"if indeed i had a chance to choose for my life again, i think the time setting i would choose is in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. that was when the chinese government began to adopt the policy of reform and openness. and the place setting i would choose is in some places in the western part of china. why? let me share with you my reasons.
well, when i firstly saw this, errr, heard this topic, i think it reminded me of an experience a few years ago. i still clearly remember that, uhh, at that time, some fellow students and i went to visit a primary school in a very poor village and we were working as tutors there. there, all the classrooms were in a very old building and many windows and doors were broken, so, when it was raining, all the children had to move to a corner in order not to get wet. inside the classroom, five to six children were sharing one desk normally shared by two and many of the desks and chairs were broken, too.
and immediately after we began to teach them english, it became very clear to us that many of these students were very diligent and were very willing to work hard. but later on, as we talked among ourselves, we got to know that they, many of them, could not finish their schooling just because of poverty. i think that this experience enabled us to see that we belong to a few group of, a group of few people that are fortunately enough to receive a college education."
這段演講是她真情實感的流露，表達起來自如，而且自信，也容易和聽眾進行真正的交流。
在選擇使用論據時，尤其是在競賽當中，需要特別注意以下兩個原則。
（1）演講的支持材料要切題。
所選擇的支持材料要為你的中心觀點或主題服務，不能偏離這一點，不能離題。記得一個學生在參加比賽時，抽到的即興演講題目是，“中國成為世界貿易組織的成員對於我們國家有什麼主要影響？”她在演講中講了一個很長的故事，一個年輕人在海邊拾貝殼，碰到了一個老人，以及和這個老人之間展開的對話。這個故事占了整個演講的三分之二，然後很牽強地把這個故事和她抽到的題目聯繫在一起。儘管她的故事敘述得很流利，但在整個即興演講結束後，聽眾仍然不知她對這個問題的回答是什麼？很顯然，演講者在賽前準備了幾個故事，準備在即興演講時使用。的確，在賽前要做充分的準備，準備各個領域的數據、例子、權威專家的話等，做好充分的調研，以便在比賽中遊刃有餘。但切記你所選擇的支持材料一定要與主題相關，為主題服務，能夠幫助聽眾更加深入地了解你的觀點，決不能譁眾取寵。不切題的即興演講絕不會得高分。
（2）演講的支持材料要貼近聽眾。