When your boss says to you, "You've got to give a speech next week," does your heart sink to the floor? When your department manager says, "I'm counting on your talk next Tuesday to get our new project off with a bang," do you want to run for the hills or sink into a rather large hole and not come up until Wednesday?

Why is it that when some folks are asked to say something at a special occasion, their first question is, "Do I have to write a speech?" This is accompanied by squinching up their eyes, raising their eyebrows in dismay, and maybe wrinkling their nose as if at a malodorous smell. The  question itself is often asked in a querulous tone, the underlying meaning of which is "Please tell me I don't have to write a speech. I really don't want to write a speech. Can't I just say a few words off the top of my head?"