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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Talks on Talking, by Grenville Kleiser
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Talks on Talking
+
+
+Author: Grenville Kleiser
+
+
+
+Release Date: January 7, 2006  [eBook #17476]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALKS ON TALKING***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit, and the
+Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+(http://www.pgdp.net/)
+
+
+
+TALKS ON TALKING
+
+by
+
+GRENVILLE KLEISER
+
+Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity School,
+Yale University; author of "How to Speak in Public," "How to
+Develop Power and Personality in Speaking," "How to Develop
+Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner," "How to Argue and Win,"
+"How to Read and Declaim," "Complete Guide to Public Speaking,";
+etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1916, by
+Funk. & Wagnalls Company
+(Printed in the United States of America)
+Published, September, 1916
+Copyright under the articles of the Copyright Convention of the
+Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                    PAGE
+
+THE ART OF TALKING                     1
+
+TYPES OF TALKERS                      11
+
+TALKERS AND TALKING                   18
+
+PHRASES FOR TALKERS                   25
+
+THE SPEAKING VOICE                    34
+
+HOW TO TELL A STORY                   44
+
+TALKING IN SALESMANSHIP               56
+
+MEN AND MANNERISMS                    63
+
+HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC                70
+
+PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SPEAKERS          84
+
+THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN SPEAKING      87
+
+CONVERSATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING      94
+
+A TALK TO PREACHERS                  100
+
+CARE OF THE SPEAKER'S THROAT         108
+
+DON'TS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS           116
+
+DO'S FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS             118
+
+POINTS FOR SPEAKERS                  120
+
+THE BIBLE ON SPEECH                  122
+
+THOUGHTS ON TALKING                  123
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Good conversation implies naturalness, spontaneity, and sincerity of
+utterance. It is not advisable, therefore, to lay down arbitrary rules
+to govern talking, but it is believed that the suggestions offered here
+will contribute to the general elevation and improvement of daily
+speech.
+
+Considering the large number of persons who are obliged to talk in
+social, business, and public life, the subject of correct speech should
+receive more serious consideration than is usually given to it. It is
+earnestly hoped that this volume will be of practical value to those who
+are desirous of developing and improving their conversational powers.
+
+Appreciative thanks are expressed to the Editors of the _Homiletic
+Review_ for permission to reprint some of the extracts.
+
+                                              GRENVILLE KLEISER.
+
+NEW YORK CITY,
+MAY, 1916.
+
+
+     Boys flying kites haul in their white-wing'd birds:
+     You can't do that way when you're flying words.
+     "Careful with fire," is good advice we know;
+     "Careful with words," is ten times doubly so.
+     Thoughts unexpress'd may sometimes fall back dead,
+     But God Himself can't kill them once they're said!
+
+     --_Will Carleton._
+
+
+     The first duty of a man is to speak; that is his chief business in
+     this world; and talk, which is the harmonious speech of two or
+     more, is by far the most accessible of pleasures. It costs nothing;
+     it is all profit; it completes our education; it founds and fosters
+     our friendships; and it is by talk alone that we learn our period
+     and ourselves.
+
+     --_Robert Louis Stevenson._
+
+
+     Vociferated logic kills me quite;
+     A noisy man is always in the right--
+     I twirl my thumbs, fall back into my chair,
+     Fix on the wainscot a distressful stare;
+     And when I hope his blunders all are out,
+     Reply discreetly, "To be sure--no doubt!"
+
+     --_Anon._
+
+
+
+
+TALKS ON TALKING
+
+
+
+
+THE ART OF TALKING
+
+
+The charm of conversation chiefly depends upon the adaptability of the
+participants. It is a great accomplishment to be able to enter gently
+and agreeably into the moods of others, and to give way to them with
+grace and readiness.
+
+The spirit of conversation is oftentimes more important than the ideas
+expressed. What we are rather than what we say has the most permanent
+influence upon those around us. Hence it is that where a group of
+persons are met together in conversation, it is the inner life of each
+which silently though none the less surely imparts tone and character to
+the occasion.
+
+It requires vigorous self-discipline so to cultivate the feelings of
+kindness and sympathy that they are always in readiness for use. These
+qualities are essential to agreeable and profitable intercourse, though
+comparatively few people possess them.
+
+Burke considered manners of more importance than laws. Sidney Smith
+described manners as the shadows of virtues. Dean Swift defined manners
+as the art of putting at ease the people with whom we converse.
+Chesterfield said manners should adorn knowledge in order to smooth its
+way through the world. Emerson spoke of manners as composed of petty
+sacrifices.
+
+We all recognize that a winning manner is made up of seemingly
+insignificant courtesies, and of constant little attentions. A person of
+charming manner is usually free from resentments, inquisitiveness, and
+moods.
+
+Personality plays a large part in interesting conversation. Precisely
+the same phraseology expressed by two different persons may make two
+wholly different impressions, and all because of the difference in the
+personalities of the speakers.
+
+The daily mental life of a man indelibly impresses itself upon his face,
+where it can be unmistakably read by others. What a person is, innately
+and habitually, unconsciously discloses itself in voice, manner, and
+bearing. The world ultimately appraises a man at his true value.
+
+The best type of talker is slow to express positive opinions, is sparing
+in criticism, and studiously avoids a tone or word of finality. It has
+been well said that "A talker who monopolizes the conversation is by
+common consent insufferable, and a man who regulates his choice of
+topics by reference to what interests not his hearers but himself has
+yet to learn the alphabet of the art. Conversation is like lawn-tennis,
+and requires alacrity in return at least as much as vigor in service. A
+happy phrase, an unexpected collocation of words, a habitual precision
+in the choice of terms, are rare and shining ornaments of conversation,
+but they do not for an instant supply the place of lively and
+interesting matter, and an excessive care for them is apt to tell
+unfavorably on the substance of discourse."
+
+When Lord Beaconsfield was talking his way into social fame, someone
+said of him, "I might as well attempt to gather up the foam of the sea
+as to convey an idea of the extraordinary language in which he clothed
+his description. There were at least five words in every sentence that
+must have been very much astonished at the use they were put to, and yet
+no others apparently could so well have expressed his idea. He talked
+like a racehorse approaching the winning-post--every muscle in action,
+and the utmost energy of expression flung out into every burst."
+
+We are told that Matthew Arnold combined all the characteristics of good
+conversation--politeness, vivacity, sympathy, interestedness, geniality,
+a happy choice of words, and a never-failing humor. When he was once
+asked what was his favorite topic for conversation, he instantly
+answered, "That in which my companion is most interested."
+
+Courtesy, it will be noted, is the fundamental basis of good
+conversation. We must show habitual consideration and kindliness towards
+others if we would attract them to us. Bluntness of manner is no longer
+excused on the ground that the speaker is sincere and outspoken. We
+expect and demand that our companion in conversation should observe the
+recognized courtesies of speech.
+
+There was a time when men and women indulged freely in satire, irony,
+and repartee. They spoke their thoughts plainly and unequivocally. There
+were no restraints imposed upon them by society, hence it now appears to
+us that many things were said which might better have been left unsaid.
+Self-restraint is nowadays one of the cardinal virtues of good
+conversation.
+
+The spirit of conversation is greatly changed. We are enjoined to keep
+the voice low, think before we speak, repress unseasonable allusions,
+shun whatever may cause a jar or jolt in the minds of others, be seldom
+prominent in conversation, and avoid all clashing of opinion and
+collision of feeling.
+
+Macaulay was fond of talking, but made the mistake of always choosing a
+subject to suit himself and monopolizing the conversation. He lectured
+rather than talked. His marvelous memory was perhaps his greatest enemy,
+for though it enabled him to pour forth great masses of facts, people
+listened to him helplessly rather than admiringly.
+
+Carlyle was a great talker, and talked much in protest of talking. No
+man broke silence oftener than he to tell the world how great a curse is
+talking. But he told it eloquently and therein was he justified. There
+was in him too much vehement sternness, of hard Scotch granite, to make
+him a pleasant talker in the popular sense. He was the evangelist of
+golden silence, and though he did not apparently practice it himself,
+his genius will never diminish.
+
+Gladstone was unable to indulge in small talk. His mind was so
+constantly occupied with great subjects that he spoke even to one person
+as if addressing a meeting. It is said that in conversation with Queen
+Victoria he would invariably choose weighty subjects, and though she
+tried to make a digression, he would seize the first opportunity to
+resume his original theme, always reinforced in volume and onrush by the
+delay.
+
+Lord Morley is attractive though austere in conversation. He never
+dogmatizes nor obtrudes his own opinions. He is a master of
+phrase-making. But although he talks well he never talks much.
+
+The story is told that at a recent dinner in London ten leading public
+men were met together, when one suggested that each gentleman present
+should write down on paper the name of the man he would specially choose
+to be his companion on a walking tour. When the ten papers were
+subsequently read aloud, each bore the name of Lord Morley.
+
+Lord Rosebery is considered one of the most accomplished talkers of the
+day. Deferential, natural, sympathetic, observant, well-informed, he
+easily and unconsciously commands the attention of any group of men. His
+voice is said to recommend what he utters, and a singularly refined
+accent gives distinction to anything he says. He is a supreme example of
+two great qualifications for effective talking: having something worth
+while to say, and knowing how to say it.
+
+Among distinguished Canadians, Sir Thomas White is one of the most
+interesting speakers. His versatile mind, and broad and varied
+experience, enable him to converse with almost equal facility upon
+politics, medicine, finance, law, science, art, literature, or
+business. Dates, details, facts, figures, and illustrations are at his
+ready command. His manner is natural, courteous, and genial, but in
+argumentation the whole man is so thoroughly aroused to earnestness and
+intensity as almost to overwhelm an opponent. His greatest quality in
+speaking is his manifest sincerity, and it is this particularly which
+has ingratiated him in the hearts of his countrymen.
+
+The Honorable Joseph H. Choate must certainly be reckoned among the best
+conversationalists of our time. His manner, both in conversation and in
+public speaking, is singularly gracious and winning. He is unsurpassed
+as a story-teller. His fine taste, combined with long experience as a
+public man, makes him an ideal after-dinner speaker.
+
+Some eminent men try to mask their greatness when engaged in
+conversation. They do not wear their feelings nor their greatness on
+their sleeves. Some have an utter distaste for anything like personal
+display. It is said of the late Henry James that a stranger might talk
+to him for an entire evening without discovering his identity.
+
+There is an interesting account of an evening's conversation between
+Emerson and Thoreau. When Thoreau returned home he wrote in his Journal:
+"Talked, or tried to talk, with R.W.E. Lost my time, nay, almost my
+identity. He, assuming a false opposition where there was no difference
+of opinion, talked to the wind." Emerson's version of the conversation
+was this: "It seemed as if Thoreau's first instinct on hearing a
+proposition was to controvert it. That habit is chilling to the social
+affections; it mars conversation."
+
+Conversation offers daily opportunity for intellectual exercise of high
+order. The reading of great books is desirable and indispensable to
+education, but real culture comes through the additional training one
+receives in conversation. The contact of mind with mind tends to
+stimulate and develop thoughts which otherwise would probably remain
+dormant.
+
+The culture of conversation is to be recommended not only for its own
+sake, but also as one of the best means of training in the art of public
+speaking. Since the best form of platform address today is simply
+conversation enlarged and elevated, it may almost be assumed that to
+excel in one is to be proficient in the other.
+
+Good conversation requires, among other things, mental alertness,
+accuracy of statement, adequate vocabulary, facility of expression, and
+an agreeable voice, and these qualities are most essential for effective
+public speaking. Everyone, therefore, who aspires to speaking before an
+audience of hundreds or thousands, will find his best opportunity for
+preliminary training in everyday speech.
+
+
+
+
+TYPES OF TALKERS
+
+
+There is no greater affliction in modern life than the tiresome talker.
+He talks incessantly. Presumably he talks in his sleep. Talking is his
+constant exercise and recreation. He thrives on it. He lives for
+talking's sake. He would languish if he were deprived of it for a single
+day. His continuous practice in talking enables him easily to
+outdistance all ordinary competitors. There is nothing which so
+completely unnerves him as long periods of silence. He has the talking
+habit in its most virulent form.
+
+The trifling talker is equally objectionable. He talks much, but says
+little. He skims over the surface of things, and is timid of anything
+deep or philosophical. He does not tarry at one subject. He talks of the
+weather, clothes, plays, and sports. He puts little meaning into what he
+says, because there is little meaning in what he thinks. He cannot look
+at anything seriously. Nothing is of great significance to him. He is
+in the class of featherweights.
+
+The tedious talker is one without terminal facilities. He talks right on
+with no idea of objective or destination. He rises to go, but he does
+not go. He knows he ought to go, but he simply cannot. He has something
+more to say. He keeps you standing half an hour. He talks a while
+longer. He assures you he really must go. You tell him not to hurry. He
+takes you at your word and sits down again. He talks some more. He rises
+again. He does not know even now how to conclude. He has no mental
+compass. He is a rudderless talker.
+
+Probably the most obnoxious type is the tattling talker. He always has
+something startlingly personal to impart. It is a sacred secret for your
+ear. He is a wholesale dealer in gossip. He fairly smacks his lips as he
+relates the latest scandal. He is an expert embellisher. He adroitly
+supplies missing details. He has nothing of interest in his own life,
+since he lives wholly in the lives of others. He is a frightful bore,
+but you cannot offend him. He is adamant.
+
+There is the tautological talker, or the human self-repeater. He goes
+over the ground again and again lest you have missed something. He is
+very fond of himself. He tells the same story not twice, but a dozen
+times. "You may have heard this before," says he, "but it is so good
+that it will bear repetition." He tries to disguise his poverty of
+thought in a masquerade of ornate language. If he must repeat his words,
+he adds a little emphasis, a flourishing gesture, or a spirit of
+nonchalance.
+
+Again, there is the tenacious talker, who refuses to release you though
+you concede his arguments. When all others tacitly drop a subject, he
+eagerly picks it up. He is reluctant to leave it. He would put you in
+possession of his special knowledge. You may successfully refute him,
+but he holds firmly to his own ideas. He is positive he is right. He
+will prove it, too, if you will only listen. He knows that he knows. You
+cannot convince him to the contrary, no indeed. He will talk you so
+blind that at last you are unable to see any viewpoint clearly.
+
+A recognized type is the tactless talker. He says the wrong thing in
+the right way, and the right thing in the wrong way. He is impulsive and
+unguarded. He reaches hasty conclusions. He confuses his tactlessness
+with cleverness. He is awkward and blundering. His indifference to the
+rights and feelings of others is his greatest enemy. He is a stranger to
+discretion. He speaks first, and thinks afterwards. He may have regrets,
+but not resolutions. He is often tolerated, but seldom esteemed.
+
+The temperamental talker is one of the greatest of nerve-destroyers. He
+deals in superlatives. He views everything emotionally. He talks
+feelingly of trifles, and ecstatically of friends. He gushes. He
+flatters. To him everything is "wonderful," "prodigious," "superb,"
+"gorgeous," "heavenly," "amazing," "indescribable," "overwhelming."
+Extravagance and exaggeration permeate his most commonplace
+observations. He is an incurable enthusiast.
+
+The tantalizing talker is one who likes to contradict you. He divides
+his attention between what you are saying and what he can summon to
+oppose you. He dissents from your most ordinary observations. His
+favorite phrases are, "I don't think so," "There is where you are
+wrong," "I beg to differ," and "Not only that." Tell him it will be a
+fine day, and he will declare that the signs indicate foul weather. Say
+that the day is unpromising, and he will assure you it does not look
+that way to him. He cavils at trifles. He disputes even when there is no
+antagonist.
+
+To listen to the tortuous talker is a supreme test of patience. He
+slowly winds his way in and out of a subject. He traverses by-paths,
+allowing nothing to escape his unwearied eye. He goes a long way about,
+but never tires of his circuitous journey. Ploddingly and perseveringly
+he zigzags from one point to another. He alters his course as often as
+the crooked way of his subject changes. He twists, turns, and diverges
+without the slightest inconvenience to himself. He likes nothing better
+than to trace out details. His talking disease is discursiveness.
+
+The tranquil talker never hurries. He has all the time there is. If you
+are very busy he will wait. He is uniformly moderate and polite. He is
+a rare combination of oil, milk, and rose-water. He would not harm a
+syllable of the English language. His talking has a soporific effect. It
+acts as a lullaby. His speech is low and gentle. He never speaks an
+ill-considered word. He chooses his words with measured caution. He is
+what is known as a smooth talker.
+
+The torpedo talker is of the rapid fire explosive variety. He bursts
+into a conversation. He scatters labials, dentals, and gutturals in all
+directions. He is a war-time talker,--boom, burst, bang, roar, crash,
+thud! He fills the air with vocal bullets and syllabic shrapnel. He is
+trumpet-tongued, ear-splitting, deafening. He fires promiscuously at all
+his hearers. He rends the skies asunder. He is nothing if not
+vociferous, stentorian, lusty. He demolishes every idea in his way. He
+is a Napoleon of words.
+
+The tangled talker never gets anything quite straight. He inevitably
+spoils the best story. He always begins at the wrong end. Despite your
+protests of face and manner he talks on. He talks inopportunely. He
+becomes inextricably confused. He is weak in statistics. He has no
+memory for names or places. He lacks not fluency but accuracy. He is a
+twisted talker.
+
+The triumphant talker lays claim to the star part in any conversation.
+He likes nothing better than to drive home his point and then look about
+exultingly. He says gleefully, "I told you so." That he can ever be
+wrong is inconceivable to him. He knows the facts since he can readily
+manufacture them himself. He is self-satisfied, for in his own opinion
+he has never lost an argument. He is a brave and bold talker.
+
+These, then, are some types of talking which we should not emulate.
+Study the list carefully--the tiresome talker, the trifling talker, the
+tedious talker, the tattling talker, the tautological talker, the
+tenacious talker, the tactless talker, the temperamental talker, the
+tantalizing talker, the tangled talker, the triumphant talker--and guard
+yourself diligently against the faults which they represent. Talking
+should always be a pleasure to the speaker and listener, never a bore.
+
+
+
+
+TALKERS AND TALKING
+
+
+Conversation is not a verbal nor vocal contest, but a mutual meeting of
+minds. It is not a monologue, but a reciprocal exchange of ideas.
+
+There are cardinal rules which everyone should observe in conversation.
+The first of these is to be prepared always to give courteous and
+considerate attention to the ideas of others. There is no better way to
+cultivate your own conversational powers than to train yourself first to
+be an interesting and sympathetic listener.
+
+It is in bad taste to interrupt a speaker. This is a common fault which
+should be resolutely guarded against. Moreover, your own opportunity to
+speak will shortly come if you have patience, when you may reasonably
+expect to receive the same uninterrupted attention which you have given
+to others.
+
+Never allow yourself to monopolize a conversation. This is a form of
+selfishness practiced by many persons apparently unaware of being
+ill-mannered. It is inexcusably bad taste to tell unduly long stories or
+lengthy personal experiences. If you cannot abridge a story to
+reasonable dimensions, it would be better to omit it entirely. The
+habitual long-story teller may easily become a bore.
+
+Avoid the habit of eagerly matching the other person's story or
+experience with one of your own. There is nothing more disconcerting to
+a speaker than to observe the listener impatiently waiting to plunge
+headlong into the conversation with some marvellous tale. Be
+particularly careful not to outdo another speaker in relating your own
+experiences. If, for instance, he has just told how he caught fifty fish
+upon a recent trip, do not succumb to the temptation to tell of the time
+you caught fifty-one.
+
+Be careful not to give unsolicited advice. It has been well said that
+advice which costs nothing is worth what it costs. If people desire your
+counsel they will probably ask for it, in which case they will be more
+likely to appreciate what you have to tell them.
+
+Do not voluntarily recommend doctors, dentists, osteopaths, pills,
+coffee substitutes, health foods, health resorts, or panaceas for the
+ills of mankind. If you can be of service to others in these particular
+respects, it will be when you are specifically asked for such
+information.
+
+It is most imprudent to carry an argument to extremes. If you observe an
+unwillingness in the other person to be convinced by what you say, you
+had better turn to another subject. Conversation should never resolve
+itself into controversial debate.
+
+It is well to avoid discursiveness, over-use of parentheses, and
+positiveness of statement. Keep your desires and feelings from
+over-coloring your views. A flexible attitude of mind is more likely to
+win an opponent to your way of thinking.
+
+Take special pains to enter into the minds and feelings of others. Be
+interested in what they want to talk about. Let your interest be deep
+and sincere. Adopt the right tone, temper, and reticence in your
+conversation.
+
+You should accustom yourself to look at things from the other person's
+standpoint. It is surprising how this habit enlarges the vision and
+gives a charitableness to speech which might otherwise be absent. It is
+well to remember that no person can possibly have a monopoly of
+knowledge upon any subject.
+
+Good conversation demands restraint, adaptability, and reasonable
+brevity. There is an appalling waste of words on all sides, hence you
+should constantly guard yourself against this fault. When there is
+nothing worth-while to say, the best substitute is silence.
+
+Practice self-discipline in talking. Correct any fault in yourself the
+instant you recognize it. If, for example, you realize that you are
+talking at too great length, stop it at once. Should you feel that you
+are not giving interested attention to the speaker, check your
+mind-wandering immediately and concentrate upon what is being said.
+
+Do not be always setting other people right. This is a thankless as well
+as useless task. They probably do not want your assistance, or they
+would ask for it. Besides most people are sensitive about their
+shortcomings, and prefer to get help and counsel in private.
+
+There is no more important suggestion than to rule your moods. Ofttimes
+the feelings run away with the judgment. What you think and say today
+may be due to your present mood, rather than to matured judgment. Let
+your common sense predominate at all times.
+
+It is not well to give too strong expression to your likes and dislikes.
+These, like all your feelings, should be governed with a firm hand.
+Opinions advanced with too much emphasis may easily fail to impress
+other minds. Remember always that your greatest ally is truth. Therefore
+frankly and faithfully examine your important opinions before giving
+them expression.
+
+Resist the desire to be prominent in conversation, or to say clever and
+surprising things. This is sometimes difficult to do, but it is the only
+safe course to follow. If you have something brilliant or worth-while to
+say, it will be best said spontaneously and with due modesty. But if
+there is no suitable opportunity to say it, put it back in your mind
+where it may improve with age. Egotism is taboo in polite society.
+
+The suggestion that nothing should be allowed to pass the lips that
+charity would check is invaluable advice. It is unfortunately all too
+common to give hasty and harsh expression to personal opinions and
+criticisms. Reticence is one of the most essential conditions of long
+friendship.
+
+Judgment and tact are necessary to good conversation. It is not well to
+ask many questions, and then only those of a general character.
+Curiosity should be curbed. Quite properly people resent
+inquisitiveness. The best way to cultivate the rare grace of judgment is
+to be mindful of your own faults and to correct them with all speed and
+thoroughness.
+
+The word "talk" is often used in a derogatory sense, and we hear such
+expressions as "all talk," "empty talk," and "idle talk." But as
+everyone talks, we should all do our utmost to set a high example to
+others of the correct use of speech.
+
+It is always better to talk too little than too much. Never talk for
+mere talking's sake. Avoid being artificial or pedantic. Don't
+antagonize, dogmatize, moralize, attitudinize, nor criticise. Talk in
+poise,--quietly, deliberately, sincerely, and you will never lack an
+attentive audience.
+
+
+
+
+PHRASES FOR TALKERS
+
+
+It is said of Macaulay that he never allowed a sentence to pass muster
+until it was as good as he could make it. He would write and rewrite,
+and even construct a paragraph or a whole chapter, in order to secure a
+more lucid and satisfactory arrangement. He wrote just so much each day,
+usually an average of six pages, and this manuscript was so erased and
+corrected that it was finally compressed into two pages of print.
+
+The masters of English prose have been great workers. Stevenson and
+others like him gave hours and days to the study of words, phrases, and
+sentences. Through unwearied application to the art of rhetorical
+composition they ultimately won fame as writers.
+
+The ambitious student of speech culture, whether for use in conversation
+or in public, will do well to emulate the example of such great
+writers. One of the best ways to build a large vocabulary is to note
+useful and striking phrases in one's general reading. It is advisable to
+jot down such phrases in a note-book, and to read them aloud from time
+to time. Such phrases may be classified according to their particular
+application,--to business, politics, music, education, literature, or
+the drama.
+
+It is not recommended that such phrases should be consciously dragged
+into conversation, but the practice of carefully observing felicitous
+phrases, and of noting them in writing, cultivates the taste for better
+words and a sense of discrimination in their use. Many phrases noted and
+studied in this way will unconsciously find their way into one's
+expression.
+
+The list of phrases which follows is offered as merely suggestive. In
+reading the phrases aloud it is well to think clearly what each one
+means, and to fit it into a sentence of one's own making. This simple
+exercise, practiced for a few weeks, will produce surprising results by
+way of increased facility and flexibility of English style.
+
+
+     It is obviously desirable
+     I can well imagine
+     Broadly speaking
+     An admirable idea
+     In a literal sense
+     By sheer force of genius
+     You can imagine his chagrin
+     I hazard a guess
+     It challenges belief
+     He has an inscrutable face
+     Very fertile in resource
+     I am loath to believe
+     It is essentially undignified
+     Example is so contagious
+     I am not in her confidence
+     Taken in the aggregate
+     It is a reproof to shallowness
+     There is a misconception here
+     I strongly suspect it so
+     He was covered with confusion
+     It was a just rebuke
+     A pleasing instance of this
+     It lends dignity to life
+     She has a desultory liking for music
+     It seems incredible
+     A kind of detached ideal
+     It blunts the finer sensibilities
+     Beyond question or cavil
+     A well-founded suspicion
+     It has elicited great praise
+     They are landmarks in memory
+     Superhuman vigor and activity
+     A venerable and interesting figure
+     It is curious and interesting
+     Gives the impression of aloofness
+     Perfectly void of offence
+     Regard with misgiving
+     A stroke of professional luck
+     An unscrupulous adventurer
+     He spoke with extreme reticence
+     Robust common sense
+     Deficient in amiability
+     Done with characteristic thoroughness
+     A vein of philanthropic zeal
+     Definite, tangible, and practical
+     Too much effusive declamation
+     A man of keen ambition
+     It gives infinite zest
+     Singular qualifications for public life
+     They are bitterly hostile
+     The despair of the official wire-puller
+     Blind and unreasoning opponent
+     Ignoble strife for power
+     Surrounded by a cohort of admiring friends
+     In an imperative voice
+     Marked by copiousness and vivacity
+     Touched with sombre dignity
+     A ridiculous misconception
+     Habitual austerity of demeanor
+     Ostentation and lavish expenditure
+     A person of exquisite tact
+     Intolerant of bumptiousness
+     The obvious danger of dallying
+     This was grossly overstated
+     A mass of calumny and exaggeration
+     Inimical to religion
+     Fraught with peril
+     I venture to ask
+     Attributed to mental decrepitude
+     A strange phenomena
+     It argues a blind faith
+     Insatiable whirl of excitement
+     A substratum of truth
+     Under some conceivable circumstances
+     Bubbling over with infectious joy
+     Frigid dignity and arrogant reserve
+     A profound contempt
+     The fine art of hospitality
+     Grim morsels of philosophy
+     A tinge of sorrowness and jealousy
+     Due to ignorance and barbarism
+     Grave and monstrous scandal
+     A splendid instance of self-devotion
+     Amusingly exemplified in this case
+     Recognized and powerful element
+     A symbol of restraint
+     An utterly fallacious idea
+     In rapid and striking succession
+     We learn from stern experience
+     Pictures of an inspired imagination
+     An astonishing outbreak
+     Soothing words of sympathy
+     A rather bold assertion
+     The most enthusiastic adherents
+     Mere tepid conviction
+     Eminently qualified for the task
+     Almost supernatural charm
+     In glowing and exaggerated phrases
+     Somewhat rich and austere
+     An inexhaustible theme
+     Grave and undeniable faults
+     Perfectly chosen language
+     All the characteristics of a mob
+     Given to grandiloquent phrase
+     Peculiar vein of sarcasm
+     Froze like ice and cut like steel
+     A generous tribute to an eminent rival
+     Cold and stately composure
+     Fiery and passionate enthusiasm
+     Extraordinary violence of nature
+     A brilliant and delightful play
+     Rare and striking combination
+     Preeminently qualified for the part
+     Moderate and cautious conservatism
+     Daring perversions of justice
+     Devoid of rhetorical device
+     As a great thinker has observed
+     Almost morbid sensitiveness
+     Discreetly stifled yawn
+     He was dumb with wonder
+     Scarcely less familiar
+     Delightfully characteristic
+     It was a profound conviction
+     Greatly conceived and expressed
+     Blinded by its brightness
+     I have cudgelled my memory
+     Exposed to imminent peril
+     Screening a breach of etiquette
+     By a natural transition
+     Splendid anticipations of success
+     A very laudable attempt
+     Lapsed into complete oblivion
+     With most distinguished success
+     Like embarking on a shoreless sea
+     A really pretty imitation
+     Unless I greatly err
+     Undaunted by repeated failure
+     Became a term of reproach
+     An epoch-making achievement
+     In the guise of verbal nonsense
+     Received with cordial sympathy
+     With the most obvious sincerity
+     Held forth with fluency and zest
+     Gracious solicitude
+     Punctiliously civil and polite
+     An air of sphinx-like mystery
+     Consumed by zeal
+     Awaited with lively interest
+     Sledge-hammer blows against humbug
+     This recalls a happy retort
+     Preeminently a case in point
+     Exquisite precision and finish
+     Incomparably better informed
+     A keen eye for incongruities
+     Polite to the point of deference
+     To the last degree improbable
+     People with rampant prejudices
+     A model of chivalrous propriety
+     By way of digression
+     A splendid acquisition
+     Singularly attractive fashion
+     A kind of unconscious conspiracy
+     Amid engrossing demands
+
+
+
+
+THE SPEAKING VOICE
+
+
+There is a widespread need for a more thorough cultivation of the
+speaking voice. It is astonishing how few persons give specific
+attention to this important subject. On all sides we are subjected to
+voices that are disagreeable and strident. It is the exception to hear a
+voice that is musical and well-modulated.
+
+Most people make too much physical effort in speaking. They tighten the
+muscles of the throat and mouth, instead of liberating these muscles and
+allowing the voice to flow naturally and harmoniously. The remedy for
+this common fault of vocal tension is to relax all the muscles used in
+speech. This is easily accomplished by means of a little daily practice.
+
+The first thing to keep in mind is that we should speak through the
+throat and not from it. A musical quality of voice depends chiefly upon
+directing the tone towards the hard palate, or the bony arch above the
+upper teeth. From this part of the mouth the voice acquires much of its
+resonance.
+
+An excellent exercise for throat relaxation is yawning. It is not
+necessary to wait until a real yawn presents itself, but frequent
+practice in imitating a yawn may be indulged in with good results.
+Immediately after practicing the yawn, it is advisable to test the
+voice, either in speaking or in reading, to observe improvement in
+freedom of tone.
+
+It is not desirable to use the voice where there is loud noise by way of
+opposition. Many a good voice has been ruined due to the habit of
+continuous talking on the street or elsewhere amid clatter and hubbub.
+Under such circumstances it is better to rest the voice, since in any
+contest of the kind the voice will almost surely be vanquished.
+
+What we need in our daily conversation is less emphasis, and more
+quietness and non-resistance. We need less eagerness and more vivacity
+and variety. We need a settled equanimity of mind that does not deprive
+us of our animation, but saves us from the petty irritations of
+everyday life. We need, in short, more poise and self-control in our way
+of speaking.
+
+It is well to remember that few things we say are of such importance as
+to require emphasis. The thought should be its own recommendation. But
+if emphasis be necessary, let it be by the intellectual means of pausing
+or inflection, rather than with the shoulders or the clenched fist.
+
+A very disagreeable and common fault is nasality, or "talking through
+the nose." Many persons are guilty of this who least suspect it. This
+habit is so easily and unconsciously acquired that everyone should be on
+strict guard against it. Almost equally disagreeable is the fault of
+throatiness, caused by holding the muscles of the throat instead of
+relaxing them.
+
+The best tones of the speaking voice are the middle and low keys. These
+should be used exclusively in daily conversation. The use of high pitch
+is due to habit or temperament, but may be overcome through judicious
+practice. The objection to a high-keyed voice is not only that it is
+disagreeable to the listener, but puts the speaker "out of tune" with
+his audience.
+
+A good speaking voice should possess the qualities of purity, resonance,
+flexibility, roundness, brilliancy, and adequate power. These qualities
+can be rapidly developed by daily reading aloud for ten minutes, giving
+special attention to one quality at a time. A few weeks, assiduous
+practice will produce most gratifying results. The voice grows through
+use, and it grows precisely in the way it is habitually used.
+
+Distinct articulation and correct pronunciation are indications of
+cultivated speech. Pedantry should be avoided, but every aspirant to
+correct speech should be a student of the dictionary. A writer has given
+this good counsel:
+
+"Resolve that you will never use an incorrect, an inelegant, or a vulgar
+phrase or word, in any society whatever. If you are gifted with wit, you
+will soon find that it is easy to give it far better point and force in
+pure English than through any other medium, and that brilliant thoughts
+make the deepest impressions when well worded. However great it may be,
+the labor is never lost which earns for you the reputation of one who
+habitually uses the language of a gentleman, or of a lady. It is
+difficult for those who have not frequent opportunities for conversation
+with well-educated people, to avoid using expressions which are not
+current in society, although they may be of common occurrence in books.
+As they are often learned from novels, it will be well for the reader to
+remember that even in the best of such works dialogues are seldom
+sustained in a tone which would not appear affected in ordinary life.
+This fault in conversation is the most difficult of all to amend, and it
+is unfortunately the one to which those who strive to express themselves
+correctly are peculiarly liable. Its effect is bad, for though it is not
+like slang, vulgar in itself, it betrays an effort to conceal vulgarity.
+It may generally be remedied by avoiding any word or phrase which you
+may suspect yourself of using for the purpose of creating an effect.
+Whenever you imagine that the employment of any mere word or sentence
+will convey the impression that you are well informed, substitute for
+it some simple expression. If you are not positively certain as to the
+pronunciation of a word, never use it. If the temptation be great,
+resist it; for, rely upon it, if there be in your mind the slightest
+doubt on the subject, you will certainly make a mistake. Never use a
+foreign word when its meaning can be given in English, and remember that
+it is both rude and silly to say anything to any person who possibly may
+not understand it. But never attempt, under any circumstances whatever,
+to utter a foreign word, unless you have learned to pronounce correctly
+the language to which it belongs."
+
+There is need for the admonition to open the mouth well. Many people
+speak with half-closed teeth, the result being that the quality of voice
+and correctness of pronunciation are greatly impaired. Consonants and
+vowels should be given proper significance. Muffled speech is almost as
+objectionable as stammering.
+
+It enhances the pleasure and quality of conversation to speak in
+deliberate style. Rapidity of utterance often leads a speaker into such
+faults as indistinctness, monotony, and incorrect breathing. Deliberate
+speaking confers many advantages, not the least of which is increased
+pleasure to the listener.
+
+Many voices are too thin in quality. They fail to carry conviction even
+when the thought is of superior character. The remedy here is to give
+special attention to the development of deep tones. One of the best
+exercises for this purpose is to practice for a few minutes daily upon
+the vowel sound "O," endeavoring to make it full, deep, and melodious.
+For all-round vocal development this practice should be done with varied
+force and inflection, and on high as well as low keys of the voice.
+
+The best remedy for a weak voice is to practice daily upon explosives,
+expelling the principal vowel sounds, on various keys, using the
+abdominal muscles throughout. Another good exercise is to read aloud
+while walking upstairs or uphill. As these exercises are somewhat
+extreme, the student is recommended to practice them prudently.
+
+Correct breathing is fundamental to correct and agreeable speaking. The
+breathing apparatus should be brought under control by daily practice
+upon exercises prescribed in any standard book on elocution. Pure tone
+of voice depends upon the ability to convert into tone every particle of
+breath used. Aspirated voice, in which some of the breath is allowed to
+escape unvocalized, is injurious to the throat, and unpleasant to the
+listening ear.
+
+The speaker, whether in conversation or in public, should try always to
+speak with an adequate supply of breath. Deliberate utterance will give
+the necessary opportunity to replenish the lungs, so that the speaker
+will not suffer from unnecessary fatigue. Needless to say, the habit
+should be formed of breathing through the nose when in repose.
+
+There is a voice of unusual roundness and fulness known as the orotund,
+which is indispensable to the public speaker. It is simple, pure tone,
+rounded out into greater fulness. It is produced mainly by an increased
+resonance of the chest and mouth cavities, and a more vigorous action of
+the abdominal muscles. It has the character of fulness, but it is not
+necessarily a loud tone. It is in no sense artificial, but simply an
+enlargement of the natural conversational voice.
+
+The use of the orotund voice varies according to the intensity of the
+thought and feeling being expressed. It is used in language of great
+dignity, power, grandeur, and sublimity. It is appropriate in certain
+forms of public prayer and Bible reading. It enables the public speaker
+to vary from his conversational style. It gives vastly increased scope
+and power, by enabling the speaker to bring into play all the resources
+of vocal force and intensity.
+
+Where resonance of voice is lacking, it can be rapidly developed by
+means of humming the letter _m_, with lips closed, and endeavoring to
+make the face vibrate. The tone should be kept well forward throughout
+the exercise, pressing firmly against the lips and hard palate. Later
+the exercise may begin with the humming _m_, and be developed, while the
+lips are opened gradually, into the tone of _ah_, still aiming to
+maintain the original resonance.
+
+The speaking voice is capable of most wonderful development. There is a
+duty devolving upon everyone to cultivate beauty of vocal utterance and
+diction. Crudities of speech so commonly in evidence are mainly due to
+carelessness and neglect. It is a hopeful sign, however, that greater
+attention is now being given to this important subject than heretofore.
+Surely there is nothing more important than the development of the
+principal instrument by which men communicate with one another. As Story
+says:
+
+     "O, how our organ can speak with its many and wonderful voices!--
+     Play on the soft lute of love, blow the loud trumpet of war,
+     Sing with the high sesquialter, or, drawing its full diapason,
+     Shake all the air with the grand storm of its pedals and stops."
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO TELL A STORY
+
+
+Someone has wittily said that only those in their anecdotage should tell
+stories. De Quincey wanted all story-tellers to be submerged in a
+horse-pond, or treated in the same manner as mad dogs. But story-telling
+has its legitimate and appropriate use, and if certain rules are
+observed may give added charm to conversation and public speaking.
+
+It requires a fine discrimination to know when to tell a story, and when
+not to tell one though it is urging itself to be expressed. Few men have
+the rare gift of choosing the right story for the particular occasion.
+Many men have no difficulty in telling stories that are insufferably
+long, pointless, and uninteresting.
+
+We have all been victims of a certain type of public speaker who begins
+by saying, "Now I don't want to bore you with a long story, but this is
+so good, etc.," or "An incident occurred at the American Consulate in
+Shanghai, which reminds me of an awfully good story, etc." When a
+speaker prefaces his remarks with some such sentences as these, we know
+we are in for an uncomfortable time.
+
+As far as possible a story should be new, clever, short, simple,
+inoffensive, and appropriate. As such stories are scarce, it is
+advisable to set them down, when found, in a special note-book for
+convenient reference. It is said that Chauncey M. Depew, one of the most
+gifted of after-dinner speakers, was for many years in the habit of
+keeping a set of scrap-books in which were preserved stories and other
+interesting data clipped from newspapers and magazines. These were so
+classified that he could on short notice refresh his mind with ample
+material upon almost any general subject.
+
+Anyone who essays to tell a story should have it clearly in mind. It is
+fatal for a speaker to hesitate midway in a story, apologize for not
+knowing it better, avow that it was much more humorous when told to him,
+and in other ways to announce his shortcomings. If he cannot tell a
+story fluently and interestingly, he should first practice it on his own
+family--provided they will tolerate it.
+
+Some stories should be committed to memory, especially where the point
+of humor depends upon exact phraseology. In such case, it requires some
+training and experience to disguise the memorized effort. A story like
+the following, for obvious reasons, should be thoroughly memorized:
+
+The longest sermon on record occupied three hours and a half. But the
+shortest sermon was that of a preacher who spoke for one minute on the
+text: "Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." He said:
+
+"I shall divide my discourse into three heads: (1) Man's ingress into
+the world; (2) His progress through the world; (3) His egress out of the
+world.
+
+"Firstly, His ingress into the world is naked and bare.
+
+"Secondly, His progress through the world is trouble and care.
+
+"Thirdly, His egress out of the world is nobody knows where.
+
+"To conclude:
+
+"If we live well here, we shall live well there.
+
+"I can tell you no more if I preach a whole year.
+
+"The collection will now be taken up."
+
+Dialect stories are usually rather difficult, and should not as a
+general thing be attempted by beginners. As a matter of fact, few
+persons know how to speak such dialects as Irish, Scotch, German,
+Cockney, and negro without undue exaggeration. For most occasions it is
+well to keep to simple stories couched in plain English.
