Correcting People Who Call Impromptu "Improv"

Last year, my youth group had a talent night sort of thing, and I offered to do one of my interps. They were kind of confused, first of all because they didn't know what an interp was and I had to try to explain it to them, and they didn't really get it (What? She's just gonna give a speech? Like, talk?). But then once they saw it, they were blown away, probably because it was unlike anything they'd ever seen. That's not saying the speech was amazing, they just literally hadn't seen anything like it. So, now they ask about competitions and how speeches are going and stuff all the time, and it's great. There is, however, one event that they are still having a bit of difficulty understanding: impromptu.


Now, I would love to give an impromptu speech for my youth group. Even if thirty people were watching, it would be the least stressful speech ever because I could use ten minutes of prep-time with a two minute speech and they would be blown away. Maybe if I did give an impromptu for them, they'd get how it works, but for now they don't. They consistently refer to it as "improv" which is something else entirely and only adds to the confusion. (By the way, I once got an HI ballot telling me I was good at improv. Kind of random. Did she think I was making it up?) I try to explain to the kids and leaders the difference between impromptu and improv, but it is to no avail. It's not worth actually correcting them anymore.


You're homeschooled, and the kind of improv you like is duo impromptu, but I'll save that for another post...