Although practising and delivering prepared speeches can have a profound effect on your confidence and communication skills, in the real world you often don’t have the luxury of being able to plan what you say in advance.

For instance, you might be asked unexpectedly for your opinion in a meeting at work, or be prompted to say a few words at a family gathering. Either way it is very useful to be able to start speaking with the knowledge that you can get your point across effectively (and are able to quickly decide what your point should be in the first place!)

At home, you could try speaking for a minute or two out loud about something in the news. You might even record yourself speaking and play it back. Listening to the recording – how effective was your mini-speech? Did you have a clear point that was easy to follow or did you ramble?

At Toastmasters, each meeting has a section dedicated to impromptu speaking. During “table topics” members are invited to deliver a short speech on a topic chosen by the evening’s “topicsmaster”. This is a great opportunity to practice speaking “off-the-cuff” in a friendly and supportive environment where it really doesn’t matter if you mess it up.