+
+A story should be told in simple, conversational style. Concentration
+upon the story, and a sincere desire to give pleasure to the hearers,
+will keep the speaker free from self-consciousness. Needless to say he
+should not be the first to laugh at his own story. Sometimes in telling
+a humorous anecdote to an audience a speaker secures the greatest effect
+by maintaining an expression of extreme gravity.
+
+No matter how successful one may be in telling stories, he should avoid
+telling too many. A man who is accounted brilliant and entertaining may
+become an insufferable bore by continuing to tell stories when the
+hearers have become satiated. Of all speakers, the story-teller should
+keep his eyes on his entire audience and be alert to detect the
+slightest signs of weariness.
+
+It is superfluous to say that a story should never be told which in any
+way might give offence. The speaker may raise a laugh, but lose a
+friend. Hence it is that stories about stammerers, red-headed people,
+mothers-in-law, and the like, should always be chosen with
+discrimination.
+
+Generally the most effective story is one in which the point of humor is
+not disclosed until the very last words, as in the following:
+
+An old colored man was brought up before a country judge.
+
+"Jethro," said the judge, "you are accused of stealing General Johnson's
+chickens. Have you any witnesses?"
+
+"No, sah," old Jethro answered, haughtily; "I hab not, sah. I never
+steal chickens befo' witnesses."
+
+This is a similar example, told by Prime Minister Asquith:
+
+An English professor wrote on the blackboard in his laboratory,
+"Professor Blank informs his students that he has this day been
+appointed honorary physician to his Majesty, King George."
+
+During the morning he had some occasion to leave the room, and found on
+his return that some student wag had added the words,
+
+"God save the King!"
+
+Henry W. Grady was a facile story-teller. One of his best stories was as
+follows:
+
+"There was an old preacher once who told some boys of the Bible lesson
+he was going to read in the morning. The boys, finding the place, glued
+together the connecting pages. The next morning he read on the bottom of
+one page: 'When Noah was one hundred and twenty years old he took unto
+himself a wife, who was'--then turning the page--'one hundred and forty
+cubits long, forty cubits wide, built of gopherwood, and covered with
+pitch inside and out.' He was naturally puzzled at this. He read it
+again, verified it, and then said: 'My friends, this is the first time
+I ever met this in the Bible, but I accept it as an evidence of the
+assertion that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.'"
+
+Personalities based upon sarcasm or invective are always attended with
+danger, but good-humored bantering may be used upon occasion with most
+happy results. As an instance of this, there is a story of an annual
+dinner at which Mr. Choate was set down for the toast, "The Navy," and
+Mr. Depew was to respond to "The Army." Mr. Depew began by saying, "It's
+well to have a specialist: that's why Choate is here to speak about the
+Navy. We met at the wharf once and I did not see him again till we
+reached Liverpool. When I asked how he felt he said he thought he would
+have enjoyed the trip over if he had had any ocean air. Yes, you want to
+hear Choate on the Navy." When it was Mr. Choate's turn to speak, he
+said: "I've heard Depew hailed as the greatest after-dinner speaker. If
+after-dinner speaking, as I have heard it described and as I believe it
+to be, is the art of saying nothing at all, then Mr. Depew is the most
+marvelous speaker in the universe."
+
+The medical profession can be assailed with impunity, since they have
+long since grown accustomed to it. There is a story of a young laborer
+who, on his way to his day's work, called at the registrar's office to
+register his father's death. When the official asked the date of the
+event, the son replied, "He ain't dead yet, but he'll be dead before
+night, so I thought it would save me another journey if you would put it
+down now." "Oh, that won't do at all," said the registrar; "perhaps your
+father will live till tomorrow." "Well, I don't think so, sir; the
+doctor says as he won't, and he knows what he has given him."
+
+While stories should be used sparingly, there is probably nothing more
+effective before a popular audience than the telling of a story in which
+the joke is on the speaker himself. Thus:
+
+The last time I made a speech, I went next day to the editor of our
+local newspaper, and said,
+
+"I thought your paper was friendly to me?"
+
+The editor said, "So it is. What's the matter?"
+
+"Well," I said, "I made a speech last night, and you didn't print a
+single line of it this morning."
+
+"Well," said the editor, "what further proof do you want?"
+
+Many of the best and most effective stories are serious in character.
+One that has been used successfully is this: Some gentlemen from the
+West were excited and troubled about the commissions or omissions of the
+administration. President Lincoln heard them patiently, and then
+replied: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in
+gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the
+Niagara River on a rope; would you shake the cable, or keep shouting out
+to him--'Blondin, stand up a little straighter--Blondin, stoop a little
+more--go a little faster--lean a little more to the north--lean a little
+more to the south?' No, you would hold your breath as well as your
+tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The Government
+is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in our hands. We are
+doing the very best we can. Don't badger us. Keep silence, and we'll get
+you safe across."
+
+Punning is of course out of fashion. The best pun in the English
+language is Tom Hood's:
+
+     "He went and told the sexton,
+     And the sexton tolled the bell."
+
+Dr. Johnson said that the pun was the lowest order of wit. Newspapers
+formerly indulged in it freely. One editor would say: "We don't care a
+straw what Shakespeare said--a rose by any other name would not smell as
+wheat." Then another paper would answer: "Such puns are barley
+tolerable, they amaize us, they arouse our righteous corn, and they turn
+the public taste a-rye."
+
+But punning, when it is unusually clever and spontaneous, may be
+thoroughly enjoyable, as in the following:
+
+Chief Justice Story attended a public dinner in Boston at which Edward
+Everett was present. Desiring to pay a delicate compliment to the
+latter, the learned judge proposed as a volunteer toast:
+
+"Fame follows merit where Everett goes."
+
+The brilliant scholar arose and responded:
+
+"To whatever heights judicial learning may attain in this country, it
+will never get above one Story."
+
+Story-telling may attain the character of a disease, in one who has a
+retentive memory and a voluble vocabulary. The form of humor known as
+repartee, however, is one that requires rare discrimination. It should
+be used sparingly, and not at all if it is likely to give offence.
+
+Beau Brummell was guilty in this respect, when he was once asked by a
+lady if he would "take a cup of tea." "Thank you," said he, "I never
+_take_ anything but physic." "I beg your pardon," said the hostess, "you
+also take liberties."
+
+There is a story that Henry Luttrell had sat long in the Irish
+Parliament, but no one knew his precise age. Lady Holland, without
+regard to considerations of courtesy, one day said to him point-blank,
+"Now, we are all dying to know how old you are. Just tell me." Luttrell
+answered very gravely, "It is an odd question, but as you, Lady Holland,
+ask it, I don't mind telling you. If I live till next year, I shall
+be--devilish old!"
+
+The art of story-telling is not taught specifically, hence there are
+comparatively few people who can tell a story without violating some of
+the rules which experience recommends. But the right use of
+story-telling should be encouraged as an ornament of conversation, and a
+valuable auxiliary to effective public address. Many people might excel
+as story-tellers if they would devote a little time to suggestions such
+as are offered here. It is not a difficult art, but like every other
+subject requires study and application.
+
+The best counsel for public speakers in the matter of story-telling may
+be summed up as follows: Know your story thoroughly; test your story by
+telling it to some one in advance; adapt your story to the special
+circumstances; be concise, omitting non-essentials; have ready more
+stories than you intend to use, because if you should speak at the end
+of the list you may find that your best story has been told by a
+previous speaker; and, finally, always stop when you have made a hit.
+
+
+
+
+TALKING IN SALESMANSHIP
+
+
+The salesman depends for his success primarily upon his talking ability.
+Obviously, what he offers for sale must have intrinsic merit, and he
+should possess a thorough knowledge of his wares. But in order to secure
+the best results from his efforts, he must know how to talk well.
+
+All the general requirements for good conversation apply equally to the
+needs of the salesman. He should have a pleasant speaking voice and an
+agreeable manner, a vocabulary of useful and appropriate words, and the
+ability to put things clearly and convincingly.
+
+It should be a golden rule of the salesman never to argue with the
+customer. He may explain and reason, and use all the persuasive
+phraseology at his command, but he must not permit himself for a single
+instant to engage in controversy. To argue is fatal to successful
+salesmanship.
+
+There is nothing that can be substituted for a winning personality in
+the salesman. What constitutes such a personality? Chiefly a good voice,
+affability of manner, straightforward speech, manly bearing, the desire
+to serve and please, proper attire, and cleanliness of person. These
+qualifications come within the reach of anyone who aspires to success in
+salesmanship.
+
+Every salesman has unexpected problems to solve. A sensitive or touchy
+customer may become unreasonably angry or offended. What is the salesman
+to do? He should here be particularly on his guard not to show the
+slightest resentment. Though he may be wholly guiltless, he cannot
+afford to contradict the customer, nor to challenge him to a vocal duel.
+If he talks at all, he should talk quietly and reasonably, and always
+with the object of bringing the customer around to a favorable point of
+view.
+
+The successful salesman must have tact and discrimination. He must know
+when and how to check in himself the word or phrase which is trying to
+force its way out into expression, but which would in the end prove
+inadvisable. He must train himself to choose quickly the right and best
+course under difficult circumstances.
+
+The salesman should give his undivided attention to the customer. If the
+salesman is speaking, he should speak clearly, directly, concisely, and
+understandingly; if he is listening, he should listen interestedly and
+thoroughly, with all his powers alive and receptive.
+
+The salesman should know when to speak and when to be silent. Some
+customers wish to be told much, others prefer to think for themselves.
+He is a wise salesman who knows when to be mute. Loquacity has often
+killed what otherwise might have been a good sale.
+
+There is a certain tone of voice which the salesman should aim to
+acquire. It is neither high nor low in pitch. It is agreeable to the
+listening ear, and is almost sufficient in itself to win the favorable
+attention of the prospective buyer. Every salesman should cultivate a
+musical and well-modulated voice as one of the chief assets in
+salesmanship.
+
+The salesman should cultivate dignity of speech and manner. People
+generally dislike familiarity, joking, and horse-play. It is well to
+assume that the customer is serious-minded, that he means business and
+nothing else. Needless to say, the telling of long stories, or personal
+experiences, has no legitimate place in the business of salesmanship.
+
+There is a proper time and place for short story-telling. Like
+everything else it is all right in its appropriate setting. Lincoln used
+it to advantage, but once said: "I believe I have the popular reputation
+of being a story-teller, but I do not deserve the name in its general
+sense; for it is not the story itself, but its purpose, or effect, that
+interests me. I often avoid a long and useless discussion by others, or
+a laborious explanation on my part, by a short story that illustrates my
+point of view."
+
+The salesman should resolve not to lose his poise and agreeableness
+under any circumstances. Irritability never attracts business. To say
+the right thing in the right place is desirable, but it is quite as
+important, though more difficult, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the
+moment of temptation.
+
+It is not the legitimate business of the salesman to force upon a
+customer what is really not wanted, but many times the customer does
+not know what he wants nor what he might be able to use. Hence the
+competent salesman should know how to influence the customer towards a
+favorable decision, using all honorable and approved means to bring
+about such a result.
+
+The customer's unfavorable answer is not to be accepted always as final.
+He may not clearly understand the merits or uses of the article offered.
+He may need the explanations and suggestions of the salesman in order to
+reach a right conclusion. Here it is that the salesman may fulfill one
+of his most important duties.
+
+There is a wide difference between self-reliance and obtrusiveness.
+Every man should have a full degree of self-confidence. It is needed in
+every walk in life. But the salesman, more than most men, must have an
+exceptional degree of faith in himself and in what he has to sell.
+
+This self-confidence, however, is a very different thing from boldness
+or obtrusiveness. Courtesy and considerateness are cardinal qualities of
+the well-equipped salesman, but boastfulness, glibness, egotism,
+loudness, and self-assertion, are as distasteful as they are
+undesirable.
+
+The eloquence and persuasiveness of silence is nowhere better
+exemplified than in the art of salesmanship. One man says much, and
+sells little; another says little, and sells much. The reason for the
+superior success of one over the other is mainly due to the fact that he
+knows best how to present the merits of what he offers for sale, knows
+how to say it concisely and effectively, knows how to ingratiate
+himself, largely through his personality, into the good graces of the
+prospective buyer, and knows when to stop talking.
+
+Modern salesmanship is based primarily upon common sense. A man with
+brains, though possibly lacking in other desirable qualifications, may
+easily outdistance the more experienced salesman. It is a valuable thing
+in any man to be able to think accurately, reason deeply, and size up a
+situation promptly.
+
+The salesman should at all times be on his best talking behavior. It is
+not advisable for him to have two standards of speech, and to use an
+inferior one excepting for special occasions. He should cultivate as a
+regular daily habit discrimination in the use of voice, enunciation,
+expression, and language. This should be the constant aim not only of
+the salesman, but of every man ambitious to achieve success and
+distinction in the world.
+
+
+
+
+MEN AND MANNERISMS
+
+
+There is a story of a politician who had acquired a mannerism of
+fingering a button on his coat while talking to an audience. On one
+occasion some friends surreptitiously cut the particular button off, and
+the result was that the speaker when he stood up to address the audience
+lost the thread of his discourse.
+
+Gladstone had a mannerism of striking the palm of his left hand with the
+clenched fist of his other hand, so that often the emphatic word was
+lost in the noise of percussion. A common habit of the distinguished
+statesman was to reach out his right hand at full arm's length, and then
+to bend it back at the elbow and lightly scratch the top of his head
+with his thumb-nail.
+
+Balfour, while speaking, used to take hold of the lapels of his coat by
+both hands as if he were in mortal fear of running away before he had
+finished.
+
+Goshen, at the beginning of a speech, would sound his chest and sides
+with his hands, and apparently finding that his ribs were in good order,
+would proceed to wash his hands with invisible soap.
+
+The strange thing about mannerisms is that the speakers are usually
+unconscious of them, and would be the first to condemn them in others.
+The remedy for such defects lies in thorough and severe self-examination
+and self-criticism. However eminent a speaker may be with objectionable
+mannerisms, he would be still greater without them.
+
+Every public speaker has certain characteristics of voice and manner
+that distinguish him from other men. In so far as this individuality
+gives increased power and effectiveness to the speaking style, it is
+desirable and should be encouraged. When, however, it is carried to
+excess, or in any sense offends good taste, it is merely mannerism, and
+should be discouraged.
+
+There is an objectionable mannerism of the voice, known as "pulpit
+tone," that has come to be associated with some preachers. It takes
+various forms, such as an unduly elevated key, a drawling monotone, a
+sudden transition from one extreme of pitch to another, or a tone of
+condescension. It is also heard in a plaintive minor inflection,
+imparting a quality of extreme sadness to a speaker's style. These are
+all departures from the natural, earnest, sincere, and direct delivery
+that belongs to the high office of preaching.
+
+Still another undesirable mannerism of the voice is that of giving a
+rising inflection at the close of successive sentences that are
+obviously complete. Here the speaker's thought is left suspended in the
+air, the hearer feels a sense of disappointment or doubt, and possibly
+the entire meaning is perverted. Thoughts delivered in such a manner,
+unless they distinctly require a rising inflection, lack the emphasis
+and force of persuasive speaking.
+
+Artificiality, affectation, pomposity, mouthing, undue vehemence,
+monotony, intoning, and everything that detracts from the simplicity and
+genuine fervor of the speech should be avoided. Too much emphasis may
+drive a thought beyond the mark, and a conscious determination to make a
+"great speech" may keep the speaker in a state of anxiety throughout
+its entire delivery.
+
+A clear and correct enunciation is essential, but it should not be
+pedantic, nor should it attract attention to itself. "What you are
+prevents me from hearing what you say," might also be applied to the
+manner of the speaker. Exaggerated opening of the mouth, audible
+smacking of the lips, holding tenaciously to final consonants, prolonged
+hissing of sibilants, are all to be condemned. Hesitation, stumbling
+over difficult combinations, obscuring final syllables, coalescing the
+last sound of one word with the first sound of the following word, are
+inexcusable in a trained speaker.
+
+When the same modulation of the voice is repeated too often, it becomes
+a mannerism, a kind of monotony of variety. It reminds one of a
+street-piano set to but one tune, and is quite as distressing to a
+sensitive ear. This is not the style that is expected from a public man.
+
+What should the speaker do with his hands? Do nothing with them unless
+they are specifically needed for the more complete expression of a
+thought. Let them drop at the sides in their natural relaxed position,
+ready for instant use. To press the fist in the hollow of the back in
+order to "support" the speaker, to clutch the lapels of the coat, to
+slap the hands audibly together, to place the hands on the hips in the
+attitude of "vulgar ease," to put the hands into the pockets, to wring
+the hands as if "washing them with invisible soap," or to violently
+pound the pulpit--these belong to the list of undesirable mannerisms.
+
+At the beginning of a speech it may give the appearance of ease to place
+the hands behind the back, but this position lacks force and action and
+should not be long sustained. To cross the arms upon the desk is to put
+them out of commission for the time being. Leaning or lounging of any
+kind, bending at the knee, or other evidence of weakness or weariness,
+may belong to the repose of the easy chair, but are hardly appropriate
+in a wide-awake speaker seeking to convince men.
+
+Rocking the body to and fro, rising on the toes to emphasize, crouching,
+stamping the foot, springing from side to side, over-acting and
+impersonation, and violence and extravagance of every description may
+well be omitted in public speaking. Beware of extremes. Avoid a
+statue-like attitude on the one hand and a constant restlessness on the
+other. Dignity is desirable, but one should not forget the words of the
+Reverend Sam Jones, "There is nothing more dignified than a corpse!"
+
+Gestures that are too frequent and alike soon lose their significance.
+If they are attempted at all they should be varied and complete,
+suggesting freedom and spontaneity. When only half made they are likely
+to call attention to the discrepancy, and to this extent will obscure
+rather than help the thought. The continuous use of gesture is
+displeasing to the eye, and gives the impression of lack of poise.
+
+The young speaker particularly should be warned not to imitate the
+speaking style of others. What is perfectly natural to one may appear
+ridiculous in another. Cardinal Newman spoke with extreme
+deliberateness, enunciating every syllable with care and precision;
+Phillips Brooks sent forth an avalanche of words at the rate of two
+hundred a minute; but it would be dangerous for the average speaker to
+emulate either of these examples.
+
+There is a peculiarity in a certain type of speaking, which, while not
+strictly a mannerism, is detrimental to the highest effect. It manifests
+itself in physical weakness. The speaker is uniformly tired, and his
+speaking has a half-hearted tone. The lifelessness in voice and manner
+communicates itself to the audience, and prevents all possibility of
+deep and enduring impression. Joseph Parker said that when Sunday came
+he felt like a racehorse, and could hardly wait for the time to come for
+him to go into the pulpit. He longed to speak.
+
+The well-equipped speaker is one who has a superior culture of voice and
+body. All the instruments of expression must be made his obedient
+servants, but as master of them he should see to it that they perform
+their work naturally and spontaneously. He should be able while speaking
+to abandon himself wholly to his subject, confident that as a result of
+conscientious training his delivery may be left largely to take care of
+itself.
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC
+
+
+There are two essential qualifications for making an effective public
+speech.
+
+First, having something worth-while to say.
+
+Second, knowing how to say it.
+
+The first qualification implies a judicious choice of subject and the
+most thorough preparation. It means that the speaker has carefully
+gathered together the best available material, and has so familiarized
+himself with his subject that he knows more about it than anyone else in
+his audience.
+
+It is in this requirement of thorough preparation that many public
+speakers are deficient. They do not realize the need for this
+painstaking preliminary work, and hence they frequently stand before an
+audience with little information of value to impart to their hearers.
+Their poverty of thought can not be long disguised in flamboyant
+rhetoric and sesquipedalian words, and hence they fail to carry
+conviction to serious-minded men.
+
+I would remind you that having something worth-while to say involves
+more than thorough preparation of the particular subject which the
+speaker is to present to an audience. The speaker should have a
+well-furnished mind. You have had the experience of listening to a
+public speaker who commanded your closest attention not only because of
+what he said, but also because of what he was. He inspired confidence in
+you because of his personality and reserve power.
+
+It is often what a man has within himself, rather than what he actually
+expresses, that carries greatest conviction to your mind. As you listen
+to such a man speak, you feel that he is worthy of your confidence
+because he draws upon broad experience and knowledge. He speaks out of
+the fulness of a well-furnished mind.
+
+It is important, therefore, that there should be mental culture in a
+broad way,--sound judgment, a sense of proportion and perspective, a
+fund of useful ideas, facts, arguments, and illustrations, and a large
+stock of common sense.
+
+Every man who essays to speak in public should cultivate a judicial
+mind, or the habit of weighing and estimating facts and arguments. Such
+a mind is supposedly free from prejudice and seeks the truth at any
+cost. Such a mind does not want this or that to be necessarily true, but
+wants to recognize as true only that which is true.
+
+In these days of multiplied publications and books of all kinds, when
+printed matter of every description is soliciting our time and
+attention, it is particularly desirable that we should cultivate a
+discriminating taste in our choice of books. The highest purpose of
+reading is for the acquisition of useful knowledge and personal culture,
+and we should keep these two aims constantly before us. It is noteworthy
+that men who have achieved enduring greatness in the world have always
+had a good book at their ready command.
+
+If you are ever in doubt about the choice of books, you would do well to
+enlist the services of a literary friend, or ask the advice of a local
+librarian. But in any case, be on your guard against books and other
+publications of commonplace type, which can contribute nothing to the
+enrichment of your mind and life.
+
+It is desirable that you should own the books you read. The sense of
+personal possession will give an interest and pleasure to your reading
+which it would not otherwise have, and moreover you can freely mark such
+books with your pencil for subsequent reference. It is also well to have
+a note-book conveniently ready in which to jot down useful ideas as they
+occur to you.
+
+Here we come to the use of the pen. All the great orators of the world
+have been prolific writers in the sense of writing out their thoughts.
+It is the only certain way to clarify your thought, to test it in
+advance of verbal expression and to examine it critically. The public
+speaker should write much in order to form a clear and flowing English
+style. It is surprising how many of our thoughts which appear to us
+clear and satisfactory, assume a peculiar vagueness when we attempt to
+set them down definitely in writing.
+
+The use of the pen tends to give clearness and conciseness to the
+speaker's style. It makes him careful and accurate. It aids, too, in
+fixing the ideas of his speech in his mind, so that at the moment of
+addressing an audience they will respond most readily to his needs.
+
+A well-furnished mind is like a well-furnished house. In furnishing a
+house we do not fill it up with miscellaneous furniture, bric-a-brac and
+antiques, gathered promiscuously, but we plan everything with a view to
+harmony, beauty, and utility. We furnish a particular room in a tone
+that will be restful and pleasing to the occupant. We choose every piece
+of furniture, rug, picture, and drapery with a distinct purpose in view
+of what the total effect will be.
+
+So with a well-furnished mind. We must choose the kind of material we
+intend to keep there. It should be chosen with a view to its beauty,
+power, and usefulness. We want no rubbish there. We want the best
+material available. Hence the vital importance of going to the right
+sources for the furniture of our mind, to the great books of the world,
+to living authorities, to nature, to music, to art, to the best wherever
+it may be found.
+
+The second essential of an effective public speech is knowing how to say
+it. This implies a thorough training in the technique of speech. There
+should be a well-cultivated voice, of adequate volume, brilliancy, and
+carrying quality. There should be ample training in articulation,
+pronunciation, expression, and gesture. These so-called mechanics should
+be developed until they become an unconscious part of the speaker's
+style.
+
+Your best opportunity for practice is in your everyday conversation.
+There you are constantly making speeches on a small scale. Public
+speaking of the best modern type is simply elevated conversation. I do
+not mean elevated in pitch, but in the sense of being launched upon a
+higher level of thought and with greater intensity than is usually
+called for by ordinary conversation.
+
+In conversation you have your best opportunity for developing your
+public speaking style. Indeed, you are there, despite yourself, forming
+habits which will disclose themselves in your public speaking. As you
+speak in your daily conversation you will largely speak when you stand
+before an audience.
+
+You will therefore see the importance of care in your daily speech.
+There should be a fastidious choice of words, care in pronunciation and
+articulation, and the mouth well opened so that the words may come out
+wholly through the mouth and not partly through the nose. Culture of
+conversation is to be recommended for its own sake, since everyone must
+speak in private if not in public.
+
+One of the best plans for self-culture in speaking is to read aloud for
+a few minutes every day from a book of well-selected speeches. There are
+numerous compilations of the kind admirably suited to this purpose. The
+important thing here is to read in speaking style, not in what is termed
+reading style as usually taught in schools. When you practise in this
+way it would be well to imagine an audience before you and to render the
+speech as if emanating from your own mind. The student of public
+speaking will wisely guard himself against acquiring an artificial style
+or other mannerism.
+
+Another good plan is to make short mental speeches while walking. When
+possible it is well to choose a country road for this purpose, or a
+park, or some other place where one's mind is not likely to be often
+diverted by passers-by. Lord Dufferin, the eminent British orator, was
+accustomed to prepare most of his speeches while riding on horseback.
+The habit of forming mental speeches is a great aid to actual
+speech-making, as it tends to give the mind a power and an adaptability
+which it would not otherwise have.
+
+The painter, the musician, the sculptor, the architect, and other
+craftsmen search out models for study and inspiration. The public
+speaker should do likewise, and history shows that the great orators of
+the world have followed this practise. You can not do better than take
+as your model the greatest short speech in all history, the Gettysburg
+Address.
+
+An authority on English style has critically examined this speech and
+acknowledges that he cannot suggest a single change in it which would
+add to its power and perfection.
+
+You recall the circumstances under which it was written. On the morning
+of November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln was travelling from Washington to
+take part next day in the consecration of the national cemetery at
+Gettysburg. He wrote his speech on a scrap of wrapping-paper, carefully
+fitting word to word, changing and correcting it in minutest detail as
+best he could until it was finished.
+
+The next day after the speech had been delivered, Edward Everett, the
+trained and polished orator, said that he would have been content to
+have made in his oration of two hours the impression which Lincoln had
+made in that many minutes.
+
+It will repay you to study this speech closely and to wrest from it its
+innermost secrets of power and effectiveness. The greatest underlying
+quality of this speech is its rare simplicity--simplicity of thought,
+simplicity of language, simplicity of purpose, and shining through it
+all, the simplicity of the great emancipator himself.
+
+This simplicity is one of the great distinguishing qualities of
+effective public speaking. It is characteristic of all true art. It is
+subtle and difficult to define, but Fénelon gives a definition that will
+aid us when he says, "Simplicity is an uprightness of soul that has no
+reference to self." It is another word for unselfishness.
+
+In these days of self-exploitation and self-aggrandizement, how
+refreshing it is to meet a man of true simplicity. We are won by his
+unaffected manner, his gentleness of argument, his ingratiating tones of
+voice, his freedom from prejudice and passion. Such a man wins us almost
+wholly by the power of his simplicity.
+
+This supreme quality is noticeable in men who are said to have come to
+themselves. They have tasted and tested life, they have learned
+proportion and perspective, they have appraised things at their real
+value, and now they carry themselves in poise and power and confidence.
+They have found themselves in a high and true sense, and they have come
+to be known as men of simplicity.
+
+Simplicity is not to be confounded with weakness or ignorance. It comes
+through long education. It does not mean the trite, or the commonplace,
+or the obvious. It is a strong and sturdy quality, is this simplicity of
+which I am speaking, and nothing else will atone for lack of it in the
+public speaker.
+
+Longfellow calls it the supreme excellence, since it is the quality
+which above all others brings serenity to the soul and makes life
+really worth living. Every man should earnestly seek to cultivate this
+great quality as essential to noble character.
+
+This speech is conspicuous for another indispensable quality for
+effective public speaking,--the quality of sincerity. It grows largely
+out of simplicity and is the product of integrity of mind and heart. Men
+recognize it quickly, though they cannot easily tell whence it comes. We
+find it highly developed in great leaders in business and professional
+life. There has never been a really great public speaker who was not
+preeminently a sincere man.
+
+Beecher said, "Let no man who is a sneak try to be an orator." Such a
+man can not be. He will shortly be found out. The world's ultimate
+estimate of a man is not far wrong.
+
+A politician of much promise was addressing a distinguished audience in
+Washington. The Opera House was crowded to the doors to hear him and
+apparently he was making a good impression upon all his hearers. But
+suddenly, at the very climax of his speech, while upwards of two
+thousand eyes were rivetted upon him, he was seen to wink at a personal
+friend of his sitting in a nearby box, and at that instant his future
+political prospects were shattered as a vase struck by lightning. In
+that single instant of insincerity he was appraised by that
+discriminating audience and his doom was sealed.
+
+Still another great quality in the Gettysburg speech is its directness.
+The speaker had a clearly-defined purpose in view. He knew what he
+wanted to say, and he proceeded to say it--no more, and no less.
+
+There was no straying away into by-paths, no padding of words to make up
+for shortage of ideas, no superfluous and big-sounding phrases, no empty
+rhetoric or glittering generalities.
+
+How many speakers there are who aim at nothing and hit it. How many
+speakers there are who are on their way but do not know whither.
+
+If this directness of quality were applied to talking in business, in
+committee meetings, in telephone conversations, in public speaking, it
+would save annually in this country millions of words and incalculable
+time and energy.
+
+You will note that this speech has the rare quality of conciseness. We
+have an illustration here of how much a man can say in about 265 words
+and in the short space of two minutes, if he knows precisely what he
+wants to say.
+
+It is well to bear in mind that although this speech was scribbled off
+with seeming ease, Lincoln owed his ability to do it to a long and
+painstaking study of words and English style.
+
+He was a profound student of the dictionary. He steeped himself in
+words. He scrutinized words, he studied words, he made himself a master
+of words.
+
+This is a valuable habit for every man to form,--to study words
+regularly and earnestly, and to add consciously to his working
+vocabulary a few words daily--so in the course of a year such a man will
+acquire a large and varied stock of words which will do his instant
+bidding.
+
+The conclusion is a vital part of a speech. It is a place of peril to
+many a public speaker. Countless speeches have been ruined by a bad
+conclusion.
+
+The most important thing here is that having decided beforehand upon the
+particular ideas or message with which you intend to conclude your
+speech, not to let any influence lead you away from this preconceived
+purpose.
+
+Some speakers are about to conclude effectively but are unwilling to
+omit anything which they have planned to give in their speech, and so
+continue in an endeavor to recall every item. At last such a speech has
+a loose and straggling ending.
+
+The words of the conclusion need not be memorized, but the ideas should
+be definitely outlined in the mind and fixed in the memory, not as
+words, but as ideas.
+
+The knowledge that you can turn at will to these definite ideas, and so
+bring your speech to a close, will confer upon you a degree of
+self-confidence which will be of immense service to you.
+
+You should ever bear in mind this golden rule for the conclusion of your
+speech: When you have finished what you have of importance to say, do
+not be tempted to wander off into by-paths, or to tell an additional
+story, or to say "and one word more," but having finished your speech,
+stop on the instant and sit down.
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SPEAKERS
+
+
+Cultivate as the most desirable thoughts those which are definite,
+clear, deep, logical, profound, strong, precise, impressive, original,
+significant, explicit, luminous, positive, suggestive, comprehensive,
+and practical. Resolutely avoid all thoughts which are uncertain,
+recondite, obscure, immature, unimportant, shallow, weak, visionary,
+absurd, vague, extravagant, indefinite, or impractical.
+
+In your choice and use of words give preference to those which are
+definite, simple, real, significant, forcible, expressive, adequate,
+musical, varied, and copious. Avoid those which are foreign, slangy,
+obsolete, unusual, extravagant, technical, long, colloquial, or
+commonplace.
+
+The most desirable qualities in the use of English are the simple,
+plain, exact, lucid, concise, trenchant, vigorous, impressive, lively,
+figurative, polished, graceful, fluent, rhythmical, copious, elevated,
+flexible, smooth, dignified, terse, epigrammatic, felicitous,
+euphonious, elegant, and lofty. Undesirable qualities are the diffuse,
+verbose, redundant, inflated, prolix, ambiguous, feeble, monotonous,
+loose, slip-shod, dry, flowery, pedantic, pompous, rhetorical,
+grandiloquent, artificial, formal, ornate, halting, ponderous,
+ungrammatical, vague, and obscure.
+
+The qualities you should develop in your speaking voice are the pure,
+deep, round, flexible, resonant, musical, clear, sympathetic, smooth,
+sonorous, powerful, silvery, melodious, full, strong, natural, mellow,
+magnetic, expressive, carrying, and responsive. Endeavor to keep your
+voice free from such undesirable qualities as the harsh, breathy, sharp,
+rough, rigid, throaty, guttural, thin, shrill, nasal, unmusical,
+discordant, muffled, explosive, strained, inaudible, hollow, strident,
+sepulchral, and tremulous.
+
+Your articulation should be clear, distinct, and correct. Avoid
+carelessness, lifelessness, mumbling, weakness, and exaggeration.
+
+Your pronunciation should be clear-cut and accurate. Avoid mouthing,
+lisping, hesitation, stammering, pedantry, omission of syllables, and
+suppression of final consonants.
+
+Your delivery in public speaking should be simple, sincere, natural,
+varied, magnetic, earnest, forceful, attractive, energetic, animated,
+sympathetic, authoritative, dignified, direct, impressive, vivid,
+convincing, persuasive, zealous, enthusiastic, and inspiring. Avoid that
+which is timid, familiar, violent, cold, indifferent, unreal,
+artificial, dull, sing-song, hesitating, feeble, unconvincing,
+apathetic, monotonous, pompous, formal, arbitrary, flippant,
+ostentatious, drawling, or languid.
+
+Your gesture should be graceful, appropriate, free, forceful, and
+natural. Avoid all gesture which is unmeaning, angular, abrupt,
+constrained, stilted, or amateurish.
+
+Your facial expression should be varied, appropriate, pleasing, and
+impassioned. Avoid the unpleasant, immobile, and unvaried.
+
+Let your standing position be manly, erect, easy, forceful, and
+impressive. Avoid that which is weak, shifting, stiff, inactive, and
+ungainly.
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN SPEAKING
+
+
+There is a well-defined prejudice against the importation of anything
+"theatrical" into the pulpit. The art of the actor is fundamentally
+different from the work of the preacher. At best the actor but
+represents, imitates, pretends, acts. The actor seems; the preacher is.
+
+It is to be feared, however, that this prejudice has narrowed many
+preachers down to a pulpit style almost devoid of warmth and action. In
+their endeavor to avoid the dramatic and sensational, they have refined
+and subdued many of their most natural and effective means of
+expression. The function of preaching is not only to impart, but to
+persuade; and persuasion demands something more than an easy
+conversational style, an intellectual statement of facts, or the reading
+of a written message. The speaker must show in face, in eye, in arm, in
+the whole animated man, that he, himself, is moved, before he can hope
+successfully to persuade and inspire others.
+
+The modified movements of ordinary conversation do not fulfil all the
+requirements of the preacher. These are necessary and adequate for the
+groundwork of the sermon, but for the supreme heights of passionate
+appeal, when the soul of the preacher would, as it were, leap from its
+body in the endeavor to reach men, there must be intensified life and
+action--dramatic action.
+
+It is difficult to conceive of a greater tribute to a public advocate
+than that paid to Wendell Phillips by George William Curtis:
+
+"The divine energy of his conviction utterly possest him, and his
+
+         'Pure and eloquent blood
+     Spoke in his cheek, and so distinctly wrought,
+     That one might almost say his body thought.'"
+
+Poise is power, and reserve and repression are parts of the dignified
+office of the preacher, but carried too far may degenerate into weak and
+unproductive effort. Perfection of English style, rhetorical floridness,
+and profundity of thought will never wholly make up for lack of
+appropriate action in the work of persuading men.
+
+The power of action alone is vividly illustrated in the touch of the
+finger to the lips to invoke silence, or the pointing to the door to
+command one to leave the room. The preacher might often find it
+profitable to stand before a mirror and deliver his sermon exclusively
+in pantomime to test its power and efficacy.
+
+The body must be disciplined and cultivated as assiduously as the other
+instruments of the speaker. There is eloquence of attitude and action no
+less than eloquence of voice and feeling. A preacher drawing himself up
+to his full height, with a significant gesture of the head, or with
+flashing eye pointing the finger of warning at his hearers, may rouse
+them from indifference when all other means fail.
+
+Sixty years ago the Reverend William Russell emphasized the importance
+of visible expression. He said of the preacher:
+
+"His outward manner, in attitude and action, will be as various as his
+voice: he will evince the inspiration of appropriate feeling in the
+very posture of his frame; in uttering the language of adoration, the
+slow-moving, uplifted hand will bespeak the awe and solemnity which
+pervade his soul; in addressing his fellow men in the spirit of an
+ambassador of Christ, the gentle yet earnest spirit of persuasive action
+will be evinced in the pleading hand and aspect; he will know, also, how
+to pass to the stern and authoritative mien of the reproved of sin; he
+will, on due occasions, indicate, in his kindling look, the rousing
+gesture, the mood of him who is empowered and commanded to summon forth
+all the energies of the human soul; his subdued and chastened address
+will carry the sympathy of his spirit into the bosom of the mourner; his
+moistening eye and his gentle action will manifest his tenderness for
+the suffering: his whole soul will, in a word, become legible in his
+features, in his attitude, in the expressive eloquence of his hand; his
+whole style will be felt to be that of heart communing with heart."
+
+Dramatic action gives picturesqueness to the spoken word. It makes
+things vivid to slow imaginations, and by contrast invests the
+speaker's message with new meaning and vitality. It discloses, too, the
+speaker's sympathy and identification with his subject. His thought and
+feeling, communicating themselves to voice and face, to hand and arm, to
+posture and walk, satisfy and impress the hearer by a sense of adequacy
+and completeness.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher, a conspicuous example of the dramatic style in
+preaching, was drilled for three years, while at college, in
+voice-culture, gesture, and action. His daily practise in the woods,
+during which he exploded all the vowels from the bottom to the top of
+his voice, gave him not only a wonderfully responsive and flexible
+instrument, but a freedom of bodily movement that made him one of the
+most vigorous and virile of American preachers. He was in the highest
+sense a persuasive pulpit orator.
+
+A sensible preacher will avoid the grotesque and the extremes of mere
+animal vivacity. Incessant gesture and action, undue emphasizing with
+hand and head, and all suggestion of self-sufficiency in attitude or
+manner should be guarded against. All the various instruments of
+expression should be made ready and responsive for immediate use, but
+are to be employed with that taste and tact that characterize the
+well-balanced man. Too much action and long-continued emotional effort
+lose force, and unless the law of action and reaction is applied to the
+preaching of the sermon the attention of the congregation may snap and
+the desired effect be utterly destroyed.
+
+The face as the mirror of the emotions is an important part of
+expression. The lips will betray determination, grief, sympathy,
+affection, or other feeling on the part of the speaker. The eyes, the
+most direct medium of psychic power, will flash in indignation, glisten
+in joy, or grow dim in sorrow. The brow will be elevated in surprise, or
+lowered in determination and perplexity.
+
+The effectiveness of the whisper in preaching should not be overlooked.
+If discreetly used it may serve to impress the hearer with the
+profundity and seriousness of the preacher's message, or to arrest and
+bring back to the point of contact the wandering minds of a
+congregation.
+
+To acquire emotional power and dramatic action the preacher should
+study the great dramatists. He should read them aloud with appropriate
+voice and movement. He should study children, and men, and nature. He
+should, perhaps, see the best actors, not to copy them, but in order
+that they may stimulate his taste and imagination.
+
+
+
+
+CONVERSATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING
+
+
+The ideal style of public speaking is, with very little modification,
+the ideal of good conversation. The practical age in which we live
+demands a colloquial rather than an oratorical style of public speaking.
+A man who has something to say in conversation usually has little
+difficulty in saying it. If he presents the facts he will speak
+convincingly; if he is deeply in earnest he will speak persuasively; and
+if he be an educated man his speech will have the unmistakable marks of
+culture and refinement.
+
+In the conversation of well-bred children we find the most interesting
+and helpful illustrations of unaffected speech. The exquisite modulation
+of the voice, the unstudied correctness of emphasis, and the sincerity
+and depth of feeling might well serve as a model for older speakers.
+
+This study of conversation, both our own and that of others, offers
+daily opportunity for improvement in accuracy and fluency of speech, of
+fitting words to the mouth as well as to the thought, and of forming
+habits that will unconsciously disclose themselves in the larger work of
+public speaking. Care in conversation will guard the public speaker from
+inflated and unnatural tones, and restrain him from transgressing the
+laws of nature even in those parts of his speech demanding lofty and
+intensified treatment.
+
+Some easily remembered suggestions regarding conversation are these:
+
+1. Pronounce your words distinctly and accurately, like "newly made
+coins" from the mint, but without pedantry.
+
+2. Upon no occasion allow yourself to indulge in careless or incorrect
+speech.
+
+3. Open the mouth well in conversation. Much indistinct speech is due to
+speaking through half-closed teeth.
