Improvised Speech is necessary for everyone who is struggling in the workplace, whether it is an employee or a team leader, to communicate effectively in different occasions. Follow the guidance of this book and practice impromptu speech skills deliberately, and you will be able to control every communication moment freely, gain respect and recognition from others, win more opportunities and change your destiny.
who is suitable for reading
salespeople
people who want to improve their communication skills
workplace white
About the author
Judith Humphrey, a well-known speaker, communication leadership expert and founder of Humphrey Group, led the company to become one of the well-known communication leadership companies in North America, and guided thousands of workers in the past 3 years to successfully influence others through speeches.
what to study? How to make an impromptu speech
When you hear the word "speech", your first thought may be Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" in front of thousands of people in the square, or Trump's fierce campaign speech, or Ma Yun's passionate entrepreneurial speech at the Davos Forum.
actually, the speech doesn't have to be like that. The speech is very close to each of us. In the face of leadership, you need a work report; Facing customers, you need to negotiate sales; In front of colleagues, you need to speak at the meeting. Speech is closely related to you in life. So, how to perform a perfect impromptu speech anytime and anywhere?
today's article starts from three dimensions: misunderstanding, skills and methods of impromptu speech, and combines a large number of practical cases to teach you the methods of impromptu speech, improve your language organization ability and make you a popular person.
You will also find out
What is the misunderstanding of impromptu speech;
What are the skills of impromptu speech?
what is the "microphone on" mentality?
first, cultivate leaders' thinking
most of the speeches in life belong to the category of "impromptu communication", including communication with relatives and friends, conversation with colleagues, salary negotiation with leaders, etc. These are undoubtedly very important for everyone. But careful observation shows that many people don't perform very well at these moments, and even they often feel nervous about make a fool of oneself, which leads them to miss many opportunities. So, what can I do to make myself an excellent impromptu spokesperson and push myself forward towards my career goals and life vision? It is obviously not feasible to "cram for the last minute" or "follow your feelings", which often makes us miss these critical moments. Therefore, what we have to do is to train and improve our impromptu speech.
In the book Improvised Speech, the author Humphrey said that the success of impromptu speech may be related to your speaking style, speech script and behavior. But before training and preparing for these, the most important thing is to have a correct thinking mode, which is the leader thinking we will talk about first. After cultivating the correct thinking of leaders, the next thing to do will naturally follow the steps and follow the course.
The key to cultivating leaders' thinking is that you have the will to be a leader, that is, a desire to infect others. Whether it is to help others form their own opinions or to influence others' behavior through language, these are opportunities to improve their leadership. Successful leaders believe that every encounter with employees, colleagues, managers, customers or business partners hides a leadership moment to exert influence and inspire or push others to take action. As for how to successfully grasp these moments, the author Humphrey provides many principles of impromptu speech in his book, and we have selected three of them as the most representative ones:
1. Get the audience's full attention
If you are speaking, but the employees are not listening carefully, then you can't show leadership. So even if your speech is very weighty, even if you feel that the audience has noticed that you are going to speak, you can't speak right away. You should wait for a short time and wait until you attract the attention of the audience.
If you watch carefully, you will find that experienced speakers don't speak when they rush to the stage, but there is a short pause. A typical person might as well watch Dong Qing's performance after each stage in The Reader. When she stands still, she must look around the audience with her eyes, so that everyone feels watched. At this time, the applause gradually weakens, and then she begins to speak. This pause is a subtle skill. How long to stop and what kind of rhythm to start at need the speaker to figure out and feel for himself.
2. The content of the conversation should be valuable
Every time you raise your hand to indicate that you want to speak or want to open your mouth, make sure that you have something to say, and what you say deserves everyone's attention. Besides, your speech should be in line with your identity. If you feel that you have nothing substantial to share, you'd better not say it yet and listen to what others have to say.
