technique. You don’t have to sacrifice naturalness to get clarity or style. You can have them all.
That being said, you don’t want your speeches to sound too natural. After all, it’s natural and acceptable to say “um”, “err”, “ah”, “uh” and “you know” in normal conversation. If you do that too often in a speech, your listeners will be distracted and you’ll take away from your platform presence.
An outlined speech can be delivered in a fluent and natural manner. Working from an outline does not give you the permission to ramble or go off on tangents. Public speaking is, in reality, teaching. The main points must be kept in mind and while there is a certain amount of improvisation going on every time you give the speech, no speaker is justified in extemporizing at the cost of his teaching.
I agree on many of Thirce’s points here. Working from an outline does not give you permission to ramble or go on tangents. And no speaker is justified in improvisation at the cost of making a point. The problem is, when you decide to work from an outline, improvise or speak extemporaneously, rambling and going on tangents is more likely to happen than not. Yes, an outlined speech can be delivered in a fluent and natural manner, but few people do it well.
When you teach, you impart knowledge or a skill. So teaching is a part of public speaking. But there’s more to it. Public speaking is also meant to inspire, persuade, provoke, entertain and uplift. So if you only see giving a speech as a means to transfer information, you miss out on a number of other opportunities.
What this post says could be interpreted as meaning that rambling speech is an inherent characteristic of extemporaneous speaking, and that’s not the case. It is a characteristic of poor public speakers, but the entire technique should not be judged by its worst exponents.
While I won’t say rambling speech in an inherent characteristic of extemporaneous speaking, it’s certainly a more frequent result than clear, concise speaking. And it’s not just rambling speech that’s the problem. It’s missed points, lack of style, wrong word usage and a host of other avoidable mistakes that don’t happen with a well-written speech.
Is it just a characteristic of poor public speakers? I would have to say “no”. I’ve seen experienced, polished, highly paid speakers “lose it” on occasion. I know it’s happened to me. And although it may not have been discernible by the audience, I know the flow of the speech changed and important information was left out.
When you’re speaking in public, there are so many factors that need to be managed. Knowing what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it is only a portion of what you need to be aware of when you’re in front of a group. So if you take away the pressure of having to speak using only an outline, you can focus on connecting with your audience and feeling their energy.
I know it will always be an ongoing debate, so I don’t consider my statements to be the final word. But that’s what makes blogging and being online so great. I’m glad to be back!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Whether a speech should be scripted or impromptu really depends on the person presenting and their own style since there are strengths and weaknesses to both styles.
Here are a couple strengths of the scripted speech that I can think of off-hand:
-It is more difficult to get sucked off into a tangent since you have exactly where you want to go in front of you
-It is easier to sound eloquent since what you want to say is pre-planned.
Here are a couple of weaknesses of the scripted speech that I can think of off-hand:
-It is easy to fall into the trap of passively reading to your audience. This is why teleprompters exist: looking at your “audience” when you are reading at least alleviates this somewhat.
-It is rigid. You already have exactly where you are going set in stone…this makes questions from the audience during the presentation seem like a distraction instead of a positive indication that the audience is involved.
Impromptu speeches are definitely more flexible but can end up over-time, tangential, or full of verbal filler. Generally, impromptu speeches have rougher transitions than scripted speeches.
Nonetheless, both styles can work if the presenter practices sufficiently. With scripted speeches, the difficulty is to stay animated and interactive. For impromptu speeches, the difficulty is maintaining succinctness and focus.
What I suggest is that if you need to use notes, that is fine. Put them down on a table where you can refer to them without having to hold them. When you need to read, do so in silence. Turn back to your audience and reconnect with eye contact before you speak. This definitely helps with maintaining an audience connection.
I had a baseball coach in high school who said, “You play the way that you practice.”
What most people forget though is that it is equally important to practice non-verbal delivery skills as well. It is important to do so as practicing your non-verbal skills will help cement them in your muscle memory. If you do not practice that way, you are less likely to meet with success.
Another thing I would suggest is that you don’t stop yourself in your practice sessions. What would you do if you made a mistake or misspoke? Practice it like you would in front of an audience. Then you’ll be more adept at reacting and thinking on your feet.
Scripted or impromptu, there is no substitute for practicing your presentation on your feet before you deliver it. Mark Twain said it best, “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”
Thanks for the post!
Hi Terry,
Thanks for taking the time to contribute to the discussion.
I agree with you on the subject of practice. There is no substitute for it. When all is said and done, presenters will be more successful when they spend more time practicing their speech. Your coach was right about playing the way you practice.
I think it’s important to remember that scripting a speech doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll read from the speech when you deliver it. I script my speeches, but I don’t read them. I don’t memorize them either. I just know my material well enough that I can go from point to point, without notes, because of the way I’ve scripted the speech. I realize I have the luxury of more time than most presenters do to prepare for a speech, so I don’t suggest everyone use my approach. But given the time, I suggest getting to know your speech intimately so that it feels like second nature when you deliver it.