+
+4. Closely observe your conversation and that of others, to detect
+faults and to improve your speaking-style.
+
+5. Vary your voice to suit the variety of your thought. A well-modulated
+voice demands appropriate changes of pitch, force, perspective, and
+feeling.
+
+6. Avoid loud talking.
+
+7. Take care of the consonants and the vowels will take care of
+themselves.
+
+8. Cultivate the music of the conversational tones.
+
+9. Favor the low pitches of your voice.
+
+10. Remember that the purpose of conscious practise and observation in
+the matter of conversation is to lead ultimately to unconscious
+performance.
+
+
+The value of correct conversation as a means to effective public
+speaking is realized by few men. Beecher said: "How much squandering
+there is of the voice!" meaning that this golden opportunity for
+improvement was generally disregarded. It is not too much to say,
+however, that if the sweet and gentle expression of the mother, the
+strong and affectionate tones of the father, and the spontaneous musical
+notes of the children, as heard in daily conversation, could be united
+in the voice of the minister and brought to the preaching of his sermon,
+there would be little doubt of its magical and enduring effect upon the
+hearts of men. The wooing tone of the lover is what the preacher needs
+in his pulpit style rather than the voice of declamation and
+denunciation.
+
+The study of conversation serves to guide the public speaker not only in
+the free and natural use of his voice, enunciation, and expression, but
+also in his use of language. He will here learn to choose the simple
+word instead of the complex, the short sentence instead of the involved,
+the concrete illustration instead of the abstract. He will acquire ease,
+spontaneity, simplicity, and directness, and when he rises to speak to
+men he will employ tones and words best known and understood by them.
+
+A preacher may spend too much time in study and solitude. If he does he
+will soon realize a distinct loss through lack of social intercourse
+with his fellow men. The faculties most needed in pulpit preaching are
+those very powers that are so largely exercised in ordinary
+conversation. The ability to think quickly, to marshal facts and
+arguments, to introduce a vivid story or illustration, to parry and
+thrust as is sometimes needed to hold one's own ground, and the general
+mental activity aroused in conversation, all tend to produce an
+interesting, vivacious, and forceful style in public speaking.
+
+We should not underestimate the value of meditation and silence to the
+public speaker. These are necessary for original and profound thinking,
+for the cultivation of the imagination, and for the accumulation of
+thought. But conversation offers an immediate outlet for this stored-up
+knowledge, testing it as a finished product in expression, and
+projecting it into life and reality by all the resources of voice and
+feeling. This exercise is as necessary to the mind as physical exercise
+is to the body. Indeed, a full mind demands this relief in expression,
+lest the strain become too great.
+
+The daily newspaper and the magazines should not be allowed to usurp the
+place of conversation. If the art of talking is rapidly dying out, as
+some assert, we should do our share to revive it. We may not again have
+the wit and repartee, the brilliant intellectual combats of those other
+days, but we can at least each have a cultivated speaking-voice, an
+interesting manner of expressing our ideas in conversation, and a
+refined pronunciation of our mother tongue.
+
+
+
+
+A TALK TO PREACHERS
+
+
+The aim of one who would interpret literature to others, by means of the
+speaking voice, should be first to assimilate its spirit. There can be
+no worthy or adequate rendering of a great poem or prose selection
+without a keen appreciation of its inner meaning and content. This is
+the principal safeguard against mechanical and meaningless declamation.
+The extent of this appreciation and grasp of the inherent spirit of
+thought will largely determine the degree of life, reality, and
+impressiveness imparted to the spoken word.
+
+The intimate relationship between the voice and the spirit of the
+speaker suggests that one is necessary to the fullest development of the
+other. The voice can interpret only what has been awakened and realized
+within, hence nothing discloses a speaker's grasp of a subject so
+accurately and readily as his attempt to give it expression in his own
+language. It is this spiritual power, developed principally through the
+intuitions and emotions, that gives psychic force to speaking, and which
+more than logic, rhetoric, or learning itself enables the speaker to
+influence and persuade men.
+
+The minister as an interpreter of the highest spiritual truth should
+bring to his work a thoroughly trained emotional nature and a cultivated
+speaking voice. It is not sufficient that he state the truth with
+clearness and force; he must proclaim it with such passionate enthusiasm
+as powerfully to move his hearers. To express adequately the infinite
+shades of spiritual truth, he must have the ability to play upon his
+voice as upon a great cathedral organ, from "the soft lute of love" to
+"the loud trumpet of war."
+
+To assume that the study of the art of speaking will necessarily produce
+consciousness of its principles while in the act of speaking in public,
+is as unwarranted as to say that a knowledge of the rules of grammar,
+rhetoric, or logic lead to artificiality and self-consciousness in the
+teacher, writer, and thinker. There is a "mechanical expertness
+preceding all art," as Goethe says, and this applies to the orator no
+less than to the musician, the artist, the actor, and the litterateur.
+
+Let the minister stand up for even five minutes each day, with chest and
+abdomen well expanded, and pronounce aloud the long vowel sounds of the
+English language, in various shades of force and feeling, and shortly he
+will observe his voice developing in flexibility, resonance, and power.
+For it should be remembered that the voice grows through use. Let the
+minister cultivate, too, the habit of breathing exclusively through his
+nose while in repose, fully and deeply from the abdomen, and he will
+find himself gaining in health and mental resourcefulness.
+
+For the larger development of the spiritual and emotional powers of the
+speaker, a wide and varied knowledge of men and life is necessary. The
+feelings are trained through close contact with human suffering, and in
+the work of solving vital social problems. The speaker will do well to
+explore first his own heart and endeavor to read its secret meanings,
+preliminary to interpreting the hearts of other men. Personal suffering
+will do more to open the well-springs of the heart than the reading of
+many books.
+
+Care must be had, however, that this cultivating of the feelings be
+conducted along rational lines, lest it run not to faith but to
+fanaticism. There is a wide difference between emotion designed for
+display or for momentary effect, and that which arises from strong inner
+conviction and sympathetic interest in others. Spurious, unnatural
+feeling will invariably fail to convince serious-minded men.
+
+"Emotion wrought up with no ulterior object," says Dr. Kennard, "is both
+an abuse and an injury to the moral nature. When the attention is
+thoroughly awakened and steadily held, the hearer is like a well-tuned
+harp, each cord a distinct emotion, and the skilful speaker may evoke a
+response from one or more at his will. This lays him under a great and
+serious responsibility. Let him keep steadily at such a time to his
+divine purpose, to produce a healthful action, a life in harmony with
+God and a symphony of service."
+
+The emotional and spiritual powers of the speaker will be developed by
+reading aloud each day a vigorous and passionate extract from the
+Bible, or Shakespeare, or from some great sermon by such men as
+Bushnell, Newman, Beecher, Maclaren, Brooks, or Spurgeon. The entire
+gamut of human feeling can be highly cultivated by thus reading aloud
+from the great masterpieces of literature. The speaker will know that he
+can make his own words glow and vibrate, after he has first tested and
+trained himself in some such manner as this. Furthermore, by thus
+fitting words to his mouth, and assimilating the feelings of others, he
+will immeasurably gain in facility and vocal responsiveness when he
+attempts to utter his own thoughts.
+
+Music is a powerful element in awakening emotion in the speaker and
+bringing to consciousness the mysterious inner voices of the soul. The
+minister should not only hear good music as often as possible, but he
+should train his ear to recognize the rhythm and melody in speech.
+
+For the fullest development of this spiritual power in the public
+speaker there should be frequent periods of stillness and silence. One
+must listen much in order to accumulate much. Thought and feeling
+require time in which to grow. In this way the myriad sounds that arise
+from humanity and from nature can be caught up in the soul of the
+speaker and subsequently voiced by him to others.
+
+The habit of meditating much, of brooding over thought, whether it be
+our own or that of others, will tend to disclose new and deeper
+meanings, and consequently deeper shades and depths of feeling. The
+speaker will diligently search for unwritten meanings in words; he will
+study, whenever possible, masterpieces of painting and sculpture; he
+will closely observe the natural feeling of well-bred children, as shown
+in their conversation; and in many other ways that will suggest
+themselves, he will daily develop his emotional and spiritual powers of
+expression.
+
+The science of preaching is important, but so, too, is the art of
+preaching. A powerful pulpit is one of the needs of the times. A
+congregation readily recognizes a preacher of strong convictions, broad
+sympathies, and consecrated personality. An affectionate nature in a
+minister, manifesting itself in voice, face, and manner, will attract
+and influence men, while a harsh, rigid, vehement manner will as easily
+repel them.
+
+It is to be feared that many sermons are written with too much regard
+for "literary deportment on paper," and too little thought of their
+value as pulsating messages to men.
+
+The preacher should train himself to take tight hold of his thought, to
+grip it with mental firmness and fervor, that he may afterward convey it
+to others with definiteness and vigor. Thoughts vaguely conceived and
+held tremblingly in the mind will manifest a like character when
+uttered. Into the writing of the sermon put vitality and intensity, and
+these qualities will find their natural place in delivery. Thrill of the
+pen should precede thrill of the voice. The habit of Dickens of acting
+out the characters he was depicting on paper could be copied to
+advantage by the preacher, and frequently during the writing of his
+sermon he might stand and utter his thoughts aloud to test their power
+and effectiveness upon an imaginary congregation.
+
+There should be the most thorough cultivation of the inner sources of
+the preacher, whereby the spiritual and emotional forces are so aroused
+and brought under control as to respond promptly and accurately to all
+the speaker's requirements. There should be assiduous training of the
+speaking voice as the instrument of expression and the natural outlet
+for thought and feeling. In the combined cultivation of these two
+essentials of expression--spirit and voice--the minister will find the
+true secret of effective pulpit preaching.
+
+
+
+
+CARE OF THE SPEAKER'S THROAT
+
+
+The throat as a vital part of the public speaker's work in speaking is
+worthy of the greatest care and consideration. It is surprising that so
+little attention is given to vocal hygiene, when it is remembered that a
+serious weakness or affection of the throat may disqualify a speaker for
+important work. The delicate and intricate machinery of the vocal
+apparatus renders it peculiarly susceptible to misuse or exposure. The
+common defects of nasality, throatiness, and harshness, are due to wrong
+and careless use of the speaking-instrument.
+
+In the training of the public speaker the first step is to bring the
+breathing apparatus under proper control. That is to say, the speaker
+must accustom himself, through careful practise, to use the abdominal
+method of breathing, and to keep his throat free from the strain to
+which it is commonly subjected. This form of breathing is not difficult
+to acquire, since it simply means that during inhalation the abdomen is
+expanded, and during exhalation it is contracted. It should be no longer
+necessary to warn the speaker to breathe exclusively through the nose
+when not actually using the voice. While speaking he must so completely
+control the breath that not a particle of it can escape without giving
+up its equivalent in sound.
+
+"Clergyman's sore throat" is the result of improper use or overstraining
+of the voice. Sometimes the earnestness of the preacher causes him to
+"clutch" each word with the vocal muscles, instead of using the throat
+as an open channel through which the voice may flow with ease and
+freedom. Many speakers, in an endeavor to be heard at a great distance,
+employ too loud a tone, forgetting that the essential thing is a clear
+and distinct articulation. To speak continuously in high pitch, or
+through half-closed teeth, almost invariably causes distress of throat.
+Most throat troubles may be set down to a lack of proper elocutionary
+training. To keep the voice and throat in order there should be regular
+daily practise, if only for ten minutes. The example might profitably
+be followed of certain actors who make a practise of humming
+occasionally during the day while engaged in other duties, as a means of
+keeping the voice musical and resonant.
+
+When the throat becomes husky or weak it is a timely warning from nature
+that it needs rest and relaxation. To continue to engage in public
+speaking under these circumstances is often attended with great danger,
+resulting sometimes in total loss of voice. It is economy in the end to
+discontinue the use of the voice when there is a serious cold or the
+throat is otherwise affected. Nervousness, anxiety, or unusual mental
+exertion may cause a vocal breakdown. For this condition rest is
+recommended, together with gentle massaging of the throat with cold
+water mixed with a little vinegar or _eau de Cologne_.
+
+A public speaker should not engage in protracted conversation
+immediately after a speech. The sudden transition from an auditorium to
+the outer air should remind the speaker to keep his mouth securely
+closed. The general physical condition of the speaker has much to do
+with the vigor and clearness of his voice. A daily plunge into cold
+water, or at least a sponging of the entire surface of the body, besides
+being a tonic luxury, greatly invigorates the throat and abdominal
+muscles. After the "tub" a vigorous rubbing with towel and hands should
+produce a glow.
+
+To the frequent question whether smoking is injurious to the throat, it
+is safe to say that the weight of authority and experience favors
+abstinence. Any one who has spoken for half an hour or more in a
+smoke-clouded room, knows the distressing effect it has had upon the
+sensitive lining of the throat. It must be obvious, therefore, that the
+constant inhaling of smoke must even more directly irritate the mucous
+membrane.
+
+The diet of the public speaker should be reasonably moderate, and the
+extremes of hot and cold avoided. The use of ice-water is to be
+discouraged. Many drugs and lozenges are positively injurious to the
+throat. For habitual dryness of throat a glycerine or honey tablet will
+usually obviate the trouble. Dr. Morell Mackenzie, the eminent English
+throat specialist, condemns the use of alcohol as pernicious, and
+affirms that "even in a comparatively mild form it keeps the delicate
+tissues in a state of congestion which makes them particularly liable to
+inflammation from cold or other causes."
+
+It must not be assumed that the throat is to be pampered. A reasonable
+amount of exposure will harden it and to this extent is desirable. To
+muffle the throat with a scarf, unless demanded by special conditions,
+may make it unduly sensitive and increase the danger of taking cold when
+the head is turned from side to side.
+
+A leading physician confirms the opinion that the best gargle for daily
+use is that of warm water and salt. This should be used every night and
+morning to cleanse and invigorate the throat. Where there is a tendency
+to catarrh a solution made of peroxide of hydrogen, witch-hazel, and
+water, in equal parts, will prove efficacious. Nothing should be snuffed
+up the nose except under the direction of a physician, lest it cause
+deafness.
+
+Many speakers and singers have a favorite nostrum for improving the
+voice. The long and amusing list includes hot milk, tea, coffee,
+champagne, raw eggs, lemonade, apples, raisins,--and sardines! A good
+rule is to eat sparingly if the meal is taken just before speaking. It
+need hardly be said that serious vocal defects, such as enlarged
+tonsils, elongated uvula, and abnormal growths in the throat and nose
+are subjects for the specialist.
+
+Whenever possible a speaker should test beforehand the acoustic
+properties of the auditorium in which he is to speak for the first time.
+A helpful plan is to have a friend seat himself at the back of the hall
+or church, and give his opinion of the quality and projecting power of
+the speaker's voice. It is difficult to judge one's own voice because it
+is conveyed to him not only from the outside but also through the
+Eustachian tube and modified by the vibratory parts of the throat and
+head. A speaker never hears his own voice as it is heard by another.
+
+Nothing, perhaps, is so taxing to the throat as long-continued speaking
+in one quality of tone. There are two distinct registers which should be
+judiciously alternated by the speaker. These are the "chest" register,
+in which the vocal cords vibrate their whole length, and the quality of
+tone derives most of its character from the chest cavity; and the "head"
+register, in which the vocal cords vibrate only in part, and the quality
+of tone is reenforced by the resonators of the face, mouth, and head.
+The first of these registers is sometimes called the "orotund" voice
+from its quality of roundness, and is employed principally in language
+of reverence, sublimity, and grandeur.
+
+The head tone is the voice of ordinary conversation and should form the
+basis of the public-speaking style.
+
+No one who has to speak in public should be discouraged because of
+limited vocal resources. Many of the foremost orators began with marked
+disadvantages in this respect, but made these shortcomings an incentive
+to higher effort. One well-known speaker makes up for lack of vocal
+power by extreme distinctness of enunciation, while another offsets an
+unpleasantly heavy quality of voice by skilful modulation.
+
+A few easily remembered suggestions are:
+
+1. Rest the voice for an hour or two before speaking in public.
+
+2. Gargle the throat night and morning with salt and water.
+
+3. Never force the voice.
+
+4. Avoid all occasions that strain the voice, such as prolonged
+conversation, speaking against noise, or in cold and damp air.
+
+5. Practise deep breathing until it becomes an unconscious habit.
+
+6. Favor an outdoor life.
+
+7. Hum or sing a little every day.
+
+8. Discontinue public speaking when there is a severe cold or other
+affection of the throat.
+
+9. Rest the voice and body immediately after speaking in public.
+
+
+
+
+DON'TS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS
+
+
+     Don't rant.
+     Don't prate.
+     Don't fidget.
+     Don't flatter.
+     Don't declaim.
+     Don't be glib.
+     Don't hesitate.
+     Don't be nasal.
+     Don't apologize.
+     Don't dogmatize.
+     Don't be slangy.
+     Don't antagonize.
+     Don't be awkward.
+     Don't be violent.
+     Don't be personal.
+     Don't be "funny."
+     Don't attitudinize.
+     Don't be monotonous.
+     Don't speak rapidly.
+     Don't sway your body.
+     Don't be long-winded.
+     Don't "hem" and "haw."
+     Don't praise yourself.
+     Don't overgesticulate.
+     Don't pace the platform.
+     Don't clear your throat.
+     Don't "point with pride."
+     Don't tell a long story.
+     Don't rise on your toes.
+     Don't distort your words.
+     Don't stand like a statue.
+     Don't address the ceiling.
+     Don't speak in a high key.
+     Don't emphasize everything.
+     Don't drink while speaking.
+     Don't fatigue your audience.
+     Don't exceed your time limit.
+     Don't talk for talking's sake.
+     Don't wander from your subject.
+     Don't fumble with your clothes.
+     Don't speak through closed teeth.
+     Don't put your hands on your hips.
+     Don't fail to stop when you have ended.
+
+
+
+
+DO'S FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS
+
+
+     Be prepared.
+     Begin slowly.
+     Be modest.
+     Speak distinctly.
+     Address all your hearers.
+     Be uniformly courteous.
+     Prune your sentences.
+     Cultivate mental alertness.
+     Conceal your method.
+     Be scrupulously clear.
+     Feel sure of yourself.
+     Look your audience in the eyes.
+     Be direct.
+     Favor your deep tones.
+     Speak deliberately.
+     Get to your facts.
+     Be earnest.
+     Observe your pauses.
+     Suit the action to the word.
+     Be yourself at your best.
+     Speak fluently.
+     Use your abdominal muscles.
+     Make yourself interesting.
+     Be conversational.
+     Conciliate your opponent.
+     Rouse yourself.
+     Be logical.
+     Have your wits about you.
+     Be considerate.
+     Open your mouth.
+     Speak authoritatively.
+     Cultivate sincerity.
+     Cultivate brevity.
+     Cultivate tact.
+     End swiftly.
+
+
+
+
+POINTS FOR SPEAKERS
+
+
+As far as possible avoid the following hackneyed phrases:
+
+     I rise with diffidence
+     Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking
+     By a happy stroke of fate
+     It becomes my painful duty
+     In the last analysis
+     I am encouraged to go on
+     I point with pride
+     On the other hand (with gesture)
+     I hold
+     The vox populi
+     Be that as it may
+     I shall not detain you
+     As the hour is growing late
+     Believe me
+     We view with alarm
+     As I was about to tell you
+     The happiest day of my life
+     It falls to my lot
+     I can say no more
+     In the fluff and bloom
+     I can only hint
+     I can say nothing
+     I cannot find words
+     The fact is
+     To my mind
+     I cannot sufficiently do justice
+     I fear
+     All I can say is
+     I shall not inflict a speech on you
+     Far be it from me
+     Rise phoenix-like from his ashes
+     But alas!
+     What more can I say?
+     At this late period of the evening
+     It is hardly necessary to say
+     I cannot allow the opportunity to pass
+     For, mark you
+     I have already taken up too much time
+     I might talk to you for hours
+     Looking back upon my childhood
+     We can imagine the scene
+     I haven't the time nor ability
+     Ah, no, dear friends
+     One more word and I have done
+     I will now conclude
+     I really must stop
+     I have done.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIBLE ON SPEECH
+
+
+How forcible are right words!
+
+To every thing there is a season, a time to keep silence, and a time to
+speak.
+
+Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
+
+Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
+is good to the use of edifying.
+
+Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
+
+Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may
+know how ye ought to answer every man.
+
+Be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
+
+Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking,
+be put away from you.
+
+Know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.
+
+Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable
+in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHTS ON TALKING
+
+
+To make a good talker, genius and learning, even wit and eloquence, are
+insufficient; to these, in all or in part, must be added in some degree
+the talents of active life. The character has as much to do with
+colloquial power as has the intellect; the temperament, feelings, and
+animal spirits, even more, perhaps, than the mental gifts. "Napoleon
+said things which tell in history like his battles. Luther's Table-Talk
+glows with the fire that burnt the Pope's bull." Cæsar, Cicero,
+Themistocles, Lord Bacon, Selden, Talleyrand, and, in our own country,
+Aaron Burr, Jefferson, Webster, and Choate, were all, more or less, men
+of action. Sir Walter Scott tells us that, at a great dinner party, he
+thought the lawyers beat the Bishops as talkers, and the Bishops the
+wits. Nearly all great orators have been fine talkers. Lord Chatham, who
+could electrify the House of Lords by pronouncing the word "Sugar," but
+who in private was but commonplace, was an exception; but the
+conversation of Pitt and Fox was brilliant and fascinating,--that of
+Burke, rambling, but splendid, rich and instructive, beyond description.
+The latter was the only man in the famous "Literary Club" who could cope
+with Johnson. The Doctor confessed that in Burke he had a foeman worthy
+of his steel. On one occasion, when debilitated by sickness, he said:
+"That fellow calls forth all my powers. Were I to see Burke now, it
+would kill me." At another time he said: "Burke, sir, is such a man
+that, if you met him for the first time in the street, where you were
+stopped by a drove of oxen, and you and he stepped aside to take shelter
+but for five minutes, he'd talk to you in such a manner, that when you
+parted you'd say--'This is an extraordinary man.'" "Can he wind into a
+subject like a serpent, as Burke does?" asked Goldsmith of a certain
+talker. Fox said that he had derived more political information from
+Burke's conversation alone than from books, science, and all his worldly
+experience put together. Moore finely says of the same conversation,
+that it must have been like the procession of a Roman triumph,
+exhibiting power and riches at every step, occasionally mingling the low
+Fescennine jest with the lofty music of the march, but glittering all
+over with the spoils of a ransacked world.
+
+--_Mathews._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The fault of literary conversation in general is its too great
+tenaciousness. It fastens upon a subject, and will not let it go. It
+resembles a battle rather than a skirmish, and makes a toil of a
+pleasure. Perhaps it does this from necessity, from a consciousness of
+wanting the more familiar graces, the power to sport and trifle, to
+touch lightly and adorn agreeably, every view or turn of a question _en
+passant_, as it arises. Those who have a reputation to lose are too
+ambitious of shining, to please. "To excel in conversation," said an
+ingenious man, "one must not be always striving to say good things: to
+say one good thing, one must say many bad, and more indifferent ones."
+This desire to shine without the means at hand, often makes men
+silent:--
+
+     The fear of being silent strikes us dumb.
+
+A writer who has been accustomed to take a connected view of a
+difficult question and to work it out gradually in all its bearings, may
+be very deficient in that quickness and ease which men of the world, who
+are in the habit of hearing a variety of opinions, who pick up an
+observation on one subject, and another on another, and who care about
+none any further than the passing away of an idle hour, usually acquire.
+An author has studied a particular point--he has read, he has inquired,
+he has thought a great deal upon it: he is not contented to take it up
+casually in common with others, to throw out a hint, to propose an
+objection: he will either remain silent, uneasy, and dissatisfied, or he
+will begin at the beginning, and go through with it to the end. He is
+for taking the whole responsibility upon himself. He would be thought to
+understand the subject better than others, or indeed would show that
+nobody else knows anything about it. There are always three or four
+points on which the literary novice at his first outset in life fancies
+he can enlighten every company, and bear down all opposition: but he is
+cured of this quixotic and pugnacious spirit, as he goes more into the
+world, where he finds that there are other opinions and other
+pretensions to be adjusted besides his own. When this asperity wears
+off, and a certain scholastic precocity is mellowed down, the
+conversation of men of letters becomes both interesting and instructive.
+Men of the world have no fixed principles, no groundwork of thought:
+mere scholars have too much an object, a theory always in view, to which
+they wrest everything, and not unfrequently, common sense itself. By
+mixing with society, they rub off their hardness of manner, and
+impracticable, offensive singularity, while they retain a greater depth
+and coherence of understanding. There is more to be learnt from them
+than from their books.
+
+--_Hazlitt._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are some people whose good manners will not suffer them to
+interrupt you, but, what is almost as bad, will discover abundance of
+impatience, and lie upon the watch until you have done, because they
+have started something in their own thoughts, which they long to be
+delivered of. Meantime, they are so far from regarding what passes, that
+their imaginations are wholly turned upon what they have in reserve, for
+fear it should slip out of their memory; and thus they confine their
+invention, which might otherwise range over a hundred things full as
+good, and that might be much more naturally introduced.
+
+There is a sort of rude familiarity, which some people, by practising
+among their intimates, have introduced into their general conversation,
+and would have it pass for innocent freedom or humor; which is a
+dangerous experiment in our northern climate, where all the little
+decorum and politeness we have are purely forced by art, and are so
+ready to lapse into barbarity. This, among the Romans, was the raillery
+of slaves, of which we have many instances in Plautus. It seems to have
+been introduced among us by Cromwell, who, by preferring the scum of the
+people, made it a court entertainment, of which I have heard many
+particulars; and, considering all things were turned upside down, it was
+reasonable and judicious; although it was a piece of policy found out
+to ridicule a point of honor in the other extreme, when the smallest
+word misplaced among gentlemen ended in a duel.
+
+There are some men excellent at telling a story, and provided with a
+plentiful stock of them, which they can draw out upon occasion in all
+companies, and, considering how low conversation runs now among us, it
+is not altogether a contemptible talent; however, it is subject to two
+unavoidable defects, frequent repetition, and being soon exhausted; so,
+that, whoever values this gift in himself, has need of a good memory,
+and ought frequently to shift his company, that he may not discover the
+weakness of his fund; for those who are thus endued have seldom any
+other revenue, but live upon the main stock.
+
+--_Swift._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The highest and best of all the moral conditions for conversation is
+what we call tact. I say a condition, for it is very doubtful whether it
+can be called a single and separate quality; more probably it is a
+combination of intellectual quickness with lively sympathy. But so
+clearly is it an intellectual quality, that of all others it can be
+greatly improved, if not actually acquired, by long experience in
+society. Like all social excellences it is almost given as a present to
+some people, while others with all possible labor never acquire it. As
+in billiard-playing, shooting, cricket, and all these other facilities
+which are partly mental and partly physical, many never can pass a
+certain point of mediocrity; but still even those who have the talent
+must practise it, and only become really distinguished after hard work.
+So it is in art. Music and painting are not to be attained by the crowd.
+Not even the just criticism of these arts is attainable without certain
+natural gifts; but a great deal of practice in good galleries and at
+good concerts, and years spent among artists, will do much to make even
+moderately-endowed people sound judges of excellence.
+
+Tact, which is the sure and quick judgment of what is suitable and
+agreeable in society, is likewise one of those delicate and subtle
+qualities or a combination of qualities which is not very easily
+defined, and therefore not teachable by fixed precepts. Some people
+attain it through sympathy; others through natural intelligence; others
+through a calm temper; others again by observing closely the mistakes of
+their neighbors. As its name implies, it is a sensitive touch in social
+matters, which feels small changes of temperature, and so guesses at
+changes of temper; which sees the passing cloud on the expression of one
+face, or the eagerness of another that desires to bring out something
+personal for others to enjoy. This quality of tact is of course
+applicable far beyond mere actual conversation. In nothing is it more
+useful than in preparing the right conditions for a pleasant society, in
+choosing the people who will be in mutual sympathy, in thinking over
+pleasant subjects of talk and suggesting them, in seeing that all
+disturbing conditions are kept out, and that the members who are to
+converse should be all without those small inconveniences which damage
+society so vastly out of proportion to their intrinsic importance.
+
+--_Mahaffy._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the course of our life we have heard much of what was reputed to be
+the select conversation of the day, and we have heard many of those who
+figured at the moment as effective talkers; yet, in mere sincerity, and
+without a vestige of misanthropic retrospect, we must say that never
+once has it happened to us to come away from any display of that nature
+without intense disappointment; and it always appeared to us that this
+failure (which soon ceased to be a disappointment) was inevitable by a
+necessity of the case. For here lay the stress of the difficulty: almost
+all depends in most trials of skill upon the parity of those who are
+matched against each other. An ignorant person supposes that to an able
+disputant it must be an advantage to have a feeble opponent; whereas, on
+the contrary, it is ruin to him; for he can not display his own powers
+but through something of a corresponding power in the resistance of his
+antagonist. A brilliant fencer is lost and confounded in playing with a
+novice; and the same thing takes place in playing at ball, or
+battledore, or in dancing, where a powerless partner does not enable you
+to shine the more, but reduces you to mere helplessness, and takes the
+wind altogether out of your sails. Now, if by some rare good luck the
+great talker, the protagonist, of the evening has been provided with a
+commensurate second, it is just possible that something like a brilliant
+"passage of arms" may be the result,--though much even in that case will
+depend on the chances of the moment for furnishing a fortunate theme,
+and even then, amongst the superior part of the company, a feeling of
+deep vulgarity and of mountebank display is inseparable from such an
+ostentatious duel of wit. On the other hand, supposing your great talker
+to be received like any other visitor, and turned loose upon the
+company, then he must do one of two things: either he will talk upon
+_outré_ subjects specially tabooed to his own private use,--in which
+case the great man has the air of a quack-doctor addressing a mob from a
+street stage; or else he will talk like ordinary people upon popular
+topics,--in which case the company, out of natural politeness, that they
+may not seem to be staring at him as a lion, will hasten to meet him in
+the same style, the conversation will become general, the great man
+will seem reasonable and well-bred, but at the same time, we grieve to
+say it, the great man will have been extinguished by being drawn off
+from his exclusive ground. The dilemma, in short, is this:--If the great
+talker attempts the plan of showing off by firing cannon-shot when
+everybody else is content with musketry, then undoubtedly he produces an
+impression, but at the expense of insulating himself from the sympathies
+of the company, and standing aloof as a sort of monster hired to play
+tricks of funambulism for the night. Yet, again, if he contents himself
+with a musket like other people, then for us, from whom he modestly
+hides his talents under a bushel, in what respect is he different from
+the man who has no such talent?
+
+--_De Quincey._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some, in their discourse, desire rather commendation of wit, in being
+able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in discerning what is
+true; as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what
+should be thought. Some have certain commonplaces and themes wherein
+they are good, and want variety; which kind of poverty is for the most
+part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The
+honorablest part of talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate
+and pass to somewhat else; for then a man leads the dance. It is good in
+discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary, and intermingle speech
+of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of
+questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a
+dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade any thing too far. As
+for jest, there be certain things which ought to be privileged from it,
+namely, religion, matters of State, great persons, any man's present
+business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity; yet there be
+some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out
+somewhat that is piquant, and to the quick. That is a vein which would
+be bridled; _Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris._ And,
+generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and
+bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh
+others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. He
+that questioneth much shall learn much, and content much, but
+especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he
+asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in
+speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge: but let his
+questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him
+be sure to leave other men their turns to speak: nay, if there be any
+that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take
+them off, and to bring others on, as musicians use to do with those that
+dance too long galliards. If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of
+that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to
+know that you know not. Speech of a man's self ought to be seldom, and
+well chosen. I knew one was wont to say in scorn, "He must needs be a
+wise man, he speaks so much of himself;" and there is but one case
+wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is in
+commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue
+whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch towards others should be
+sparingly used; for discourse ought to be as a field, without coming
+home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England,
+whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his
+house; the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table,
+"Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry blow given?" To which the
+guest would answer, "Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say,
+"I thought he would mar a good dinner." Discretion of speech is more
+than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more
+than to speak in good words, or in good order. A good continued speech,
+without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good
+reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth
+shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those that are
+weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn; as it is betwixt
+the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances, ere one come
+to the matter, is wearisome; to use none at all, is blunt.
+
+--_Bacon._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Think as little as possible about any good in yourself; turn your eyes
+resolutely from any view of your acquirement, your influence, your
+plan, your success, your following: above all, speak as little as
+possible about yourself. The inordinateness of our self-love makes
+speech about ourselves like the putting of the lighted torch to the
+dried wood which has been laid in order for the burning. Nothing but
+duty should open our lips upon this dangerous theme, except it be in
+humble confession of our sinfulness before our God. Again, be specially
+upon the watch against those little tricks by which the vain man seeks
+to bring round the conversation to himself, and gain the praise or
+notice which the thirsty ears drink in so greedily; and even if praise
+comes unsought, it is well, whilst men are uttering it, to guard
+yourself by thinking of some secret cause for humbling yourself inwardly
+to God; thinking into what these pleasant accents would be changed if
+all that is known to God, and even to yourself, stood suddenly revealed
+to man.
+
+--_Bishop Wilberforce._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In speaking of the duty of pleasing others, it will not be necessary to
+dwell on the ordinary courtesies and lesser kindnesses of our daily
+living, any further than to observe that none of these things, however
+trifling, is beneath the notice of a good man, ... but I mention one
+thing, because I think that we are most of us apt to be rather deficient
+in it, and that is in the trying to suit ourselves to the tastes and
+views of persons whose professions or inclinations, or situation in
+life, differ widely from our own.... As a general rule, no man can fall
+into conversation with another without being able to learn something
+valuable from him. But in order to get at this benefit there must be
+something of an accommodating spirit on both sides; each must be ready
+to hear candidly and to answer fairly; each must try to please the
+other. We all suffer from the want of acquaintance with the habits and
+opinions and feelings of different classes of society.
+
+--_Dr. Arnold._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If you would be loved as a companion, avoid unnecessary criticism upon
+those with whom you live. The number of people who have taken out
+judges' patents for themselves is very large in any society. Now it
+would be hard for a man to live with another who was always criticising
+his actions, even if it were kindly and just criticism. It would be like
+living between the glasses of a microscope. But these self-elected
+judges, like their prototypes, are very apt to have the persons they
+judge brought before them in the guise of culprits.
+
+Let not familiarity swallow up old courtesy. Many of us have a habit of
+saying to those with whom we live such things as we say about strangers
+behind their backs. There is no place, however, where real politeness is
+of more value than where we mostly think it would be superfluous. You
+may say more truth, or rather speak out more plainly to your associates,
+but not less courteously than to strangers.
+
+--_Helps._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Much of the sorrow of life springs from the accumulation, day by day and
+year by year, of little trials--a letter written in less than courteous
+terms, a wrangle at the breakfast table over some arrangement of the
+day, the rudeness of an acquaintance on the way to the city, an
+unfriendly act on the part of another firm, a cruel criticism
+needlessly reported by some meddler, a feline amenity at afternoon tea,
+the disobedience of one of your children, a social slight by one of your
+circle, a controversy too hotly conducted. The trials within this class
+are innumerable, and consider, not one of them is inevitable, not one of
+them but might have been spared if we or our brother man had had a grain
+of kindliness. Our social insolences, our irritating manners, our
+censorious judgment, our venomous letters, our pin pricks in
+conversation, are all forms of deliberate unkindness, and are all
+evidences of an ill-conditioned nature.
+
+--_John Watson._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If this be one of our chief duties--promoting the happiness of our
+neighbors--most certainly there is nothing which so entirely runs
+counter to it, and makes it impossible, as an undisciplined temper. For
+of all the things that are to be met with here on earth, there is
+nothing which can give such continual, such cutting, such useless pain.
+The touchy and sensitive temper, which takes offence at a word; the
+irritable temper, which finds offence in everything whether intended or
+not; the violent temper, which breaks through all bounds of reason when
+once roused; the jealous or sullen temper, which wears a cloud on the
+face all day, and never utters a word of complaint; the discontented
+temper, brooding over its own wrongs; the severe temper, which always
+looks at the worst side of whatever is done; the wilful temper, which
+overrides every scruple to gratify a whim,--what an amount of pain have
+these caused in the hearts of men, if we could but sum up their results!
+How many a soul have they stirred to evil impulses; how many a prayer
+have they stifled; how many an emotion of true affection have they
+turned to bitterness! How hard they sometimes make all duties! How
+painful they make all daily life! How they kill the sweetest and warmest
+of domestic charities! The misery caused by other sins is often much
+deeper and much keener, more disastrous, more terrible to the sight; but
+the accumulated pain caused by ill-temper must, I verily believe, if
+added together, outweigh all other pains that men have to bear from one
+another.
+
+--_Bishop Temple._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Wicked is the slander which gossips away a character in an afternoon,
+and runs lightly over a whole series of acquaintances, leaving a drop of
+poison on them all, some suspicion, or some ominous silence--"Have you
+not heard?"--"No one would believe it, but--!" and then silence; while
+the shake of the head, or the shrug of the shoulders, finishes the
+sentence with a mute meaning worse than words. Do you ever think of the
+irrevocable nature of speech? The things you say are often said forever.
+You may find, years after your light word was spoken, that it has made a
+whole life unhappy, or ruined the peace of a household. It was well said
+by St. James, "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth
+not his tongue, that man's religion is vain."
+
+--_Stopford Brooke._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because
+inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and
+passions, is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit. But
+the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts,
+because that is essential to internal recollection, and because it lays
+a foundation for a proper regulation and silence in other respects.
+
+--_Madame Guyon._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The example of our Lord, as He humbly and calmly takes the rebuff, and
+turns to go to another village, may help us in the ordinary ways of
+ordinary daily life. The little things that vex us in the manner or the
+words of those with whom we have to do; the things which seem to us so
+inconsiderate, or wilful, or annoying, that we think it impossible to
+get on with the people who are capable of them; the mistakes which no
+one, we say, has any right to make; the shallowness, or conventionality,
+or narrowness, or positiveness in talk which makes us wince and tempts
+us towards the cruelty and wickedness of scorn;--surely in all these
+things, and in many others like them, of which conscience may be ready
+enough to speak to most of us, there are really opportunities for thus
+following the example of our Saviour's great humility and patience. How
+many friendships we might win or keep, how many chances of serving
+others we might find, how many lessons we might learn, how much of
+unsuspected moral beauty might be disclosed around us, if only we were
+more careful to give people time, to stay judgment, to trust that they
+will see things more justly, speak of them more wisely, after a while.
+We are sure to go on closing doors of sympathy, and narrowing in the
+interests and opportunities of work around us, if we let ourselves
+imagine that we can quickly measure the capacities and sift the
+characters of our fellow-men.
+
+--_Bishop Paget._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How much squandering there is of the voice! How little is there of the
+advantage that may come from conversational tones! How seldom does a man
+dare to acquit himself with pathos and fervor! And the men are
+themselves mechanical and methodical in the bad way, who are most afraid
+of the artificial training that is given in the schools, and who so
+often show by the fruit of their labor that the want of oratory is the
+want of education.
+
+How remarkable is sweetness of voice in the mother, in the father, in
+the household! The music of no chorded instruments brought together is,
+for sweetness, like the music of familiar affection when spoken by
+brother and sister, or by father and mother.
+
+Conversation itself belongs to oratory. How many men there are who are
+weighty in argument, who have abundant resources, and who are almost
+boundless in their power at other times and in other places, but who,
+when in company among their kind, are exceedingly unapt in their
+methods. Having none of the secret instruments by which the elements of
+nature may be touched, having no skill and no power in this direction,
+they stand as machines before living, sensitive men. A man may be as a
+master before an instrument; only the instrument is dead; and he has the
+living hand; and out of that dead instrument what wondrous harmony
+springs forth at his touch! And if you can electrify an audience by the
+power of a living man on dead things, how much more should that audience
+be electrified when the chords are living and the man is alive, and he
+knows how to touch them with divine inspiration!
+
+--_Beecher._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Every one endeavors to make himself as agreeable to society as he can;
+but it often happens that those who most aim at shining in conversation,
+overshoot their mark. Tho a man succeeds, he should not (as is
+frequently the case) engross the whole talk to himself; for that
+destroys the very essence of conversation, which is talking together. We
+should try to keep up conversation like a ball bandied to and fro from
+one to the other, rather than seize it all to ourselves, and drive it
+before us like a football. We should likewise be cautious to adapt the
+matter of our discourse to our company, and not talk Greek before
+ladies, or of the last new furbelow to a meeting of country justices.
