Different speaking
occasions call for different delivery methods. While it may be acceptable to
speak from memory in some situations, lengthy notes may be required in others.
The four most common delivery methods are impromptu, manuscript, memorized, and
extemporaneous.
IMPROMPTU DELIVERY
When using impromptu
delivery, a speaker has little to no time to prepare for a speech. This means
there is little time for research, audience analysis, organizing, and practice.
For this reason, impromptu speaking often evokes higher degrees of speaking
anxiety than other delivery types. Although impromptu speaking arouses anxiety,
it is also a good way to build public speaking skills. Using some of the
exercises for managing speaking anxiety that were discussed earlier in this
chapter can help a speaker better manage the challenges of impromptu speaking.
Only skilled public speakers with much experience are usually able to “pull
off” an impromptu delivery without looking unprepared. Otherwise, a speaker who
is very familiar with the subject matter can sometimes be a competent impromptu
speaker, because their expertise can compensate for the lack of research and
organizing time.
We don’t always have the
luxury of preparation, though. So when speaking impromptu, be brief, stick to
what you know, and avoid rambling. Quickly organize your thoughts into an
introduction, body, and conclusion. Try to determine three key ideas that will
serve as the basis of your main points.
In what situations would
impromptu speaking be used? Since we’ve already started thinking of the
similarities between public speaking and conversations, we can clearly see that
most of our day-to-day interactions involve impromptu speaking. When your
roommate asks you what your plans for the weekend are, you don’t pull a few
note cards out of your back pocket to prompt your response. This type of
conversational impromptu speaking isn’t anxiety inducing because we’re talking
about our lives, experiences, or something we’re familiar with. This is also
usually the case when we are asked to speak publicly with little to no advance
warning. For example, if you are at a meeting for work and you are representing
the public relations department, a colleague may ask you to say a few words
about a recent news story involving a public relations misstep of a competing
company. In this case, you are being asked to speak on the spot because of your
expertise. A competent communicator should anticipate instances like this when
they might be called on to speak, so they won’t be so surprised. Of course,
being caught completely off guard or being asked to comment on something
unfamiliar to you creates more anxiety. In such cases, do not pretend to know
something you don’t, as that may come back to hurt you later. You can usually
mention that you do not have the necessary background information at that time
but will follow up later with your comments.
Salespeople on
home-shopping television shows are masters of impromptu speaking. They
obviously have sales training and have built up a repertoire of adjectives and
sayings that entice an audience to buy. But they are often speaking impromptu
when interacting with a guest on the show or the customers who call in. Their
ability to remain animated and fluent in their delivery with little time to
prepare comes from much experience. Politicians, lawyers, teachers,
journalists, and spokespeople engage in impromptu speaking regularly.
Strengths
of Impromptu Delivery
Ï Content and delivery are spontaneous, which
can make the speech more engaging (if a speaker’s anxiety is under control).
Ï It enhances public speaking skills because
speakers have to “think on their feet.”
Weaknesses
of Impromptu Delivery
Ï It is typically the most anxiety-inducing
delivery method, since speakers do not have time to prepare or practice the
speech.
Ï Speakers may get off topic or ramble if they
did not set up some structure to guide them.
Ï Speakers may be tempted to overstate or
mislead an audience about the extent of their knowledge or expertise if asked
to speak about something they aren’t familiar with.
MANUSCRIPT DELIVERY
Speaking from a written or
printed document that contains the entirety of a speech is known as manuscript
delivery. Manuscript delivery can be the best choice when a speech has
complicated information and/or the contents of the speech are going to be
quoted or published. Despite the fact that most novice speakers are not going
to find themselves in that situation, many are drawn to this delivery method
because of the security they feel with having everything they’re going to say
in front of them. Unfortunately, the security of having every word you want to
say at your disposal translates to a poorly delivered and un-engaging speech.