Smart leaders don't waste other people's time. They speak clearly, enthusiastically and to the point. "Valuable" means that your speech is persuasive and can infect others to take action.
abraham lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, is one of the most famous speakers in modern times, and his famous Gettysburg address is known all over the world. But in fact, Lincoln's impromptu speech is also very expressive, but he only speaks when he feels that the content is valuable.
On the eve of the famous Gettysburg address, people lined up in the streets and asked Lincoln to say a few words. He replied, "My fellow citizens, I appeared before you just to thank you for your praise ... I have nothing to say. As president, it is important not to say anything stupid."
3. Realize that "the microphone is always on"
Leaders must realize that whatever they say at the meeting may be learned by others. Even in closed talks, or when you go out for a drink with friends and colleagues, you must remember not to say anything that you don't want to be spread afterwards. Bi Fujian, a famous CCTV host, faded out of the CCTV stage forever because of a short video on the wine table.
every leader needs to keep this "microphone on" mentality, and before any conversation, he needs to assume that what you say will be heard by people outside the wall. Especially in today's society, any mistake may be immediately seen and magnified by people through the Internet. We often see in the news that a celebrity has been besieged by netizens because of his impromptu comments on something, which has damaged his reputation. Therefore, in this world where the microphone is always on, each of us needs to think about what impact these words will have on ourselves and others before making a speech.
in p>216, a spokesperson of a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), a fortune 5 company in the world, told employees that the company might transfer 1,4 jobs from the United States to Mexico. As soon as the words were finished, the employees at the scene had a very fierce reaction. They shouted and shouted angrily. An employee filmed the reaction of the employees at the scene, and the video was widely spread on the Internet. As a result, a low-key internal announcement of the company has evolved into an industry news with international influence.
Therefore, before you say anything or do anything, you should be aware of the possibility of being spread out, which may greatly reduce the risk of saying the wrong thing.
Second, internalize the leader's speech template
Many people think that those bosses who can talk in Kan Kan on stage must have some unique language talent. But in fact, they are also following a specific rule, just like a formula in math and physics classes. These seemingly intuitive impromptu speeches can actually be presented in a fixed script form. In this book, the author Humphrey provides us with a set of effective tool templates, which mainly includes four contents: grasping hands, main points, structure and calling for action. Let's analyze these four points:
First, use the gripper to attract the audience. The content of the grip can be a friendly greeting to the audience, a quotation from the previous discussion, or a continuation of someone's point of view. The purpose of the gripper is to establish contact with the audience, and its function changes with the changes of specific situations. Sometimes it is to attract attention, and sometimes it is to maintain feelings.
second, state the main points. This part involves your point of view and is the core of the impromptu speech script. The main point is the core point you want the other party to know. It must be concise and attractive enough, and usually it can be summarized in one sentence, so that the audience can quickly grasp what you want to say.
third, build the structure. This step is mainly to build a convincing case for your main points and provide clear and convincing arguments. A good structure can help you convey the main points more clearly, while the set language organization mode makes your language main points more powerful and quantitative.
fourth, call for action. The ultimate goal of a speech is to turn the main points of the speech into actions, and the appeal part is what you want the audience to do next, such as asking them to make a final decision or inspiring cooperation with each other.
This template can help the speaker lead the audience's thinking and convince them powerfully. Therefore, the author Humphrey's suggestion is that these four parts must be engraved in his mind and used in every impromptu speech. It should be said that the content of this part is the core of the whole book, and it puts forward a set of plans that can be implemented. It makes impromptu speech no longer mysterious, and we can practice it deliberately according to standardized procedures and finally master it.
Let's take a look at how Steve Jobs, the godfather of Apple, did this in his speech. In 1997, after 12 years away from Apple, Jobs finally returned. But at this time, Apple's situation is not optimistic. Jobs urgently needs to start streamlining Apple's product line and re-lead Apple to focus on creating great products. Therefore, shortly after his return, Jobs made an impromptu speech at Apple.