+
+But nothing throws a more ridiculous air over our whole conversation
+than certain peculiarities easily acquired, but very difficultly
+conquered and discarded. In order to display these absurdities in a
+truer light, it is my present purpose to enumerate such of them as are
+most commonly to be met with; and first to take notice of those buffons
+in society, the Attitudinarians and Face-makers. These accompany every
+word with a peculiar grimace or gesture; they assent with a shrug, and
+contradict with a twisting of the neck; are angry by a wry mouth, and
+pleased in a caper or minuet step. They may be considered as speaking
+harlequins; and their rules of eloquence are taken from the
+posture-master. These should be condemned to converse only in dumb show
+with their own persons in the looking-glass, as well as the Smirkers and
+Smilers, who so prettily set off their faces, together with their words,
+by a _je-ne-sais-quoi_ between a grin and a dimple. With these we may
+likewise rank the affected tribe of mimics, who are constantly taking
+off the peculiar tone of voice or gesture of their acquaintance, tho
+they are such wretched imitators, that (like bad painters) they are
+frequently forced to write the name under the picture before we can
+discover any likeness.
+
+Next to these whose elocution is absorbed in action, and who converse
+chiefly with their arms and legs, we may consider the Profest Speakers.
+And first, the Emphatical, who squeeze, and press, and ram down every
+syllable with excessive vehemence and energy. These orators are
+remarkable for their distinct elocution and force of expression; they
+dwell on the important particulars _of_ and _the_, and the significant
+conjunction _and_, which they seem to hawk up, with much difficulty, out
+of their own throats, and to cram them, with no less pain, into the ears
+of their auditors. These should be suffered only to syringe (as it were)
+the ears of a deaf man, through a hearing-trumpet; tho I must confess
+that I am equally offended with the Whisperers or Low-speakers, who seem
+to fancy all their acquaintance deaf, and come up so close to you that
+they may be said to measure noses with you, and frequently overcome you
+with the full exhalations of a foul breath. I would have these oracular
+gentry obliged to speak at a distance through a speaking-trumpet, or
+apply their lips to the walls of a whispering-gallery. The Wits who will
+not condescend to utter anything but a _bon-mot_, and the Whistlers or
+Tune-hummers, who never articulate at all, may be joined very agreeably
+together in concert; and to these tinkling cymbals I would also add the
+sounding brass, the Bawler, who inquires after your health with the
+bellowing of a town-crier.
+
+The Tattlers, whose pliable pipes are admirably adapted to the "soft
+parts of conversation," and sweetly "prattling out of fashion," make
+very pretty music from a beautiful face and a female tongue; but from a
+rough manly voice and coarse features mere nonsense is as harsh and
+dissonant as a jig from a hurdy-gurdy. The Swearers I have spoken of in
+a former paper; but the Half-Swearers, who split and mince, and fritter
+their oaths into "gad's but," "ad's fish," and "demme," the Gothic
+Humbuggers, and those who nickname God's creatures, and call a man a
+cabbage, a crab, a queer cub, an odd fish, and an unaccountable skin,
+should never come into company without an interpreter. But I will not
+tire my reader's patience by pointing out all the pests of conversation,
+nor dwell particularly on the Sensibles, who pronounce dogmatically on
+the most trivial points, and speak in sentences; the Wonderers, who are
+always wondering what o'clock it is, or wondering whether it will rain
+or no, or wondering when the moon changes; the Phraseologists, who
+explain a thing by all that, or enter into particulars, with this and
+that and t'other; and lastly, the Silent Men, who seem afraid of
+opening their mouths lest they should catch cold, and literally observe
+the precept of the Gospel, by letting their conversation be only yea and
+nay.
+
+The rational intercourse kept up by conversation is one of our principal
+distinctions from brutes. We should, therefore, endeavor to turn this
+peculiar talent to our advantage, and consider the organs of speech as
+the instruments of understanding; we should be very careful not to use
+them as the weapons of vice, or tools of folly, and do our utmost to
+unlearn any trivial or ridiculous habits, which tend to lessen the value
+of such an inestimable prerogative. It is, indeed, imagined by some
+philosophers, that even birds and beasts (tho without the power of
+articulation) perfectly understand one another by the sounds they utter;
+and that dogs, cats, etc., have each a particular language to
+themselves, like different nations. Thus it may be supposed that the
+nightingales of Italy have as fine an ear for their own native woodnotes
+as any signor or signora for an Italian air; that the boars of
+Westphalia gruntle as expressively through the nose as the inhabitants
+in High German; and that the frogs in the dykes of Holland croak as
+intelligibly as the natives jabber their Low Dutch. However this may be,
+we may consider those whose tongues hardly seem to be under the
+influence of reason, and do not keep up the proper conversation of human
+creatures, as imitating the language of different animals. Thus, for
+instance, the affinity between Chatterers and Monkeys, and Praters and
+Parrots, is too obvious not to occur at once; Grunters and Growlers may
+be justly compared to Hogs; Snarlers are Curs that continually show
+their teeth, but never bite; and the Spitfire passionate are a sort of
+wild cats that will not bear stroking, but will purr when they are
+pleased. Complainers are Screech-Owls; and Story-Tellers, always
+repeating the same dull note, are Cuckoos. Poets that prick up their
+ears at their own hideous braying are no better than Asses. Critics in
+general are venomous Serpents that delight in hissing, and some of them
+who have got by heart a few technical terms without knowing their
+meaning are no other than Magpies. I, myself, who have crowed to the
+whole town for near three years past may perhaps put my readers in mind
+of a Barnyard Cock; but as I must acquaint them that they will hear the
+last of me on this day fortnight, I hope that they will then consider me
+as a Swan, who is supposed to sing sweetly at his dying moments.
+
+--_Cowper._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never
+inflicts pain. This description is both refined, and, so far as it goes,
+accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which
+hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him, and he
+concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself.
+His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called the
+comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature--like an
+easy chair or a good fire, which do their best in dispelling cold and
+fatigue, tho nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without
+them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may
+cause a jar or a jolt in the mind of those with whom he is cast--all
+clashing of opinion or collision of feeling, all restraint or suspicion
+or gloom or resentment, his great concern being to make every one at
+ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company, he is tender
+toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the
+absurd. He can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against
+unseasonable allusions or topics which may irritate; he is seldom
+prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors
+when he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He
+never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by
+a mere retort; he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in
+imputing motive to those who interfere with him, and interprets
+everything for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes,
+never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp
+sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out.
+From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage,
+that we should ever conduct ourselves toward our enemy as if he were
+one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at
+insults. He is too well employed to remember injuries and too indolent
+to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned on philosophical
+principle; he submits to pain because it is inevitable, to bereavement,
+because it is irreparable, and to death because it is his destiny. If he
+engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves
+him from the blundering discourtesy of better, perhaps, but less
+educated minds, who, like blunt weapons, tear and hack instead of
+cutting clean, who mistake the point in argument, waste their strength
+on trifles, misconceive their adversary, and leave the question more
+involved than they find it. He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but
+he is too clear-headed to be unjust; he is as simple as he is forcible,
+and as brief as he is decisive. Nowhere shall we find greater candor,
+consideration, indulgence; he throws himself into the minds of his
+opponents, he accounts for their mistakes. He knows the weakness of
+human reason as well as its strength, its province, and its limits. If
+he can be an unbeliever, he will be too profound and large-minded to
+ridicule religion or to act against it; he is too wise to be a dogmatist
+or fanatic in his infidelity. He respects piety and devotion; he even
+supports institutions as venerable, beautiful or useful, to which he
+does not assent; he honors the ministers of religion, and it contents
+him to decline its mysteries without assailing or denouncing them. He is
+a friend of religious toleration, and that not only because his
+philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an
+impartial eye, but also from the gentleness and effeminacy of feeling
+which is attendant on civilization.
+
+--_Cardinal Newman._
+
+
+
+     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Talks on Talking, by Grenville Kleiser</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Talks on Talking, by Grenville Kleiser</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Talks on Talking</p>
+<p>Author: Grenville Kleiser</p>
+<p>Release Date: January 7, 2006  [eBook #17476]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALKS ON TALKING***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>Talks on Talking</h1>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+
+<h2>Grenville Kleiser</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity School,<br />
+Yale University; author of "How to Speak in Public,"<br />
+"How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking,"<br />
+"How to Develop Self-Confidence in<br />
+Speech and Manner," "How to Argue<br />
+and Win," "How to Read and<br />
+Declaim," "Complete<br />
+Guide to Public<br />
+Speaking,";<br />
+etc.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a name="illust-001.png" id="illust-001.png" ></a><img src="images/illust-001.png" width='100' height='97' alt="Publisher's logo" /></p>
+
+<p class='center'><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1916, by</span></p>
+
+<p class='center'>FUNK. &amp; WAGNALLS COMPANY</p>
+
+<p class='center'>(<span class="smcap">printed in the United States of America</span>)</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Published, September, 1916</p>
+
+<p class='center'>Copyright under the articles of the Copyright Convention of the
+Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="index">
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#PREFACE"><span class="smcap">Preface</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_ART_OF_TALKING"><span class="smcap">The Art of Talking</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#TYPES_OF_TALKERS"><span class="smcap">Types of Talkers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#TALKERS_AND_TALKING"><span class="smcap">Talkers and Talking</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#PHRASES_FOR_TALKERS"><span class="smcap">Phrases for Talkers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_SPEAKING_VOICE"><span class="smcap">The Speaking Voice</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#HOW_TO_TELL_A_STORY"><span class="smcap">How to Tell a Story</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#TALKING_IN_SALESMANSHIP"><span class="smcap">Talking in Salesmanship</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#MEN_AND_MANNERISMS"><span class="smcap">Men and Mannerisms</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#HOW_TO_SPEAK_IN_PUBLIC"><span class="smcap">How to Speak in Public</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#PRACTICAL_HINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS"><span class="smcap">Practical Hints for Speakers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_DRAMATIC_ELEMENT_IN_SPEAKING"><span class="smcap">The Dramatic Element in Speaking</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#CONVERSATION_AND_PUBLIC_SPEAKING"><span class="smcap">Conversation and Public Speaking</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#A_TALK_TO_PREACHERS"><span class="smcap">A Talk to Preachers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#CARE_OF_THE_SPEAKERS_THROAT"><span class="smcap">Care of the Speaker's Throat</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#DONTS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS"><span class="smcap">Don'ts for Public Speakers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#DOS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS"><span class="smcap">Do's for Public Speakers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#POINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS"><span class="smcap">Points for Speakers</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_BIBLE_ON_SPEECH"><span class="smcap">The Bible on Speech</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#THOUGHTS_ON_TALKING"><span class="smcap">Thoughts on Talking</span></a></li>
+<li><a href="#ADVERTISEMENTS"><span class="smcap">Advertisements</span></a></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>Good conversation implies naturalness, spontaneity, and sincerity of
+utterance. It is not advisable, therefore, to lay down arbitrary rules
+to govern talking, but it is believed that the suggestions offered here
+will contribute to the general elevation and improvement of daily
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>Considering the large number of persons who are obliged to talk in
+social, business, and public life, the subject of correct speech should
+receive more serious consideration than is usually given to it. It is
+earnestly hoped that this volume will be of practical value to those who
+are desirous of developing and improving their conversational powers.</p>
+
+<p>Appreciative thanks are expressed to the Editors of the <i>Homiletic
+Review</i> for permission to reprint some of the extracts.</p>
+
+<p class='right'><span class="smcap">Grenville Kleiser.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">New York City,</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">May, 1916.</span></p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div>Boys flying kites haul in their white-wing'd birds:</div>
+<div>You can't do that way when you're flying words.</div>
+<div>"Careful with fire," is good advice we know;</div>
+<div>"Careful with words," is ten times doubly so.</div>
+<div>Thoughts unexpress'd may sometimes fall back dead,</div>
+<div>But God Himself can't kill them once they're said!</div>
+<div class='right'>&mdash;<i>Will Carleton.</i></div></div>
+</div>
+
+<blockquote><p>The first duty of a man is to speak; that is his chief business in
+this world; and talk, which is the harmonious speech of two or
+more, is by far the most accessible of pleasures. It costs nothing;
+it is all profit; it completes our education; it founds and fosters
+our friendships; and it is by talk alone that we learn our period
+and ourselves.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Robert Louis Stevenson.</i></p></blockquote>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div>Vociferated logic kills me quite;</div>
+<div>A noisy man is always in the right&mdash;</div>
+<div>I twirl my thumbs, fall back into my chair,</div>
+<div>Fix on the wainscot a distressful stare;</div>
+<div>And when I hope his blunders all are out,</div>
+<div>Reply discreetly, "To be sure&mdash;no doubt!"</div>
+<div class='right'>&mdash;<i>Anon.</i></div></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2>TALKS ON TALKING</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="THE_ART_OF_TALKING" id="THE_ART_OF_TALKING"></a>THE ART OF TALKING</h2>
+
+
+<p>The charm of conversation chiefly depends upon the adaptability of the
+participants. It is a great accomplishment to be able to enter gently
+and agreeably into the moods of others, and to give way to them with
+grace and readiness.</p>
+
+<p>The spirit of conversation is oftentimes more important than the ideas
+expressed. What we are rather than what we say has the most permanent
+influence upon those around us. Hence it is that where a group of
+persons are met together in conversation, it is the inner life of each
+which silently though none the less surely imparts tone and character to
+the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>It requires vigorous self-discipline so to cultivate the feelings of
+kindness and sympathy that they are always in readiness for use. These
+qualities are essential to agree<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>able and profitable intercourse, though
+comparatively few people possess them.</p>
+
+<p>Burke considered manners of more importance than laws. Sidney Smith
+described manners as the shadows of virtues. Dean Swift defined manners
+as the art of putting at ease the people with whom we converse.
+Chesterfield said manners should adorn knowledge in order to smooth its
+way through the world. Emerson spoke of manners as composed of petty
+sacrifices.</p>
+
+<p>We all recognize that a winning manner is made up of seemingly
+insignificant courtesies, and of constant little attentions. A person of
+charming manner is usually free from resentments, inquisitiveness, and
+moods.</p>
+
+<p>Personality plays a large part in interesting conversation. Precisely
+the same phraseology expressed by two different persons may make two
+wholly different impressions, and all because of the difference in the
+personalities of the speakers.</p>
+
+<p>The daily mental life of a man indelibly impresses itself upon his face,
+where it can be unmistakably read by others. What a person is, innately
+and habitually, unconsciously <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>discloses itself in voice, manner, and
+bearing. The world ultimately appraises a man at his true value.</p>
+
+<p>The best type of talker is slow to express positive opinions, is sparing
+in criticism, and studiously avoids a tone or word of finality. It has
+been well said that "A talker who monopolizes the conversation is by
+common consent insufferable, and a man who regulates his choice of
+topics by reference to what interests not his hearers but himself has
+yet to learn the alphabet of the art. Conversation is like lawn-tennis,
+and requires alacrity in return at least as much as vigor in service. A
+happy phrase, an unexpected collocation of words, a habitual precision
+in the choice of terms, are rare and shining ornaments of conversation,
+but they do not for an instant supply the place of lively and
+interesting matter, and an excessive care for them is apt to tell
+unfavorably on the substance of discourse."</p>
+
+<p>When Lord Beaconsfield was talking his way into social fame, someone
+said of him, "I might as well attempt to gather up the foam of the sea
+as to convey an idea of the extraor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>dinary language in which he clothed
+his description. There were at least five words in every sentence that
+must have been very much astonished at the use they were put to, and yet
+no others apparently could so well have expressed his idea. He talked
+like a racehorse approaching the winning-post&mdash;every muscle in action,
+and the utmost energy of expression flung out into every burst."</p>
+
+<p>We are told that Matthew Arnold combined all the characteristics of good
+conversation&mdash;politeness, vivacity, sympathy, interestedness, geniality,
+a happy choice of words, and a never-failing humor. When he was once
+asked what was his favorite topic for conversation, he instantly
+answered, "That in which my companion is most interested."</p>
+
+<p>Courtesy, it will be noted, is the fundamental basis of good
+conversation. We must show habitual consideration and kindliness towards
+others if we would attract them to us. Bluntness of manner is no longer
+excused on the ground that the speaker is sincere and outspoken. We
+expect and demand that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>our companion in conversation should observe the
+recognized courtesies of speech.</p>
+
+<p>There was a time when men and women indulged freely in satire, irony,
+and repartee. They spoke their thoughts plainly and unequivocally. There
+were no restraints imposed upon them by society, hence it now appears to
+us that many things were said which might better have been left unsaid.
+Self-restraint is nowadays one of the cardinal virtues of good
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>The spirit of conversation is greatly changed. We are enjoined to keep
+the voice low, think before we speak, repress unseasonable allusions,
+shun whatever may cause a jar or jolt in the minds of others, be seldom
+prominent in conversation, and avoid all clashing of opinion and
+collision of feeling.</p>
+
+<p>Macaulay was fond of talking, but made the mistake of always choosing a
+subject to suit himself and monopolizing the conversation. He lectured
+rather than talked. His marvelous memory was perhaps his greatest enemy,
+for though it enabled him to pour forth great masses of facts, people
+listened to him helplessly rather than admiringly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>Carlyle was a great talker, and talked much in protest of talking. No
+man broke silence oftener than he to tell the world how great a curse is
+talking. But he told it eloquently and therein was he justified. There
+was in him too much vehement sternness, of hard Scotch granite, to make
+him a pleasant talker in the popular sense. He was the evangelist of
+golden silence, and though he did not apparently practice it himself,
+his genius will never diminish.</p>
+
+<p>Gladstone was unable to indulge in small talk. His mind was so
+constantly occupied with great subjects that he spoke even to one person
+as if addressing a meeting. It is said that in conversation with Queen
+Victoria he would invariably choose weighty subjects, and though she
+tried to make a digression, he would seize the first opportunity to
+resume his original theme, always reinforced in volume and onrush by the
+delay.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Morley is attractive though austere in conversation. He never
+dogmatizes nor obtrudes his own opinions. He is a master of
+phrase-making. But although he talks well he never talks much.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>The story is told that at a recent dinner in London ten leading public
+men were met together, when one suggested that each gentleman present
+should write down on paper the name of the man he would specially choose
+to be his companion on a walking tour. When the ten papers were
+subsequently read aloud, each bore the name of Lord Morley.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Rosebery is considered one of the most accomplished talkers of the
+day. Deferential, natural, sympathetic, observant, well-informed, he
+easily and unconsciously commands the attention of any group of men. His
+voice is said to recommend what he utters, and a singularly refined
+accent gives distinction to anything he says. He is a supreme example of
+two great qualifications for effective talking: having something worth
+while to say, and knowing how to say it.</p>
+
+<p>Among distinguished Canadians, Sir Thomas White is one of the most
+interesting speakers. His versatile mind, and broad and varied
+experience, enable him to converse with almost equal facility upon
+politics, medicine, finance, law, science, art, literature, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>or
+business. Dates, details, facts, figures, and illustrations are at his
+ready command. His manner is natural, courteous, and genial, but in
+argumentation the whole man is so thoroughly aroused to earnestness and
+intensity as almost to overwhelm an opponent. His greatest quality in
+speaking is his manifest sincerity, and it is this particularly which
+has ingratiated him in the hearts of his countrymen.</p>
+
+<p>The Honorable Joseph H. Choate must certainly be reckoned among the best
+conversationalists of our time. His manner, both in conversation and in
+public speaking, is singularly gracious and winning. He is unsurpassed
+as a story-teller. His fine taste, combined with long experience as a
+public man, makes him an ideal after-dinner speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Some eminent men try to mask their greatness when engaged in
+conversation. They do not wear their feelings nor their greatness on
+their sleeves. Some have an utter distaste for anything like personal
+display. It is said of the late Henry James that a stranger might talk
+to him for an entire evening without discovering his identity.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>There is an interesting account of an evening's conversation between
+Emerson and Thoreau. When Thoreau returned home he wrote in his Journal:
+"Talked, or tried to talk, with R.W.E. Lost my time, nay, almost my
+identity. He, assuming a false opposition where there was no difference
+of opinion, talked to the wind." Emerson's version of the conversation
+was this: "It seemed as if Thoreau's first instinct on hearing a
+proposition was to controvert it. That habit is chilling to the social
+affections; it mars conversation."</p>
+
+<p>Conversation offers daily opportunity for intellectual exercise of high
+order. The reading of great books is desirable and indispensable to
+education, but real culture comes through the additional training one
+receives in conversation. The contact of mind with mind tends to
+stimulate and develop thoughts which otherwise would probably remain
+dormant.</p>
+
+<p>The culture of conversation is to be recommended not only for its own
+sake, but also as one of the best means of training in the art of public
+speaking. Since the best form <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>of platform address today is simply
+conversation enlarged and elevated, it may almost be assumed that to
+excel in one is to be proficient in the other.</p>
+
+<p>Good conversation requires, among other things, mental alertness,
+accuracy of statement, adequate vocabulary, facility of expression, and
+an agreeable voice, and these qualities are most essential for effective
+public speaking. Everyone, therefore, who aspires to speaking before an
+audience of hundreds or thousands, will find his best opportunity for
+preliminary training in everyday speech.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="TYPES_OF_TALKERS" id="TYPES_OF_TALKERS"></a>TYPES OF TALKERS</h2>
+
+
+<p>There is no greater affliction in modern life than the tiresome talker.
+He talks incessantly. Presumably he talks in his sleep. Talking is his
+constant exercise and recreation. He thrives on it. He lives for
+talking's sake. He would languish if he were deprived of it for a single
+day. His continuous practice in talking enables him easily to
+outdistance all ordinary competitors. There is nothing which so
+completely unnerves him as long periods of silence. He has the talking
+habit in its most virulent form.</p>
+
+<p>The trifling talker is equally objectionable. He talks much, but says
+little. He skims over the surface of things, and is timid of anything
+deep or philosophical. He does not tarry at one subject. He talks of the
+weather, clothes, plays, and sports. He puts little meaning into what he
+says, because there is little meaning in what he thinks. He cannot look
+at anything seriously. Nothing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>is of great significance to him. He is
+in the class of featherweights.</p>
+
+<p>The tedious talker is one without terminal facilities. He talks right on
+with no idea of objective or destination. He rises to go, but he does
+not go. He knows he ought to go, but he simply cannot. He has something
+more to say. He keeps you standing half an hour. He talks a while
+longer. He assures you he really must go. You tell him not to hurry. He
+takes you at your word and sits down again. He talks some more. He rises
+again. He does not know even now how to conclude. He has no mental
+compass. He is a rudderless talker.</p>
+
+<p>Probably the most obnoxious type is the tattling talker. He always has
+something startlingly personal to impart. It is a sacred secret for your
+ear. He is a wholesale dealer in gossip. He fairly smacks his lips as he
+relates the latest scandal. He is an expert embellisher. He adroitly
+supplies missing details. He has nothing of interest in his own life,
+since he lives wholly in the lives of others. He is a frightful bore,
+but you cannot offend him. He is adamant.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>There is the tautological talker, or the human self-repeater. He goes
+over the ground again and again lest you have missed something. He is
+very fond of himself. He tells the same story not twice, but a dozen
+times. "You may have heard this before," says he, "but it is so good
+that it will bear repetition." He tries to disguise his poverty of
+thought in a masquerade of ornate language. If he must repeat his words,
+he adds a little emphasis, a flourishing gesture, or a spirit of
+nonchalance.</p>
+
+<p>Again, there is the tenacious talker, who refuses to release you though
+you concede his arguments. When all others tacitly drop a subject, he
+eagerly picks it up. He is reluctant to leave it. He would put you in
+possession of his special knowledge. You may successfully refute him,
+but he holds firmly to his own ideas. He is positive he is right. He
+will prove it, too, if you will only listen. He knows that he knows. You
+cannot convince him to the contrary, no indeed. He will talk you so
+blind that at last you are unable to see any viewpoint clearly.</p>
+
+<p>A recognized type is the tactless talker. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>He says the wrong thing in
+the right way, and the right thing in the wrong way. He is impulsive and
+unguarded. He reaches hasty conclusions. He confuses his tactlessness
+with cleverness. He is awkward and blundering. His indifference to the
+rights and feelings of others is his greatest enemy. He is a stranger to
+discretion. He speaks first, and thinks afterwards. He may have regrets,
+but not resolutions. He is often tolerated, but seldom esteemed.</p>
+
+<p>The temperamental talker is one of the greatest of nerve-destroyers. He
+deals in superlatives. He views everything emotionally. He talks
+feelingly of trifles, and ecstatically of friends. He gushes. He
+flatters. To him everything is "wonderful," "prodigious," "superb,"
+"gorgeous," "heavenly," "amazing," "indescribable," "overwhelming."
+Extravagance and exaggeration permeate his most commonplace
+observations. He is an incurable enthusiast.</p>
+
+<p>The tantalizing talker is one who likes to contradict you. He divides
+his attention between what you are saying and what he can summon to
+oppose you. He dissents <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>from your most ordinary observations. His
+favorite phrases are, "I don't think so," "There is where you are
+wrong," "I beg to differ," and "Not only that." Tell him it will be a
+fine day, and he will declare that the signs indicate foul weather. Say
+that the day is unpromising, and he will assure you it does not look
+that way to him. He cavils at trifles. He disputes even when there is no
+antagonist.</p>
+
+<p>To listen to the tortuous talker is a supreme test of patience. He
+slowly winds his way in and out of a subject. He traverses by-paths,
+allowing nothing to escape his unwearied eye. He goes a long way about,
+but never tires of his circuitous journey. Ploddingly and perseveringly
+he zigzags from one point to another. He alters his course as often as
+the crooked way of his subject changes. He twists, turns, and diverges
+without the slightest inconvenience to himself. He likes nothing better
+than to trace out details. His talking disease is discursiveness.</p>
+
+<p>The tranquil talker never hurries. He has all the time there is. If you
+are very busy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>he will wait. He is uniformly moderate and polite. He is
+a rare combination of oil, milk, and rose-water. He would not harm a
+syllable of the English language. His talking has a soporific effect. It
+acts as a lullaby. His speech is low and gentle. He never speaks an
+ill-considered word. He chooses his words with measured caution. He is
+what is known as a smooth talker.</p>
+
+<p>The torpedo talker is of the rapid fire explosive variety. He bursts
+into a conversation. He scatters labials, dentals, and gutturals in all
+directions. He is a war-time talker,&mdash;boom, burst, bang, roar, crash,
+thud! He fills the air with vocal bullets and syllabic shrapnel. He is
+trumpet-tongued, ear-splitting, deafening. He fires promiscuously at all
+his hearers. He rends the skies asunder. He is nothing if not
+vociferous, stentorian, lusty. He demolishes every idea in his way. He
+is a Napoleon of words.</p>
+
+<p>The tangled talker never gets anything quite straight. He inevitably
+spoils the best story. He always begins at the wrong end. Despite your
+protests of face and manner he talks on. He talks inopportunely. He
+be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>comes inextricably confused. He is weak in statistics. He has no
+memory for names or places. He lacks not fluency but accuracy. He is a
+twisted talker.</p>
+
+<p>The triumphant talker lays claim to the star part in any conversation.
+He likes nothing better than to drive home his point and then look about
+exultingly. He says gleefully, "I told you so." That he can ever be
+wrong is inconceivable to him. He knows the facts since he can readily
+manufacture them himself. He is self-satisfied, for in his own opinion
+he has never lost an argument. He is a brave and bold talker.</p>
+
+<p>These, then, are some types of talking which we should not emulate.
+Study the list carefully&mdash;the tiresome talker, the trifling talker, the
+tedious talker, the tattling talker, the tautological talker, the
+tenacious talker, the tactless talker, the temperamental talker, the
+tantalizing talker, the tangled talker, the triumphant talker&mdash;and guard
+yourself diligently against the faults which they represent. Talking
+should always be a pleasure to the speaker and listener, never a bore.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="TALKERS_AND_TALKING" id="TALKERS_AND_TALKING"></a>TALKERS AND TALKING</h2>
+
+<p>Conversation is not a verbal nor vocal contest, but a mutual meeting of
+minds. It is not a monologue, but a reciprocal exchange of ideas.</p>
+
+<p>There are cardinal rules which everyone should observe in conversation.
+The first of these is to be prepared always to give courteous and
+considerate attention to the ideas of others. There is no better way to
+cultivate your own conversational powers than to train yourself first to
+be an interesting and sympathetic listener.</p>
+
+<p>It is in bad taste to interrupt a speaker. This is a common fault which
+should be resolutely guarded against. Moreover, your own opportunity to
+speak will shortly come if you have patience, when you may reasonably
+expect to receive the same uninterrupted attention which you have given
+to others.</p>
+
+<p>Never allow yourself to monopolize a conversation. This is a form of
+selfishness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>practiced by many persons apparently unaware of being
+ill-mannered. It is inexcusably bad taste to tell unduly long stories or
+lengthy personal experiences. If you cannot abridge a story to
+reasonable dimensions, it would be better to omit it entirely. The
+habitual long-story teller may easily become a bore.</p>
+
+<p>Avoid the habit of eagerly matching the other person's story or
+experience with one of your own. There is nothing more disconcerting to
+a speaker than to observe the listener impatiently waiting to plunge
+headlong into the conversation with some marvellous tale. Be
+particularly careful not to outdo another speaker in relating your own
+experiences. If, for instance, he has just told how he caught fifty fish
+upon a recent trip, do not succumb to the temptation to tell of the time
+you caught fifty-one.</p>
+
+<p>Be careful not to give unsolicited advice. It has been well said that
+advice which costs nothing is worth what it costs. If people desire your
+counsel they will probably ask for it, in which case they will be more
+likely to appreciate what you have to tell them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>Do not voluntarily recommend doctors, dentists, osteopaths, pills,
+coffee substitutes, health foods, health resorts, or panaceas for the
+ills of mankind. If you can be of service to others in these particular
+respects, it will be when you are specifically asked for such
+information.</p>
+
+<p>It is most imprudent to carry an argument to extremes. If you observe an
+unwillingness in the other person to be convinced by what you say, you
+had better turn to another subject. Conversation should never resolve
+itself into controversial debate.</p>
+
+<p>It is well to avoid discursiveness, over-use of parentheses, and
+positiveness of statement. Keep your desires and feelings from
+over-coloring your views. A flexible attitude of mind is more likely to
+win an opponent to your way of thinking.</p>
+
+<p>Take special pains to enter into the minds and feelings of others. Be
+interested in what they want to talk about. Let your interest be deep
+and sincere. Adopt the right tone, temper, and reticence in your
+conversation.</p>
+
+<p>You should accustom yourself to look at things from the other person's
+standpoint. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>It is surprising how this habit enlarges the vision and
+gives a charitableness to speech which might otherwise be absent. It is
+well to remember that no person can possibly have a monopoly of
+knowledge upon any subject.</p>
+
+<p>Good conversation demands restraint, adaptability, and reasonable
+brevity. There is an appalling waste of words on all sides, hence you
+should constantly guard yourself against this fault. When there is
+nothing worth-while to say, the best substitute is silence.</p>
+
+<p>Practice self-discipline in talking. Correct any fault in yourself the
+instant you recognize it. If, for example, you realize that you are
+talking at too great length, stop it at once. Should you feel that you
+are not giving interested attention to the speaker, check your
+mind-wandering immediately and concentrate upon what is being said.</p>
+
+<p>Do not be always setting other people right. This is a thankless as well
+as useless task. They probably do not want your assistance, or they
+would ask for it. Besides <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>most people are sensitive about their
+shortcomings, and prefer to get help and counsel in private.</p>
+
+<p>There is no more important suggestion than to rule your moods. Ofttimes
+the feelings run away with the judgment. What you think and say today
+may be due to your present mood, rather than to matured judgment. Let
+your common sense predominate at all times.</p>
+
+<p>It is not well to give too strong expression to your likes and dislikes.
+These, like all your feelings, should be governed with a firm hand.
+Opinions advanced with too much emphasis may easily fail to impress
+other minds. Remember always that your greatest ally is truth. Therefore
+frankly and faithfully examine your important opinions before giving
+them expression.</p>
+
+<p>Resist the desire to be prominent in conversation, or to say clever and
+surprising things. This is sometimes difficult to do, but it is the only
+safe course to follow. If you have something brilliant or worth-while to
+say, it will be best said spontaneously and with due modesty. But if
+there is no suit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>able opportunity to say it, put it back in your mind
+where it may improve with age. Egotism is taboo in polite society.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion that nothing should be allowed to pass the lips that
+charity would check is invaluable advice. It is unfortunately all too
+common to give hasty and harsh expression to personal opinions and
+criticisms. Reticence is one of the most essential conditions of long
+friendship.</p>
+
+<p>Judgment and tact are necessary to good conversation. It is not well to
+ask many questions, and then only those of a general character.
+Curiosity should be curbed. Quite properly people resent
+inquisitiveness. The best way to cultivate the rare grace of judgment is
+to be mindful of your own faults and to correct them with all speed and
+thoroughness.</p>
+
+<p>The word "talk" is often used in a derogatory sense, and we hear such
+expressions as "all talk," "empty talk," and "idle talk." But as
+everyone talks, we should all do our utmost to set a high example to
+others of the correct use of speech.</p>
+
+<p>It is always better to talk too little than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>too much. Never talk for
+mere talking's sake. Avoid being artificial or pedantic. Don't
+antagonize, dogmatize, moralize, attitudinize, nor criticise. Talk in
+poise,&mdash;quietly, deliberately, sincerely, and you will never lack an
+attentive audience.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="PHRASES_FOR_TALKERS" id="PHRASES_FOR_TALKERS"></a>PHRASES FOR TALKERS</h2>
+
+<p>It is said of Macaulay that he never allowed a sentence to pass muster
+until it was as good as he could make it. He would write and rewrite,
+and even construct a paragraph or a whole chapter, in order to secure a
+more lucid and satisfactory arrangement. He wrote just so much each day,
+usually an average of six pages, and this manuscript was so erased and
+corrected that it was finally compressed into two pages of print.</p>
+
+<p>The masters of English prose have been great workers. Stevenson and
+others like him gave hours and days to the study of words, phrases, and
+sentences. Through unwearied application to the art of rhetorical
+composition they ultimately won fame as writers.</p>
+
+<p>The ambitious student of speech culture, whether for use in conversation
+or in public, will do well to emulate the example of such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>great
+writers. One of the best ways to build a large vocabulary is to note
+useful and striking phrases in one's general reading. It is advisable to
+jot down such phrases in a note-book, and to read them aloud from time
+to time. Such phrases may be classified according to their particular
+application,&mdash;to business, politics, music, education, literature, or
+the drama.</p>
+
+<p>It is not recommended that such phrases should be consciously dragged
+into conversation, but the practice of carefully observing felicitous
+phrases, and of noting them in writing, cultivates the taste for better
+words and a sense of discrimination in their use. Many phrases noted and
+studied in this way will unconsciously find their way into one's
+expression.</p>
+
+<p>The list of phrases which follows is offered as merely suggestive. In
+reading the phrases aloud it is well to think clearly what each one
+means, and to fit it into a sentence of one's own making. This simple
+exercise, practiced for a few weeks, will produce surprising results by
+way of increased facility and flexibility of English style.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+I can well imagine<br />
+Broadly speaking<br />
+An admirable idea<br />
+In a literal sense<br />
+By sheer force of genius<br />
+You can imagine his chagrin<br />
+I hazard a guess<br />
+It challenges belief<br />
+He has an inscrutable face<br />
+Very fertile in resource<br />
+I am loath to believe<br />
+It is essentially undignified<br />
+Example is so contagious<br />
+I am not in her confidence<br />
+Taken in the aggregate<br />
+It is a reproof to shallowness<br />
+There is a misconception here<br />
+I strongly suspect it so<br />
+He was covered with confusion<br />
+It was a just rebuke<br />
+A pleasing instance of this<br />
+It lends dignity to life<br />
+She has a desultory liking for music<br />
+It seems incredible<br />
+A kind of detached ideal<br />
+It blunts the finer sensibilities<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+Beyond question or cavil<br />
+A well-founded suspicion<br />
+It has elicited great praise<br />
+They are landmarks in memory<br />
+Superhuman vigor and activity<br />
+A venerable and interesting figure<br />
+It is curious and interesting<br />
+Gives the impression of aloofness<br />
+Perfectly void of offence<br />
+Regard with misgiving<br />
+A stroke of professional luck<br />
+An unscrupulous adventurer<br />
+He spoke with extreme reticence<br />
+Robust common sense<br />
+Deficient in amiability<br />
+Done with characteristic thoroughness<br />
+A vein of philanthropic zeal<br />
+Definite, tangible, and practical<br />
+Too much effusive declamation<br />
+A man of keen ambition<br />
+It gives infinite zest<br />
+Singular qualifications for public life<br />
+They are bitterly hostile<br />
+The despair of the official wire-puller<br />
+Blind and unreasoning opponent<br />
+Ignoble strife for power<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+Surrounded by a cohort of admiring friends<br />
+In an imperative voice<br />
+Marked by copiousness and vivacity<br />
+Touched with sombre dignity<br />
+A ridiculous misconception<br />
+Habitual austerity of demeanor<br />
+Ostentation and lavish expenditure<br />
+A person of exquisite tact<br />
+Intolerant of bumptiousness<br />
+The obvious danger of dallying<br />
+This was grossly overstated<br />
+A mass of calumny and exaggeration<br />
+Inimical to religion<br />
+Fraught with peril<br />
+I venture to ask<br />
+Attributed to mental decrepitude<br />
+A strange phenomena<br />
+It argues a blind faith<br />
+Insatiable whirl of excitement<br />
+A substratum of truth<br />
+Under some conceivable circumstances<br />
+Bubbling over with infectious joy<br />
+Frigid dignity and arrogant reserve<br />
+A profound contempt<br />
+The fine art of hospitality<br />
+Grim morsels of philosophy<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+A tinge of sorrowness and jealousy<br />
+Due to ignorance and barbarism<br />
+Grave and monstrous scandal<br />
+A splendid instance of self-devotion<br />
+Amusingly exemplified in this case<br />
+Recognized and powerful element<br />
+A symbol of restraint<br />
+An utterly fallacious idea<br />
+In rapid and striking succession<br />
+We learn from stern experience<br />
+Pictures of an inspired imagination<br />
+An astonishing outbreak<br />
+Soothing words of sympathy<br />
+A rather bold assertion<br />
+The most enthusiastic adherents<br />
+Mere tepid conviction<br />
+Eminently qualified for the task<br />
+Almost supernatural charm<br />
+In glowing and exaggerated phrases<br />
+Somewhat rich and austere<br />
+An inexhaustible theme<br />
+Grave and undeniable faults<br />
+Perfectly chosen language<br />
+All the characteristics of a mob<br />
+Given to grandiloquent phrase<br />
+Peculiar vein of sarcasm<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+Froze like ice and cut like steel<br />
+A generous tribute to an eminent rival<br />
+Cold and stately composure<br />
+Fiery and passionate enthusiasm<br />
+Extraordinary violence of nature<br />
+A brilliant and delightful play<br />
+Rare and striking combination<br />
+Preeminently qualified for the part<br />
+Moderate and cautious conservatism<br />
+Daring perversions of justice<br />
+Devoid of rhetorical device<br />
+As a great thinker has observed<br />
+Almost morbid sensitiveness<br />
+Discreetly stifled yawn<br />
+He was dumb with wonder<br />
+Scarcely less familiar<br />
+Delightfully characteristic<br />
+It was a profound conviction<br />
+Greatly conceived and expressed<br />
+Blinded by its brightness<br />
+I have cudgelled my memory<br />
+Exposed to imminent peril<br />
+Screening a breach of etiquette<br />
+By a natural transition<br />
+Splendid anticipations of success<br />
+A very laudable attempt<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+Lapsed into complete oblivion<br />
+With most distinguished success<br />
+Like embarking on a shoreless sea<br />
+A really pretty imitation<br />
+Unless I greatly err<br />
+Undaunted by repeated failure<br />
+Became a term of reproach<br />
+An epoch-making achievement<br />
+In the guise of verbal nonsense<br />
+Received with cordial sympathy<br />
+With the most obvious sincerity<br />
+Held forth with fluency and zest<br />
+Gracious solicitude<br />
+Punctiliously civil and polite<br />
+An air of sphinx-like mystery<br />
+Consumed by zeal<br />
+Awaited with lively interest<br />
+Sledge-hammer blows against humbug<br />
+This recalls a happy retort<br />
+Preeminently a case in point<br />
+Exquisite precision and finish<br />
+Incomparably better informed<br />
+A keen eye for incongruities<br />
+Polite to the point of deference<br />
+To the last degree improbable<br />
+People with rampant prejudices<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+A model of chivalrous propriety<br />
+By way of digression<br />
+A splendid acquisition<br />
+Singularly attractive fashion<br />
+A kind of unconscious conspiracy<br />
+Amid engrossing demands</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_SPEAKING_VOICE" id="THE_SPEAKING_VOICE"></a>THE SPEAKING VOICE</h2>
+
+<p>There is a widespread need for a more thorough cultivation of the
+speaking voice. It is astonishing how few persons give specific
+attention to this important subject. On all sides we are subjected to
+voices that are disagreeable and strident. It is the exception to hear a
+voice that is musical and well-modulated.</p>
+
+<p>Most people make too much physical effort in speaking. They tighten the
+muscles of the throat and mouth, instead of liberating these muscles and
+allowing the voice to flow naturally and harmoniously. The remedy for
+this common fault of vocal tension is to relax all the muscles used in
+speech. This is easily accomplished by means of a little daily practice.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing to keep in mind is that we should speak through the
+throat and not from it. A musical quality of voice depends chiefly upon
+directing the tone towards the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>hard palate, or the bony arch above the
+upper teeth. From this part of the mouth the voice acquires much of its
+resonance.</p>
+
+<p>An excellent exercise for throat relaxation is yawning. It is not
+necessary to wait until a real yawn presents itself, but frequent
+practice in imitating a yawn may be indulged in with good results.
