You might notice much but there are places, groups, and events around Singapore focused on impromptu speaking. It is no question that speaking in public can be terrifying for some. Let alone speaking and thinking on your feet because you don’t have anything prepared. Not to worry though! Here are some tips for delivering an impromptu speech well:

Build Confidence
Building confidence before the speech can help you speak clearly and deliver your speech effectively. That is why you should try to incorporate the building of confidence in your daily activities. You can try engaging in small talk with strangers, for example. This might not seem like it, but it’s actually a good way to boost confidence. Having good posture is another sign of confidence, so try to avoid slouching and sit up and stand up straight.

Use impromptu speaking templates
An impromptu speaking template is basically a simple structure to deliver your speech. One common method is the Point. Reason. Example. Point or P.R.E.P. You start by plainly stating our point. Then, share the primary reasons and give an example after. Lastly, you conclude everything by summarizing your main point again. Using templates is just a simple way to organize your thoughts so you can deliver them comprehensively.

Use personal experiences
During your speech, if you intend to include a story, you should tell something you’ve experienced yourself. This means that you are speaking the truth and that you are pertaining to something that you have profoundly experienced. When you narrate an experience, there are chances that some in the audience would be able to relate and even understand because you are sharing something that you’ve experienced intimately. Of course, make sure that the story you tell is related to your topic.

Utilize appropriate body language
Smiling, eye contact, appropriate movement, and hand gestures are also obviously important when delivering an impromptu speech. It is very easy to fidget and slouch when you’re already speaking simply because you are nervous. This possibly comes from not having enough time to prepare what you want to say. But when you display strong and proper body language, the audience will not easily notice and might even take you as a good speaker.

Practice your delivery
Your voice, of course, plays a crucial role in speech delivery. Speak loudly and slowly. Speaking loudly definitely does not mean shouting, rather speaking with a clear and understandable tone. Practice speaking loudly so that you not only train your voice but also the ability to think on your feet. You should also learn to speak slowly.

Usually, you’ll find that a person speaks too quickly when he/she is nervous. Use pauses and speak at a pace your audience can follow.

The urge to put off something unpleasant, like homework or a business project, is just too strong to resist sometimes. This is procrastination, the habit of delaying an important task and focusing on unnecessary yet more enjoyable and easier activities instead. When you let procrastination take over your life, it can be the cause of a lot of stress and anxiety. So, here are some things you can do to avoid procrastinating.

Plan ahead
Many people procrastinate not just in aspects like school or work, but also in their daily lives. But, simply deciding to stop worrying and just start doing what you have to do is not going to work. What you should do is to focus on getting a routine and schedule working in your favor. By planning it, you can make it happen in a much more organized way and you’ll be able to establish time restraints in your work.

Reward yourself after everything is done
Don’t forget to reward yourself after finishing your work. This is a good training for your brain to think that it’s better to do things earlier than putting them off for later. It doesn’t have to be big and grand too, simply eating out or watching movies with your friends would be good ways to do so. If you’ve just finished a job with a heavy workload, take a nature hike at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve or do something that you can relax with!

Make a list of the things you have to do that day
On a journal or piece of paper, write down all the important things you need to do for the day. This helps you map out your priorities and focus on them. For example, you’ve written two important things to do, and one is your business proposal. You Break this down to smaller parts, do the introduction, then take a break without being distracted by unnecessary things, then move to the statistics, and so on. Remind yourself that you don’t have to do it all at once – tackle it a bit at a time and get your work done slowly but surely.

Stop trying to make things perfect
Let’s say you want to ask a girl out on a date but you delay it worrying about the things you should do after asking her. You then start saying, “I’ll just do it tomorrow” or “I’ll wait for the right time”. By doing this, you’re putting more stress on yourself by imagining a “perfect” scenario where nothing goes wrong. If you have anxiety about getting started, just accept that feeling rather than using it to delay your plans. You should understand that getting things done is a way to help get rid of the stress that’s building up on you.