First of all, it was the starting point of the speech. Jobs described the value of Apple. He said: "The world is very complicated and noisy. We have no chance to impress the public. No company can do this. Therefore, we must make clear what we want others to remember. Fortunately, Apple has now become one of the top five brands in the world, closely following Nike, Disney, Coca-Cola and Sony. Apple is a giant among giants, not only in the United States, but also around the world. " After this, Apple employees will naturally feel a sense of pride, and their attention will be attracted.
Then came the second step. Jobs got to the main point of his speech. He went on to say, "Even so, if a great brand wants to maintain its leading position and vitality, it needs to invest in and care for the brand. In the past few years, Apple's negligence in this respect has affected the brand. We need to find what we lost. " It clearly shows that Apple is facing difficulties and needs to make changes urgently.
Then, in the third step, a structure was established to support the main points. Jobs told the case of Nike. He said: "Nike can be called the strongest in the marketing field. Please remember that Nike sells goods, not shoes. However, when you think of Nike, you will feel that it is different from other shoe companies. It is well known that Nike's advertisements never mention the price. They will never tell you what secrets are hidden in Nike's air cushion and why it is better than Reebok's. So, what exactly is Nike's advertisement promoting? They promote respect for great athletes and competitive sports. This is Nike, and this is what it focuses on. "
Finally, I called on all Apple employees to make changes together. Jobs concluded: "We hope to find a way to communicate, and I am moved by what Apple has. Apple respects those who have changed the world. Some of them are still alive, while others have left us. But as you know, among those who passed away, those who used computers were generally Apple computers. The theme of the advertisement is' think differently', and the purpose is to pay high tribute to people who think differently and promote world progress. This is what Apple wants to do, which touches the soul of Apple ... I hope you can have a * * * sound with it like me. "
This speech of Job's period is an example of a standard impromptu speech. The grasping hand, the main points, the structure and the call for action are closely connected in one go. When we design a framework for our impromptu speech, we might as well review these four key points from time to time.
Third, create an impromptu speech script for each occasion
After internalizing the template of the leader's impromptu speech script, what should we do in some specific situations? For individuals, it can be said that there is almost no impromptu speech more important than self-promotion, and the specific scenarios we want next include job interviews, social activities and elevator conversations. And every situation needs targeted scripts to prepare and answer possible questions, which can greatly change your life and career. Only by using these script templates frequently can you prepare your speech with less thinking time.
below, let's talk about the specific methods in these three scenarios:
1. Job interview
You know, there are many competitors in many popular jobs, so the chances of successful application are very low. At this time, the preparation for the interview has become the key to success.
Generally, the preparation for job interview begins like this: find the brief introduction of the position you are applying for, and accurately compare the skills and experience you need for your own conditions and position. Of course, there is no problem, but after the comparison, what should I do next to show that I am suitable for this position? This needs to be applied to the four-step template mentioned above.
first of all, in the grasping part, you can thank the interviewer for accepting your interview and praise the business development of the company appropriately, which can show that you have a certain understanding of the interviewer and are interested in the company.
then write down the key points, for example, I believe there is a high degree of matching between what you are looking for and what I can contribute.
Next, write the argument of the structural part. Suppose you are applying for a position in a design company, your argument part can be written as follows: My educational background makes me qualified for this position; I am an experienced designer, and my skills are exactly what you are looking for; My values will enable me to become a strong leader in the company culture. Every point here may be discussed in detail in the interview, so make sure to prepare the details of these points. It will be more helpful if you have corresponding experience cases for each point.
Finally, it ends with "Ask what the next step is", such as "I am very happy with this interview. I look forward to working in your company in the future. Is there anything I need to do next?"
However, it should be noted that we don't have to tell the story word for word according to the prepared script during the interview. After all, the actual situation of the interview is ever-changing, and copying mechanically will definitely disrupt your own rhythm. So the best way is for the interviewer to lead the conversation, and you extract the content from the script to answer. For example, he might say, "Please explain why you are interested in this position?" At this time, you can use the contents of the gripper and the main points, such as "I am very interested in the company, I think.