+Immediately after practicing the yawn, it is advisable to test the
+voice, either in speaking or in reading, to observe improvement in
+freedom of tone.</p>
+
+<p>It is not desirable to use the voice where there is loud noise by way of
+opposition. Many a good voice has been ruined due to the habit of
+continuous talking on the street or elsewhere amid clatter and hubbub.
+Under such circumstances it is better to rest the voice, since in any
+contest of the kind the voice will almost surely be vanquished.</p>
+
+<p>What we need in our daily conversation is less emphasis, and more
+quietness and non-resistance. We need less eagerness and more vivacity
+and variety. We need a settled equanimity of mind that does not deprive
+us of our animation, but saves us from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>petty irritations of
+everyday life. We need, in short, more poise and self-control in our way
+of speaking.</p>
+
+<p>It is well to remember that few things we say are of such importance as
+to require emphasis. The thought should be its own recommendation. But
+if emphasis be necessary, let it be by the intellectual means of pausing
+or inflection, rather than with the shoulders or the clenched fist.</p>
+
+<p>A very disagreeable and common fault is nasality, or "talking through
+the nose." Many persons are guilty of this who least suspect it. This
+habit is so easily and unconsciously acquired that everyone should be on
+strict guard against it. Almost equally disagreeable is the fault of
+throatiness, caused by holding the muscles of the throat instead of
+relaxing them.</p>
+
+<p>The best tones of the speaking voice are the middle and low keys. These
+should be used exclusively in daily conversation. The use of high pitch
+is due to habit or temperament, but may be overcome through judicious
+practice. The objection to a high-keyed voice is not only that it is
+disagreeable to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>listener, but puts the speaker "out of tune" with
+his audience.</p>
+
+<p>A good speaking voice should possess the qualities of purity, resonance,
+flexibility, roundness, brilliancy, and adequate power. These qualities
+can be rapidly developed by daily reading aloud for ten minutes, giving
+special attention to one quality at a time. A few weeks, assiduous
+practice will produce most gratifying results. The voice grows through
+use, and it grows precisely in the way it is habitually used.</p>
+
+<p>Distinct articulation and correct pronunciation are indications of
+cultivated speech. Pedantry should be avoided, but every aspirant to
+correct speech should be a student of the dictionary. A writer has given
+this good counsel:</p>
+
+<p>"Resolve that you will never use an incorrect, an inelegant, or a vulgar
+phrase or word, in any society whatever. If you are gifted with wit, you
+will soon find that it is easy to give it far better point and force in
+pure English than through any other medium, and that brilliant thoughts
+make the deepest impressions when well worded. However <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>great it may be,
+the labor is never lost which earns for you the reputation of one who
+habitually uses the language of a gentleman, or of a lady. It is
+difficult for those who have not frequent opportunities for conversation
+with well-educated people, to avoid using expressions which are not
+current in society, although they may be of common occurrence in books.
+As they are often learned from novels, it will be well for the reader to
+remember that even in the best of such works dialogues are seldom
+sustained in a tone which would not appear affected in ordinary life.
+This fault in conversation is the most difficult of all to amend, and it
+is unfortunately the one to which those who strive to express themselves
+correctly are peculiarly liable. Its effect is bad, for though it is not
+like slang, vulgar in itself, it betrays an effort to conceal vulgarity.
+It may generally be remedied by avoiding any word or phrase which you
+may suspect yourself of using for the purpose of creating an effect.
+Whenever you imagine that the employment of any mere word or sentence
+will convey the impression that you are well informed, sub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>stitute for
+it some simple expression. If you are not positively certain as to the
+pronunciation of a word, never use it. If the temptation be great,
+resist it; for, rely upon it, if there be in your mind the slightest
+doubt on the subject, you will certainly make a mistake. Never use a
+foreign word when its meaning can be given in English, and remember that
+it is both rude and silly to say anything to any person who possibly may
+not understand it. But never attempt, under any circumstances whatever,
+to utter a foreign word, unless you have learned to pronounce correctly
+the language to which it belongs."</p>
+
+<p>There is need for the admonition to open the mouth well. Many people
+speak with half-closed teeth, the result being that the quality of voice
+and correctness of pronunciation are greatly impaired. Consonants and
+vowels should be given proper significance. Muffled speech is almost as
+objectionable as stammering.</p>
+
+<p>It enhances the pleasure and quality of conversation to speak in
+deliberate style. Rapidity of utterance often leads a speaker <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>into such
+faults as indistinctness, monotony, and incorrect breathing. Deliberate
+speaking confers many advantages, not the least of which is increased
+pleasure to the listener.</p>
+
+<p>Many voices are too thin in quality. They fail to carry conviction even
+when the thought is of superior character. The remedy here is to give
+special attention to the development of deep tones. One of the best
+exercises for this purpose is to practice for a few minutes daily upon
+the vowel sound "O," endeavoring to make it full, deep, and melodious.
+For all-round vocal development this practice should be done with varied
+force and inflection, and on high as well as low keys of the voice.</p>
+
+<p>The best remedy for a weak voice is to practice daily upon explosives,
+expelling the principal vowel sounds, on various keys, using the
+abdominal muscles throughout. Another good exercise is to read aloud
+while walking upstairs or uphill. As these exercises are somewhat
+extreme, the student is recommended to practice them prudently.</p>
+
+<p>Correct breathing is fundamental to correct and agreeable speaking. The
+breathing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>apparatus should be brought under control by daily practice
+upon exercises prescribed in any standard book on elocution. Pure tone
+of voice depends upon the ability to convert into tone every particle of
+breath used. Aspirated voice, in which some of the breath is allowed to
+escape unvocalized, is injurious to the throat, and unpleasant to the
+listening ear.</p>
+
+<p>The speaker, whether in conversation or in public, should try always to
+speak with an adequate supply of breath. Deliberate utterance will give
+the necessary opportunity to replenish the lungs, so that the speaker
+will not suffer from unnecessary fatigue. Needless to say, the habit
+should be formed of breathing through the nose when in repose.</p>
+
+<p>There is a voice of unusual roundness and fulness known as the orotund,
+which is indispensable to the public speaker. It is simple, pure tone,
+rounded out into greater fulness. It is produced mainly by an increased
+resonance of the chest and mouth cavities, and a more vigorous action of
+the abdominal muscles. It has the character of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>fulness, but it is not
+necessarily a loud tone. It is in no sense artificial, but simply an
+enlargement of the natural conversational voice.</p>
+
+<p>The use of the orotund voice varies according to the intensity of the
+thought and feeling being expressed. It is used in language of great
+dignity, power, grandeur, and sublimity. It is appropriate in certain
+forms of public prayer and Bible reading. It enables the public speaker
+to vary from his conversational style. It gives vastly increased scope
+and power, by enabling the speaker to bring into play all the resources
+of vocal force and intensity.</p>
+
+<p>Where resonance of voice is lacking, it can be rapidly developed by
+means of humming the letter <i>m</i>, with lips closed, and endeavoring to
+make the face vibrate. The tone should be kept well forward throughout
+the exercise, pressing firmly against the lips and hard palate. Later
+the exercise may begin with the humming <i>m</i>, and be developed, while the
+lips are opened gradually, into the tone of <i>ah</i>, still aiming to
+maintain the original resonance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>The speaking voice is capable of most wonderful development. There is a
+duty devolving upon everyone to cultivate beauty of vocal utterance and
+diction. Crudities of speech so commonly in evidence are mainly due to
+carelessness and neglect. It is a hopeful sign, however, that greater
+attention is now being given to this important subject than heretofore.
+Surely there is nothing more important than the development of the
+principal instrument by which men communicate with one another. As Story
+says:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div>"O, how our organ can speak with its many and wonderful voices!&mdash;</div>
+<div>Play on the soft lute of love, blow the loud trumpet of war,</div>
+<div>Sing with the high sesquialter, or, drawing its full diapason,</div>
+<div>Shake all the air with the grand storm of its pedals and stops."</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="HOW_TO_TELL_A_STORY" id="HOW_TO_TELL_A_STORY"></a>HOW TO TELL A STORY</h2>
+
+<p>Someone has wittily said that only those in their anecdotage should tell
+stories. De Quincey wanted all story-tellers to be submerged in a
+horse-pond, or treated in the same manner as mad dogs. But story-telling
+has its legitimate and appropriate use, and if certain rules are
+observed may give added charm to conversation and public speaking.</p>
+
+<p>It requires a fine discrimination to know when to tell a story, and when
+not to tell one though it is urging itself to be expressed. Few men have
+the rare gift of choosing the right story for the particular occasion.
+Many men have no difficulty in telling stories that are insufferably
+long, pointless, and uninteresting.</p>
+
+<p>We have all been victims of a certain type of public speaker who begins
+by saying, "Now I don't want to bore you with a long story, but this is
+so good, etc.," or "An inci<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>dent occurred at the American Consulate in
+Shanghai, which reminds me of an awfully good story, etc." When a
+speaker prefaces his remarks with some such sentences as these, we know
+we are in for an uncomfortable time.</p>
+
+<p>As far as possible a story should be new, clever, short, simple,
+inoffensive, and appropriate. As such stories are scarce, it is
+advisable to set them down, when found, in a special note-book for
+convenient reference. It is said that Chauncey M. Depew, one of the most
+gifted of after-dinner speakers, was for many years in the habit of
+keeping a set of scrap-books in which were preserved stories and other
+interesting data clipped from newspapers and magazines. These were so
+classified that he could on short notice refresh his mind with ample
+material upon almost any general subject.</p>
+
+<p>Anyone who essays to tell a story should have it clearly in mind. It is
+fatal for a speaker to hesitate midway in a story, apologize for not
+knowing it better, avow that it was much more humorous when told to him,
+and in other ways to announce his shortcom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>ings. If he cannot tell a
+story fluently and interestingly, he should first practice it on his own
+family&mdash;provided they will tolerate it.</p>
+
+<p>Some stories should be committed to memory, especially where the point
+of humor depends upon exact phraseology. In such case, it requires some
+training and experience to disguise the memorized effort. A story like
+the following, for obvious reasons, should be thoroughly memorized:</p>
+
+<p>The longest sermon on record occupied three hours and a half. But the
+shortest sermon was that of a preacher who spoke for one minute on the
+text: "Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." He said:</p>
+
+<p>"I shall divide my discourse into three heads: (1) Man's ingress into
+the world; (2) His progress through the world; (3) His egress out of the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>"Firstly, His ingress into the world is naked and bare.</p>
+
+<p>"Secondly, His progress through the world is trouble and care.</p>
+
+<p>"Thirdly, His egress out of the world is nobody knows where.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"To conclude:</p>
+
+<p>"If we live well here, we shall live well there.</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you no more if I preach a whole year.</p>
+
+<p>"The collection will now be taken up."</p>
+
+<p>Dialect stories are usually rather difficult, and should not as a
+general thing be attempted by beginners. As a matter of fact, few
+persons know how to speak such dialects as Irish, Scotch, German,
+Cockney, and negro without undue exaggeration. For most occasions it is
+well to keep to simple stories couched in plain English.</p>
+
+<p>A story should be told in simple, conversational style. Concentration
+upon the story, and a sincere desire to give pleasure to the hearers,
+will keep the speaker free from self-consciousness. Needless to say he
+should not be the first to laugh at his own story. Sometimes in telling
+a humorous anecdote to an audience a speaker secures the greatest effect
+by maintaining an expression of extreme gravity.</p>
+
+<p>No matter how successful one may be in telling stories, he should avoid
+telling too <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>many. A man who is accounted brilliant and entertaining may
+become an insufferable bore by continuing to tell stories when the
+hearers have become satiated. Of all speakers, the story-teller should
+keep his eyes on his entire audience and be alert to detect the
+slightest signs of weariness.</p>
+
+<p>It is superfluous to say that a story should never be told which in any
+way might give offence. The speaker may raise a laugh, but lose a
+friend. Hence it is that stories about stammerers, red-headed people,
+mothers-in-law, and the like, should always be chosen with
+discrimination.</p>
+
+<p>Generally the most effective story is one in which the point of humor is
+not disclosed until the very last words, as in the following:</p>
+
+<p>An old colored man was brought up before a country judge.</p>
+
+<p>"Jethro," said the judge, "you are accused of stealing General Johnson's
+chickens. Have you any witnesses?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sah," old Jethro answered, haughtily; "I hab not, sah. I never
+steal chickens befo' witnesses."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>This is a similar example, told by Prime Minister Asquith:</p>
+
+<p>An English professor wrote on the blackboard in his laboratory,
+"Professor Blank informs his students that he has this day been
+appointed honorary physician to his Majesty, King George."</p>
+
+<p>During the morning he had some occasion to leave the room, and found on
+his return that some student wag had added the words,</p>
+
+<p>"God save the King!"</p>
+
+<p>Henry W. Grady was a facile story-teller. One of his best stories was as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>"There was an old preacher once who told some boys of the Bible lesson
+he was going to read in the morning. The boys, finding the place, glued
+together the connecting pages. The next morning he read on the bottom of
+one page: 'When Noah was one hundred and twenty years old he took unto
+himself a wife, who was'&mdash;then turning the page&mdash;'one hundred and forty
+cubits long, forty cubits wide, built of gopherwood, and covered with
+pitch inside and out.' He was naturally puzzled at this. He read it
+again, verified it, and then said: 'My friends, this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>is the first time
+I ever met this in the Bible, but I accept it as an evidence of the
+assertion that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.'"</p>
+
+<p>Personalities based upon sarcasm or invective are always attended with
+danger, but good-humored bantering may be used upon occasion with most
+happy results. As an instance of this, there is a story of an annual
+dinner at which Mr. Choate was set down for the toast, "The Navy," and
+Mr. Depew was to respond to "The Army." Mr. Depew began by saying, "It's
+well to have a specialist: that's why Choate is here to speak about the
+Navy. We met at the wharf once and I did not see him again till we
+reached Liverpool. When I asked how he felt he said he thought he would
+have enjoyed the trip over if he had had any ocean air. Yes, you want to
+hear Choate on the Navy." When it was Mr. Choate's turn to speak, he
+said: "I've heard Depew hailed as the greatest after-dinner speaker. If
+after-dinner speaking, as I have heard it described and as I believe it
+to be, is the art of saying nothing at all, then Mr. Depew is the most
+marvelous speaker in the universe."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>The medical profession can be assailed with impunity, since they have
+long since grown accustomed to it. There is a story of a young laborer
+who, on his way to his day's work, called at the registrar's office to
+register his father's death. When the official asked the date of the
+event, the son replied, "He ain't dead yet, but he'll be dead before
+night, so I thought it would save me another journey if you would put it
+down now." "Oh, that won't do at all," said the registrar; "perhaps your
+father will live till tomorrow." "Well, I don't think so, sir; the
+doctor says as he won't, and he knows what he has given him."</p>
+
+<p>While stories should be used sparingly, there is probably nothing more
+effective before a popular audience than the telling of a story in which
+the joke is on the speaker himself. Thus:</p>
+
+<p>The last time I made a speech, I went next day to the editor of our
+local newspaper, and said,</p>
+
+<p>"I thought your paper was friendly to me?"</p>
+
+<p>The editor said, "So it is. What's the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," I said, "I made a speech last night, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>and you didn't print a
+single line of it this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said the editor, "what further proof do you want?"</p>
+
+<p>Many of the best and most effective stories are serious in character.
+One that has been used successfully is this: Some gentlemen from the
+West were excited and troubled about the commissions or omissions of the
+administration. President Lincoln heard them patiently, and then
+replied: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in
+gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the
+Niagara River on a rope; would you shake the cable, or keep shouting out
+to him&mdash;'Blondin, stand up a little straighter&mdash;Blondin, stoop a little
+more&mdash;go a little faster&mdash;lean a little more to the north&mdash;lean a little
+more to the south?' No, you would hold your breath as well as your
+tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The Government
+is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in our hands. We are
+doing the very best we can. Don't badger us. Keep silence, and we'll get
+you safe across."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>Punning is of course out of fashion. The best pun in the English
+language is Tom Hood's:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div>"He went and told the sexton,</div>
+<div>And the sexton tolled the bell."</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Dr. Johnson said that the pun was the lowest order of wit. Newspapers
+formerly indulged in it freely. One editor would say: "We don't care a
+straw what Shakespeare said&mdash;a rose by any other name would not smell as
+wheat." Then another paper would answer: "Such puns are barley
+tolerable, they amaize us, they arouse our righteous corn, and they turn
+the public taste a-rye."</p>
+
+<p>But punning, when it is unusually clever and spontaneous, may be
+thoroughly enjoyable, as in the following:</p>
+
+<p>Chief Justice Story attended a public dinner in Boston at which Edward
+Everett was present. Desiring to pay a delicate compliment to the
+latter, the learned judge proposed as a volunteer toast:</p>
+
+<p>"Fame follows merit where Everett goes."</p>
+
+<p>The brilliant scholar arose and responded:</p>
+
+<p>"To whatever heights judicial learning may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>attain in this country, it
+will never get above one Story."</p>
+
+<p>Story-telling may attain the character of a disease, in one who has a
+retentive memory and a voluble vocabulary. The form of humor known as
+repartee, however, is one that requires rare discrimination. It should
+be used sparingly, and not at all if it is likely to give offence.</p>
+
+<p>Beau Brummell was guilty in this respect, when he was once asked by a
+lady if he would "take a cup of tea." "Thank you," said he, "I never
+<i>take</i> anything but physic." "I beg your pardon," said the hostess, "you
+also take liberties."</p>
+
+<p>There is a story that Henry Luttrell had sat long in the Irish
+Parliament, but no one knew his precise age. Lady Holland, without
+regard to considerations of courtesy, one day said to him point-blank,
+"Now, we are all dying to know how old you are. Just tell me." Luttrell
+answered very gravely, "It is an odd question, but as you, Lady Holland,
+ask it, I don't mind telling you. If I live till next year, I shall
+be&mdash;devilish old!"</p>
+
+<p>The art of story-telling is not taught spe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>cifically, hence there are
+comparatively few people who can tell a story without violating some of
+the rules which experience recommends. But the right use of
+story-telling should be encouraged as an ornament of conversation, and a
+valuable auxiliary to effective public address. Many people might excel
+as story-tellers if they would devote a little time to suggestions such
+as are offered here. It is not a difficult art, but like every other
+subject requires study and application.</p>
+
+<p>The best counsel for public speakers in the matter of story-telling may
+be summed up as follows: Know your story thoroughly; test your story by
+telling it to some one in advance; adapt your story to the special
+circumstances; be concise, omitting non-essentials; have ready more
+stories than you intend to use, because if you should speak at the end
+of the list you may find that your best story has been told by a
+previous speaker; and, finally, always stop when you have made a hit.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="TALKING_IN_SALESMANSHIP" id="TALKING_IN_SALESMANSHIP"></a>TALKING IN SALESMANSHIP</h2>
+
+
+<p>The salesman depends for his success primarily upon his talking ability.
+Obviously, what he offers for sale must have intrinsic merit, and he
+should possess a thorough knowledge of his wares. But in order to secure
+the best results from his efforts, he must know how to talk well.</p>
+
+<p>All the general requirements for good conversation apply equally to the
+needs of the salesman. He should have a pleasant speaking voice and an
+agreeable manner, a vocabulary of useful and appropriate words, and the
+ability to put things clearly and convincingly.</p>
+
+<p>It should be a golden rule of the salesman never to argue with the
+customer. He may explain and reason, and use all the persuasive
+phraseology at his command, but he must not permit himself for a single
+instant to engage in controversy. To argue is fatal to successful
+salesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing that can be substituted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>for a winning personality in
+the salesman. What constitutes such a personality? Chiefly a good voice,
+affability of manner, straightforward speech, manly bearing, the desire
+to serve and please, proper attire, and cleanliness of person. These
+qualifications come within the reach of anyone who aspires to success in
+salesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>Every salesman has unexpected problems to solve. A sensitive or touchy
+customer may become unreasonably angry or offended. What is the salesman
+to do? He should here be particularly on his guard not to show the
+slightest resentment. Though he may be wholly guiltless, he cannot
+afford to contradict the customer, nor to challenge him to a vocal duel.
+If he talks at all, he should talk quietly and reasonably, and always
+with the object of bringing the customer around to a favorable point of
+view.</p>
+
+<p>The successful salesman must have tact and discrimination. He must know
+when and how to check in himself the word or phrase which is trying to
+force its way out into expression, but which would in the end prove
+inadvisable. He must train himself to choose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>quickly the right and best
+course under difficult circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>The salesman should give his undivided attention to the customer. If the
+salesman is speaking, he should speak clearly, directly, concisely, and
+understandingly; if he is listening, he should listen interestedly and
+thoroughly, with all his powers alive and receptive.</p>
+
+<p>The salesman should know when to speak and when to be silent. Some
+customers wish to be told much, others prefer to think for themselves.
+He is a wise salesman who knows when to be mute. Loquacity has often
+killed what otherwise might have been a good sale.</p>
+
+<p>There is a certain tone of voice which the salesman should aim to
+acquire. It is neither high nor low in pitch. It is agreeable to the
+listening ear, and is almost sufficient in itself to win the favorable
+attention of the prospective buyer. Every salesman should cultivate a
+musical and well-modulated voice as one of the chief assets in
+salesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>The salesman should cultivate dignity of speech and manner. People
+generally dislike familiarity, joking, and horse-play. It is well to
+assume that the customer is serious-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>minded, that he means business and
+nothing else. Needless to say, the telling of long stories, or personal
+experiences, has no legitimate place in the business of salesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>There is a proper time and place for short story-telling. Like
+everything else it is all right in its appropriate setting. Lincoln used
+it to advantage, but once said: "I believe I have the popular reputation
+of being a story-teller, but I do not deserve the name in its general
+sense; for it is not the story itself, but its purpose, or effect, that
+interests me. I often avoid a long and useless discussion by others, or
+a laborious explanation on my part, by a short story that illustrates my
+point of view."</p>
+
+<p>The salesman should resolve not to lose his poise and agreeableness
+under any circumstances. Irritability never attracts business. To say
+the right thing in the right place is desirable, but it is quite as
+important, though more difficult, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the
+moment of temptation.</p>
+
+<p>It is not the legitimate business of the salesman to force upon a
+customer what is really not wanted, but many times the customer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>does
+not know what he wants nor what he might be able to use. Hence the
+competent salesman should know how to influence the customer towards a
+favorable decision, using all honorable and approved means to bring
+about such a result.</p>
+
+<p>The customer's unfavorable answer is not to be accepted always as final.
+He may not clearly understand the merits or uses of the article offered.
+He may need the explanations and suggestions of the salesman in order to
+reach a right conclusion. Here it is that the salesman may fulfill one
+of his most important duties.</p>
+
+<p>There is a wide difference between self-reliance and obtrusiveness.
+Every man should have a full degree of self-confidence. It is needed in
+every walk in life. But the salesman, more than most men, must have an
+exceptional degree of faith in himself and in what he has to sell.</p>
+
+<p>This self-confidence, however, is a very different thing from boldness
+or obtrusiveness. Courtesy and considerateness are cardinal qualities of
+the well-equipped salesman, but boastfulness, glibness, egotism,
+loudness, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>self-assertion, are as distasteful as they are
+undesirable.</p>
+
+<p>The eloquence and persuasiveness of silence is nowhere better
+exemplified than in the art of salesmanship. One man says much, and
+sells little; another says little, and sells much. The reason for the
+superior success of one over the other is mainly due to the fact that he
+knows best how to present the merits of what he offers for sale, knows
+how to say it concisely and effectively, knows how to ingratiate
+himself, largely through his personality, into the good graces of the
+prospective buyer, and knows when to stop talking.</p>
+
+<p>Modern salesmanship is based primarily upon common sense. A man with
+brains, though possibly lacking in other desirable qualifications, may
+easily outdistance the more experienced salesman. It is a valuable thing
+in any man to be able to think accurately, reason deeply, and size up a
+situation promptly.</p>
+
+<p>The salesman should at all times be on his best talking behavior. It is
+not advisable for him to have two standards of speech, and to use an
+inferior one excepting for special occasions. He should cultivate as a
+regular daily <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>habit discrimination in the use of voice, enunciation,
+expression, and language. This should be the constant aim not only of
+the salesman, but of every man ambitious to achieve success and
+distinction in the world.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="MEN_AND_MANNERISMS" id="MEN_AND_MANNERISMS"></a>MEN AND MANNERISMS</h2>
+
+
+<p>There is a story of a politician who had acquired a mannerism of
+fingering a button on his coat while talking to an audience. On one
+occasion some friends surreptitiously cut the particular button off, and
+the result was that the speaker when he stood up to address the audience
+lost the thread of his discourse.</p>
+
+<p>Gladstone had a mannerism of striking the palm of his left hand with the
+clenched fist of his other hand, so that often the emphatic word was
+lost in the noise of percussion. A common habit of the distinguished
+statesman was to reach out his right hand at full arm's length, and then
+to bend it back at the elbow and lightly scratch the top of his head
+with his thumb-nail.</p>
+
+<p>Balfour, while speaking, used to take hold of the lapels of his coat by
+both hands as if he were in mortal fear of running away before he had
+finished.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>Goshen, at the beginning of a speech, would sound his chest and sides
+with his hands, and apparently finding that his ribs were in good order,
+would proceed to wash his hands with invisible soap.</p>
+
+<p>The strange thing about mannerisms is that the speakers are usually
+unconscious of them, and would be the first to condemn them in others.
+The remedy for such defects lies in thorough and severe self-examination
+and self-criticism. However eminent a speaker may be with objectionable
+mannerisms, he would be still greater without them.</p>
+
+<p>Every public speaker has certain characteristics of voice and manner
+that distinguish him from other men. In so far as this individuality
+gives increased power and effectiveness to the speaking style, it is
+desirable and should be encouraged. When, however, it is carried to
+excess, or in any sense offends good taste, it is merely mannerism, and
+should be discouraged.</p>
+
+<p>There is an objectionable mannerism of the voice, known as "pulpit
+tone," that has come to be associated with some preachers. It takes
+various forms, such as an unduly ele<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>vated key, a drawling monotone, a
+sudden transition from one extreme of pitch to another, or a tone of
+condescension. It is also heard in a plaintive minor inflection,
+imparting a quality of extreme sadness to a speaker's style. These are
+all departures from the natural, earnest, sincere, and direct delivery
+that belongs to the high office of preaching.</p>
+
+<p>Still another undesirable mannerism of the voice is that of giving a
+rising inflection at the close of successive sentences that are
+obviously complete. Here the speaker's thought is left suspended in the
+air, the hearer feels a sense of disappointment or doubt, and possibly
+the entire meaning is perverted. Thoughts delivered in such a manner,
+unless they distinctly require a rising inflection, lack the emphasis
+and force of persuasive speaking.</p>
+
+<p>Artificiality, affectation, pomposity, mouthing, undue vehemence,
+monotony, intoning, and everything that detracts from the simplicity and
+genuine fervor of the speech should be avoided. Too much emphasis may
+drive a thought beyond the mark, and a conscious determination to make a
+"great speech" <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>may keep the speaker in a state of anxiety throughout
+its entire delivery.</p>
+
+<p>A clear and correct enunciation is essential, but it should not be
+pedantic, nor should it attract attention to itself. "What you are
+prevents me from hearing what you say," might also be applied to the
+manner of the speaker. Exaggerated opening of the mouth, audible
+smacking of the lips, holding tenaciously to final consonants, prolonged
+hissing of sibilants, are all to be condemned. Hesitation, stumbling
+over difficult combinations, obscuring final syllables, coalescing the
+last sound of one word with the first sound of the following word, are
+inexcusable in a trained speaker.</p>
+
+<p>When the same modulation of the voice is repeated too often, it becomes
+a mannerism, a kind of monotony of variety. It reminds one of a
+street-piano set to but one tune, and is quite as distressing to a
+sensitive ear. This is not the style that is expected from a public man.</p>
+
+<p>What should the speaker do with his hands? Do nothing with them unless
+they are specifically needed for the more complete expression <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>of a
+thought. Let them drop at the sides in their natural relaxed position,
+ready for instant use. To press the fist in the hollow of the back in
+order to "support" the speaker, to clutch the lapels of the coat, to
+slap the hands audibly together, to place the hands on the hips in the
+attitude of "vulgar ease," to put the hands into the pockets, to wring
+the hands as if "washing them with invisible soap," or to violently
+pound the pulpit&mdash;these belong to the list of undesirable mannerisms.</p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of a speech it may give the appearance of ease to place
+the hands behind the back, but this position lacks force and action and
+should not be long sustained. To cross the arms upon the desk is to put
+them out of commission for the time being. Leaning or lounging of any
+kind, bending at the knee, or other evidence of weakness or weariness,
+may belong to the repose of the easy chair, but are hardly appropriate
+in a wide-awake speaker seeking to convince men.</p>
+
+<p>Rocking the body to and fro, rising on the toes to emphasize, crouching,
+stamping the foot, springing from side to side, over-acting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>and
+impersonation, and violence and extravagance of every description may
+well be omitted in public speaking. Beware of extremes. Avoid a
+statue-like attitude on the one hand and a constant restlessness on the
+other. Dignity is desirable, but one should not forget the words of the
+Reverend Sam Jones, "There is nothing more dignified than a corpse!"</p>
+
+<p>Gestures that are too frequent and alike soon lose their significance.
+If they are attempted at all they should be varied and complete,
+suggesting freedom and spontaneity. When only half made they are likely
+to call attention to the discrepancy, and to this extent will obscure
+rather than help the thought. The continuous use of gesture is
+displeasing to the eye, and gives the impression of lack of poise.</p>
+
+<p>The young speaker particularly should be warned not to imitate the
+speaking style of others. What is perfectly natural to one may appear
+ridiculous in another. Cardinal Newman spoke with extreme
+deliberateness, enunciating every syllable with care and precision;
+Phillips Brooks sent forth an avalanche of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>words at the rate of two
+hundred a minute; but it would be dangerous for the average speaker to
+emulate either of these examples.</p>
+
+<p>There is a peculiarity in a certain type of speaking, which, while not
+strictly a mannerism, is detrimental to the highest effect. It manifests
+itself in physical weakness. The speaker is uniformly tired, and his
+speaking has a half-hearted tone. The lifelessness in voice and manner
+communicates itself to the audience, and prevents all possibility of
+deep and enduring impression. Joseph Parker said that when Sunday came
+he felt like a racehorse, and could hardly wait for the time to come for
+him to go into the pulpit. He longed to speak.</p>
+
+<p>The well-equipped speaker is one who has a superior culture of voice and
+body. All the instruments of expression must be made his obedient
+servants, but as master of them he should see to it that they perform
+their work naturally and spontaneously. He should be able while speaking
+to abandon himself wholly to his subject, confident that as a result of
+conscientious training his delivery may be left largely to take care of
+itself.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="HOW_TO_SPEAK_IN_PUBLIC" id="HOW_TO_SPEAK_IN_PUBLIC"></a>HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC</h2>
+
+
+<p>There are two essential qualifications for making an effective public
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>First, having something worth-while to say.</p>
+
+<p>Second, knowing how to say it.</p>
+
+<p>The first qualification implies a judicious choice of subject and the
+most thorough preparation. It means that the speaker has carefully
+gathered together the best available material, and has so familiarized
+himself with his subject that he knows more about it than anyone else in
+his audience.</p>
+
+<p>It is in this requirement of thorough preparation that many public
+speakers are deficient. They do not realize the need for this
+painstaking preliminary work, and hence they frequently stand before an
+audience with little information of value to impart to their hearers.
+Their poverty of thought can not be long disguised in flamboyant
+rhetoric and sesquipedalian words, and hence they fail to carry
+conviction to serious-minded men.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>I would remind you that having something worth-while to say involves
+more than thorough preparation of the particular subject which the
+speaker is to present to an audience. The speaker should have a
+well-furnished mind. You have had the experience of listening to a
+public speaker who commanded your closest attention not only because of
+what he said, but also because of what he was. He inspired confidence in
+you because of his personality and reserve power.</p>
+
+<p>It is often what a man has within himself, rather than what he actually
+expresses, that carries greatest conviction to your mind. As you listen
+to such a man speak, you feel that he is worthy of your confidence
+because he draws upon broad experience and knowledge. He speaks out of
+the fulness of a well-furnished mind.</p>
+
+<p>It is important, therefore, that there should be mental culture in a
+broad way,&mdash;sound judgment, a sense of proportion and perspective, a
+fund of useful ideas, facts, arguments, and illustrations, and a large
+stock of common sense.</p>
+
+<p>Every man who essays to speak in public <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>should cultivate a judicial
+mind, or the habit of weighing and estimating facts and arguments. Such
+a mind is supposedly free from prejudice and seeks the truth at any
+cost. Such a mind does not want this or that to be necessarily true, but
+wants to recognize as true only that which is true.</p>
+
+<p>In these days of multiplied publications and books of all kinds, when
+printed matter of every description is soliciting our time and
+attention, it is particularly desirable that we should cultivate a
+discriminating taste in our choice of books. The highest purpose of
+reading is for the acquisition of useful knowledge and personal culture,
+and we should keep these two aims constantly before us. It is noteworthy
+that men who have achieved enduring greatness in the world have always
+had a good book at their ready command.</p>
+
+<p>If you are ever in doubt about the choice of books, you would do well to
+enlist the services of a literary friend, or ask the advice of a local
+librarian. But in any case, be on your guard against books and other
+publications of commonplace type, which can contribute nothing to the
+enrichment of your mind and life.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>It is desirable that you should own the books you read. The sense of
+personal possession will give an interest and pleasure to your reading
+which it would not otherwise have, and moreover you can freely mark such
+books with your pencil for subsequent reference. It is also well to have
+a note-book conveniently ready in which to jot down useful ideas as they
+occur to you.</p>
+
+<p>Here we come to the use of the pen. All the great orators of the world
+have been prolific writers in the sense of writing out their thoughts.
+It is the only certain way to clarify your thought, to test it in
+advance of verbal expression and to examine it critically. The public
+speaker should write much in order to form a clear and flowing English
+style. It is surprising how many of our thoughts which appear to us
+clear and satisfactory, assume a peculiar vagueness when we attempt to
+set them down definitely in writing.</p>
+
+<p>The use of the pen tends to give clearness and conciseness to the
+speaker's style. It makes him careful and accurate. It aids, too, in
+fixing the ideas of his speech in his mind, so that at the moment of
+addressing an audi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>ence they will respond most readily to his needs.</p>
+
+<p>A well-furnished mind is like a well-furnished house. In furnishing a
+house we do not fill it up with miscellaneous furniture, bric-a-brac and
+antiques, gathered promiscuously, but we plan everything with a view to
+harmony, beauty, and utility. We furnish a particular room in a tone
+that will be restful and pleasing to the occupant. We choose every piece
+of furniture, rug, picture, and drapery with a distinct purpose in view
+of what the total effect will be.</p>
+
+<p>So with a well-furnished mind. We must choose the kind of material we
+intend to keep there. It should be chosen with a view to its beauty,
+power, and usefulness. We want no rubbish there. We want the best
+material available. Hence the vital importance of going to the right
+sources for the furniture of our mind, to the great books of the world,
+to living authorities, to nature, to music, to art, to the best wherever
+it may be found.</p>
+
+<p>The second essential of an effective public speech is knowing how to say
+it. This implies a thorough training in the technique of speech. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>There
+should be a well-cultivated voice, of adequate volume, brilliancy, and
+carrying quality. There should be ample training in articulation,
+pronunciation, expression, and gesture. These so-called mechanics should
+be developed until they become an unconscious part of the speaker's
+style.</p>
+
+<p>Your best opportunity for practice is in your everyday conversation.
+There you are constantly making speeches on a small scale. Public
+speaking of the best modern type is simply elevated conversation. I do
+not mean elevated in pitch, but in the sense of being launched upon a
+higher level of thought and with greater intensity than is usually
+called for by ordinary conversation.</p>
+
+<p>In conversation you have your best opportunity for developing your
+public speaking style. Indeed, you are there, despite yourself, forming
+habits which will disclose themselves in your public speaking. As you
+speak in your daily conversation you will largely speak when you stand
+before an audience.</p>
+
+<p>You will therefore see the importance of care in your daily speech.
+There should be a fastidious choice of words, care in pronuncia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>tion and
+articulation, and the mouth well opened so that the words may come out
+wholly through the mouth and not partly through the nose. Culture of
+conversation is to be recommended for its own sake, since everyone must
+speak in private if not in public.</p>
+
+<p>One of the best plans for self-culture in speaking is to read aloud for
+a few minutes every day from a book of well-selected speeches. There are
+numerous compilations of the kind admirably suited to this purpose. The
+important thing here is to read in speaking style, not in what is termed
+reading style as usually taught in schools. When you practise in this
+way it would be well to imagine an audience before you and to render the
+speech as if emanating from your own mind. The student of public
+speaking will wisely guard himself against acquiring an artificial style
+or other mannerism.</p>
+
+<p>Another good plan is to make short mental speeches while walking. When
+possible it is well to choose a country road for this purpose, or a
+park, or some other place where one's mind is not likely to be often
+diverted by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>passers-by. Lord Dufferin, the eminent British orator, was
+accustomed to prepare most of his speeches while riding on horseback.
+The habit of forming mental speeches is a great aid to actual
+speech-making, as it tends to give the mind a power and an adaptability
+which it would not otherwise have.</p>
+
+<p>The painter, the musician, the sculptor, the architect, and other
+craftsmen search out models for study and inspiration. The public
+speaker should do likewise, and history shows that the great orators of
+the world have followed this practise. You can not do better than take
+as your model the greatest short speech in all history, the Gettysburg
+Address.</p>
+
+<p>An authority on English style has critically examined this speech and
+acknowledges that he cannot suggest a single change in it which would
+add to its power and perfection.</p>
+
+<p>You recall the circumstances under which it was written. On the morning
+of November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln was travelling from Washington to
+take part next day in the consecration of the national cemetery at
+Gettysburg. He wrote his speech on a scrap of wrapping-paper, carefully
+fitting word to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>word, changing and correcting it in minutest detail as
+best he could until it was finished.</p>
+
+<p>The next day after the speech had been delivered, Edward Everett, the
+trained and polished orator, said that he would have been content to
+have made in his oration of two hours the impression which Lincoln had
+made in that many minutes.</p>
+
+<p>It will repay you to study this speech closely and to wrest from it its
+innermost secrets of power and effectiveness. The greatest underlying
+quality of this speech is its rare simplicity&mdash;simplicity of thought,
+simplicity of language, simplicity of purpose, and shining through it
+all, the simplicity of the great emancipator himself.</p>
+
+<p>This simplicity is one of the great distinguishing qualities of
+effective public speaking. It is characteristic of all true art. It is
+subtle and difficult to define, but F&eacute;nelon gives a definition that will
+aid us when he says, "Simplicity is an uprightness of soul that has no
+reference to self." It is another word for unselfishness.</p>
+
+<p>In these days of self-exploitation and self-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>aggrandizement, how
+refreshing it is to meet a man of true simplicity. We are won by his
+unaffected manner, his gentleness of argument, his ingratiating tones of
+voice, his freedom from prejudice and passion. Such a man wins us almost
+wholly by the power of his simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>This supreme quality is noticeable in men who are said to have come to
+themselves. They have tasted and tested life, they have learned
+proportion and perspective, they have appraised things at their real
+value, and now they carry themselves in poise and power and confidence.
+They have found themselves in a high and true sense, and they have come
+to be known as men of simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>Simplicity is not to be confounded with weakness or ignorance. It comes
+through long education. It does not mean the trite, or the commonplace,
+or the obvious. It is a strong and sturdy quality, is this simplicity of
+which I am speaking, and nothing else will atone for lack of it in the
+public speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Longfellow calls it the supreme excellence, since it is the quality
+which above all others brings serenity to the soul and makes life
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>really worth living. Every man should earnestly seek to cultivate this
+great quality as essential to noble character.</p>
+
+<p>This speech is conspicuous for another indispensable quality for
+effective public speaking,&mdash;the quality of sincerity. It grows largely
+out of simplicity and is the product of integrity of mind and heart. Men
+recognize it quickly, though they cannot easily tell whence it comes. We
+find it highly developed in great leaders in business and professional
+life. There has never been a really great public speaker who was not
+preeminently a sincere man.</p>
+
+<p>Beecher said, "Let no man who is a sneak try to be an orator." Such a
+man can not be. He will shortly be found out. The world's ultimate
+estimate of a man is not far wrong.</p>
+
+<p>A politician of much promise was addressing a distinguished audience in
+Washington. The Opera House was crowded to the doors to hear him and
+apparently he was making a good impression upon all his hearers. But
+suddenly, at the very climax of his speech, while upwards of two
+thousand eyes were rivetted upon him, he was seen to wink at a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>personal
+friend of his sitting in a nearby box, and at that instant his future
+political prospects were shattered as a vase struck by lightning. In
+that single instant of insincerity he was appraised by that
+discriminating audience and his doom was sealed.</p>
+
+<p>Still another great quality in the Gettysburg speech is its directness.
