Thinking on Your Feet

Your manager just asked you to give a speech to a roomful of people – in five minutes! Here’s how to blow them away.

By Sally Williamson

As a senior manager, Sarah Smith is often asked to deliver presentations to employees, and she invests a lot of time in doing it well. But when the CEO approached her at a morning meeting and asked her to give a five-minute overview of her latest project, she was stumped. With no warning and no idea what he wanted her to say, she had 30 minutes – at most – to prepare.

She panicked and spent the next 15 minutes in the hall sweating the five-minute overview she would have to give. After speaking, she felt deflated and frustrated. She felt her remarks weren’t focused, and she knew she’d gotten stuck on one idea and said way too much.

Most employees can empathize, having been asked at some point to speak publicly without preparation. And since most people fear public speaking more than death (according to the Book of Lists), few are comfortable in this situation.

But there’s good news! With practice, you can use the same skills that help you organize great presentations to help you think quickly on your feet. All you need is a message, three main ideas, and an example or anecdote to illustrate your point. So pull out a napkin, an envelope or your PDA to organize your ideas in less than five minutes.

Hook Your Audience: Start with a Thesis Sentence.
 Open with one sentence that summarizes what you want to say and tells the audience why they should be interested. This focuses your thoughts and engages the audience quickly. (This sentence is so crucial that it should take half of your five minutes to construct.)

Keep It Simple: Make Three Succinct Points.
 Try to limit yourself to three main points. This helps avoid the most common mistake of impromptu speeches: rambling. Consider the three questions this audience would most likely have about your topic, three traits of a person you’re speaking about, or three solutions or opportunities the project can create.

Show, Don’t Tell: Give an Example.
 Personal stories, anecdotes or examples make your story more interesting – and help your audience relate to your message. If you’re introducing someone or speaking in her honor, it is far less compelling to say this person is highly motivated than to give an example of a specific situation in which she demonstrated her motivation.

The next time Smith was put on the spot by her CEO, she pulled out a single sheet of paper and quickly developed a one-sentence message about the project, outlined three ideas related to the project (the purpose, the status and the expected results), and shared details of a recent conversation about the project with an enthusiastic client. During her walk to the meeting, she practiced the speech aloud. Then she spoke with confidence, engaged her audience and impressed her boss.



Sally Williamson is CEO of Sally Williamson and Associates. She is an Executive Development and Speech Coach who helps business professionals develop effective communication strategies.