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What do you call an out-of-schedule speech in a conference?

English Language & Usage Asked by F1234k on December 6, 2020

In some conferences there may be some out-of-schedule guest who has some valuable insights to share with the attendees (e.g. some government official or member of a legislative authority) who is allowed to address the audience with a short speech to present the above-mentioned insights.

What is the proper way to describe that kind of speech in English? Is there a standardized phrase or word for such things? The equivalent in some other languages is something like "intervention" but it doesn’t sound correct to me in English.

One Answer

"Extempore/extemporaneous/extemporary," "spontaneous," "unpremeditated," "unplanned," and their synonyms can accomplish this task.


"Extempore," "extemporaneous," and "extemporary" are all defined as:

Spoken or done without preparation. [Lexico]

These three are the most fitting words for this situation. In fact, the example sentence from [Lexico] for "extempore" is: "an extempore speech."


"Spontaneous" is defined as:

Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus. [Lexico]


"Unpremeditated" is defined as:

(of an act, remark, or state) not thought out or planned beforehand. [Lexico]


"Unplanned" is (self-evidently) defined as:

Not planned.

Note: although "impromptu" does apply to this situation, for some it a negative connotation (as Edwin Ashworth pointed out), so I would probably use one of the adjectives I have listed above instead.

Correct answer by user392938 on December 6, 2020

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