Effective Speaking in Spontaneous Situations

Introduction

• Title has grammatical error to catch attention
• Interactive and participative workshop
• People will read a sentence and count the number of 'F's
• Analogy to show that small details make a big difference in speaking
• Focus: Public speaking in spontaneous situations, not planned ones
• Survey at business school indicated need for responding to cold calls

Agenda

1. Anxiety Management
2. Ground Rules for Interactivity
3. Techniques for Spontaneous Speaking

Anxiety Management

• 85% people are nervous about public speaking
• Anxiety helps focus, provides energy
• Techniques:
  • Greet your anxiety: acknowledge it instead of letting it spiral
  • Reframe as a conversation, not a performance
  • Become present oriented: focus on the moment

Techniques for Anxiety Management

1. Mindful Attention: Acknowledge anxiety as normal
2. Reframe Situation: See it as a conversation, not a performance
   • Use questions to make it interactive
   • Use conversational language
3. Present-Oriented Techniques:
   • Physical activity (e.g., walking)
   • Listening to music
   • Tongue twisters

Spontaneous Speaking Techniques

1. Get out of your own way

• Activity: Shout the wrong name
• Don’t stockpile ideas; be spontaneous
• Maxim: Dare to be dull

2. See Situations as Opportunities

• Reframe speaking as an opportunity, not a threat
• Activity: Exchange imaginary gifts, name the gift and justify it
• Maxim: Yes, and

3. Listen

• Truly understand the demands before responding
• Activity: Spell everything you say to force careful listening
• Maxim: Don’t just do something, stand there

4. Telling a Story

• Use structure to aid spontaneous speaking:
  1. Problem-Solution-Benefit
  2. What-So What-Now What
• Structures improve processing fluency
• Activity: Sell a slinky using one of the structures

Conclusion

• Review of steps to manage anxiety and speak spontaneously:
  • Manage anxiety
  • Get out of your own way
  • Reframe as opportunity
  • Listen
  • Use structure
• Practice regularly to become more confident and compelling

Q&A

• Plan for hostile situations, acknowledge emotion and reframe
• Engage remote audiences with variety and interactive content
• Use themes and paraphrasing for expert witness testimony
• Benefits and risks of using humor
• Techniques for journalists to get candid responses: ask why and seek advice

Additional Resources

• Book: "Speaking Up Without Freaking Out"
• Website: "No Freaking Speaking"