英語のスピーチを録音してみた

先日(2021年9月15日)岩国スピーチクラブで発表したスピーチを録音してみました。

タイトルは Did You Wing It? です。wing it は「即興で行う」という意味です。この表現は演劇に由来しているらしく、役者が急に他の役者の代役を頼まれたために、舞台袖そで(wing)で役の研究をするということらしいです。
参考ウェブサイト：Wing it Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

ですから、スピーチのタイトルは、「即興だった？」という意味です。今回のスピーチの目的は「人を楽しませる」ということだったので、本当にフザけた内容になっています(笑)。

3分間ですので、ぜひお聴きください！(笑)

(Music: https://www.bensound.com)

He said, “Did you wing it?”

It was way back when, long before this speech club [Iwakuni Speech Club] was born. Maybe more than 25 years ago, when John Kinley asked me this question.

I used to live in Iwakuni and belonged to a speech club called the Iwakuni Toastmasters Club, and John was a senior member of the club.

I gave a speech that day with little preparation. Maybe I had a few words scribbled on a sheet of paper, and that was all I had to rely on. I winged it.

I don’t remember what I talked about. All I remember is the question John asked me after the meeting was over: “Did you wing it?”

In fact, I didn’t know the phrase “wing it,” but I knew what he was talking about.

Maybe I said, “Yeah.” Or, maybe I just smiled.

According to Merriam Webster, the phrase “wing it” is an informal expression, meaning “to do or try to do something without much practice or preparation.”

Doing something without much practice or preparation is a recipe for a disaster. Preparation is the key to success.

Benjamin Franklin is known to have said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Well said.

So do you think I have done my homework this time around? Do you think I have practiced giving this speech? Or, do you think I’m winging it again.

That day when I managed to give a speech without much preparation, I was happy to discover that I could do it, that I really didn’t have to write out everything in advance.

The I Have a Dream speech, given by Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, was improvised.

But I’m no Martin Luther King, Jr. I would wing it, though, if I really had to.

So going back to the question, “Did you wing it?” The answer, of course, is:

“What do you think?”

And this is supposed to be the end of this speech. But, I’m now aware that this speech is only two minutes long. So, I think I have to scramble and keep on talking for another minute.

As we all know, a speech is not necessarily good because it is long. In most cases, the shorter the better.

At school, for example, the principal gives a speech to the students at the beginning of a semester. The students often say, “I like the principal because their speech is short.”

It’s as simple as that. The shorter the better. So, I will practice what I preach by shutting up in ten seconds.

So the question again is: Did I wing it? This last part.

And the answer again is, “What do you think?”

The end.