It’s a real skill to know how to ad lib a speech.
But there was a reason behind the sign hanging above the microphone in Radio Clyde’s Studio A in Glasgow.
“All ad libs in future MUST be scripted.”
It was a genuine message.
Too many presenters were ad-libbing their way into serious on-air gaffes when I joined the station in 1980.
Ad libs can be crucial in making a point, or adding humour.
Sometimes they can change the entire mood of your presentation.
But the very fact that they’re unscripted can cause upset, offence and reputational damage.
So management at my radio station laid down the law with a rule I adhere to wherever possible.
It helps me every day with public speaking.
Let’s get into how to ad lib a speech.
My wife Caroline and me on stage at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas.
Here’s the trick.
It’s to make pre-planned comments in presentations and media interviews APPEAR as if they were off the cuff.
My wife and I were asked to present a UK-wide conference in Glasgow this month.
We would have to introduce speakers, mention sales items, announce lunch arrangements and draw competition winners from a drum.
So we asked for a list of all the elements in advance.
We then wrote as much as we possibly could well before the conference started.
The genuine ad libs were then reduced to a minimum.
Whilst preparing, we agreed in advance what points each of us would make in the unscripted sections.
There was still room for genuine ad libs, but we wrote sections to look spontaneous.
The result was that very little had to be committed to memory.
Increasing the smoothness of the delivery.
I missed one great opportunity to break the tension of the moment, when the next speaker (a doctor), failed to take the stage on cue.
I looked to the wings of the stage to find them empty.
That was the opportunity to say:
“The doctor’s running a little late this afternoon but she will be with you just as soon possible.”
Instead, she ran on, apologised for spending too much time in “make up”, and the moment was gone.
Our Public Speaking Courses we run face-to-face around the world, or virtually on Teams or Zoom, emphasise the need to follow a plan both on stage and in the studio.
I frequently ask my training audiences: what should you do with a throwaway remark?
The answer is simple: throw it away!
History is littered with ad lib comments.
Many of which people instantly regretted saying.
For example, Tony Hayward, boss of BP, telling the media that:
“I just want my life back.”
That was after 11 had died in a BP explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
I like to construct quotes and examples as a “shopping list” before presentations and media interviews.
I then weave them into what I have to say.
Famously, I once stood on the steps of a courthouse in Scotland and told TV that the police had
“fed the media misconceptions, half-truths and downright lies”
about the case.
But rather than the sentence just forming on my lips, it was part of a document I had prepared for media consumption.
That’s the key to an effective ad lib.
But we’ll get into some tips shortly.
Some major films have been improved by lead actors coming up with a new line or building on an existing one.
Roy Scheider in Jaws (1975) was meant to stay silent after a shark attack on his boat.
Instead, he said:
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Jack Nicholson is famous for ad-libbing on set.
In The Shining (1980), as his character axes his way through a door, his menacing face announces
“Here’s Johnny!”
It was a reference to the way Johnny Carson was introduced on The Late Show.
It became the defining line in the film, even though it was made up on the spot.
And in A Few Good Men (1992), the same actor stole the show by changing:
“you already know the truth” to
“you can’t handle the truth”
These are great examples, immortalised in film reels.
But what about a situation where someone’s walked off your stage early?
When someone’s failed to show up?
Or if someone’s thrust you in front of an audience without any warning?
Let’s get into the tips if you’re left holding the microphone.
I’ll boil it down to three simple tips.
Which can easily go out the window in the heat of the moment.
However, these are the exceptions that make the rule I highly recommend:
“All ad libs in future MUST be scripted.”
And if you want to learn more of our presentation advice, head to our Pink Elephant Academy.
Our video-based e-learning courses are available for you to buy today, and learn in your own time.
Bill McFarlan is the Executive Chairman of Pink Elephant Communications in Glasgow.
You can view his full profile here.
Photos in How to ad lib a speech by Pink Elephant Communications / By Unknown – US Coast Guard – 100421-G-XXXXL- Deepwater Horizon fire (Direct link), Public Domain / Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
How to ad lib a speech re-edited by Colin Stone.
27th September 2017 Featured in: Blog, Communication skills training blogs, Presentation skills training blogs, Public speaking training blogs By: Pink Elephant
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