Always Have Something to Say: Respond Faster Exercise
The next time you're asked an impromptu question, would you like to respond faster than you've ever done before? The 5 Things to Say exercise will help you boost your impromptu speaking abilities.
The problem
You can struggle to find what to say with impromptu speaking due to nervousness, lack of confidence, and inability to gather clear thoughts. For example when giving a response to a question, the first few seconds can cause you to scramble for a response. During this time you might use fillers, start and stop your response, or get a wide eye expression as your mind goes blank without an answer.
The Solution
The 5 Things to Say exercise loosens up your mind, allowing you to think faster and respond faster. Since the exercise is a fast paced short brainstorm, you train yourself to generate and gather ideas faster. With the ability to think faster, you will increase the likelihood that you will have something to say.
This exercise will get your mind working faster and your mouth working faster which will get your mind and mouth to coordinate and work together.
How to do the 5 Things to Say exercise
First off, you need another person for this exercise who will act as questioner. You will respond to the questioner.
The 5 Things to Say exercise involves your questioner asking you to say five different things to their question.
You should do the exercise with minimal time between responses. I’ll tell you why later. Your objective is speed and quantity NOT methodical deliberation and quality. You want to fire off your answers.
You should recite a list as your reply to the question. Since the exercise is meant as a fast paced brainstorm, you only give words and phrases as responses. The purpose of the exercise is to quickly generate things to say NOT talk about those things.
For example:
Questioner: “What are 5 countries to take a vacation?” Or simply, “5 places to take a vacation.”
You will now say 5 countries to take a vacation. For example:
You: “Hawaii, Australia, the beach, an amusement park, cruise in the Caribbean”
5 Things to Say: 2 Difficulty Levels
Level 1: Have the questioner ask broad questions with generalized categories to generate replies. For example:
Questioner: “What are 5 animals found at a zoo?”
You: “penguin, zebra, giraffe, hippo, tiger.”
Level 2: Have the questioner ask narrow questions with more specific categories to generate replies. This level forces you to think in more detail and in more depth than round 1. For example:
Questioner: “What are 5 kinds of birds at the zoo?’’
You: “Flamingo, ostrich, eagle, condor, pelican
NOTE: My goal is to get you comfortable rapidly generating ideas. I’ve omitted advanced level questions that cause you to think on a deeper level.
Tips for Success
Put down the red pen
This is creative a exercise which means there are no wrong answers. You want to prove to yourself that you can generate ideas, not grade yourself. You can put down the red pen through 2 ways.
Keep Talking
I mentioned earlier that I would tell you why you should do the exercise with minimal time between responses. When you slow down you can start over thinking or worse allow your inner critic to talk for you. Self criticism will slam the brakes on your ability to generate responses. Keep talking is an effective way of putting down the red pen and will help both silence your inner critic and keep your creative momentum.
Focus on the words you say instead of feelings about your ability with the exercise
When your focus shifts from words to feelings about your responses you can invite judgment and self criticism. Keep the exercise a creative brainstorm by focusing on what you say to inspire what to say next. For example:
Your questioner asks, ‘5 ingredients to put on a sandwich’ and you reply with ‘lettuce, bacon, Swiss cheese, hot dogs,’ and you pause because you think hot dogs don’t belong on a sandwich. You’re judging what you say. Then you think you’re inept at the exercise and lack the incapable generating responses. Now you have invited self criticism.
You can give non logical answers
You’re not in creative court where the judge will smack the gavel on a whoopee cushion and disbar your answer because it’s not logical or real.
For example if your question is, ‘5 kinds of transportation without wheels,’ you can say underwater tram and flying speedboat.
Believe in what you say
When you struggle, believing in what you say will help you continue the exercise. It’s important to make your answers sound somewhat believable to yourself and the question asker. Also speak with belief in your voice. When people murmur their replies they sound like they don’t believe in what they are saying.
Deliver your responses with a passion like it’s the most important thing in the world.
Sample Questions
If you don’t have another person to act as the questioner here is a list of sample level 1 and level 2 questions.
You should only read one question at the time and immediately respond.
Notice how level 1 questions are broad and general and level 2 questions are narrow and more specific.
Level 1
5 retail stores
5 kinds of transportation
5 things to eat for lunch
5 things found in an office building
5 types of sports
5 musical instruments
5 musical artists
5 songs heard on the radio
5 movies
5 countries in the world
5 holidays
5 kinds of electronic devices
5 outdoor actives
Level 2
5 things found in a hardware store
5 things to put into soup
5 things found in a newsroom
5 garden plants
5 things associated with baseball
5 apps on a phone
5 things seen/ done at a rock concert
5 countries in Europe
5 ways to destroy a computer
5 things associated with Christmas
5 things stored in a closet
5 things at an amusement park
5 ways to cause trouble at a business meeting
Keep Practicing And You Will Improve
In the future I’m sure when you’re put on the spot to say something, this exercise will help you generate and gather ideas faster so that you will have something to say. Keep practicing the 5 Things to Say exercise and you will make improvements with your impromptu speaking abilities.
Other impromptu speaking exercises:
Think Faster and Respond Smarter with Association Exercises
What would you like to improve with your impromptu speaking abilities? Contact Nate