+The speaker had a clearly-defined purpose in view. He knew what he
+wanted to say, and he proceeded to say it&mdash;no more, and no less.</p>
+
+<p>There was no straying away into by-paths, no padding of words to make up
+for shortage of ideas, no superfluous and big-sounding phrases, no empty
+rhetoric or glittering generalities.</p>
+
+<p>How many speakers there are who aim at nothing and hit it. How many
+speakers there are who are on their way but do not know whither.</p>
+
+<p>If this directness of quality were applied to talking in business, in
+committee meetings, in telephone conversations, in public speaking, it
+would save annually in this country millions of words and incalculable
+time and energy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>You will note that this speech has the rare quality of conciseness. We
+have an illustration here of how much a man can say in about 265 words
+and in the short space of two minutes, if he knows precisely what he
+wants to say.</p>
+
+<p>It is well to bear in mind that although this speech was scribbled off
+with seeming ease, Lincoln owed his ability to do it to a long and
+painstaking study of words and English style.</p>
+
+<p>He was a profound student of the dictionary. He steeped himself in
+words. He scrutinized words, he studied words, he made himself a master
+of words.</p>
+
+<p>This is a valuable habit for every man to form,&mdash;to study words
+regularly and earnestly, and to add consciously to his working
+vocabulary a few words daily&mdash;so in the course of a year such a man will
+acquire a large and varied stock of words which will do his instant
+bidding.</p>
+
+<p>The conclusion is a vital part of a speech. It is a place of peril to
+many a public speaker. Countless speeches have been ruined by a bad
+conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>The most important thing here is that having decided beforehand upon the
+particular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>ideas or message with which you intend to conclude your
+speech, not to let any influence lead you away from this preconceived
+purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Some speakers are about to conclude effectively but are unwilling to
+omit anything which they have planned to give in their speech, and so
+continue in an endeavor to recall every item. At last such a speech has
+a loose and straggling ending.</p>
+
+<p>The words of the conclusion need not be memorized, but the ideas should
+be definitely outlined in the mind and fixed in the memory, not as
+words, but as ideas.</p>
+
+<p>The knowledge that you can turn at will to these definite ideas, and so
+bring your speech to a close, will confer upon you a degree of
+self-confidence which will be of immense service to you.</p>
+
+<p>You should ever bear in mind this golden rule for the conclusion of your
+speech: When you have finished what you have of importance to say, do
+not be tempted to wander off into by-paths, or to tell an additional
+story, or to say "and one word more," but having finished your speech,
+stop on the instant and sit down.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="PRACTICAL_HINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS" id="PRACTICAL_HINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS"></a>PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SPEAKERS</h2>
+
+
+<p>Cultivate as the most desirable thoughts those which are definite,
+clear, deep, logical, profound, strong, precise, impressive, original,
+significant, explicit, luminous, positive, suggestive, comprehensive,
+and practical. Resolutely avoid all thoughts which are uncertain,
+recondite, obscure, immature, unimportant, shallow, weak, visionary,
+absurd, vague, extravagant, indefinite, or impractical.</p>
+
+<p>In your choice and use of words give preference to those which are
+definite, simple, real, significant, forcible, expressive, adequate,
+musical, varied, and copious. Avoid those which are foreign, slangy,
+obsolete, unusual, extravagant, technical, long, colloquial, or
+commonplace.</p>
+
+<p>The most desirable qualities in the use of English are the simple,
+plain, exact, lucid, concise, trenchant, vigorous, impressive, lively,
+figurative, polished, graceful, fluent, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>rhythmical, copious, elevated,
+flexible, smooth, dignified, terse, epigrammatic, felicitous,
+euphonious, elegant, and lofty. Undesirable qualities are the diffuse,
+verbose, redundant, inflated, prolix, ambiguous, feeble, monotonous,
+loose, slip-shod, dry, flowery, pedantic, pompous, rhetorical,
+grandiloquent, artificial, formal, ornate, halting, ponderous,
+ungrammatical, vague, and obscure.</p>
+
+<p>The qualities you should develop in your speaking voice are the pure,
+deep, round, flexible, resonant, musical, clear, sympathetic, smooth,
+sonorous, powerful, silvery, melodious, full, strong, natural, mellow,
+magnetic, expressive, carrying, and responsive. Endeavor to keep your
+voice free from such undesirable qualities as the harsh, breathy, sharp,
+rough, rigid, throaty, guttural, thin, shrill, nasal, unmusical,
+discordant, muffled, explosive, strained, inaudible, hollow, strident,
+sepulchral, and tremulous.</p>
+
+<p>Your articulation should be clear, distinct, and correct. Avoid
+carelessness, lifelessness, mumbling, weakness, and exaggeration.</p>
+
+<p>Your pronunciation should be clear-cut and accurate. Avoid mouthing,
+lisping, hesita<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>tion, stammering, pedantry, omission of syllables, and
+suppression of final consonants.</p>
+
+<p>Your delivery in public speaking should be simple, sincere, natural,
+varied, magnetic, earnest, forceful, attractive, energetic, animated,
+sympathetic, authoritative, dignified, direct, impressive, vivid,
+convincing, persuasive, zealous, enthusiastic, and inspiring. Avoid that
+which is timid, familiar, violent, cold, indifferent, unreal,
+artificial, dull, sing-song, hesitating, feeble, unconvincing,
+apathetic, monotonous, pompous, formal, arbitrary, flippant,
+ostentatious, drawling, or languid.</p>
+
+<p>Your gesture should be graceful, appropriate, free, forceful, and
+natural. Avoid all gesture which is unmeaning, angular, abrupt,
+constrained, stilted, or amateurish.</p>
+
+<p>Your facial expression should be varied, appropriate, pleasing, and
+impassioned. Avoid the unpleasant, immobile, and unvaried.</p>
+
+<p>Let your standing position be manly, erect, easy, forceful, and
+impressive. Avoid that which is weak, shifting, stiff, inactive, and
+ungainly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_DRAMATIC_ELEMENT_IN_SPEAKING" id="THE_DRAMATIC_ELEMENT_IN_SPEAKING"></a>THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN SPEAKING</h2>
+
+
+<p>There is a well-defined prejudice against the importation of anything
+"theatrical" into the pulpit. The art of the actor is fundamentally
+different from the work of the preacher. At best the actor but
+represents, imitates, pretends, acts. The actor seems; the preacher is.</p>
+
+<p>It is to be feared, however, that this prejudice has narrowed many
+preachers down to a pulpit style almost devoid of warmth and action. In
+their endeavor to avoid the dramatic and sensational, they have refined
+and subdued many of their most natural and effective means of
+expression. The function of preaching is not only to impart, but to
+persuade; and persuasion demands something more than an easy
+conversational style, an intellectual statement of facts, or the reading
+of a written message. The speaker must show in face, in eye, in arm, in
+the whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>animated man, that he, himself, is moved, before he can hope
+successfully to persuade and inspire others.</p>
+
+<p>The modified movements of ordinary conversation do not fulfil all the
+requirements of the preacher. These are necessary and adequate for the
+groundwork of the sermon, but for the supreme heights of passionate
+appeal, when the soul of the preacher would, as it were, leap from its
+body in the endeavor to reach men, there must be intensified life and
+action&mdash;dramatic action.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to conceive of a greater tribute to a public advocate
+than that paid to Wendell Phillips by George William Curtis:</p>
+
+<p>"The divine energy of his conviction utterly possest him, and his</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div class='i2'>'Pure and eloquent blood</div>
+<div>Spoke in his cheek, and so distinctly wrought,</div>
+<div>That one might almost say his body thought.'"</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Poise is power, and reserve and repression are parts of the dignified
+office of the preacher, but carried too far may degenerate into weak and
+unproductive effort. Perfection of English style, rhetorical floridness,
+and profundity of thought will never wholly make up for lack <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>of
+appropriate action in the work of persuading men.</p>
+
+<p>The power of action alone is vividly illustrated in the touch of the
+finger to the lips to invoke silence, or the pointing to the door to
+command one to leave the room. The preacher might often find it
+profitable to stand before a mirror and deliver his sermon exclusively
+in pantomime to test its power and efficacy.</p>
+
+<p>The body must be disciplined and cultivated as assiduously as the other
+instruments of the speaker. There is eloquence of attitude and action no
+less than eloquence of voice and feeling. A preacher drawing himself up
+to his full height, with a significant gesture of the head, or with
+flashing eye pointing the finger of warning at his hearers, may rouse
+them from indifference when all other means fail.</p>
+
+<p>Sixty years ago the Reverend William Russell emphasized the importance
+of visible expression. He said of the preacher:</p>
+
+<p>"His outward manner, in attitude and action, will be as various as his
+voice: he will evince the inspiration of appropriate feeling <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>in the
+very posture of his frame; in uttering the language of adoration, the
+slow-moving, uplifted hand will bespeak the awe and solemnity which
+pervade his soul; in addressing his fellow men in the spirit of an
+ambassador of Christ, the gentle yet earnest spirit of persuasive action
+will be evinced in the pleading hand and aspect; he will know, also, how
+to pass to the stern and authoritative mien of the reproved of sin; he
+will, on due occasions, indicate, in his kindling look, the rousing
+gesture, the mood of him who is empowered and commanded to summon forth
+all the energies of the human soul; his subdued and chastened address
+will carry the sympathy of his spirit into the bosom of the mourner; his
+moistening eye and his gentle action will manifest his tenderness for
+the suffering: his whole soul will, in a word, become legible in his
+features, in his attitude, in the expressive eloquence of his hand; his
+whole style will be felt to be that of heart communing with heart."</p>
+
+<p>Dramatic action gives picturesqueness to the spoken word. It makes
+things vivid to slow imaginations, and by contrast invests <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>the
+speaker's message with new meaning and vitality. It discloses, too, the
+speaker's sympathy and identification with his subject. His thought and
+feeling, communicating themselves to voice and face, to hand and arm, to
+posture and walk, satisfy and impress the hearer by a sense of adequacy
+and completeness.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Ward Beecher, a conspicuous example of the dramatic style in
+preaching, was drilled for three years, while at college, in
+voice-culture, gesture, and action. His daily practise in the woods,
+during which he exploded all the vowels from the bottom to the top of
+his voice, gave him not only a wonderfully responsive and flexible
+instrument, but a freedom of bodily movement that made him one of the
+most vigorous and virile of American preachers. He was in the highest
+sense a persuasive pulpit orator.</p>
+
+<p>A sensible preacher will avoid the grotesque and the extremes of mere
+animal vivacity. Incessant gesture and action, undue emphasizing with
+hand and head, and all suggestion of self-sufficiency in attitude or
+manner should be guarded against. All the various instru<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>ments of
+expression should be made ready and responsive for immediate use, but
+are to be employed with that taste and tact that characterize the
+well-balanced man. Too much action and long-continued emotional effort
+lose force, and unless the law of action and reaction is applied to the
+preaching of the sermon the attention of the congregation may snap and
+the desired effect be utterly destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The face as the mirror of the emotions is an important part of
+expression. The lips will betray determination, grief, sympathy,
+affection, or other feeling on the part of the speaker. The eyes, the
+most direct medium of psychic power, will flash in indignation, glisten
+in joy, or grow dim in sorrow. The brow will be elevated in surprise, or
+lowered in determination and perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>The effectiveness of the whisper in preaching should not be overlooked.
+If discreetly used it may serve to impress the hearer with the
+profundity and seriousness of the preacher's message, or to arrest and
+bring back to the point of contact the wandering minds of a
+congregation.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>To acquire emotional power and dramatic action the preacher should
+study the great dramatists. He should read them aloud with appropriate
+voice and movement. He should study children, and men, and nature. He
+should, perhaps, see the best actors, not to copy them, but in order
+that they may stimulate his taste and imagination.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CONVERSATION_AND_PUBLIC_SPEAKING" id="CONVERSATION_AND_PUBLIC_SPEAKING"></a>CONVERSATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING</h2>
+
+
+<p>The ideal style of public speaking is, with very little modification,
+the ideal of good conversation. The practical age in which we live
+demands a colloquial rather than an oratorical style of public speaking.
+A man who has something to say in conversation usually has little
+difficulty in saying it. If he presents the facts he will speak
+convincingly; if he is deeply in earnest he will speak persuasively; and
+if he be an educated man his speech will have the unmistakable marks of
+culture and refinement.</p>
+
+<p>In the conversation of well-bred children we find the most interesting
+and helpful illustrations of unaffected speech. The exquisite modulation
+of the voice, the unstudied correctness of emphasis, and the sincerity
+and depth of feeling might well serve as a model for older speakers.</p>
+
+<p>This study of conversation, both our own and that of others, offers
+daily opportunity <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>for improvement in accuracy and fluency of speech, of
+fitting words to the mouth as well as to the thought, and of forming
+habits that will unconsciously disclose themselves in the larger work of
+public speaking. Care in conversation will guard the public speaker from
+inflated and unnatural tones, and restrain him from transgressing the
+laws of nature even in those parts of his speech demanding lofty and
+intensified treatment.</p>
+
+<p>Some easily remembered suggestions regarding conversation are these:</p>
+
+<p class='tbrk'>1. Pronounce your words distinctly and accurately, like "newly made
+coins" from the mint, but without pedantry.</p>
+
+<p>2. Upon no occasion allow yourself to indulge in careless or incorrect
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>3. Open the mouth well in conversation. Much indistinct speech is due to
+speaking through half-closed teeth.</p>
+
+<p>4. Closely observe your conversation and that of others, to detect
+faults and to improve your speaking-style.</p>
+
+<p>5. Vary your voice to suit the variety of your thought. A well-modulated
+voice de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>mands appropriate changes of pitch, force, perspective, and
+feeling.</p>
+
+<p>6. Avoid loud talking.</p>
+
+<p>7. Take care of the consonants and the vowels will take care of
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>8. Cultivate the music of the conversational tones.</p>
+
+<p>9. Favor the low pitches of your voice.</p>
+
+<p>10. Remember that the purpose of conscious practise and observation in
+the matter of conversation is to lead ultimately to unconscious
+performance.</p>
+
+<p class='tbrk'>The value of correct conversation as a means to effective public
+speaking is realized by few men. Beecher said: "How much squandering
+there is of the voice!" meaning that this golden opportunity for
+improvement was generally disregarded. It is not too much to say,
+however, that if the sweet and gentle expression of the mother, the
+strong and affectionate tones of the father, and the spontaneous musical
+notes of the children, as heard in daily conversation, could be united
+in the voice of the minister and brought to the preaching of his sermon,
+there would be little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>doubt of its magical and enduring effect upon the
+hearts of men. The wooing tone of the lover is what the preacher needs
+in his pulpit style rather than the voice of declamation and
+denunciation.</p>
+
+<p>The study of conversation serves to guide the public speaker not only in
+the free and natural use of his voice, enunciation, and expression, but
+also in his use of language. He will here learn to choose the simple
+word instead of the complex, the short sentence instead of the involved,
+the concrete illustration instead of the abstract. He will acquire ease,
+spontaneity, simplicity, and directness, and when he rises to speak to
+men he will employ tones and words best known and understood by them.</p>
+
+<p>A preacher may spend too much time in study and solitude. If he does he
+will soon realize a distinct loss through lack of social intercourse
+with his fellow men. The faculties most needed in pulpit preaching are
+those very powers that are so largely exercised in ordinary
+conversation. The ability to think quickly, to marshal facts and
+arguments, to introduce a vivid story or illustration, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>parry and
+thrust as is sometimes needed to hold one's own ground, and the general
+mental activity aroused in conversation, all tend to produce an
+interesting, vivacious, and forceful style in public speaking.</p>
+
+<p>We should not underestimate the value of meditation and silence to the
+public speaker. These are necessary for original and profound thinking,
+for the cultivation of the imagination, and for the accumulation of
+thought. But conversation offers an immediate outlet for this stored-up
+knowledge, testing it as a finished product in expression, and
+projecting it into life and reality by all the resources of voice and
+feeling. This exercise is as necessary to the mind as physical exercise
+is to the body. Indeed, a full mind demands this relief in expression,
+lest the strain become too great.</p>
+
+<p>The daily newspaper and the magazines should not be allowed to usurp the
+place of conversation. If the art of talking is rapidly dying out, as
+some assert, we should do our share to revive it. We may not again have
+the wit and repartee, the brilliant intellectual combats of those other
+days, but we can at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>least each have a cultivated speaking-voice, an
+interesting manner of expressing our ideas in conversation, and a
+refined pronunciation of our mother tongue.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="A_TALK_TO_PREACHERS" id="A_TALK_TO_PREACHERS"></a>A TALK TO PREACHERS</h2>
+
+<p>The aim of one who would interpret literature to others, by means of the
+speaking voice, should be first to assimilate its spirit. There can be
+no worthy or adequate rendering of a great poem or prose selection
+without a keen appreciation of its inner meaning and content. This is
+the principal safeguard against mechanical and meaningless declamation.
+The extent of this appreciation and grasp of the inherent spirit of
+thought will largely determine the degree of life, reality, and
+impressiveness imparted to the spoken word.</p>
+
+<p>The intimate relationship between the voice and the spirit of the
+speaker suggests that one is necessary to the fullest development of the
+other. The voice can interpret only what has been awakened and realized
+within, hence nothing discloses a speaker's grasp of a subject so
+accurately and readily as his attempt to give it expression in his own
+language. It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>is this spiritual power, developed principally through the
+intuitions and emotions, that gives psychic force to speaking, and which
+more than logic, rhetoric, or learning itself enables the speaker to
+influence and persuade men.</p>
+
+<p>The minister as an interpreter of the highest spiritual truth should
+bring to his work a thoroughly trained emotional nature and a cultivated
+speaking voice. It is not sufficient that he state the truth with
+clearness and force; he must proclaim it with such passionate enthusiasm
+as powerfully to move his hearers. To express adequately the infinite
+shades of spiritual truth, he must have the ability to play upon his
+voice as upon a great cathedral organ, from "the soft lute of love" to
+"the loud trumpet of war."</p>
+
+<p>To assume that the study of the art of speaking will necessarily produce
+consciousness of its principles while in the act of speaking in public,
+is as unwarranted as to say that a knowledge of the rules of grammar,
+rhetoric, or logic lead to artificiality and self-consciousness in the
+teacher, writer, and thinker. There is a "mechanical expertness
+preceding all art," <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>as Goethe says, and this applies to the orator no
+less than to the musician, the artist, the actor, and the litterateur.</p>
+
+<p>Let the minister stand up for even five minutes each day, with chest and
+abdomen well expanded, and pronounce aloud the long vowel sounds of the
+English language, in various shades of force and feeling, and shortly he
+will observe his voice developing in flexibility, resonance, and power.
+For it should be remembered that the voice grows through use. Let the
+minister cultivate, too, the habit of breathing exclusively through his
+nose while in repose, fully and deeply from the abdomen, and he will
+find himself gaining in health and mental resourcefulness.</p>
+
+<p>For the larger development of the spiritual and emotional powers of the
+speaker, a wide and varied knowledge of men and life is necessary. The
+feelings are trained through close contact with human suffering, and in
+the work of solving vital social problems. The speaker will do well to
+explore first his own heart and endeavor to read its secret meanings,
+preliminary to interpreting the hearts of other men. Personal suffering
+will do more to open the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>well-springs of the heart than the reading of
+many books.</p>
+
+<p>Care must be had, however, that this cultivating of the feelings be
+conducted along rational lines, lest it run not to faith but to
+fanaticism. There is a wide difference between emotion designed for
+display or for momentary effect, and that which arises from strong inner
+conviction and sympathetic interest in others. Spurious, unnatural
+feeling will invariably fail to convince serious-minded men.</p>
+
+<p>"Emotion wrought up with no ulterior object," says Dr. Kennard, "is both
+an abuse and an injury to the moral nature. When the attention is
+thoroughly awakened and steadily held, the hearer is like a well-tuned
+harp, each cord a distinct emotion, and the skilful speaker may evoke a
+response from one or more at his will. This lays him under a great and
+serious responsibility. Let him keep steadily at such a time to his
+divine purpose, to produce a healthful action, a life in harmony with
+God and a symphony of service."</p>
+
+<p>The emotional and spiritual powers of the speaker will be developed by
+reading aloud <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>each day a vigorous and passionate extract from the
+Bible, or Shakespeare, or from some great sermon by such men as
+Bushnell, Newman, Beecher, Maclaren, Brooks, or Spurgeon. The entire
+gamut of human feeling can be highly cultivated by thus reading aloud
+from the great masterpieces of literature. The speaker will know that he
+can make his own words glow and vibrate, after he has first tested and
+trained himself in some such manner as this. Furthermore, by thus
+fitting words to his mouth, and assimilating the feelings of others, he
+will immeasurably gain in facility and vocal responsiveness when he
+attempts to utter his own thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Music is a powerful element in awakening emotion in the speaker and
+bringing to consciousness the mysterious inner voices of the soul. The
+minister should not only hear good music as often as possible, but he
+should train his ear to recognize the rhythm and melody in speech.</p>
+
+<p>For the fullest development of this spiritual power in the public
+speaker there should be frequent periods of stillness and silence. One
+must listen much in order to accumulate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>much. Thought and feeling
+require time in which to grow. In this way the myriad sounds that arise
+from humanity and from nature can be caught up in the soul of the
+speaker and subsequently voiced by him to others.</p>
+
+<p>The habit of meditating much, of brooding over thought, whether it be
+our own or that of others, will tend to disclose new and deeper
+meanings, and consequently deeper shades and depths of feeling. The
+speaker will diligently search for unwritten meanings in words; he will
+study, whenever possible, masterpieces of painting and sculpture; he
+will closely observe the natural feeling of well-bred children, as shown
+in their conversation; and in many other ways that will suggest
+themselves, he will daily develop his emotional and spiritual powers of
+expression.</p>
+
+<p>The science of preaching is important, but so, too, is the art of
+preaching. A powerful pulpit is one of the needs of the times. A
+congregation readily recognizes a preacher of strong convictions, broad
+sympathies, and consecrated personality. An affectionate nature in a
+minister, manifesting itself in voice, face, and manner, will attract
+and influence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>men, while a harsh, rigid, vehement manner will as easily
+repel them.</p>
+
+<p>It is to be feared that many sermons are written with too much regard
+for "literary deportment on paper," and too little thought of their
+value as pulsating messages to men.</p>
+
+<p>The preacher should train himself to take tight hold of his thought, to
+grip it with mental firmness and fervor, that he may afterward convey it
+to others with definiteness and vigor. Thoughts vaguely conceived and
+held tremblingly in the mind will manifest a like character when
+uttered. Into the writing of the sermon put vitality and intensity, and
+these qualities will find their natural place in delivery. Thrill of the
+pen should precede thrill of the voice. The habit of Dickens of acting
+out the characters he was depicting on paper could be copied to
+advantage by the preacher, and frequently during the writing of his
+sermon he might stand and utter his thoughts aloud to test their power
+and effectiveness upon an imaginary congregation.</p>
+
+<p>There should be the most thorough cultivation of the inner sources of
+the preacher, whereby the spiritual and emotional forces are so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>aroused
+and brought under control as to respond promptly and accurately to all
+the speaker's requirements. There should be assiduous training of the
+speaking voice as the instrument of expression and the natural outlet
+for thought and feeling. In the combined cultivation of these two
+essentials of expression&mdash;spirit and voice&mdash;the minister will find the
+true secret of effective pulpit preaching.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CARE_OF_THE_SPEAKERS_THROAT" id="CARE_OF_THE_SPEAKERS_THROAT"></a>CARE OF THE SPEAKER'S THROAT</h2>
+
+<p>The throat as a vital part of the public speaker's work in speaking is
+worthy of the greatest care and consideration. It is surprising that so
+little attention is given to vocal hygiene, when it is remembered that a
+serious weakness or affection of the throat may disqualify a speaker for
+important work. The delicate and intricate machinery of the vocal
+apparatus renders it peculiarly susceptible to misuse or exposure. The
+common defects of nasality, throatiness, and harshness, are due to wrong
+and careless use of the speaking-instrument.</p>
+
+<p>In the training of the public speaker the first step is to bring the
+breathing apparatus under proper control. That is to say, the speaker
+must accustom himself, through careful practise, to use the abdominal
+method of breathing, and to keep his throat free from the strain to
+which it is commonly subjected. This form of breathing is not difficult
+to ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>quire, since it simply means that during inhalation the abdomen is
+expanded, and during exhalation it is contracted. It should be no longer
+necessary to warn the speaker to breathe exclusively through the nose
+when not actually using the voice. While speaking he must so completely
+control the breath that not a particle of it can escape without giving
+up its equivalent in sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Clergyman's sore throat" is the result of improper use or overstraining
+of the voice. Sometimes the earnestness of the preacher causes him to
+"clutch" each word with the vocal muscles, instead of using the throat
+as an open channel through which the voice may flow with ease and
+freedom. Many speakers, in an endeavor to be heard at a great distance,
+employ too loud a tone, forgetting that the essential thing is a clear
+and distinct articulation. To speak continuously in high pitch, or
+through half-closed teeth, almost invariably causes distress of throat.
+Most throat troubles may be set down to a lack of proper elocutionary
+training. To keep the voice and throat in order there should be regular
+daily practise, if only for ten minutes. The ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>ample might profitably
+be followed of certain actors who make a practise of humming
+occasionally during the day while engaged in other duties, as a means of
+keeping the voice musical and resonant.</p>
+
+<p>When the throat becomes husky or weak it is a timely warning from nature
+that it needs rest and relaxation. To continue to engage in public
+speaking under these circumstances is often attended with great danger,
+resulting sometimes in total loss of voice. It is economy in the end to
+discontinue the use of the voice when there is a serious cold or the
+throat is otherwise affected. Nervousness, anxiety, or unusual mental
+exertion may cause a vocal breakdown. For this condition rest is
+recommended, together with gentle massaging of the throat with cold
+water mixed with a little vinegar or <i>eau de Cologne</i>.</p>
+
+<p>A public speaker should not engage in protracted conversation
+immediately after a speech. The sudden transition from an auditorium to
+the outer air should remind the speaker to keep his mouth securely
+closed. The general physical condition of the speaker has much to do
+with the vigor and clearness <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>of his voice. A daily plunge into cold
+water, or at least a sponging of the entire surface of the body, besides
+being a tonic luxury, greatly invigorates the throat and abdominal
+muscles. After the "tub" a vigorous rubbing with towel and hands should
+produce a glow.</p>
+
+<p>To the frequent question whether smoking is injurious to the throat, it
+is safe to say that the weight of authority and experience favors
+abstinence. Any one who has spoken for half an hour or more in a
+smoke-clouded room, knows the distressing effect it has had upon the
+sensitive lining of the throat. It must be obvious, therefore, that the
+constant inhaling of smoke must even more directly irritate the mucous
+membrane.</p>
+
+<p>The diet of the public speaker should be reasonably moderate, and the
+extremes of hot and cold avoided. The use of ice-water is to be
+discouraged. Many drugs and lozenges are positively injurious to the
+throat. For habitual dryness of throat a glycerine or honey tablet will
+usually obviate the trouble. Dr. Morell Mackenzie, the eminent English
+throat specialist, condemns the use of alcohol as pernicious, and
+affirms that "even in a compara<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>tively mild form it keeps the delicate
+tissues in a state of congestion which makes them particularly liable to
+inflammation from cold or other causes."</p>
+
+<p>It must not be assumed that the throat is to be pampered. A reasonable
+amount of exposure will harden it and to this extent is desirable. To
+muffle the throat with a scarf, unless demanded by special conditions,
+may make it unduly sensitive and increase the danger of taking cold when
+the head is turned from side to side.</p>
+
+<p>A leading physician confirms the opinion that the best gargle for daily
+use is that of warm water and salt. This should be used every night and
+morning to cleanse and invigorate the throat. Where there is a tendency
+to catarrh a solution made of peroxide of hydrogen, witch-hazel, and
+water, in equal parts, will prove efficacious. Nothing should be snuffed
+up the nose except under the direction of a physician, lest it cause
+deafness.</p>
+
+<p>Many speakers and singers have a favorite nostrum for improving the
+voice. The long and amusing list includes hot milk, tea, coffee,
+champagne, raw eggs, lemonade, apples, raisins,&mdash;and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>sardines! A good
+rule is to eat sparingly if the meal is taken just before speaking. It
+need hardly be said that serious vocal defects, such as enlarged
+tonsils, elongated uvula, and abnormal growths in the throat and nose
+are subjects for the specialist.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever possible a speaker should test beforehand the acoustic
+properties of the auditorium in which he is to speak for the first time.
+A helpful plan is to have a friend seat himself at the back of the hall
+or church, and give his opinion of the quality and projecting power of
+the speaker's voice. It is difficult to judge one's own voice because it
+is conveyed to him not only from the outside but also through the
+Eustachian tube and modified by the vibratory parts of the throat and
+head. A speaker never hears his own voice as it is heard by another.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing, perhaps, is so taxing to the throat as long-continued speaking
+in one quality of tone. There are two distinct registers which should be
+judiciously alternated by the speaker. These are the "chest" register,
+in which the vocal cords vibrate their whole length, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>the quality of
+tone derives most of its character from the chest cavity; and the "head"
+register, in which the vocal cords vibrate only in part, and the quality
+of tone is reenforced by the resonators of the face, mouth, and head.
+The first of these registers is sometimes called the "orotund" voice
+from its quality of roundness, and is employed principally in language
+of reverence, sublimity, and grandeur.</p>
+
+<p>The head tone is the voice of ordinary conversation and should form the
+basis of the public-speaking style.</p>
+
+<p>No one who has to speak in public should be discouraged because of
+limited vocal resources. Many of the foremost orators began with marked
+disadvantages in this respect, but made these shortcomings an incentive
+to higher effort. One well-known speaker makes up for lack of vocal
+power by extreme distinctness of enunciation, while another offsets an
+unpleasantly heavy quality of voice by skilful modulation.</p>
+
+<p>A few easily remembered suggestions are:</p>
+
+<p class='tbrk'>1. Rest the voice for an hour or two before speaking in public.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>2. Gargle the throat night and morning with salt and water.</p>
+
+<p>3. Never force the voice.</p>
+
+<p>4. Avoid all occasions that strain the voice, such as prolonged
+conversation, speaking against noise, or in cold and damp air.</p>
+
+<p>5. Practise deep breathing until it becomes an unconscious habit.</p>
+
+<p>6. Favor an outdoor life.</p>
+
+<p>7. Hum or sing a little every day.</p>
+
+<p>8. Discontinue public speaking when there is a severe cold or other
+affection of the throat.</p>
+
+<p>9. Rest the voice and body immediately after speaking in public.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="DONTS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS" id="DONTS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS"></a>DON'TS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS</h2>
+
+<p>Don't rant.<br />
+Don't prate.<br />
+Don't fidget.<br />
+Don't flatter.<br />
+Don't declaim.<br />
+Don't be glib.<br />
+Don't hesitate.<br />
+Don't be nasal.<br />
+Don't apologize.<br />
+Don't dogmatize.<br />
+Don't be slangy.<br />
+Don't antagonize.<br />
+Don't be awkward.<br />
+Don't be violent.<br />
+Don't be personal.<br />
+Don't be "funny."<br />
+Don't attitudinize.<br />
+Don't be monotonous.<br />
+Don't speak rapidly.<br />
+Don't sway your body.<br />
+Don't be long-winded.<br />
+Don't "hem" and "haw."<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+Don't praise yourself.<br />
+Don't overgesticulate.<br />
+Don't pace the platform.<br />
+Don't clear your throat.<br />
+Don't "point with pride."<br />
+Don't tell a long story.<br />
+Don't rise on your toes.<br />
+Don't distort your words.<br />
+Don't stand like a statue.<br />
+Don't address the ceiling.<br />
+Don't speak in a high key.<br />
+Don't emphasize everything.<br />
+Don't drink while speaking.<br />
+Don't fatigue your audience.<br />
+Don't exceed your time limit.<br />
+Don't talk for talking's sake.<br />
+Don't wander from your subject.<br />
+Don't fumble with your clothes.<br />
+Don't speak through closed teeth.<br />
+Don't put your hands on your hips.<br />
+Don't fail to stop when you have ended.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="DOS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS" id="DOS_FOR_PUBLIC_SPEAKERS"></a>DO'S FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS</h2>
+
+<p>Be prepared.<br />
+Begin slowly.<br />
+Be modest.<br />
+Speak distinctly.<br />
+Address all your hearers.<br />
+Be uniformly courteous.<br />
+Prune your sentences.<br />
+Cultivate mental alertness.<br />
+Conceal your method.<br />
+Be scrupulously clear.<br />
+Feel sure of yourself.<br />
+Look your audience in the eyes.<br />
+Be direct.<br />
+Favor your deep tones.<br />
+Speak deliberately.<br />
+Get to your facts.<br />
+Be earnest.<br />
+Observe your pauses.<br />
+Suit the action to the word.<br />
+Be yourself at your best.<br />
+Speak fluently.<br />
+Use your abdominal muscles.<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+Make yourself interesting.<br />
+Be conversational.<br />
+Conciliate your opponent.<br />
+Rouse yourself.<br />
+Be logical.<br />
+Have your wits about you.<br />
+Be considerate.<br />
+Open your mouth.<br />
+Speak authoritatively.<br />
+Cultivate sincerity.<br />
+Cultivate brevity.<br />
+Cultivate tact.<br />
+End swiftly.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="POINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS" id="POINTS_FOR_SPEAKERS"></a>POINTS FOR SPEAKERS</h2>
+
+<p>As far as possible avoid the following hackneyed phrases:</p>
+
+<p>I rise with diffidence<br />
+Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking<br />
+By a happy stroke of fate<br />
+It becomes my painful duty<br />
+In the last analysis<br />
+I am encouraged to go on<br />
+I point with pride<br />
+On the other hand (with gesture)<br />
+I hold<br />
+The vox populi<br />
+Be that as it may<br />
+I shall not detain you<br />
+As the hour is growing late<br />
+Believe me<br />
+We view with alarm<br />
+As I was about to tell you<br />
+The happiest day of my life<br />
+It falls to my lot<br />
+I can say no more<br />
+In the fluff and bloom<br />
+I can only hint<br />
+I can say nothing<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+I cannot find words<br />
+The fact is<br />
+To my mind<br />
+I cannot sufficiently do justice<br />
+I fear<br />
+All I can say is<br />
+I shall not inflict a speech on you<br />
+Far be it from me<br />
+Rise ph&oelig;nix-like from his ashes<br />
+But alas!<br />
+What more can I say?<br />
+At this late period of the evening<br />
+It is hardly necessary to say<br />
+I cannot allow the opportunity to pass<br />
+For, mark you<br />
+I have already taken up too much time<br />
+I might talk to you for hours<br />
+Looking back upon my childhood<br />
+We can imagine the scene<br />
+I haven't the time nor ability<br />
+Ah, no, dear friends<br />
+One more word and I have done<br />
+I will now conclude<br />
+I really must stop<br />
+I have done.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THE_BIBLE_ON_SPEECH" id="THE_BIBLE_ON_SPEECH"></a>THE BIBLE ON SPEECH</h2>
+
+<p>How forcible are right words!</p>
+
+<p>To every thing there is a season, a time to keep silence, and a time to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.</p>
+
+<p>Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
+is good to the use of edifying.</p>
+
+<p>Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.</p>
+
+<p>Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may
+know how ye ought to answer every man.</p>
+
+<p>Be ye holy in all manner of conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking,
+be put away from you.</p>
+
+<p>Know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.</p>
+
+<p>Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable
+in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="THOUGHTS_ON_TALKING" id="THOUGHTS_ON_TALKING"></a>THOUGHTS ON TALKING</h2>
+
+<p>To make a good talker, genius and learning, even wit and eloquence, are
+insufficient; to these, in all or in part, must be added in some degree
+the talents of active life. The character has as much to do with
+colloquial power as has the intellect; the temperament, feelings, and
+animal spirits, even more, perhaps, than the mental gifts. "Napoleon
+said things which tell in history like his battles. Luther's Table-Talk
+glows with the fire that burnt the Pope's bull." C&aelig;sar, Cicero,
+Themistocles, Lord Bacon, Selden, Talleyrand, and, in our own country,
+Aaron Burr, Jefferson, Webster, and Choate, were all, more or less, men
+of action. Sir Walter Scott tells us that, at a great dinner party, he
+thought the lawyers beat the Bishops as talkers, and the Bishops the
+wits. Nearly all great orators have been fine talkers. Lord Chatham, who
+could electrify the House of Lords by pronouncing the word "Sugar," but
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>who in private was but commonplace, was an exception; but the
+conversation of Pitt and Fox was brilliant and fascinating,&mdash;that of
+Burke, rambling, but splendid, rich and instructive, beyond description.
+The latter was the only man in the famous "Literary Club" who could cope
+with Johnson. The Doctor confessed that in Burke he had a foeman worthy
+of his steel. On one occasion, when debilitated by sickness, he said:
+"That fellow calls forth all my powers. Were I to see Burke now, it
+would kill me." At another time he said: "Burke, sir, is such a man
+that, if you met him for the first time in the street, where you were
+stopped by a drove of oxen, and you and he stepped aside to take shelter
+but for five minutes, he'd talk to you in such a manner, that when you
+parted you'd say&mdash;'This is an extraordinary man.'" "Can he wind into a
+subject like a serpent, as Burke does?" asked Goldsmith of a certain
+talker. Fox said that he had derived more political information from
+Burke's conversation alone than from books, science, and all his worldly
+experience put together. Moore finely says of the same conversation,
+that it must have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>been like the procession of a Roman triumph,
+exhibiting power and riches at every step, occasionally mingling the low
+Fescennine jest with the lofty music of the march, but glittering all
+over with the spoils of a ransacked world.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Mathews.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The fault of literary conversation in general is its too great
+tenaciousness. It fastens upon a subject, and will not let it go. It
+resembles a battle rather than a skirmish, and makes a toil of a
+pleasure. Perhaps it does this from necessity, from a consciousness of
+wanting the more familiar graces, the power to sport and trifle, to
+touch lightly and adorn agreeably, every view or turn of a question <i>en
+passant</i>, as it arises. Those who have a reputation to lose are too
+ambitious of shining, to please. "To excel in conversation," said an
+ingenious man, "one must not be always striving to say good things: to
+say one good thing, one must say many bad, and more indifferent ones."
+This desire to shine without the means at hand, often makes men
+silent:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class='stanza'><div>The fear of being silent strikes us dumb.</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>A writer who has been accustomed to take a connected view of a
+difficult question and to work it out gradually in all its bearings, may
+be very deficient in that quickness and ease which men of the world, who
+are in the habit of hearing a variety of opinions, who pick up an
+observation on one subject, and another on another, and who care about
+none any further than the passing away of an idle hour, usually acquire.
+An author has studied a particular point&mdash;he has read, he has inquired,
+he has thought a great deal upon it: he is not contented to take it up
+casually in common with others, to throw out a hint, to propose an
+objection: he will either remain silent, uneasy, and dissatisfied, or he
+will begin at the beginning, and go through with it to the end. He is
+for taking the whole responsibility upon himself. He would be thought to
+understand the subject better than others, or indeed would show that
+nobody else knows anything about it. There are always three or four
+points on which the literary novice at his first outset in life fancies
+he can enlighten every company, and bear down all opposition: but he is
+cured of this quixotic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>and pugnacious spirit, as he goes more into the
+world, where he finds that there are other opinions and other
+pretensions to be adjusted besides his own. When this asperity wears
+off, and a certain scholastic precocity is mellowed down, the
+conversation of men of letters becomes both interesting and instructive.
