Deans are often the public face of an institution. What we say in public shapes what people believe about academia, intellectual life, students, science, and the arts. There are basically two kinds of public speeches: those you can plan in advance and those you must give impromptu. Just the thought of having to make an impromptu speech can terrify us. The key to giving good impromptu speeches is to work hard on the speeches you know about in advance. You then learn how to draw on them in order to do impromptu, unplanned speaking.