Impromptu Speaking Quotes

I've been amazed watching people who are not ready with their scripts when they're getting a lot of attention.

A politician must often talk and act before he has thought and read. He may be very ill-informed respecting a question; all his notions about it may be vague and inaccurate, but speak he must; and if he is a man of talents, of tact, and of intrepidity, he soon finds that, even under such circumstances, it is possible to speak successfully.

When I did 'Guffman,' it was terrifying. I didn't know what to say. I started talking, and it just came out.

He is one of those orators of whom it was well said, 'Before they get up to speak they do not know what they are going to say; when they are speaking, they do not know what they are saying; and when they sit down, they do not know what they have said.'

I think audibles, the way people talk about it, it's overrated.

Obama isn't good off the cuff, especially when challenged; he is far better with a prepared speech.

I like to say whatever comes to mind when I am in the ring and work off the reaction from the crowd.

The very best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.

Being a comfortable public speaker, which involves easily being able to go off-script, strongly signals competence.

I've never really prided myself as being quick on my feet. Maybe you've had the experience where somebody's asked you a question and you give an answer, then later in the day you think, "Oh, I wish I'd said that!" I tend to journal these things and put the answers in sermons.

I don't like planning what am I gonna say to the crowd. Sometimes the show takes a whole different twist.

With reference to political speeches in political campaigns or with reference to discussions in the Senate, I do no more than make a skeleton outline of the line of argument I wish to pursue. I do not undertake to reduce the speech to manuscript form. Many of my speeches which have been most satisfactory to me I have prepared in a few hours. I think it is quite accurate to say that the manuscript is practically unknown in my speaking. Furthermore, I should say that even the skeleton outline referred to above is generally forgotten after I begin my speech. I try to get the subject and the outline of the subject and the objective thoroughly in my mind, and all the preparations are with a view of doing this rather than with the idea of having something before me to follow.

I was always explaining why my term papers were never on time. I think that's where I got my acting training!

I'm not an ad-libber. If I'm asked to ad-lib, I can ad-lib forever and it's really fun to do that, but I find that well-written scripts are put together very carefully. Once you start to ad-lib and add words to sentences, there's a slacking that happens. When it's good writing, it's taut. I'm not judging people who do ad-lib.

Bush is a very poor impromptu speaker. He does fine in small groups but when speaking without a script in front of large groups or answering questions he wasn't prepped for, he has problems.

I talk so much on stage - too much. I always get in trouble. But it's just the best to be able to connect with people.

Nick can get up on stage and just wing it, whereas I would have to be taken to a mental institution.

If you actually do cold readings, it's very close to how people actually talk, because you're experiencing these thoughts anew every moment, and trying to make them come out coherently.

I'm bad with speaking. I ramble a lot.

One begins with two people on a stage, and one of them had better say something pretty quick.

I'm spontaneous when I'm onstage. If I feel like talking about a particular issue when I'm in the moment, then I will. I speak about women's rights a lot day-to-day, so that's an issue that's important to me for sure. And I'm not a fan of Donald Trump.

I am terrible at memorizing things. Hence, ad-libbing.

Extemporaneous speaking should be practised [sic] and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech. And yet there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than relying too much on speech-making. If any one, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance.

I will literally open my mouth not knowing what is coming out.

Trust me, I have never written a speech in my life, and if I have my way, I never will.