Chien Kung Senior High School October 26, 2006 Tips for Giving Impromptu Speeches in English Johanna E. Katchen ( ) National Tsing Hua University ( ) [email protected]

Chien Kung Senior High School October 26, 2006

Tips for Giving Impromptu Speeches in English

Johanna E. Katchen (柯安娜 )National Tsing Hua University

(國立清華大學外語系 )[email protected]

http://mx.nthu.edu.tw/~katchen/

Chien Kung Senior High School , October 26, 2006

What’s the Purpose of Impromptu Speaking?

• Imagine your are at a formal reception or even a dinner—or an international student gathering

• You are introduced to someone you never met before, someone who does not speak Chinese

• What do you say?


• The other person, using English, asks you some questions:• What’s the weather like in Taiwan?• What do young people do for

entertainment?• So what do you think about Taiwan

independence?


What would you say?• Nothing. There is no conversation.• “I don’t know.” If, after the third

question, you still say “I don’t know”… No conversation. “What a boring guy!” Or worse “What a stupid guy!”

• Say what you really think in Chinese—but in English. Good approach, but be careful. You might start an argument.


• Say something intelligent and clever—most native speakers can’t even do that. Can you do that in Chinese?

• What would you expect of yourself in Chinese?


What will we talk about today?

• Preparing yourself• Preparing the speech• Delivering the speech• Some practice


1. Preparing Yourself

• The more you can find out about a situation in advance, the better prepared you will be


Observe Others• Attend speech contests as part of the

audience to observe and analyze how others give speeches

• Pay attention to the kinds of rules of regulations there are; these may be different depending on the kind of speech contest

• Get used to how long three minutes is


• Start paying attention to speakers in all sorts of situations; note their body language, their pauses and breathing, their pronunciation, and other factors

• Ask yourself what specific features they are using to connect with their audience

• Example: When do local politicians use Mandarin? When do they use Taiwanese?


Practice, Practice, Practice

• Try giving yourself topics to practice with

• Give yourself 10 minutes to prepare it• Give your talk to some trusted friends

and ask them to criticize it• Record yourself by audio or video and

criticize it yourself


• Time your speech when you give it; have your friends ring a bell or give a signal at 2 minutes 30 seconds, etc.

• Make your practice situation as authentic as possible and practice as often a possible


What Should I Wear?• Young men—at least a button-down

shirt tucked into your trousers• Young women—skirt and blouse or a

dress• Find out what other people wore at

the event last year• Don’t wear anything too unusual,

including in your hairstyle• Look neat and clean


2. Preparing the Speech

• In a typical speech contest, you are given 10 minutes to prepare

• It’s easier if you are allowed to write down some notes to help you sort your ideas


The Topic You Are Given• The specific topic you get is pure

chance, but there are certain kinds of topics usually given, and you should include all types in your practice

• Some topics concern issues in the news, either in Taiwan or in the world. You can prepare by reading one of the local English newspapers. What are hot topics these days?


• Some topics will be about Chinese culture current and past, and their relationship. “Does blood type determine a person’s character?”

• Some topics will be general, such as “My Mother” or “An Embarrassing Experience” or “What can we learn from the past?”

• Some topics might be completely crazy, such as “Can love cure a cold?”


Narrowing the Topic

• Have you ever listened to politicians answering questions? Do they always answer every question directly?

• Look at the topic you are given and then think of what aspect of it you could say something intelligent about


• Focusing on a specific aspect is usually better than saying some general things

• Your job in your introduction is to make the connection between the topic given and the topic you will talk about, to lead the audience from the given topic to your aspect of that topic

• Examples


Pollution in our parks


Are left-handed people more creative?


Making Notes• Remember main points supported by

examples or details• Don’t write full sentences if you don’t

have to; KISS Principle—Keep It Simple, Stupid!

• Use mostly content words—nouns, verbs, adjectives


Structure

• Introduction• Two or three main points to support

your idea; if your topic requires a narration, then you just tell the story

• A short conclusion. Most people don’t do this part well because they run out of time


3. Delivering the Speech

• All of us can get nervous in front of a group; this is normal

• A moderate degree of nervousness helps focus our attention on the task so that we can do a better job


Posture• Usually you don’t have a lectern or table

to hid behind, just a skinny microphone• Stand up straight but in a comfortable

way: you are not a soldier!• If you stand comfortably, it will be easier

for you to make any gestures—in the same way as when you are having a conversation in the street


• Don’t slouch like a tired old merchant• Pay attention to where you put your

hands; comfortably loose at the side is best

• Try to look toward your audience; you don’t really have to look at them, but they should think you are


Gestures• Don’t worry too much about

gestures. More practice leads to more confidence leads to more natural gestures.

• Try to make sure you don’t make any strange gestures from nervousness

• Using too many gestures makes you look like a bad actor


During the Talk• Try to remain calm. It will be over after a

few minutes and you will still be alive. No one will throw their lunch box at you.

• The worst they will do is laugh at you.• If you forget everything and have to sit

down, they will feel sorry for you. You will be embarrassed but still alive.

• Speak clearly and confidently. Don’t mumble.


Many native speakers of a language give poor presentations.

Many nonnative speakers give excellent presentations.

• You can’t improve language skills rapidly, but you can improve presentation skills with practice.


Slides from this presentation will be posted at http://mx.nthu.edu.tw/~katchen

Thank you!

Documents

Chien Kung Senior High School October 26, 2006 Tips for Giving Impromptu Speeches in English Johanna E. Katchen ( ) National Tsing Hua University ( ) [email protected]