I was actually extremely nervous for this speech because there was no way I could have practiced what I was going to discuss before the actual presentation. I did try to practice outlining random topics at home so I would at least be prepared to organize my thoughts quickly with whatever topic I was given in class.
I was given a slip of paper which simply read, "IMMIGRATION". I was actually a bit relieved because it was something that I could relate to. I started off trying to relate to the audience and open up about myself being an immigrant in the United States. I thought it added a personal touch and made the audience immediately be more tuned in because they know that the subject is something that matters to me, the speaker. I simply tried to show the audience that there was a problem with immigration and present a solution. That was the only thing that mattered to me.
In order to explain my stance, I tried to use as many sticky phrases as possible. "America itself is a melting pot", "Aren't we all technically immigrants?", "Educate society and then make laws" are just a few examples. I also tried to tell a story so the audience could relate the topic to their own lives.
The one thing that I could have improved on was prolonging my speech. I did not really have a sense of time while I was speaking up in front of the class and then realized I did not reach the time that we were allotted. I did try to say as few "UM"s as possible, but there were still a few that stuck in there. It's really interesting to see how nervous I was given that impromptu speeches are something that we do everyday of our lives. For aren't conversations always impromptu speeches in a way? But, the fact that we were given a topic to talk about made a huge difference and calling it a "presentation" added more butterflies in my stomach.
I think that if I make myself care for the topic and take a passionate stance on it, any impromptu speech that I'm forced to give will turn out fine. As long as I can truly show my audience that the topic is important and that it matters, I will be completely fine as a speaker. I hope I'll be able to lose the inhibitions I have in an impromptu speech, because in the end, it really is just a normal conversation with a group of people.
