As a member of Rostrum, the English equivalent of American Toastmasters, I was often asked to deliver an impromptu three-minute speech with only three minutes of preparation. One such speech was titled “Silence Is Golden” and was part of the club’s annual public speaking championships.
There are many ways to plan an impromptu speech. You can use “How, When, Where or Why”; “Past, present and future”; or maybe “Local, National or International” depending on your focus.
I think one of the best ways to give an impromptu speech is to use an experience you’ve had. This way you don’t have to invent your content. All you need to focus on is your delivery. So that’s what I did. Here is the basis of that speech.
As a high school teacher, she often attended school camps. One such camp was held at a place called Highfields on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, north of Toowoomba in Queensland. Meals in a large hall with 300 twelve-year-olds were a noisy nightmare. Silence was not something we could achieve in the camp except in one place.
Let me tell you about it.
One of the activities at camp was to walk along the cliff to a place called Spring Bluff. A railway station with a camping area was located here. The students camped out for the night before returning to camp the next day.
On the way down, we stopped at a grassy area in the shape of a semi-circle that led away from the trail. We told the students to lie down on the grass and just listen. It took a while for the students to calm down, stop talking, stop making any kind of noise, and lay still on the grass.
At first they heard
• the song of the Birds;
• then insects;
• then branches and leaves falling from the trees
• followed by the wind whistling through the trees.
Then something strange happened. They heard a strange gurgling sound that they did not understand, being city children. Eventually, one student guessed that it was the sound of water bubbling from a spring. (That’s how Spring Bluff got its name.) The students were truly amazed and reported this as a very special part of their camping experience.
Of course, we teachers emphasize that it is often good for the soul to stop the noise of living and listening. Yes, “Silence is golden”