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Shooting From The Hip

There exists a form of public speaking that unquestionably terrifies many men and women. But when you see a public speaker speak extemporaneously, it is one of the most peaceful and easy to absorb forms of public presentation it is. Now, to drop the 50 cent word, to speak extemporaneously means to speak without having notes. In other words, pure extemporaneous speaking is performed completely without preliminary prep work and is carried out entirely “from the hip” so to speak.

There are variants, nevertheless, on pure extemporaneous speaking. But if you are able to adjust to a more extemporaneous style, your presentation will benefit enormously. Because people speaking directly from their minds to their audiences do not need notes, a podium or any aids at all, the level of eye-to-eye contact and audience interaction is improved upon significantly. Freed from being tied to a podium and an outline, you can roam free around the stage and even into the audience and speak to them practically one on one. That kind of physical motion will grab an audience’s attention and keep them captivated by what you are doing for so long as the talk moves on.

Try not to be fooled by thinking that a extemporaneous speech is rambling and has no arrangement in any way. One reason that many very seasoned public speakers go to it is they are capable of capturing and holding the outline of their talk in their minds and speaking from that outline without the aid of notes. This kind of ability does not just come naturally. To be able to be relaxed enough in front of a crowd to not only speak spontaneously but also to do so while following an outline carried in the mind takes experience and the self confidence that comes with practice.

Giving an extemporaneous talk is equivalent to improv in the theater world. But that doesn’t mean that a speaker who appears to be speaking without preparation is speaking without preparation. Often it means that what you are seeing is the result of extensive preparation. Many times extemporaneous speaking means that speaker carefully wrote and prepared that talk to have the appearance of spontaneity. Then he or she became so familiar with that outline that it could be delivered completely without prompting.

This is not only memorization. Memorization means that the talk must be given word after word as it was written and in exact order. A committed to memory speech would come unraveled if the speaker lost his or her place as a result of an disturbance. But an extemporaneous speaker may be disrupted, take questions and even scramble that presentation because that level of knowledge of the talk is so complete that he or she literally lives and breaths what is being presented.

Now, can it be worth the extra work to learn to speak by ‘shooting from the hip”? It unquestionably is. For one this, to be able to speak extemporaneously is the epitome of presenting and public speaking skills. When you notice this type of speaker on television or in a public setting, it might appear that he or she is making it up on the spot. What you are really observing is the Oscar ability and ability on display in a public speaking. Anybody who aims for the best can set extemporaneous speaking as a target.

But most importantly, having the ability to speak to a group in this manner is really an increased quality of presentation that you as a speaker will not only have more fun, you will notice a higher level of response from your audience. If you are training, they will learn better. If you are attempting to sell, greater sales. If you are speaking to entertain, a lot more laughs. So for no other reason than to see this kind of improved outcome from the work you devote to public speaking, learn to speak extemporaneously. The benefits are huge, so check out what Public Speaking Training courses exits today!