[General] I'm not prepared for tonight's speech.

[Silverobama]

I went to an English club tonight and everyone was asked to give a speech for ten minutes.

When it was my turn, I said the following as the opening line "I'm not prepared for tonight's speech; I'm about to do it off the cuff".

I wonder if my italic sentence is natural.

 

[emsr2d2]

I went to an English club tonight and everyone was asked to give a ten-minute speech. [STRIKE]for ten minutes.[/STRIKE]

When it was my turn, I [STRIKE]said the following as the opening line[/STRIKE] opened with "[STRIKE]I'm not[/STRIKE] I haven't prepared for tonight's speech; I'm about to do it off the cuff".

I wonder if my italic sentence is natural.

See above.

 

[emsr2d2]

You can also say "I'm going to wing it" or "I'm winging it".

 

[Tarheel]

Saying you weren't prepared was, I think, inaccurate. You hadn't written anything down or made any notes.

I don't think it was off the cuff. You knew it was coming.

 

[tedmc]

Saying you weren't prepared was, I think, inaccurate. You hadn't written anything down or made any notes.

I don't think it was off the cuff. You knew it was coming.

It was possible that the speaker was supposed to be prepared but he did not. Or they could have been asked to give an impromptu speech at the meeting itself.