Even with every word written out, speakers can still have fluency hiccups and
verbal fillers as they lose their place in the manuscript or get tripped up
over their words. The alternative, of course, is that a speaker reads the
manuscript the whole time, effectively cutting himself or herself off from the
audience. One way to make a manuscript delivery more engaging is through the
use of a teleprompter. Almost all politicians who give televised addresses use
Teleprompters.
Newscasters
and politicians frequently use Teleprompters so they can use manuscript
delivery but still engage with the audience.
You may not even notice
them, as the technology has improved to give the illusion that a speaker is
engaged with the audience and delivering a speech from memory. The Plexiglas
sheets on poles that surround the president during the inauguration and State
of the Union addresses are cleverly hidden Teleprompters. Even these useful
devices can fail. A quick search for “teleprompter fail” on YouTube will yield
many examples of politicians and newscasters who probably wish they had a paper
backup of their speech. Since most of us will likely not have opportunities to
speak using a teleprompter, great care should be taken to ensure that the
delivery is effective. To make the delivery seem more natural, print the speech
out in a larger-than-typical font, triple-space between lines so you can easily
find your place, use heavier-than-normal paper so it’s easy to pick up and turn
the pages as needed, and use a portfolio so you can carry the manuscript
securely.
Strengths of Manuscript
Delivery
Ï The speaker can include precise or complex
information such as statistics or quotes.
Ï The entire content of the speech is available
for reference during the delivery.
Ï The speech will be consistent in terms of
content and time length, which is beneficial if a speech will be delivered
multiple times.
Weaknesses
of Manuscript Delivery
Ï Engagement with the audience is challenging,
because the speaker must constantly reference the manuscript (unless a
teleprompter is used).
Ï Speakers are unable to adapt information to
audience reactions, since they are confined to the content of the manuscript.
Ï Speakers may be tempted to read the entire
speech because they didn’t practice enough or because they get nervous.
Ï Speakers who are able to make eye contact
with the audience may still sound like they are reading the speech unless they
employ proper vocal variety, pacing, and pauses.
MEMORIZED DELIVERY
Completely memorizing a
speech and delivering it without notes is known as memorized delivery.
Some students attempt to memorize their speech because they think it will make
them feel more confident to not have to look at their notes; however, when
their anxiety level spikes at the beginning of their speech and their mind goes
blank for a minute, many admit they should have chosen a different delivery
method. When using any of the other delivery methods, speakers still need to
rely on their memory. An impromptu speaker must recall facts or experiences
related to their topic, and speakers using a manuscript want to have some of
their content memorized so they do not read their entire speech to their
audience. The problem with memorized delivery overall is that it puts too much
responsibility on our memory, which we all know from experience is fallible.
When memorizing, most
people use rote memorization techniques, which entail reading and then reciting
something over and over until it is committed to memory. One major downfall of
this technique is its effect on speaking rate. When we memorize this way, we
end up going over the early parts of a speech many more times than the later
parts. As you memorize one sentence, you add on another, and so on. By the time
you’re adding on later parts of your speech, you are likely speed talking
through the earlier parts because you know them by heart at that point. As
we’ll discuss more later, to prevent bad habits from practice from hurting our
speech delivery, speakers should practice a speech the exact way they want to
deliver it to their audience. Fast-paced speaking during practice will likely
make its way into the actual delivery of the speech. Delivery also suffers when
speaking from memory if the speaker sounds like he or she is reciting the
speech. Rote memorization tasks that many of us had to do in school have left
their mark on our memorized delivery. Being made to recite the pledge of
allegiance, the preamble to the Constitution, and so on didn’t enhance our
speaking abilities. I’ve observed many students whose speeches remind me of the
sound of school children flatly going through the motions of reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance. It’s the “going through the motions” impression that
speakers should want to avoid.
Even with much practice,
our memories can fail. If you do opt to use memorized delivery, make sure you
have several “entry points” determined, so you can pick up at spots other than
the very beginning of a speech if you lose your place and have to start again.