+Men of the world have no fixed principles, no groundwork of thought:
+mere scholars have too much an object, a theory always in view, to which
+they wrest everything, and not unfrequently, common sense itself. By
+mixing with society, they rub off their hardness of manner, and
+impracticable, offensive singularity, while they retain a greater depth
+and coherence of understanding. There is more to be learnt from them
+than from their books.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Hazlitt.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>There are some people whose good manners will not suffer them to
+interrupt you, but, what is almost as bad, will discover abundance of
+impatience, and lie upon the watch until you have done, because they
+have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>started something in their own thoughts, which they long to be
+delivered of. Meantime, they are so far from regarding what passes, that
+their imaginations are wholly turned upon what they have in reserve, for
+fear it should slip out of their memory; and thus they confine their
+invention, which might otherwise range over a hundred things full as
+good, and that might be much more naturally introduced.</p>
+
+<p>There is a sort of rude familiarity, which some people, by practising
+among their intimates, have introduced into their general conversation,
+and would have it pass for innocent freedom or humor; which is a
+dangerous experiment in our northern climate, where all the little
+decorum and politeness we have are purely forced by art, and are so
+ready to lapse into barbarity. This, among the Romans, was the raillery
+of slaves, of which we have many instances in Plautus. It seems to have
+been introduced among us by Cromwell, who, by preferring the scum of the
+people, made it a court entertainment, of which I have heard many
+particulars; and, considering all things were turned upside down, it was
+rea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>sonable and judicious; although it was a piece of policy found out
+to ridicule a point of honor in the other extreme, when the smallest
+word misplaced among gentlemen ended in a duel.</p>
+
+<p>There are some men excellent at telling a story, and provided with a
+plentiful stock of them, which they can draw out upon occasion in all
+companies, and, considering how low conversation runs now among us, it
+is not altogether a contemptible talent; however, it is subject to two
+unavoidable defects, frequent repetition, and being soon exhausted; so,
+that, whoever values this gift in himself, has need of a good memory,
+and ought frequently to shift his company, that he may not discover the
+weakness of his fund; for those who are thus endued have seldom any
+other revenue, but live upon the main stock.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Swift.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The highest and best of all the moral conditions for conversation is
+what we call tact. I say a condition, for it is very doubtful whether it
+can be called a single and separate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>quality; more probably it is a
+combination of intellectual quickness with lively sympathy. But so
+clearly is it an intellectual quality, that of all others it can be
+greatly improved, if not actually acquired, by long experience in
+society. Like all social excellences it is almost given as a present to
+some people, while others with all possible labor never acquire it. As
+in billiard-playing, shooting, cricket, and all these other facilities
+which are partly mental and partly physical, many never can pass a
+certain point of mediocrity; but still even those who have the talent
+must practise it, and only become really distinguished after hard work.
+So it is in art. Music and painting are not to be attained by the crowd.
+Not even the just criticism of these arts is attainable without certain
+natural gifts; but a great deal of practice in good galleries and at
+good concerts, and years spent among artists, will do much to make even
+moderately-endowed people sound judges of excellence.</p>
+
+<p>Tact, which is the sure and quick judgment of what is suitable and
+agreeable in society, is likewise one of those delicate and subtle
+qualities or a combination of qualities which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>is not very easily
+defined, and therefore not teachable by fixed precepts. Some people
+attain it through sympathy; others through natural intelligence; others
+through a calm temper; others again by observing closely the mistakes of
+their neighbors. As its name implies, it is a sensitive touch in social
+matters, which feels small changes of temperature, and so guesses at
+changes of temper; which sees the passing cloud on the expression of one
+face, or the eagerness of another that desires to bring out something
+personal for others to enjoy. This quality of tact is of course
+applicable far beyond mere actual conversation. In nothing is it more
+useful than in preparing the right conditions for a pleasant society, in
+choosing the people who will be in mutual sympathy, in thinking over
+pleasant subjects of talk and suggesting them, in seeing that all
+disturbing conditions are kept out, and that the members who are to
+converse should be all without those small inconveniences which damage
+society so vastly out of proportion to their intrinsic importance.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Mahaffy.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the course of our life we have heard much of what was reputed to be
+the select conversation of the day, and we have heard many of those who
+figured at the moment as effective talkers; yet, in mere sincerity, and
+without a vestige of misanthropic retrospect, we must say that never
+once has it happened to us to come away from any display of that nature
+without intense disappointment; and it always appeared to us that this
+failure (which soon ceased to be a disappointment) was inevitable by a
+necessity of the case. For here lay the stress of the difficulty: almost
+all depends in most trials of skill upon the parity of those who are
+matched against each other. An ignorant person supposes that to an able
+disputant it must be an advantage to have a feeble opponent; whereas, on
+the contrary, it is ruin to him; for he can not display his own powers
+but through something of a corresponding power in the resistance of his
+antagonist. A brilliant fencer is lost and confounded in playing with a
+novice; and the same thing takes place in playing at ball, or
+battledore, or in dancing, where a powerless partner does not enable you
+to shine the more, but reduces <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>you to mere helplessness, and takes the
+wind altogether out of your sails. Now, if by some rare good luck the
+great talker, the protagonist, of the evening has been provided with a
+commensurate second, it is just possible that something like a brilliant
+"passage of arms" may be the result,&mdash;though much even in that case will
+depend on the chances of the moment for furnishing a fortunate theme,
+and even then, amongst the superior part of the company, a feeling of
+deep vulgarity and of mountebank display is inseparable from such an
+ostentatious duel of wit. On the other hand, supposing your great talker
+to be received like any other visitor, and turned loose upon the
+company, then he must do one of two things: either he will talk upon
+<i>outr&eacute;</i> subjects specially tabooed to his own private use,&mdash;in which
+case the great man has the air of a quack-doctor addressing a mob from a
+street stage; or else he will talk like ordinary people upon popular
+topics,&mdash;in which case the company, out of natural politeness, that they
+may not seem to be staring at him as a lion, will hasten to meet him in
+the same style, the conversation will become general, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>great man
+will seem reasonable and well-bred, but at the same time, we grieve to
+say it, the great man will have been extinguished by being drawn off
+from his exclusive ground. The dilemma, in short, is this:&mdash;If the great
+talker attempts the plan of showing off by firing cannon-shot when
+everybody else is content with musketry, then undoubtedly he produces an
+impression, but at the expense of insulating himself from the sympathies
+of the company, and standing aloof as a sort of monster hired to play
+tricks of funambulism for the night. Yet, again, if he contents himself
+with a musket like other people, then for us, from whom he modestly
+hides his talents under a bushel, in what respect is he different from
+the man who has no such talent?</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>De Quincey.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>Some, in their discourse, desire rather commendation of wit, in being
+able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in discerning what is
+true; as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what
+should be thought. Some have certain commonplaces and themes wherein
+they are good, and want <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>variety; which kind of poverty is for the most
+part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The
+honorablest part of talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate
+and pass to somewhat else; for then a man leads the dance. It is good in
+discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary, and intermingle speech
+of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of
+questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a
+dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade any thing too far. As
+for jest, there be certain things which ought to be privileged from it,
+namely, religion, matters of State, great persons, any man's present
+business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity; yet there be
+some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out
+somewhat that is piquant, and to the quick. That is a vein which would
+be bridled; <i>Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris.</i> And,
+generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and
+bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh
+others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. He
+that question<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>eth much shall learn much, and content much, but
+especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he
+asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in
+speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge: but let his
+questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him
+be sure to leave other men their turns to speak: nay, if there be any
+that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take
+them off, and to bring others on, as musicians use to do with those that
+dance too long galliards. If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of
+that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to
+know that you know not. Speech of a man's self ought to be seldom, and
+well chosen. I knew one was wont to say in scorn, "He must needs be a
+wise man, he speaks so much of himself;" and there is but one case
+wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is in
+commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue
+whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch towards others should be
+sparingly used; for discourse ought to be as a field, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>without coming
+home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England,
+whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his
+house; the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table,
+"Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry blow given?" To which the
+guest would answer, "Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say,
+"I thought he would mar a good dinner." Discretion of speech is more
+than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more
+than to speak in good words, or in good order. A good continued speech,
+without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good
+reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth
+shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those that are
+weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn; as it is betwixt
+the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances, ere one come
+to the matter, is wearisome; to use none at all, is blunt.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Bacon.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>Think as little as possible about any good in yourself; turn your eyes
+resolutely from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>any view of your acquirement, your influence, your
+plan, your success, your following: above all, speak as little as
+possible about yourself. The inordinateness of our self-love makes
+speech about ourselves like the putting of the lighted torch to the
+dried wood which has been laid in order for the burning. Nothing but
+duty should open our lips upon this dangerous theme, except it be in
+humble confession of our sinfulness before our God. Again, be specially
+upon the watch against those little tricks by which the vain man seeks
+to bring round the conversation to himself, and gain the praise or
+notice which the thirsty ears drink in so greedily; and even if praise
+comes unsought, it is well, whilst men are uttering it, to guard
+yourself by thinking of some secret cause for humbling yourself inwardly
+to God; thinking into what these pleasant accents would be changed if
+all that is known to God, and even to yourself, stood suddenly revealed
+to man.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Bishop Wilberforce.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>In speaking of the duty of pleasing others, it will not be necessary to
+dwell on the ordi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>nary courtesies and lesser kindnesses of our daily
+living, any further than to observe that none of these things, however
+trifling, is beneath the notice of a good man, ... but I mention one
+thing, because I think that we are most of us apt to be rather deficient
+in it, and that is in the trying to suit ourselves to the tastes and
+views of persons whose professions or inclinations, or situation in
+life, differ widely from our own.... As a general rule, no man can fall
+into conversation with another without being able to learn something
+valuable from him. But in order to get at this benefit there must be
+something of an accommodating spirit on both sides; each must be ready
+to hear candidly and to answer fairly; each must try to please the
+other. We all suffer from the want of acquaintance with the habits and
+opinions and feelings of different classes of society.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Dr. Arnold.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>If you would be loved as a companion, avoid unnecessary criticism upon
+those with whom you live. The number of people who have taken out
+judges' patents for themselves is very large in any society. Now it
+would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>hard for a man to live with another who was always criticising
+his actions, even if it were kindly and just criticism. It would be like
+living between the glasses of a microscope. But these self-elected
+judges, like their prototypes, are very apt to have the persons they
+judge brought before them in the guise of culprits.</p>
+
+<p>Let not familiarity swallow up old courtesy. Many of us have a habit of
+saying to those with whom we live such things as we say about strangers
+behind their backs. There is no place, however, where real politeness is
+of more value than where we mostly think it would be superfluous. You
+may say more truth, or rather speak out more plainly to your associates,
+but not less courteously than to strangers.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Helps.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>Much of the sorrow of life springs from the accumulation, day by day and
+year by year, of little trials&mdash;a letter written in less than courteous
+terms, a wrangle at the breakfast table over some arrangement of the
+day, the rudeness of an acquaintance on the way to the city, an
+unfriendly act on the part of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>other firm, a cruel criticism
+needlessly reported by some meddler, a feline amenity at afternoon tea,
+the disobedience of one of your children, a social slight by one of your
+circle, a controversy too hotly conducted. The trials within this class
+are innumerable, and consider, not one of them is inevitable, not one of
+them but might have been spared if we or our brother man had had a grain
+of kindliness. Our social insolences, our irritating manners, our
+censorious judgment, our venomous letters, our pin pricks in
+conversation, are all forms of deliberate unkindness, and are all
+evidences of an ill-conditioned nature.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>John Watson.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>If this be one of our chief duties&mdash;promoting the happiness of our
+neighbors&mdash;most certainly there is nothing which so entirely runs
+counter to it, and makes it impossible, as an undisciplined temper. For
+of all the things that are to be met with here on earth, there is
+nothing which can give such continual, such cutting, such useless pain.
+The touchy and sensitive temper, which takes offence at a word; the
+irritable temper, which finds offence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>in everything whether intended or
+not; the violent temper, which breaks through all bounds of reason when
+once roused; the jealous or sullen temper, which wears a cloud on the
+face all day, and never utters a word of complaint; the discontented
+temper, brooding over its own wrongs; the severe temper, which always
+looks at the worst side of whatever is done; the wilful temper, which
+overrides every scruple to gratify a whim,&mdash;what an amount of pain have
+these caused in the hearts of men, if we could but sum up their results!
+How many a soul have they stirred to evil impulses; how many a prayer
+have they stifled; how many an emotion of true affection have they
+turned to bitterness! How hard they sometimes make all duties! How
+painful they make all daily life! How they kill the sweetest and warmest
+of domestic charities! The misery caused by other sins is often much
+deeper and much keener, more disastrous, more terrible to the sight; but
+the accumulated pain caused by ill-temper must, I verily believe, if
+added together, outweigh all other pains that men have to bear from one
+another.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Bishop Temple.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>Wicked is the slander which gossips away a character in an afternoon,
+and runs lightly over a whole series of acquaintances, leaving a drop of
+poison on them all, some suspicion, or some ominous silence&mdash;"Have you
+not heard?"&mdash;"No one would believe it, but&mdash;!" and then silence; while
+the shake of the head, or the shrug of the shoulders, finishes the
+sentence with a mute meaning worse than words. Do you ever think of the
+irrevocable nature of speech? The things you say are often said forever.
+You may find, years after your light word was spoken, that it has made a
+whole life unhappy, or ruined the peace of a household. It was well said
+by St. James, "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth
+not his tongue, that man's religion is vain."</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Stopford Brooke.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because
+inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and
+passions, is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit. But
+the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts,
+because that is essential to internal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>recollection, and because it lays
+a foundation for a proper regulation and silence in other respects.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Madame Guyon.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>The example of our Lord, as He humbly and calmly takes the rebuff, and
+turns to go to another village, may help us in the ordinary ways of
+ordinary daily life. The little things that vex us in the manner or the
+words of those with whom we have to do; the things which seem to us so
+inconsiderate, or wilful, or annoying, that we think it impossible to
+get on with the people who are capable of them; the mistakes which no
+one, we say, has any right to make; the shallowness, or conventionality,
+or narrowness, or positiveness in talk which makes us wince and tempts
+us towards the cruelty and wickedness of scorn;&mdash;surely in all these
+things, and in many others like them, of which conscience may be ready
+enough to speak to most of us, there are really opportunities for thus
+following the example of our Saviour's great humility and patience. How
+many friendships we might win or keep, how many chances of serving
+others we might find, how many lessons we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>might learn, how much of
+unsuspected moral beauty might be disclosed around us, if only we were
+more careful to give people time, to stay judgment, to trust that they
+will see things more justly, speak of them more wisely, after a while.
+We are sure to go on closing doors of sympathy, and narrowing in the
+interests and opportunities of work around us, if we let ourselves
+imagine that we can quickly measure the capacities and sift the
+characters of our fellow-men.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Bishop Paget.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>How much squandering there is of the voice! How little is there of the
+advantage that may come from conversational tones! How seldom does a man
+dare to acquit himself with pathos and fervor! And the men are
+themselves mechanical and methodical in the bad way, who are most afraid
+of the artificial training that is given in the schools, and who so
+often show by the fruit of their labor that the want of oratory is the
+want of education.</p>
+
+<p>How remarkable is sweetness of voice in the mother, in the father, in
+the household! <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>The music of no chorded instruments brought together is,
+for sweetness, like the music of familiar affection when spoken by
+brother and sister, or by father and mother.</p>
+
+<p>Conversation itself belongs to oratory. How many men there are who are
+weighty in argument, who have abundant resources, and who are almost
+boundless in their power at other times and in other places, but who,
+when in company among their kind, are exceedingly unapt in their
+methods. Having none of the secret instruments by which the elements of
+nature may be touched, having no skill and no power in this direction,
+they stand as machines before living, sensitive men. A man may be as a
+master before an instrument; only the instrument is dead; and he has the
+living hand; and out of that dead instrument what wondrous harmony
+springs forth at his touch! And if you can electrify an audience by the
+power of a living man on dead things, how much more should that audience
+be electrified when the chords are living and the man is alive, and he
+knows how to touch them with divine inspiration!</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Beecher.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>Every one endeavors to make himself as agreeable to society as he can;
+but it often happens that those who most aim at shining in conversation,
+overshoot their mark. Tho a man succeeds, he should not (as is
+frequently the case) engross the whole talk to himself; for that
+destroys the very essence of conversation, which is talking together. We
+should try to keep up conversation like a ball bandied to and fro from
+one to the other, rather than seize it all to ourselves, and drive it
+before us like a football. We should likewise be cautious to adapt the
+matter of our discourse to our company, and not talk Greek before
+ladies, or of the last new furbelow to a meeting of country justices.</p>
+
+<p>But nothing throws a more ridiculous air over our whole conversation
+than certain peculiarities easily acquired, but very difficultly
+conquered and discarded. In order to display these absurdities in a
+truer light, it is my present purpose to enumerate such of them as are
+most commonly to be met with; and first to take notice of those buffons
+in society, the Attitudinarians and Face-makers. These accompany every
+word with a peculiar grim<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>ace or gesture; they assent with a shrug, and
+contradict with a twisting of the neck; are angry by a wry mouth, and
+pleased in a caper or minuet step. They may be considered as speaking
+harlequins; and their rules of eloquence are taken from the
+posture-master. These should be condemned to converse only in dumb show
+with their own persons in the looking-glass, as well as the Smirkers and
+Smilers, who so prettily set off their faces, together with their words,
+by a <i>je-ne-sais-quoi</i> between a grin and a dimple. With these we may
+likewise rank the affected tribe of mimics, who are constantly taking
+off the peculiar tone of voice or gesture of their acquaintance, tho
+they are such wretched imitators, that (like bad painters) they are
+frequently forced to write the name under the picture before we can
+discover any likeness.</p>
+
+<p>Next to these whose elocution is absorbed in action, and who converse
+chiefly with their arms and legs, we may consider the Profest Speakers.
+And first, the Emphatical, who squeeze, and press, and ram down every
+syllable with excessive vehemence and energy. These orators are
+remarkable for their dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>tinct elocution and force of expression; they
+dwell on the important particulars <i>of</i> and <i>the</i>, and the significant
+conjunction <i>and</i>, which they seem to hawk up, with much difficulty, out
+of their own throats, and to cram them, with no less pain, into the ears
+of their auditors. These should be suffered only to syringe (as it were)
+the ears of a deaf man, through a hearing-trumpet; tho I must confess
+that I am equally offended with the Whisperers or Low-speakers, who seem
+to fancy all their acquaintance deaf, and come up so close to you that
+they may be said to measure noses with you, and frequently overcome you
+with the full exhalations of a foul breath. I would have these oracular
+gentry obliged to speak at a distance through a speaking-trumpet, or
+apply their lips to the walls of a whispering-gallery. The Wits who will
+not condescend to utter anything but a <i>bon-mot</i>, and the Whistlers or
+Tune-hummers, who never articulate at all, may be joined very agreeably
+together in concert; and to these tinkling cymbals I would also add the
+sounding brass, the Bawler, who inquires after your health with the
+bellowing of a town-crier.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>The Tattlers, whose pliable pipes are admirably adapted to the "soft
+parts of conversation," and sweetly "prattling out of fashion," make
+very pretty music from a beautiful face and a female tongue; but from a
+rough manly voice and coarse features mere nonsense is as harsh and
+dissonant as a jig from a hurdy-gurdy. The Swearers I have spoken of in
+a former paper; but the Half-Swearers, who split and mince, and fritter
+their oaths into "gad's but," "ad's fish," and "demme," the Gothic
+Humbuggers, and those who nickname God's creatures, and call a man a
+cabbage, a crab, a queer cub, an odd fish, and an unaccountable skin,
+should never come into company without an interpreter. But I will not
+tire my reader's patience by pointing out all the pests of conversation,
+nor dwell particularly on the Sensibles, who pronounce dogmatically on
+the most trivial points, and speak in sentences; the Wonderers, who are
+always wondering what o'clock it is, or wondering whether it will rain
+or no, or wondering when the moon changes; the Phraseologists, who
+explain a thing by all that, or enter into particulars, with this and
+that and t'other; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>and lastly, the Silent Men, who seem afraid of
+opening their mouths lest they should catch cold, and literally observe
+the precept of the Gospel, by letting their conversation be only yea and
+nay.</p>
+
+<p>The rational intercourse kept up by conversation is one of our principal
+distinctions from brutes. We should, therefore, endeavor to turn this
+peculiar talent to our advantage, and consider the organs of speech as
+the instruments of understanding; we should be very careful not to use
+them as the weapons of vice, or tools of folly, and do our utmost to
+unlearn any trivial or ridiculous habits, which tend to lessen the value
+of such an inestimable prerogative. It is, indeed, imagined by some
+philosophers, that even birds and beasts (tho without the power of
+articulation) perfectly understand one another by the sounds they utter;
+and that dogs, cats, etc., have each a particular language to
+themselves, like different nations. Thus it may be supposed that the
+nightingales of Italy have as fine an ear for their own native woodnotes
+as any signor or signora for an Italian air; that the boars of
+Westphalia <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>gruntle as expressively through the nose as the inhabitants
+in High German; and that the frogs in the dykes of Holland croak as
+intelligibly as the natives jabber their Low Dutch. However this may be,
+we may consider those whose tongues hardly seem to be under the
+influence of reason, and do not keep up the proper conversation of human
+creatures, as imitating the language of different animals. Thus, for
+instance, the affinity between Chatterers and Monkeys, and Praters and
+Parrots, is too obvious not to occur at once; Grunters and Growlers may
+be justly compared to Hogs; Snarlers are Curs that continually show
+their teeth, but never bite; and the Spitfire passionate are a sort of
+wild cats that will not bear stroking, but will purr when they are
+pleased. Complainers are Screech-Owls; and Story-Tellers, always
+repeating the same dull note, are Cuckoos. Poets that prick up their
+ears at their own hideous braying are no better than Asses. Critics in
+general are venomous Serpents that delight in hissing, and some of them
+who have got by heart a few technical terms without knowing their
+meaning are no other than Mag<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>pies. I, myself, who have crowed to the
+whole town for near three years past may perhaps put my readers in mind
+of a Barnyard Cock; but as I must acquaint them that they will hear the
+last of me on this day fortnight, I hope that they will then consider me
+as a Swan, who is supposed to sing sweetly at his dying moments.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Cowper.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never
+inflicts pain. This description is both refined, and, so far as it goes,
+accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which
+hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him, and he
+concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself.
+His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called the
+comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature&mdash;like an
+easy chair or a good fire, which do their best in dispelling cold and
+fatigue, tho nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without
+them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may
+cause a jar or a jolt in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>mind of those with whom he is cast&mdash;all
+clashing of opinion or collision of feeling, all restraint or suspicion
+or gloom or resentment, his great concern being to make every one at
+ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company, he is tender
+toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the
+absurd. He can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against
+unseasonable allusions or topics which may irritate; he is seldom
+prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors
+when he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He
+never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by
+a mere retort; he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in
+imputing motive to those who interfere with him, and interprets
+everything for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes,
+never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp
+sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out.
+From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage,
+that we should ever conduct ourselves toward our enemy as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>if he were
+one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at
+insults. He is too well employed to remember injuries and too indolent
+to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned on philosophical
+principle; he submits to pain because it is inevitable, to bereavement,
+because it is irreparable, and to death because it is his destiny. If he
+engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves
+him from the blundering discourtesy of better, perhaps, but less
+educated minds, who, like blunt weapons, tear and hack instead of
+cutting clean, who mistake the point in argument, waste their strength
+on trifles, misconceive their adversary, and leave the question more
+involved than they find it. He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but
+he is too clear-headed to be unjust; he is as simple as he is forcible,
+and as brief as he is decisive. Nowhere shall we find greater candor,
+consideration, indulgence; he throws himself into the minds of his
+opponents, he accounts for their mistakes. He knows the weakness of
+human reason as well as its strength, its province, and its limits. If
+he can be an unbe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>liever, he will be too profound and large-minded to
+ridicule religion or to act against it; he is too wise to be a dogmatist
+or fanatic in his infidelity. He respects piety and devotion; he even
+supports institutions as venerable, beautiful or useful, to which he
+does not assent; he honors the ministers of religion, and it contents
+him to decline its mysteries without assailing or denouncing them. He is
+a friend of religious toleration, and that not only because his
+philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an
+impartial eye, but also from the gentleness and effeminacy of feeling
+which is attendant on civilization.</p>
+
+<p class='right'>&mdash;<i>Cardinal Newman.</i></p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="ADVERTISEMENTS" id="ADVERTISEMENTS"></a>ADVERTISEMENTS</h2>
+
+<p class='center'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>By GRENVILLE KLEISER</p>
+
+<p>HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC&mdash;A practical self-instructor for lawyers,
+clergymen, teachers, business men, and others. Cloth, 543 pages. $1.25,
+<i>net</i>; by mail, $1.40.</p>
+
+<p>HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCE IN SPEECH AND MANNER&mdash;A book of practical
+inspiration; trains men to rise above mediocrity and fearthought to
+their great possibilities. Commended to ambitious men. Cloth, 320 pages.
+$1.25, <i>net</i>; by mail, $1.35.</p>
+
+<p>COMPLETE GUIDE TO PUBLIC SPEAKING&mdash;The only extensive, comprehensive,
+encyclopedic work of its kind ever issued, with its varied and inclusive
+contents alphabetically arranged by topics, and made immediately
+accessible by a Complete Index. The best advice by the world's great
+authorities upon oratory, preaching, platform and pulpit delivery, voice
+building and management, argumentation, debate, reading, rhetoric,
+homiletics, eloquence, expression, persuasion, gesture, breathing,
+composition, conversation, elocution, personal power, mental
+development, etc. Royal 8vo, Cloth, over 700 pages. $5.00, <i>net</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>HOW TO DEVELOP POWER AND PERSONALITY IN SPEAKING&mdash;Practical suggestions
+in English, word-building, imagination, memory, conversation, and
+extemporaneous speaking. Cloth, 422 pages. $1.25, <i>net</i>; by mail, $1.40.</p>
+
+<p>HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN&mdash;Ninety-nine men in a hundred know how to argue to
+one who can argue and win. This book tells how to acquire such power.
+Cloth, 320 pages. $1.25, <i>net</i>; by mail, $1.35.</p>
+
+<p>HOW TO READ AND DECLAIM&mdash;A course of instruction in reading and
+declamation for developing graceful carriage, correct standing, accurate
+enunciation, and effective expression. Abundant exercise is furnished in
+the use of the best examples of prose and poetry. 12mo, Cloth. $1.25,
+<i>net</i>; by mail, $1.40.</p>
+
+<p>GREAT SPEECHES AND HOW TO MAKE THEM&mdash;In this work Mr. Kleiser gives
+practical methods by which young men may acquire and develop the
+essentials of forcible public speaking. 12mo, Cloth. $1.25, <i>net</i>; by
+mail, $1.40.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>HUMOROUS HITS AND HOW TO HOLD AN AUDIENCE&mdash;A collection of recitations,
+short stories, selections, and sketches for all occasions. Cloth, 326
+pages. $1.00, <i>net</i>; by mail, $1.11.</p>
+
+<p>THE WORLD'S GREAT SERMONS&mdash;Masterpieces of Pulpit Oratory and
+biographical sketches of the speakers. Cloth, 10 volumes. Write for
+terms.</p>
+
+<p>GRENVILLE KLEISER'S PERSONAL LESSONS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING and the
+Development of Self-Confidence, Mental Power, and Personality.
+Twenty-five lessons, with special handbooks, side talks, personal
+letters, etc. Write for terms.</p>
+
+<p>GRENVILLE KLEISER'S PERSONAL LESSONS IN PRACTICAL ENGLISH&mdash;Twenty
+lessons, with Daily Drills, special books, side talks, personal letters,
+etc. Write for terms.</p>
+
+<p>GRENVILLE KLEISER'S PERSONAL LESSONS IN BUSINESS SUCCESS. Twenty-one
+lessons, with daily exercises, special books, side talks,
+self-appraisement charts, etc. Write for terms.</p>
+
+<p class='center'><i>Published by</i> FUNK &amp; WAGNALLS COMPANY<br />NEW YORK and LONDON</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALKS ON TALKING***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Talks on Talking, by Grenville Kleiser
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Talks on Talking
+
+
+Author: Grenville Kleiser
+
+
+
+Release Date: January 7, 2006  [eBook #17476]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALKS ON TALKING***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit, and the
+Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+(http://www.pgdp.net/)
+
+
+
+TALKS ON TALKING
+
+by
+
+GRENVILLE KLEISER
+
+Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity School,
+Yale University; author of "How to Speak in Public," "How to
+Develop Power and Personality in Speaking," "How to Develop
+Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner," "How to Argue and Win,"
+"How to Read and Declaim," "Complete Guide to Public Speaking,";
+etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1916, by
+Funk. & Wagnalls Company
+(Printed in the United States of America)
+Published, September, 1916
+Copyright under the articles of the Copyright Convention of the
+Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                    PAGE
+
+THE ART OF TALKING                     1
+
+TYPES OF TALKERS                      11
+
+TALKERS AND TALKING                   18
+
+PHRASES FOR TALKERS                   25
+
+THE SPEAKING VOICE                    34
+
+HOW TO TELL A STORY                   44
+
+TALKING IN SALESMANSHIP               56
+
+MEN AND MANNERISMS                    63
+
+HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC                70
+
+PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SPEAKERS          84
+
+THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN SPEAKING      87
+
+CONVERSATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING      94
+
+A TALK TO PREACHERS                  100
+
+CARE OF THE SPEAKER'S THROAT         108
+
+DON'TS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS           116
+
+DO'S FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS             118
+
+POINTS FOR SPEAKERS                  120
+
+THE BIBLE ON SPEECH                  122
+
+THOUGHTS ON TALKING                  123
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+Good conversation implies naturalness, spontaneity, and sincerity of
+utterance. It is not advisable, therefore, to lay down arbitrary rules
+to govern talking, but it is believed that the suggestions offered here
+will contribute to the general elevation and improvement of daily
+speech.
+
+Considering the large number of persons who are obliged to talk in
+social, business, and public life, the subject of correct speech should
+receive more serious consideration than is usually given to it. It is
+earnestly hoped that this volume will be of practical value to those who
+are desirous of developing and improving their conversational powers.
+
+Appreciative thanks are expressed to the Editors of the _Homiletic
+Review_ for permission to reprint some of the extracts.
+
+                                              GRENVILLE KLEISER.
+
+NEW YORK CITY,
+MAY, 1916.
+
+
+     Boys flying kites haul in their white-wing'd birds:
+     You can't do that way when you're flying words.
+     "Careful with fire," is good advice we know;
+     "Careful with words," is ten times doubly so.
+     Thoughts unexpress'd may sometimes fall back dead,
+     But God Himself can't kill them once they're said!
+
+     --_Will Carleton._
+
+
+     The first duty of a man is to speak; that is his chief business in
+     this world; and talk, which is the harmonious speech of two or
+     more, is by far the most accessible of pleasures. It costs nothing;
+     it is all profit; it completes our education; it founds and fosters
+     our friendships; and it is by talk alone that we learn our period
+     and ourselves.
+
+     --_Robert Louis Stevenson._
+
+
+     Vociferated logic kills me quite;
+     A noisy man is always in the right--
+     I twirl my thumbs, fall back into my chair,
+     Fix on the wainscot a distressful stare;
+     And when I hope his blunders all are out,
+     Reply discreetly, "To be sure--no doubt!"
+
+     --_Anon._
+
+
+
+
+TALKS ON TALKING
+
+
+
+
+THE ART OF TALKING
+
+
+The charm of conversation chiefly depends upon the adaptability of the
+participants. It is a great accomplishment to be able to enter gently
+and agreeably into the moods of others, and to give way to them with
+grace and readiness.
+
+The spirit of conversation is oftentimes more important than the ideas
+expressed. What we are rather than what we say has the most permanent
+influence upon those around us. Hence it is that where a group of
+persons are met together in conversation, it is the inner life of each
+which silently though none the less surely imparts tone and character to
+the occasion.
+
+It requires vigorous self-discipline so to cultivate the feelings of
+kindness and sympathy that they are always in readiness for use. These
+qualities are essential to agreeable and profitable intercourse, though
+comparatively few people possess them.
+
+Burke considered manners of more importance than laws. Sidney Smith
+described manners as the shadows of virtues. Dean Swift defined manners
+as the art of putting at ease the people with whom we converse.
+Chesterfield said manners should adorn knowledge in order to smooth its
+way through the world. Emerson spoke of manners as composed of petty
+sacrifices.
+
+We all recognize that a winning manner is made up of seemingly
+insignificant courtesies, and of constant little attentions. A person of
+charming manner is usually free from resentments, inquisitiveness, and
+moods.
+
+Personality plays a large part in interesting conversation. Precisely
+the same phraseology expressed by two different persons may make two
+wholly different impressions, and all because of the difference in the
+personalities of the speakers.
+
+The daily mental life of a man indelibly impresses itself upon his face,
+where it can be unmistakably read by others. What a person is, innately
+and habitually, unconsciously discloses itself in voice, manner, and
+bearing. The world ultimately appraises a man at his true value.
+
+The best type of talker is slow to express positive opinions, is sparing
+in criticism, and studiously avoids a tone or word of finality. It has
+been well said that "A talker who monopolizes the conversation is by
+common consent insufferable, and a man who regulates his choice of
+topics by reference to what interests not his hearers but himself has
+yet to learn the alphabet of the art. Conversation is like lawn-tennis,
+and requires alacrity in return at least as much as vigor in service. A
+happy phrase, an unexpected collocation of words, a habitual precision
+in the choice of terms, are rare and shining ornaments of conversation,
+but they do not for an instant supply the place of lively and
+interesting matter, and an excessive care for them is apt to tell
+unfavorably on the substance of discourse."
+
+When Lord Beaconsfield was talking his way into social fame, someone
+said of him, "I might as well attempt to gather up the foam of the sea
+as to convey an idea of the extraordinary language in which he clothed
+his description. There were at least five words in every sentence that
+must have been very much astonished at the use they were put to, and yet
+no others apparently could so well have expressed his idea. He talked
+like a racehorse approaching the winning-post--every muscle in action,
+and the utmost energy of expression flung out into every burst."
+
+We are told that Matthew Arnold combined all the characteristics of good
+conversation--politeness, vivacity, sympathy, interestedness, geniality,
+a happy choice of words, and a never-failing humor. When he was once
+asked what was his favorite topic for conversation, he instantly
+answered, "That in which my companion is most interested."
+
+Courtesy, it will be noted, is the fundamental basis of good
+conversation. We must show habitual consideration and kindliness towards
+others if we would attract them to us. Bluntness of manner is no longer
+excused on the ground that the speaker is sincere and outspoken. We
+expect and demand that our companion in conversation should observe the
+recognized courtesies of speech.
+
+There was a time when men and women indulged freely in satire, irony,
+and repartee. They spoke their thoughts plainly and unequivocally. There
+were no restraints imposed upon them by society, hence it now appears to
+us that many things were said which might better have been left unsaid.
+Self-restraint is nowadays one of the cardinal virtues of good
+conversation.
+
+The spirit of conversation is greatly changed. We are enjoined to keep
+the voice low, think before we speak, repress unseasonable allusions,
+shun whatever may cause a jar or jolt in the minds of others, be seldom
+prominent in conversation, and avoid all clashing of opinion and
+collision of feeling.
+
+Macaulay was fond of talking, but made the mistake of always choosing a
+subject to suit himself and monopolizing the conversation. He lectured
+rather than talked. His marvelous memory was perhaps his greatest enemy,
+for though it enabled him to pour forth great masses of facts, people
+listened to him helplessly rather than admiringly.
+
+Carlyle was a great talker, and talked much in protest of talking. No
+man broke silence oftener than he to tell the world how great a curse is
+talking. But he told it eloquently and therein was he justified. There
+was in him too much vehement sternness, of hard Scotch granite, to make
+him a pleasant talker in the popular sense. He was the evangelist of
+golden silence, and though he did not apparently practice it himself,
+his genius will never diminish.
+
+Gladstone was unable to indulge in small talk. His mind was so
+constantly occupied with great subjects that he spoke even to one person
+as if addressing a meeting. It is said that in conversation with Queen
+Victoria he would invariably choose weighty subjects, and though she
+tried to make a digression, he would seize the first opportunity to
+resume his original theme, always reinforced in volume and onrush by the
+delay.
+
+Lord Morley is attractive though austere in conversation. He never
+dogmatizes nor obtrudes his own opinions. He is a master of
+phrase-making. But although he talks well he never talks much.
+
+The story is told that at a recent dinner in London ten leading public
+men were met together, when one suggested that each gentleman present
+should write down on paper the name of the man he would specially choose
+to be his companion on a walking tour. When the ten papers were
+subsequently read aloud, each bore the name of Lord Morley.
+
+Lord Rosebery is considered one of the most accomplished talkers of the
+day. Deferential, natural, sympathetic, observant, well-informed, he
+easily and unconsciously commands the attention of any group of men. His
+voice is said to recommend what he utters, and a singularly refined
+accent gives distinction to anything he says. He is a supreme example of
+two great qualifications for effective talking: having something worth
+while to say, and knowing how to say it.
+
+Among distinguished Canadians, Sir Thomas White is one of the most
+interesting speakers. His versatile mind, and broad and varied
+experience, enable him to converse with almost equal facility upon
+politics, medicine, finance, law, science, art, literature, or
+business. Dates, details, facts, figures, and illustrations are at his
+ready command. His manner is natural, courteous, and genial, but in
+argumentation the whole man is so thoroughly aroused to earnestness and
+intensity as almost to overwhelm an opponent. His greatest quality in
+speaking is his manifest sincerity, and it is this particularly which
+has ingratiated him in the hearts of his countrymen.
+
+The Honorable Joseph H. Choate must certainly be reckoned among the best
+conversationalists of our time. His manner, both in conversation and in
+public speaking, is singularly gracious and winning. He is unsurpassed
+as a story-teller. His fine taste, combined with long experience as a
+public man, makes him an ideal after-dinner speaker.
+
+Some eminent men try to mask their greatness when engaged in
+conversation. They do not wear their feelings nor their greatness on
+their sleeves. Some have an utter distaste for anything like personal
+display. It is said of the late Henry James that a stranger might talk
+to him for an entire evening without discovering his identity.
+
+There is an interesting account of an evening's conversation between
+Emerson and Thoreau. When Thoreau returned home he wrote in his Journal:
+"Talked, or tried to talk, with R.W.E. Lost my time, nay, almost my
+identity. He, assuming a false opposition where there was no difference
+of opinion, talked to the wind." Emerson's version of the conversation
+was this: "It seemed as if Thoreau's first instinct on hearing a
+proposition was to controvert it. That habit is chilling to the social
+affections; it mars conversation."
+
+Conversation offers daily opportunity for intellectual exercise of high
+order. The reading of great books is desirable and indispensable to
+education, but real culture comes through the additional training one
+receives in conversation. The contact of mind with mind tends to
+stimulate and develop thoughts which otherwise would probably remain
+dormant.
+
+The culture of conversation is to be recommended not only for its own
+sake, but also as one of the best means of training in the art of public
+speaking. Since the best form of platform address today is simply
+conversation enlarged and elevated, it may almost be assumed that to
+excel in one is to be proficient in the other.
+
+Good conversation requires, among other things, mental alertness,
+accuracy of statement, adequate vocabulary, facility of expression, and
+an agreeable voice, and these qualities are most essential for effective
+public speaking. Everyone, therefore, who aspires to speaking before an
+audience of hundreds or thousands, will find his best opportunity for
+preliminary training in everyday speech.
+
+
+
+
+TYPES OF TALKERS
+
+
+There is no greater affliction in modern life than the tiresome talker.
+He talks incessantly. Presumably he talks in his sleep. Talking is his
+constant exercise and recreation. He thrives on it. He lives for
+talking's sake. He would languish if he were deprived of it for a single
+day. His continuous practice in talking enables him easily to
+outdistance all ordinary competitors. There is nothing which so
+completely unnerves him as long periods of silence. He has the talking
+habit in its most virulent form.
+
+The trifling talker is equally objectionable. He talks much, but says
+little. He skims over the surface of things, and is timid of anything
+deep or philosophical. He does not tarry at one subject. He talks of the
+weather, clothes, plays, and sports. He puts little meaning into what he
+says, because there is little meaning in what he thinks. He cannot look
+at anything seriously. Nothing is of great significance to him. He is
+in the class of featherweights.
+
+The tedious talker is one without terminal facilities. He talks right on
+with no idea of objective or destination. He rises to go, but he does
+not go. He knows he ought to go, but he simply cannot. He has something
+more to say. He keeps you standing half an hour. He talks a while
+longer. He assures you he really must go. You tell him not to hurry. He
+takes you at your word and sits down again. He talks some more. He rises
+again. He does not know even now how to conclude. He has no mental
+compass. He is a rudderless talker.
+
+Probably the most obnoxious type is the tattling talker. He always has
+something startlingly personal to impart. It is a sacred secret for your
+ear. He is a wholesale dealer in gossip. He fairly smacks his lips as he
+relates the latest scandal. He is an expert embellisher. He adroitly
+supplies missing details. He has nothing of interest in his own life,
+since he lives wholly in the lives of others. He is a frightful bore,
+but you cannot offend him. He is adamant.
+
+There is the tautological talker, or the human self-repeater. He goes
+over the ground again and again lest you have missed something. He is
+very fond of himself. He tells the same story not twice, but a dozen
+times. "You may have heard this before," says he, "but it is so good
+that it will bear repetition." He tries to disguise his poverty of
+thought in a masquerade of ornate language. If he must repeat his words,
+he adds a little emphasis, a flourishing gesture, or a spirit of
+nonchalance.
