Sorry about your problem .

Lucky you being able to think on your feet – for me it’s been a learnt skill. It’s been a while since I was in Toastmasters, so things may have changed, but I found the improv exercises we did on this course had an impact far beyond doing Table Topics in Toastmasters.
Olivia

This sounds like the Topics session that Toastmasters use.
I’ve always been able to think on my feet and turn a Topic into a speech by giving it a purpose.

The courses sound great and if I ever find the time… who knows.

Think about messengers that would run for days in a row to deliver a message to the kings. They were just random people and they were granted audiences with kings. What made them so confident, what made them not get state fright ? It’s easy: the acknowledgement of the importance of their message.

So this is what everyone should done: get uber-excited and enthusiastic about the message. Confidence is just a side-efffect.

I think you’re in the lucky minority of not being scared and so enjoying public speaking .

Back to people who write too many notes – what I try and do is give them strategies to help reduce their anxiety about these things happening. Once their anxiety reduces they’ll be able to have less notes.

Olivia

What do you think ?

Thanks for adding your insights. I was introduced to “saying no to no” as the concept of “Yes, and…”. I thought that it could be a useful strategy for handling hostile questions but I didn’t want to write about it before I had tried it out myself. So thank you for adding your experience.

To others: Dilly Ditton has written a good post on this http://talkaboutspeaking.com/how-to-deal-with-hostile-questions/

Olivia

When you are partnered with someone on that stage and they toss you an idea, you ALWAYS go with it. You might take it in a totally different direction, but you keep taking it forward. If you watch a show like “Whose Line is it Anyway?” you’ll notice they always keep things moving forward, even when it gets ridiculous (which is quite often). For example, if your partner starts with “What was up with your brother today?” and you had something in mind to say about a female, you can come back with “That’s not my brother, that’s my sister!” But you don’t just say “I don’t have a brother.” Refusing to catch the pitch from your partner in an improv situation simply stops the whole thing cold.

This concept of “saying no to ‘no’” is good practice for the Q&A part of any presentation one might give as well. Being open to what the audience is asking almost always ensures that you will give a response that is more relevant and respectful.

I enjoy your blog and insights – keep them coming!

Thanks for adding what you’re learning at your improv course. It sounds great.

Olivia