Memorized delivery is very useful for speakers who are going to be moving
around during a speech when carrying notes would be burdensome. Think of the
tour guide who showed you around your college campus. As someone who used to
give college tours, I can attest to the fact that we all had speeches
memorized, which was a good thing. It’s already difficult enough to walk
backward while facing a group of people and lead them across roads and
upstairs. Think about how dangerous it would be if the tour guide were trying
to hold onto and reference a stack of note cards at the same time! In summary, I
only recommend memorized delivery in cases where the speech is short (only one
to two minutes), the speech is personal (like a brief toast), or the speech
will be repeated numerous times (like a tour guide’s spiel), and even in these
cases, it may be perfectly fine to have notes. Many students think that their
anxiety and/or delivery challenges will be fixed if they just memorize their
speech, only to find that they are more anxious and have more problems.
Strengths
of Memorized Delivery
Ï Speakers can include precise or complex
information such as statistics or quotes (if they have put the time into
memorization).
Ï Speakers can directly engage with the
audience without worrying about referencing notes.
Ï The speech will be consistent in terms of
content and time-length, which is beneficial if a speech will be delivered
multiple times.
Weaknesses
of Memorized Delivery
Ï It is the most time-consuming delivery
method.
Ï Speakers are unable to adapt information to
audience reactions, since they are confined to the content they memorized.
Ï If speakers lose their place in the speech,
they will likely have to start over.
Ï Since everything is preplanned, it is
difficult to make the speech content and delivery seem genuine (i.e., humor may
seem “canned” or corny).
Ï The speech can sound like a recitation if the
proper vocal variety and pacing are not used.
EXTEMPORANEOUS
DELIVERY
Extemporaneous
delivery entails memorizing the overall structure and main points of a
speech and then speaking from keyword/key-phrase notes. This delivery mode
brings together many of the strengths of the previous three methods. Since you
only internalize and memorize the main structure of a speech, you don’t have to
worry as much about the content and delivery seeming stale. Extemporaneous
delivery brings in some of the spontaneity of impromptu delivery but still
allows a speaker to carefully plan the overall structure of a speech and
incorporate supporting materials that include key facts, quotations, and
paraphrased information. You can also more freely adapt your speech to fit
various audiences and occasions, since every word and sentence isn’t
predetermined. This can be especially beneficial when a speech will be
delivered multiple times. When preparing a speech that you will deliver
extemporaneously, you will want to start practicing your speech early and then
continue to practice as you revise your content. Investing quality time and
effort into the speech-outlining process helps with extemporaneous delivery. As
you put together your outline, you are already doing the work of internalizing
the key structure of your speech. Read parts of your outline aloud as you draft
them to help ensure they are written in a way that makes sense and is easy for
you to deliver. By the time you complete the formal, full-sentence outline, you
should have already internalized much of the key information in your speech.
Now, you can begin practicing with the full outline. As you become more
comfortable with the content of your full outline, start to convert it into your
speaking outline. Take out information that you know well and replace it with a
keyword or key phrase that prompts your memory. You’ll probably want to leave
key quotes, facts, and other paraphrased information, including your verbal
source citation information, on your delivery outline so you make sure to
include it in your speech. Once you’ve converted your full outline into your
speaking outline, practice it a few more times, making sure to take some time
between each practice session so you don’t inadvertently start to memorize the
speech word for word. The final product should be a confident delivery of a
well-organized and structured speech that is conversational and adaptable to
various audiences and occasions.
Strengths
of Extemporaneous Delivery
Ï Speech content and delivery appear more
spontaneous and natural, making it more conversational, since the speaker is
using a keyword/key-phrase outline.
Ï Speakers can include quotes or complex
information on their speaking outline for easy reference.
Ï Speakers can adapt information and delivery
to specific audiences, occasions, and audience reactions, since they are not
confined to the content of a manuscript or what they memorized.
Weaknesses of Extemporaneous Delivery
Ï Since the speech is so adaptable, it can be
difficult to ensure the speech will be the exact same length each time.
Ï It is perhaps not the best option when exact
wording is expected.
Ï Speakers must find a balance between having
too much content on their speaking outline, which may cause them to read, and
too little content, which may lead to fluency hiccups.
