THE EXTEMPORE ROUND An extempore round is the part of an interview where prospective employees have to give a presentation on a topic

chosen by the interviewer. The skills required in this round are the same as those required for presentations. These skills include body language, dressing etiquette, clarity and voice modulation and many more which you will have already covered in Presentation Skills. Some companies have an extempore round as part of their selection process to shortlist candidates and with this they find a suitable candidate for their company. The interviewer starts by giving a topic to candidates and they are expected to speak on that topic for anything between 1 minute to 3 minutes. In some instances the panel provides the candidate with about a minute or so to organize his/her thoughts before speaking. In other cases you are expected to start speaking about the topic as soon as the topic is announced. Here are some tips on how to present at the extempore round. 1. Start speaking at an even pace. Do not start speaking really fast as you are likely to end up without much to say. 2. More often than not you can use the following guideline to talk on an extempore topic: a. Define the topic or specific terms of the topic. b. When classifications exist on the topic subject talk about them. c. Provide supporting evidence in the form of data (if you know any) or provide examples. d. If the topic provides scope for narrating personal experiences then take the opportunity to do so. e. Most importantly time yourself well. If the panel has given you one minute try and complete one or more of the guidelines mentioned in points a to d above and complete the extempore logically. It is not be a good idea to run out of time during the middle of a sentence. 3. Make an extempore tree.

An Extempore Tree. To explain the strategy of an extempore tree let us take an example of a simple topic like Pollution. If you were asked to speak on this topic for three minutes could you speak for the duration given. Try it and you will find that you are unable to speak for more than two minutes. The problem is not alack of knowledge on the topic tbut more a lack of the skills required to deliver the speech. Example: Taking the topic of Pollution if you take this topic as a word and try to speak on that word you would not be able to speak for more than one and a half minutes. If you take it as a topic and break the topic in five Ws and a H you can easily speak for more then 5 to 7 min.

Let us breakdown and relate to other topics in the example :

A short introduction by the speaker and the topic he wants to speak. What is pollution? Air (Try to cover the 5 ws and H) Water (Try to cover the 5 ws and H) Type and its effect.. Soil (Try to cover the 5 ws and H) Noise (Try to cover the 5 ws and H) Pollution Disease Describe the effects on the population What type of disease. The ozone layer.

Population

Describe how population effects the increase in pollution.

50 years down the line. Cure. Conclusion

By breaking the topic into sections we can introduce a lot of ideas and different areas into the original topic. Now if we start to speak on each point for one minute then we can speak for more than ten minutes. The topics in an extempore could be anything from daydreaming to shoes or Outer Space. Exercise: The interview process starts with a 1-1.5 minute extempore. The Panel initially gives a topic to think about for 10 sec followed by a 1 minute to 1.5-minute delivery. The candidate can ask for a change in topic if not comfortable with the topic. The panel may or may not change the topic. The topics are instantaneous and the panel is more interested in the candidate's thought process and communication skills than the actual topic itself. Some topics given for extempore are: Surya namaskar. Superstition. A good date My yellow shirt Strong lung Might is right Indian economic reform Calcutta influence. Old is gold Kashmir Issue Indian forest reserve. is the city Sky is the limit Wall clock Nizam of Hyderabad Behind every man there is a woman. Importance of 2 pens in my pocket. Kapil Dev (A famous person) of My idol teacher When in Rome, do as roman do Teaching profession Rat is better in the cat race

If I were Prime Minister of India in 2010 India