Theocratic Aid To Kingdom Publishers

Lesson 8

EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING

Extemporaneous speaking does not imply lack of preparation. On the contrary, one carefully selects his material and outlines it just as if he were preparing to write out the talk. Instead of so doing, however, the speech is delivered from an outline and is not written out in advance, or, if written out, is not delivered from the manuscript, nor memorized. This means thorough preparation. Wherein, then, is it extemporaneous? In its phraseology. The speaker is familiar with his subject. His mind is filled with ideas on it. He has such ideas in orderly arrangement, by means of either a mental or a written outline. Now, at the time of delivery, he extemporaneously puts these thoughts into words.

Extempore talks have four advantages: (1) the outline is flexible or adaptable; (2) such a delivery stimulates mental activity of the speaker during his talk; (3) it enables the speaker to maintain personal and visual contact with his listeners; and (4) it is informal, conversational, and direct.

Both a manuscript talk and a memorized speech are rigid. It is difficult, sometimes even impossible, to depart from the fixed text. For this reason, the extempore method is the only advisable method for most occasions and speakers; for instance, for the Society's servants to the brethren. Why? Because the local conditions in the various companies of brethren differ. He cannot prepare exactly the same talk for every company. It would not apply to the facts, to the

conditions prevailing in certain companies. Very often such local conditions arc not known to the servant before his arrival. It is necessary to have a flexible talk; and that flexibility is provided only in an extempore talk.

Now as to the second advantage, the mental stimulation of the speaker. By giving a talk from an outline, or from underscored key words of a script, the mind will not be tied, but will be free from the burden encumbering the mind when speaking from memory. The free flow of thoughts will be unhampered by fixed wording. Then, speaking to a friendly, attentive and responsive audience is, in fact, a stimulating experience. A good audience is an inspiration and stimulation to thinking on one's feet; exactly as in conversing with an intelligent and friendly person one's spirit is stimulated. (Prov. 27:17) Before a responsive audience one warms up during delivery. As he warms up, the material is warming up also. Preparation is ofttimes "cold"; delivery to an appreciative audience generates heat. New ideas will come to mind. The flexibility of the extempore method allows one to use them.

A third advantage of extempore speaking is that of direct personal contact between speaker and audience and, vice versa, between audience and speaker. By the directness of the address the hearers are caused to listen; and, as they listen, they are stimulated. They enjoy the talk. Speaking extemporaneously, a speaker looks and sounds more alive, more informal, more natural, more in earnest, more sincere, more speaking "from the heart". The audience is made to feel that he knows his subject, because he is looking at them and does not always have his nose buried in his papers. The delivery does not sound "cut and dried". It is not canned speech. It is a heart-to-heart talk. The speaker does not recite or lecture to his hearers; he is conversing with them. He has personal contact with them, exactly as in everyday conversation.

And this is the fourth advantage of extempore speaking. That personal contact enables the speaker to observe the

reactions of his audience as he is speaking. Their response is merely a reflection or an echo of his talk. If he sees some yawning, nodding, or turning their attention elsewhere, he knows that he needs to prod himself, to wake up. Blank facial expressions indicate the necessity of further clarification of a point. A speaker cannot note this if the occasion necessitates a manuscript lecture and he constantly reads without often looking up at his listeners. And he cannot do it if his mind is fettered by a memorized speech, because there one's entire attention is directed to the phrasing and one speaks in constant dread that he might lose a word and get confused. If an unfavorable reaction should be noted he could do nothing about it. But if he sees their faces alert and radiant, their eyes shining and intelligent, he knows the point is going home. He sees the talk is taking effect.

There are some dangers to be guarded against. First, exceeding the time limit. In extempore speaking, there is a danger of being carried away by the onrush of ideas, of fresh thoughts, by the interest in the subject matter, which is kept alive and fresh and warm during extemporaneous delivery. The remedy is this: Always prepare a little less than required for the time allotted; then one will not be talking against time. Also, do not dwell too long on one point. Have each main point timed, and watch the time. Consult a watch. Careful preparation, or thinking through of material, will also diminish the influx of too many new thoughts during presentation.

Another danger, and the greatest danger, of the extempore method is insufficient preparation. There is a temptation on the part of many speakers, especially if they are experienced, to tear off a piece of scratch paper and make just a hurried, rough, pencil outline without detailed facts and proofs and illustrations. This method is often tried by those who on previous occasions got by with such a hurried preparation; they feel they can do it again. Many a boy has trodden once too often on thin ice; and the same can

happen to an experienced speaker. Especially those speakers who have the unfortunate "gift of gab" depend on such hasty and meager preparation. They are apt to depend on that questionable "gift of gab", expecting words and ideas will come without further preparation. Words will come, yes, but constructive thoughts, no.

A third "disadvantage" of extempore speaking is claimed to be inferior language. Some say, "If I write out this talk the English will be much better, the grammar will be more precise." This may be true, but such fine English is not, as a rule, conversational. The very fact that one's English in extempore speaking is not so eloquent makes for conversational style and use of the everyday language of the people. It keeps the talk like conversation, alive and fresh, and prevents a stiff, stilted, mechanical manner of delivery, and also the formal, unnatural, gravely authoritative, and boring lecture tone.

In preparing for extemporaneous delivery, make a brief outline, far briefer than the one used in assembling and arranging the material. Memorize this outline. Be able to visualize or picture in your mind this outline as it appeared on the page. Have this imprint stamped upon your mind, this skeleton in mental vision, and build upon it as you speak extemporaneously. Of course, it is not vitally essential that the outline be memorized; it may be on paper and held inconspicuously in the hand. The advantage, though, of its being memorized is that the speaker never has to break contact with the audience by shifting his eyes to a piece of paper; he can concentrate on his listeners. It would be wise always to have on one's person brief written notes for use in case of emergency, even though the outline is committed to memory.

As an aid in memorizing the outline, in addition to having a mental vision of its form on the page, it is helpful and necessary to remember the association or relationship between the various ideas to be presented. If the talk is logically arranged these will blend into a unified whole and

the sequence of points following in a natural order will suggestively lead the speaker from one to another.

Finally, in preparation for delivery, build the entire talk in your mind from this outline, fill it out, and try to see the finished product with all its details of proofs and. arguments. See that you have all the facts in mind and can make them march by in their proper order in a last final mental "review". When you can do this and mentally visualize the filled-out talk in its final form, you are ready for extemporaneous delivery of the speech.