Thinking on Your Feet

Your manager just asked you to give a speech to a roomful of people—in five minutes! Here’s how to blow them away.

As a senior manager, Sarah Smith is often asked to deliver presentations to employees, and she invests a lot of time in doing it well. But when the CEO approached her at a morning meeting and asked her to give a five-minute overview of her latest project, she was stumped. With no warning and no idea what he wanted her to say, she had thirty minutes—at most—to prepare.

She panicked and spent the next fifteen minutes in the hall sweating the five-minute overview she would have to give. After speaking, she felt deflated and frustrated. She felt her remarks weren’t focused, and she knew she’d gotten stuck on one idea and said way too much.

Most employees can empathize, having been asked at some point to speak publicly without preparation. And since most people fear public speaking more than death (according to the Book of Lists), few are comfortable in this situation.

But there’s good news! With practice, you can use the same skills that help you organize great presentations to help you think quickly on your feet. All you need is a message, three main ideas, and an example or anecdote to illustrate your point. So pull out a napkin, an envelope, or your PDA, to organize your ideas in less than five minutes.

Hook Your Audience: Start with a Thesis Sentence

Open with one sentence that summarizes what you want to say and tells the audience why they should be interested. This focuses your thoughts and engages the audience quickly. (This sentence is so crucial that it should take half of your five minutes to construct.)

Keep It Simple: Make Three Succinct Points

Try to limit yourself to three main points. This helps avoid the most common mistake of impromptu speeches—rambling. Consider the three questions this audience would most likely have about your topic, three traits of a person you’re speaking about, or three solutions or opportunities the project can create.