--------One of the first classes I encountered in college (back in the Dark Ages) was a basic Speech course. The professor introduced a weekly experience in which he would choose classmates at random and ask them to come to the front of the room, face the class, and speak for six minutes (an eternity) extemporaneously. He would choose a topic, throw it at the student, and then sit back and watch the result.
One day I will never forget. An older student, Bob, a Korean War veteran, was asked to the front. He stood awkwardly, awaiting "the word." The professor said, "Your word is euthenasia."
Bob stared at the professor for a few moments, stuffed his hands in his pockets, cleared his throat several times, and then began.
“Euthenasia. Well, let me begin by saying that everyone does it. It’s a natural thing, beginning at puberty. You don’t have a lot of control over it….”
You get the drift. This usually introverted man spent the next five or six minutes awkwardly describing in somewhat graphic detail, the phenomenon of masturbation. The class was silent, mostly in embarrassment for Bob, but also in awe that Bob was so candid.
The professor stood, strolled to the front of the room, and shook Bob’s hand.
“Thank you, Mr. C____,” he said. “That was a very enlightening presentation about the onset of your sex life. I suspect it didn’t end there. But I’m afraid you missed the mark on euthanasia. Can anyone enlighten Mr. C____ about the meaning of the word?”
At that point the class erupted in laughter, unable to hold it in any longer. Bob was mortified and crawled back to his seat where a number of classmates slapped him on the back, ruffled his short military haircut, and pelted him with graphic comments about the content of his presentation.
That is one of the limitations of extemporaneous speaking. Without a chance for preparation, and depending totally on one’s supply of chutzpah, it can be dangerous territory.
The advent of teleprompters has created a new phenomenon which could be called faux extemporaneous. Nearly invisible to the audience, the teleprompter gives the appearance of speaking without notes. Depending upon one’s skill in using a teleprompter, a television audience can find itself awed, admiring, and overwhelmed by the oratory skills of the speaker. We are told that President Obama is someone who has perfected the use.
True extemporaneous speaking, however, is best exemplified in current campaign circles by the use of town meetings and open forums. Spontaneous questions are thrown at the candidate from the audience and the candidate is expected to demonstrate her ability to draw from her storehouse of knowledge the information required to answer the question. Few political candidates master the town hall well. Most tend to pull sound bites from prepared statements, usually twisting the question to fit the answer.
When a speaker is good at extemporaneous speaking it is obvious, and the audience is able to identify the quality. It is worth a lot of points in post-event scrutiny.
Photo credit: Stockphoto.com
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