+
+Again, there is the tenacious talker, who refuses to release you though
+you concede his arguments. When all others tacitly drop a subject, he
+eagerly picks it up. He is reluctant to leave it. He would put you in
+possession of his special knowledge. You may successfully refute him,
+but he holds firmly to his own ideas. He is positive he is right. He
+will prove it, too, if you will only listen. He knows that he knows. You
+cannot convince him to the contrary, no indeed. He will talk you so
+blind that at last you are unable to see any viewpoint clearly.
+
+A recognized type is the tactless talker. He says the wrong thing in
+the right way, and the right thing in the wrong way. He is impulsive and
+unguarded. He reaches hasty conclusions. He confuses his tactlessness
+with cleverness. He is awkward and blundering. His indifference to the
+rights and feelings of others is his greatest enemy. He is a stranger to
+discretion. He speaks first, and thinks afterwards. He may have regrets,
+but not resolutions. He is often tolerated, but seldom esteemed.
+
+The temperamental talker is one of the greatest of nerve-destroyers. He
+deals in superlatives. He views everything emotionally. He talks
+feelingly of trifles, and ecstatically of friends. He gushes. He
+flatters. To him everything is "wonderful," "prodigious," "superb,"
+"gorgeous," "heavenly," "amazing," "indescribable," "overwhelming."
+Extravagance and exaggeration permeate his most commonplace
+observations. He is an incurable enthusiast.
+
+The tantalizing talker is one who likes to contradict you. He divides
+his attention between what you are saying and what he can summon to
+oppose you. He dissents from your most ordinary observations. His
+favorite phrases are, "I don't think so," "There is where you are
+wrong," "I beg to differ," and "Not only that." Tell him it will be a
+fine day, and he will declare that the signs indicate foul weather. Say
+that the day is unpromising, and he will assure you it does not look
+that way to him. He cavils at trifles. He disputes even when there is no
+antagonist.
+
+To listen to the tortuous talker is a supreme test of patience. He
+slowly winds his way in and out of a subject. He traverses by-paths,
+allowing nothing to escape his unwearied eye. He goes a long way about,
+but never tires of his circuitous journey. Ploddingly and perseveringly
+he zigzags from one point to another. He alters his course as often as
+the crooked way of his subject changes. He twists, turns, and diverges
+without the slightest inconvenience to himself. He likes nothing better
+than to trace out details. His talking disease is discursiveness.
+
+The tranquil talker never hurries. He has all the time there is. If you
+are very busy he will wait. He is uniformly moderate and polite. He is
+a rare combination of oil, milk, and rose-water. He would not harm a
+syllable of the English language. His talking has a soporific effect. It
+acts as a lullaby. His speech is low and gentle. He never speaks an
+ill-considered word. He chooses his words with measured caution. He is
+what is known as a smooth talker.
+
+The torpedo talker is of the rapid fire explosive variety. He bursts
+into a conversation. He scatters labials, dentals, and gutturals in all
+directions. He is a war-time talker,--boom, burst, bang, roar, crash,
+thud! He fills the air with vocal bullets and syllabic shrapnel. He is
+trumpet-tongued, ear-splitting, deafening. He fires promiscuously at all
+his hearers. He rends the skies asunder. He is nothing if not
+vociferous, stentorian, lusty. He demolishes every idea in his way. He
+is a Napoleon of words.
+
+The tangled talker never gets anything quite straight. He inevitably
+spoils the best story. He always begins at the wrong end. Despite your
+protests of face and manner he talks on. He talks inopportunely. He
+becomes inextricably confused. He is weak in statistics. He has no
+memory for names or places. He lacks not fluency but accuracy. He is a
+twisted talker.
+
+The triumphant talker lays claim to the star part in any conversation.
+He likes nothing better than to drive home his point and then look about
+exultingly. He says gleefully, "I told you so." That he can ever be
+wrong is inconceivable to him. He knows the facts since he can readily
+manufacture them himself. He is self-satisfied, for in his own opinion
+he has never lost an argument. He is a brave and bold talker.
+
+These, then, are some types of talking which we should not emulate.
+Study the list carefully--the tiresome talker, the trifling talker, the
+tedious talker, the tattling talker, the tautological talker, the
+tenacious talker, the tactless talker, the temperamental talker, the
+tantalizing talker, the tangled talker, the triumphant talker--and guard
+yourself diligently against the faults which they represent. Talking
+should always be a pleasure to the speaker and listener, never a bore.
+
+
+
+
+TALKERS AND TALKING
+
+
+Conversation is not a verbal nor vocal contest, but a mutual meeting of
+minds. It is not a monologue, but a reciprocal exchange of ideas.
+
+There are cardinal rules which everyone should observe in conversation.
+The first of these is to be prepared always to give courteous and
+considerate attention to the ideas of others. There is no better way to
+cultivate your own conversational powers than to train yourself first to
+be an interesting and sympathetic listener.
+
+It is in bad taste to interrupt a speaker. This is a common fault which
+should be resolutely guarded against. Moreover, your own opportunity to
+speak will shortly come if you have patience, when you may reasonably
+expect to receive the same uninterrupted attention which you have given
+to others.
+
+Never allow yourself to monopolize a conversation. This is a form of
+selfishness practiced by many persons apparently unaware of being
+ill-mannered. It is inexcusably bad taste to tell unduly long stories or
+lengthy personal experiences. If you cannot abridge a story to
+reasonable dimensions, it would be better to omit it entirely. The
+habitual long-story teller may easily become a bore.
+
+Avoid the habit of eagerly matching the other person's story or
+experience with one of your own. There is nothing more disconcerting to
+a speaker than to observe the listener impatiently waiting to plunge
+headlong into the conversation with some marvellous tale. Be
+particularly careful not to outdo another speaker in relating your own
+experiences. If, for instance, he has just told how he caught fifty fish
+upon a recent trip, do not succumb to the temptation to tell of the time
+you caught fifty-one.
+
+Be careful not to give unsolicited advice. It has been well said that
+advice which costs nothing is worth what it costs. If people desire your
+counsel they will probably ask for it, in which case they will be more
+likely to appreciate what you have to tell them.
+
+Do not voluntarily recommend doctors, dentists, osteopaths, pills,
+coffee substitutes, health foods, health resorts, or panaceas for the
+ills of mankind. If you can be of service to others in these particular
+respects, it will be when you are specifically asked for such
+information.
+
+It is most imprudent to carry an argument to extremes. If you observe an
+unwillingness in the other person to be convinced by what you say, you
+had better turn to another subject. Conversation should never resolve
+itself into controversial debate.
+
+It is well to avoid discursiveness, over-use of parentheses, and
+positiveness of statement. Keep your desires and feelings from
+over-coloring your views. A flexible attitude of mind is more likely to
+win an opponent to your way of thinking.
+
+Take special pains to enter into the minds and feelings of others. Be
+interested in what they want to talk about. Let your interest be deep
+and sincere. Adopt the right tone, temper, and reticence in your
+conversation.
+
+You should accustom yourself to look at things from the other person's
+standpoint. It is surprising how this habit enlarges the vision and
+gives a charitableness to speech which might otherwise be absent. It is
+well to remember that no person can possibly have a monopoly of
+knowledge upon any subject.
+
+Good conversation demands restraint, adaptability, and reasonable
+brevity. There is an appalling waste of words on all sides, hence you
+should constantly guard yourself against this fault. When there is
+nothing worth-while to say, the best substitute is silence.
+
+Practice self-discipline in talking. Correct any fault in yourself the
+instant you recognize it. If, for example, you realize that you are
+talking at too great length, stop it at once. Should you feel that you
+are not giving interested attention to the speaker, check your
+mind-wandering immediately and concentrate upon what is being said.
+
+Do not be always setting other people right. This is a thankless as well
+as useless task. They probably do not want your assistance, or they
+would ask for it. Besides most people are sensitive about their
+shortcomings, and prefer to get help and counsel in private.
+
+There is no more important suggestion than to rule your moods. Ofttimes
+the feelings run away with the judgment. What you think and say today
+may be due to your present mood, rather than to matured judgment. Let
+your common sense predominate at all times.
+
+It is not well to give too strong expression to your likes and dislikes.
+These, like all your feelings, should be governed with a firm hand.
+Opinions advanced with too much emphasis may easily fail to impress
+other minds. Remember always that your greatest ally is truth. Therefore
+frankly and faithfully examine your important opinions before giving
+them expression.
+
+Resist the desire to be prominent in conversation, or to say clever and
+surprising things. This is sometimes difficult to do, but it is the only
+safe course to follow. If you have something brilliant or worth-while to
+say, it will be best said spontaneously and with due modesty. But if
+there is no suitable opportunity to say it, put it back in your mind
+where it may improve with age. Egotism is taboo in polite society.
+
+The suggestion that nothing should be allowed to pass the lips that
+charity would check is invaluable advice. It is unfortunately all too
+common to give hasty and harsh expression to personal opinions and
+criticisms. Reticence is one of the most essential conditions of long
+friendship.
+
+Judgment and tact are necessary to good conversation. It is not well to
+ask many questions, and then only those of a general character.
+Curiosity should be curbed. Quite properly people resent
+inquisitiveness. The best way to cultivate the rare grace of judgment is
+to be mindful of your own faults and to correct them with all speed and
+thoroughness.
+
+The word "talk" is often used in a derogatory sense, and we hear such
+expressions as "all talk," "empty talk," and "idle talk." But as
+everyone talks, we should all do our utmost to set a high example to
+others of the correct use of speech.
+
+It is always better to talk too little than too much. Never talk for
+mere talking's sake. Avoid being artificial or pedantic. Don't
+antagonize, dogmatize, moralize, attitudinize, nor criticise. Talk in
+poise,--quietly, deliberately, sincerely, and you will never lack an
+attentive audience.
+
+
+
+
+PHRASES FOR TALKERS
+
+
+It is said of Macaulay that he never allowed a sentence to pass muster
+until it was as good as he could make it. He would write and rewrite,
+and even construct a paragraph or a whole chapter, in order to secure a
+more lucid and satisfactory arrangement. He wrote just so much each day,
+usually an average of six pages, and this manuscript was so erased and
+corrected that it was finally compressed into two pages of print.
+
+The masters of English prose have been great workers. Stevenson and
+others like him gave hours and days to the study of words, phrases, and
+sentences. Through unwearied application to the art of rhetorical
+composition they ultimately won fame as writers.
+
+The ambitious student of speech culture, whether for use in conversation
+or in public, will do well to emulate the example of such great
+writers. One of the best ways to build a large vocabulary is to note
+useful and striking phrases in one's general reading. It is advisable to
+jot down such phrases in a note-book, and to read them aloud from time
+to time. Such phrases may be classified according to their particular
+application,--to business, politics, music, education, literature, or
+the drama.
+
+It is not recommended that such phrases should be consciously dragged
+into conversation, but the practice of carefully observing felicitous
+phrases, and of noting them in writing, cultivates the taste for better
+words and a sense of discrimination in their use. Many phrases noted and
+studied in this way will unconsciously find their way into one's
+expression.
+
+The list of phrases which follows is offered as merely suggestive. In
+reading the phrases aloud it is well to think clearly what each one
+means, and to fit it into a sentence of one's own making. This simple
+exercise, practiced for a few weeks, will produce surprising results by
+way of increased facility and flexibility of English style.
+
+
+     It is obviously desirable
+     I can well imagine
+     Broadly speaking
+     An admirable idea
+     In a literal sense
+     By sheer force of genius
+     You can imagine his chagrin
+     I hazard a guess
+     It challenges belief
+     He has an inscrutable face
+     Very fertile in resource
+     I am loath to believe
+     It is essentially undignified
+     Example is so contagious
+     I am not in her confidence
+     Taken in the aggregate
+     It is a reproof to shallowness
+     There is a misconception here
+     I strongly suspect it so
+     He was covered with confusion
+     It was a just rebuke
+     A pleasing instance of this
+     It lends dignity to life
+     She has a desultory liking for music
+     It seems incredible
+     A kind of detached ideal
+     It blunts the finer sensibilities
+     Beyond question or cavil
+     A well-founded suspicion
+     It has elicited great praise
+     They are landmarks in memory
+     Superhuman vigor and activity
+     A venerable and interesting figure
+     It is curious and interesting
+     Gives the impression of aloofness
+     Perfectly void of offence
+     Regard with misgiving
+     A stroke of professional luck
+     An unscrupulous adventurer
+     He spoke with extreme reticence
+     Robust common sense
+     Deficient in amiability
+     Done with characteristic thoroughness
+     A vein of philanthropic zeal
+     Definite, tangible, and practical
+     Too much effusive declamation
+     A man of keen ambition
+     It gives infinite zest
+     Singular qualifications for public life
+     They are bitterly hostile
+     The despair of the official wire-puller
+     Blind and unreasoning opponent
+     Ignoble strife for power
+     Surrounded by a cohort of admiring friends
+     In an imperative voice
+     Marked by copiousness and vivacity
+     Touched with sombre dignity
+     A ridiculous misconception
+     Habitual austerity of demeanor
+     Ostentation and lavish expenditure
+     A person of exquisite tact
+     Intolerant of bumptiousness
+     The obvious danger of dallying
+     This was grossly overstated
+     A mass of calumny and exaggeration
+     Inimical to religion
+     Fraught with peril
+     I venture to ask
+     Attributed to mental decrepitude
+     A strange phenomena
+     It argues a blind faith
+     Insatiable whirl of excitement
+     A substratum of truth
+     Under some conceivable circumstances
+     Bubbling over with infectious joy
+     Frigid dignity and arrogant reserve
+     A profound contempt
+     The fine art of hospitality
+     Grim morsels of philosophy
+     A tinge of sorrowness and jealousy
+     Due to ignorance and barbarism
+     Grave and monstrous scandal
+     A splendid instance of self-devotion
+     Amusingly exemplified in this case
+     Recognized and powerful element
+     A symbol of restraint
+     An utterly fallacious idea
+     In rapid and striking succession
+     We learn from stern experience
+     Pictures of an inspired imagination
+     An astonishing outbreak
+     Soothing words of sympathy
+     A rather bold assertion
+     The most enthusiastic adherents
+     Mere tepid conviction
+     Eminently qualified for the task
+     Almost supernatural charm
+     In glowing and exaggerated phrases
+     Somewhat rich and austere
+     An inexhaustible theme
+     Grave and undeniable faults
+     Perfectly chosen language
+     All the characteristics of a mob
+     Given to grandiloquent phrase
+     Peculiar vein of sarcasm
+     Froze like ice and cut like steel
+     A generous tribute to an eminent rival
+     Cold and stately composure
+     Fiery and passionate enthusiasm
+     Extraordinary violence of nature
+     A brilliant and delightful play
+     Rare and striking combination
+     Preeminently qualified for the part
+     Moderate and cautious conservatism
+     Daring perversions of justice
+     Devoid of rhetorical device
+     As a great thinker has observed
+     Almost morbid sensitiveness
+     Discreetly stifled yawn
+     He was dumb with wonder
+     Scarcely less familiar
+     Delightfully characteristic
+     It was a profound conviction
+     Greatly conceived and expressed
+     Blinded by its brightness
+     I have cudgelled my memory
+     Exposed to imminent peril
+     Screening a breach of etiquette
+     By a natural transition
+     Splendid anticipations of success
+     A very laudable attempt
+     Lapsed into complete oblivion
+     With most distinguished success
+     Like embarking on a shoreless sea
+     A really pretty imitation
+     Unless I greatly err
+     Undaunted by repeated failure
+     Became a term of reproach
+     An epoch-making achievement
+     In the guise of verbal nonsense
+     Received with cordial sympathy
+     With the most obvious sincerity
+     Held forth with fluency and zest
+     Gracious solicitude
+     Punctiliously civil and polite
+     An air of sphinx-like mystery
+     Consumed by zeal
+     Awaited with lively interest
+     Sledge-hammer blows against humbug
+     This recalls a happy retort
+     Preeminently a case in point
+     Exquisite precision and finish
+     Incomparably better informed
+     A keen eye for incongruities
+     Polite to the point of deference
+     To the last degree improbable
+     People with rampant prejudices
+     A model of chivalrous propriety
+     By way of digression
+     A splendid acquisition
+     Singularly attractive fashion
+     A kind of unconscious conspiracy
+     Amid engrossing demands
+
+
+
+
+THE SPEAKING VOICE
+
+
+There is a widespread need for a more thorough cultivation of the
+speaking voice. It is astonishing how few persons give specific
+attention to this important subject. On all sides we are subjected to
+voices that are disagreeable and strident. It is the exception to hear a
+voice that is musical and well-modulated.
+
+Most people make too much physical effort in speaking. They tighten the
+muscles of the throat and mouth, instead of liberating these muscles and
+allowing the voice to flow naturally and harmoniously. The remedy for
+this common fault of vocal tension is to relax all the muscles used in
+speech. This is easily accomplished by means of a little daily practice.
+
+The first thing to keep in mind is that we should speak through the
+throat and not from it. A musical quality of voice depends chiefly upon
+directing the tone towards the hard palate, or the bony arch above the
+upper teeth. From this part of the mouth the voice acquires much of its
+resonance.
+
+An excellent exercise for throat relaxation is yawning. It is not
+necessary to wait until a real yawn presents itself, but frequent
+practice in imitating a yawn may be indulged in with good results.
+Immediately after practicing the yawn, it is advisable to test the
+voice, either in speaking or in reading, to observe improvement in
+freedom of tone.
+
+It is not desirable to use the voice where there is loud noise by way of
+opposition. Many a good voice has been ruined due to the habit of
+continuous talking on the street or elsewhere amid clatter and hubbub.
+Under such circumstances it is better to rest the voice, since in any
+contest of the kind the voice will almost surely be vanquished.
+
+What we need in our daily conversation is less emphasis, and more
+quietness and non-resistance. We need less eagerness and more vivacity
+and variety. We need a settled equanimity of mind that does not deprive
+us of our animation, but saves us from the petty irritations of
+everyday life. We need, in short, more poise and self-control in our way
+of speaking.
+
+It is well to remember that few things we say are of such importance as
+to require emphasis. The thought should be its own recommendation. But
+if emphasis be necessary, let it be by the intellectual means of pausing
+or inflection, rather than with the shoulders or the clenched fist.
+
+A very disagreeable and common fault is nasality, or "talking through
+the nose." Many persons are guilty of this who least suspect it. This
+habit is so easily and unconsciously acquired that everyone should be on
+strict guard against it. Almost equally disagreeable is the fault of
+throatiness, caused by holding the muscles of the throat instead of
+relaxing them.
+
+The best tones of the speaking voice are the middle and low keys. These
+should be used exclusively in daily conversation. The use of high pitch
+is due to habit or temperament, but may be overcome through judicious
+practice. The objection to a high-keyed voice is not only that it is
+disagreeable to the listener, but puts the speaker "out of tune" with
+his audience.
+
+A good speaking voice should possess the qualities of purity, resonance,
+flexibility, roundness, brilliancy, and adequate power. These qualities
+can be rapidly developed by daily reading aloud for ten minutes, giving
+special attention to one quality at a time. A few weeks, assiduous
+practice will produce most gratifying results. The voice grows through
+use, and it grows precisely in the way it is habitually used.
+
+Distinct articulation and correct pronunciation are indications of
+cultivated speech. Pedantry should be avoided, but every aspirant to
+correct speech should be a student of the dictionary. A writer has given
+this good counsel:
+
+"Resolve that you will never use an incorrect, an inelegant, or a vulgar
+phrase or word, in any society whatever. If you are gifted with wit, you
+will soon find that it is easy to give it far better point and force in
+pure English than through any other medium, and that brilliant thoughts
+make the deepest impressions when well worded. However great it may be,
+the labor is never lost which earns for you the reputation of one who
+habitually uses the language of a gentleman, or of a lady. It is
+difficult for those who have not frequent opportunities for conversation
+with well-educated people, to avoid using expressions which are not
+current in society, although they may be of common occurrence in books.
+As they are often learned from novels, it will be well for the reader to
+remember that even in the best of such works dialogues are seldom
+sustained in a tone which would not appear affected in ordinary life.
+This fault in conversation is the most difficult of all to amend, and it
+is unfortunately the one to which those who strive to express themselves
+correctly are peculiarly liable. Its effect is bad, for though it is not
+like slang, vulgar in itself, it betrays an effort to conceal vulgarity.
+It may generally be remedied by avoiding any word or phrase which you
+may suspect yourself of using for the purpose of creating an effect.
+Whenever you imagine that the employment of any mere word or sentence
+will convey the impression that you are well informed, substitute for
+it some simple expression. If you are not positively certain as to the
+pronunciation of a word, never use it. If the temptation be great,
+resist it; for, rely upon it, if there be in your mind the slightest
+doubt on the subject, you will certainly make a mistake. Never use a
+foreign word when its meaning can be given in English, and remember that
+it is both rude and silly to say anything to any person who possibly may
+not understand it. But never attempt, under any circumstances whatever,
+to utter a foreign word, unless you have learned to pronounce correctly
+the language to which it belongs."
+
+There is need for the admonition to open the mouth well. Many people
+speak with half-closed teeth, the result being that the quality of voice
+and correctness of pronunciation are greatly impaired. Consonants and
+vowels should be given proper significance. Muffled speech is almost as
+objectionable as stammering.
+
+It enhances the pleasure and quality of conversation to speak in
+deliberate style. Rapidity of utterance often leads a speaker into such
+faults as indistinctness, monotony, and incorrect breathing. Deliberate
+speaking confers many advantages, not the least of which is increased
+pleasure to the listener.
+
+Many voices are too thin in quality. They fail to carry conviction even
+when the thought is of superior character. The remedy here is to give
+special attention to the development of deep tones. One of the best
+exercises for this purpose is to practice for a few minutes daily upon
+the vowel sound "O," endeavoring to make it full, deep, and melodious.
+For all-round vocal development this practice should be done with varied
+force and inflection, and on high as well as low keys of the voice.
+
+The best remedy for a weak voice is to practice daily upon explosives,
+expelling the principal vowel sounds, on various keys, using the
+abdominal muscles throughout. Another good exercise is to read aloud
+while walking upstairs or uphill. As these exercises are somewhat
+extreme, the student is recommended to practice them prudently.
+
+Correct breathing is fundamental to correct and agreeable speaking. The
+breathing apparatus should be brought under control by daily practice
+upon exercises prescribed in any standard book on elocution. Pure tone
+of voice depends upon the ability to convert into tone every particle of
+breath used. Aspirated voice, in which some of the breath is allowed to
+escape unvocalized, is injurious to the throat, and unpleasant to the
+listening ear.
+
+The speaker, whether in conversation or in public, should try always to
+speak with an adequate supply of breath. Deliberate utterance will give
+the necessary opportunity to replenish the lungs, so that the speaker
+will not suffer from unnecessary fatigue. Needless to say, the habit
+should be formed of breathing through the nose when in repose.
+
+There is a voice of unusual roundness and fulness known as the orotund,
+which is indispensable to the public speaker. It is simple, pure tone,
+rounded out into greater fulness. It is produced mainly by an increased
+resonance of the chest and mouth cavities, and a more vigorous action of
+the abdominal muscles. It has the character of fulness, but it is not
+necessarily a loud tone. It is in no sense artificial, but simply an
+enlargement of the natural conversational voice.
+
+The use of the orotund voice varies according to the intensity of the
+thought and feeling being expressed. It is used in language of great
+dignity, power, grandeur, and sublimity. It is appropriate in certain
+forms of public prayer and Bible reading. It enables the public speaker
+to vary from his conversational style. It gives vastly increased scope
+and power, by enabling the speaker to bring into play all the resources
+of vocal force and intensity.
+
+Where resonance of voice is lacking, it can be rapidly developed by
+means of humming the letter _m_, with lips closed, and endeavoring to
+make the face vibrate. The tone should be kept well forward throughout
+the exercise, pressing firmly against the lips and hard palate. Later
+the exercise may begin with the humming _m_, and be developed, while the
+lips are opened gradually, into the tone of _ah_, still aiming to
+maintain the original resonance.
+
+The speaking voice is capable of most wonderful development. There is a
+duty devolving upon everyone to cultivate beauty of vocal utterance and
+diction. Crudities of speech so commonly in evidence are mainly due to
+carelessness and neglect. It is a hopeful sign, however, that greater
+attention is now being given to this important subject than heretofore.
+Surely there is nothing more important than the development of the
+principal instrument by which men communicate with one another. As Story
+says:
+
+     "O, how our organ can speak with its many and wonderful voices!--
+     Play on the soft lute of love, blow the loud trumpet of war,
+     Sing with the high sesquialter, or, drawing its full diapason,
+     Shake all the air with the grand storm of its pedals and stops."
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO TELL A STORY
+
+
+Someone has wittily said that only those in their anecdotage should tell
+stories. De Quincey wanted all story-tellers to be submerged in a
+horse-pond, or treated in the same manner as mad dogs. But story-telling
+has its legitimate and appropriate use, and if certain rules are
+observed may give added charm to conversation and public speaking.
+
+It requires a fine discrimination to know when to tell a story, and when
+not to tell one though it is urging itself to be expressed. Few men have
+the rare gift of choosing the right story for the particular occasion.
+Many men have no difficulty in telling stories that are insufferably
+long, pointless, and uninteresting.
+
+We have all been victims of a certain type of public speaker who begins
+by saying, "Now I don't want to bore you with a long story, but this is
+so good, etc.," or "An incident occurred at the American Consulate in
+Shanghai, which reminds me of an awfully good story, etc." When a
+speaker prefaces his remarks with some such sentences as these, we know
+we are in for an uncomfortable time.
+
+As far as possible a story should be new, clever, short, simple,
+inoffensive, and appropriate. As such stories are scarce, it is
+advisable to set them down, when found, in a special note-book for
+convenient reference. It is said that Chauncey M. Depew, one of the most
+gifted of after-dinner speakers, was for many years in the habit of
+keeping a set of scrap-books in which were preserved stories and other
+interesting data clipped from newspapers and magazines. These were so
+classified that he could on short notice refresh his mind with ample
+material upon almost any general subject.
+
+Anyone who essays to tell a story should have it clearly in mind. It is
+fatal for a speaker to hesitate midway in a story, apologize for not
+knowing it better, avow that it was much more humorous when told to him,
+and in other ways to announce his shortcomings. If he cannot tell a
+story fluently and interestingly, he should first practice it on his own
+family--provided they will tolerate it.
+
+Some stories should be committed to memory, especially where the point
+of humor depends upon exact phraseology. In such case, it requires some
+training and experience to disguise the memorized effort. A story like
+the following, for obvious reasons, should be thoroughly memorized:
+
+The longest sermon on record occupied three hours and a half. But the
+shortest sermon was that of a preacher who spoke for one minute on the
+text: "Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." He said:
+
+"I shall divide my discourse into three heads: (1) Man's ingress into
+the world; (2) His progress through the world; (3) His egress out of the
+world.
+
+"Firstly, His ingress into the world is naked and bare.
+
+"Secondly, His progress through the world is trouble and care.
+
+"Thirdly, His egress out of the world is nobody knows where.
+
+"To conclude:
+
+"If we live well here, we shall live well there.
+
+"I can tell you no more if I preach a whole year.
+
+"The collection will now be taken up."
+
+Dialect stories are usually rather difficult, and should not as a
+general thing be attempted by beginners. As a matter of fact, few
+persons know how to speak such dialects as Irish, Scotch, German,
+Cockney, and negro without undue exaggeration. For most occasions it is
+well to keep to simple stories couched in plain English.
+
+A story should be told in simple, conversational style. Concentration
+upon the story, and a sincere desire to give pleasure to the hearers,
+will keep the speaker free from self-consciousness. Needless to say he
+should not be the first to laugh at his own story. Sometimes in telling
+a humorous anecdote to an audience a speaker secures the greatest effect
+by maintaining an expression of extreme gravity.
+
+No matter how successful one may be in telling stories, he should avoid
+telling too many. A man who is accounted brilliant and entertaining may
+become an insufferable bore by continuing to tell stories when the
+hearers have become satiated. Of all speakers, the story-teller should
+keep his eyes on his entire audience and be alert to detect the
+slightest signs of weariness.
+
+It is superfluous to say that a story should never be told which in any
+way might give offence. The speaker may raise a laugh, but lose a
+friend. Hence it is that stories about stammerers, red-headed people,
+mothers-in-law, and the like, should always be chosen with
+discrimination.
+
+Generally the most effective story is one in which the point of humor is
+not disclosed until the very last words, as in the following:
+
+An old colored man was brought up before a country judge.
+
+"Jethro," said the judge, "you are accused of stealing General Johnson's
+chickens. Have you any witnesses?"
+
+"No, sah," old Jethro answered, haughtily; "I hab not, sah. I never
+steal chickens befo' witnesses."
+
+This is a similar example, told by Prime Minister Asquith:
+
+An English professor wrote on the blackboard in his laboratory,
+"Professor Blank informs his students that he has this day been
+appointed honorary physician to his Majesty, King George."
+
+During the morning he had some occasion to leave the room, and found on
+his return that some student wag had added the words,
+
+"God save the King!"
+
+Henry W. Grady was a facile story-teller. One of his best stories was as
+follows:
+
+"There was an old preacher once who told some boys of the Bible lesson
+he was going to read in the morning. The boys, finding the place, glued
+together the connecting pages. The next morning he read on the bottom of
+one page: 'When Noah was one hundred and twenty years old he took unto
+himself a wife, who was'--then turning the page--'one hundred and forty
+cubits long, forty cubits wide, built of gopherwood, and covered with
+pitch inside and out.' He was naturally puzzled at this. He read it
+again, verified it, and then said: 'My friends, this is the first time
+I ever met this in the Bible, but I accept it as an evidence of the
+assertion that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.'"
+
+Personalities based upon sarcasm or invective are always attended with
+danger, but good-humored bantering may be used upon occasion with most
+happy results. As an instance of this, there is a story of an annual
+dinner at which Mr. Choate was set down for the toast, "The Navy," and
+Mr. Depew was to respond to "The Army." Mr. Depew began by saying, "It's
+well to have a specialist: that's why Choate is here to speak about the
+Navy. We met at the wharf once and I did not see him again till we
+reached Liverpool. When I asked how he felt he said he thought he would
+have enjoyed the trip over if he had had any ocean air. Yes, you want to
+hear Choate on the Navy." When it was Mr. Choate's turn to speak, he
+said: "I've heard Depew hailed as the greatest after-dinner speaker. If
+after-dinner speaking, as I have heard it described and as I believe it
+to be, is the art of saying nothing at all, then Mr. Depew is the most
+marvelous speaker in the universe."
+
+The medical profession can be assailed with impunity, since they have
+long since grown accustomed to it. There is a story of a young laborer
+who, on his way to his day's work, called at the registrar's office to
+register his father's death. When the official asked the date of the
+event, the son replied, "He ain't dead yet, but he'll be dead before
+night, so I thought it would save me another journey if you would put it
+down now." "Oh, that won't do at all," said the registrar; "perhaps your
+father will live till tomorrow." "Well, I don't think so, sir; the
+doctor says as he won't, and he knows what he has given him."
+
+While stories should be used sparingly, there is probably nothing more
+effective before a popular audience than the telling of a story in which
+the joke is on the speaker himself. Thus:
+
+The last time I made a speech, I went next day to the editor of our
+local newspaper, and said,
+
+"I thought your paper was friendly to me?"
+
+The editor said, "So it is. What's the matter?"
+
+"Well," I said, "I made a speech last night, and you didn't print a
+single line of it this morning."
+
+"Well," said the editor, "what further proof do you want?"
+
+Many of the best and most effective stories are serious in character.
+One that has been used successfully is this: Some gentlemen from the
+West were excited and troubled about the commissions or omissions of the
+administration. President Lincoln heard them patiently, and then
+replied: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in
+gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the
+Niagara River on a rope; would you shake the cable, or keep shouting out
+to him--'Blondin, stand up a little straighter--Blondin, stoop a little
+more--go a little faster--lean a little more to the north--lean a little
+more to the south?' No, you would hold your breath as well as your
+tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The Government
+is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in our hands. We are
+doing the very best we can. Don't badger us. Keep silence, and we'll get
+you safe across."
+
+Punning is of course out of fashion. The best pun in the English
+language is Tom Hood's:
+
+     "He went and told the sexton,
+     And the sexton tolled the bell."
+
+Dr. Johnson said that the pun was the lowest order of wit. Newspapers
+formerly indulged in it freely. One editor would say: "We don't care a
+straw what Shakespeare said--a rose by any other name would not smell as
+wheat." Then another paper would answer: "Such puns are barley
+tolerable, they amaize us, they arouse our righteous corn, and they turn
+the public taste a-rye."
+
+But punning, when it is unusually clever and spontaneous, may be
+thoroughly enjoyable, as in the following:
+
+Chief Justice Story attended a public dinner in Boston at which Edward
+Everett was present. Desiring to pay a delicate compliment to the
+latter, the learned judge proposed as a volunteer toast:
+
+"Fame follows merit where Everett goes."
+
+The brilliant scholar arose and responded:
+
+"To whatever heights judicial learning may attain in this country, it
+will never get above one Story."
+
+Story-telling may attain the character of a disease, in one who has a
+retentive memory and a voluble vocabulary. The form of humor known as
+repartee, however, is one that requires rare discrimination. It should
+be used sparingly, and not at all if it is likely to give offence.
+
+Beau Brummell was guilty in this respect, when he was once asked by a
+lady if he would "take a cup of tea." "Thank you," said he, "I never
+_take_ anything but physic." "I beg your pardon," said the hostess, "you
+also take liberties."
+
+There is a story that Henry Luttrell had sat long in the Irish
+Parliament, but no one knew his precise age. Lady Holland, without
+regard to considerations of courtesy, one day said to him point-blank,
+"Now, we are all dying to know how old you are. Just tell me." Luttrell
+answered very gravely, "It is an odd question, but as you, Lady Holland,
+ask it, I don't mind telling you. If I live till next year, I shall
+be--devilish old!"
+
+The art of story-telling is not taught specifically, hence there are
+comparatively few people who can tell a story without violating some of
+the rules which experience recommends. But the right use of
+story-telling should be encouraged as an ornament of conversation, and a
+valuable auxiliary to effective public address. Many people might excel
+as story-tellers if they would devote a little time to suggestions such
+as are offered here. It is not a difficult art, but like every other
+subject requires study and application.
+
+The best counsel for public speakers in the matter of story-telling may
+be summed up as follows: Know your story thoroughly; test your story by
+telling it to some one in advance; adapt your story to the special
+circumstances; be concise, omitting non-essentials; have ready more
+stories than you intend to use, because if you should speak at the end
+of the list you may find that your best story has been told by a
+previous speaker; and, finally, always stop when you have made a hit.
+
+
+
+
+TALKING IN SALESMANSHIP
+
+
+The salesman depends for his success primarily upon his talking ability.
+Obviously, what he offers for sale must have intrinsic merit, and he
+should possess a thorough knowledge of his wares. But in order to secure
+the best results from his efforts, he must know how to talk well.
+
+All the general requirements for good conversation apply equally to the
+needs of the salesman. He should have a pleasant speaking voice and an
+agreeable manner, a vocabulary of useful and appropriate words, and the
+ability to put things clearly and convincingly.
+
+It should be a golden rule of the salesman never to argue with the
+customer. He may explain and reason, and use all the persuasive
+phraseology at his command, but he must not permit himself for a single
+instant to engage in controversy. To argue is fatal to successful
+salesmanship.
+
+There is nothing that can be substituted for a winning personality in
+the salesman. What constitutes such a personality? Chiefly a good voice,
+affability of manner, straightforward speech, manly bearing, the desire
+to serve and please, proper attire, and cleanliness of person. These
+qualifications come within the reach of anyone who aspires to success in
+salesmanship.
+
+Every salesman has unexpected problems to solve. A sensitive or touchy
+customer may become unreasonably angry or offended. What is the salesman
+to do? He should here be particularly on his guard not to show the
+slightest resentment. Though he may be wholly guiltless, he cannot
+afford to contradict the customer, nor to challenge him to a vocal duel.
+If he talks at all, he should talk quietly and reasonably, and always
+with the object of bringing the customer around to a favorable point of
+view.
+
+The successful salesman must have tact and discrimination. He must know
+when and how to check in himself the word or phrase which is trying to
+force its way out into expression, but which would in the end prove
+inadvisable. He must train himself to choose quickly the right and best
+course under difficult circumstances.
+
+The salesman should give his undivided attention to the customer. If the
+salesman is speaking, he should speak clearly, directly, concisely, and
+understandingly; if he is listening, he should listen interestedly and
+thoroughly, with all his powers alive and receptive.
+
+The salesman should know when to speak and when to be silent. Some
+customers wish to be told much, others prefer to think for themselves.
+He is a wise salesman who knows when to be mute. Loquacity has often
+killed what otherwise might have been a good sale.
+
+There is a certain tone of voice which the salesman should aim to
+acquire. It is neither high nor low in pitch. It is agreeable to the
+listening ear, and is almost sufficient in itself to win the favorable
+attention of the prospective buyer. Every salesman should cultivate a
+musical and well-modulated voice as one of the chief assets in
+salesmanship.
+
+The salesman should cultivate dignity of speech and manner. People
+generally dislike familiarity, joking, and horse-play. It is well to
+assume that the customer is serious-minded, that he means business and
+nothing else. Needless to say, the telling of long stories, or personal
+experiences, has no legitimate place in the business of salesmanship.
+
+There is a proper time and place for short story-telling. Like
+everything else it is all right in its appropriate setting. Lincoln used
+it to advantage, but once said: "I believe I have the popular reputation
+of being a story-teller, but I do not deserve the name in its general
+sense; for it is not the story itself, but its purpose, or effect, that
+interests me. I often avoid a long and useless discussion by others, or
+a laborious explanation on my part, by a short story that illustrates my
+point of view."
+
+The salesman should resolve not to lose his poise and agreeableness
+under any circumstances. Irritability never attracts business. To say
+the right thing in the right place is desirable, but it is quite as
+important, though more difficult, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the
+moment of temptation.
+
+It is not the legitimate business of the salesman to force upon a
+customer what is really not wanted, but many times the customer does
+not know what he wants nor what he might be able to use. Hence the
+competent salesman should know how to influence the customer towards a
+favorable decision, using all honorable and approved means to bring
+about such a result.
+
+The customer's unfavorable answer is not to be accepted always as final.
+He may not clearly understand the merits or uses of the article offered.
+He may need the explanations and suggestions of the salesman in order to
+reach a right conclusion. Here it is that the salesman may fulfill one
+of his most important duties.
+
+There is a wide difference between self-reliance and obtrusiveness.
+Every man should have a full degree of self-confidence. It is needed in
+every walk in life. But the salesman, more than most men, must have an
+exceptional degree of faith in himself and in what he has to sell.
+
+This self-confidence, however, is a very different thing from boldness
+or obtrusiveness. Courtesy and considerateness are cardinal qualities of
+the well-equipped salesman, but boastfulness, glibness, egotism,
+loudness, and self-assertion, are as distasteful as they are
+undesirable.
+
+The eloquence and persuasiveness of silence is nowhere better
+exemplified than in the art of salesmanship. One man says much, and
+sells little; another says little, and sells much. The reason for the
+superior success of one over the other is mainly due to the fact that he
+knows best how to present the merits of what he offers for sale, knows
+how to say it concisely and effectively, knows how to ingratiate
+himself, largely through his personality, into the good graces of the
+prospective buyer, and knows when to stop talking.
+
+Modern salesmanship is based primarily upon common sense. A man with
+brains, though possibly lacking in other desirable qualifications, may
+easily outdistance the more experienced salesman. It is a valuable thing
+in any man to be able to think accurately, reason deeply, and size up a
+situation promptly.
+
+The salesman should at all times be on his best talking behavior. It is
+not advisable for him to have two standards of speech, and to use an
+inferior one excepting for special occasions. He should cultivate as a
+regular daily habit discrimination in the use of voice, enunciation,
+expression, and language. This should be the constant aim not only of
+the salesman, but of every man ambitious to achieve success and
+distinction in the world.
+
+
+
+
+MEN AND MANNERISMS
+
+
+There is a story of a politician who had acquired a mannerism of
+fingering a button on his coat while talking to an audience. On one
+occasion some friends surreptitiously cut the particular button off, and
+the result was that the speaker when he stood up to address the audience
+lost the thread of his discourse.
+
+Gladstone had a mannerism of striking the palm of his left hand with the
+clenched fist of his other hand, so that often the emphatic word was
+lost in the noise of percussion. A common habit of the distinguished
+statesman was to reach out his right hand at full arm's length, and then
+to bend it back at the elbow and lightly scratch the top of his head
+with his thumb-nail.
+
+Balfour, while speaking, used to take hold of the lapels of his coat by
+both hands as if he were in mortal fear of running away before he had
+finished.
+
+Goshen, at the beginning of a speech, would sound his chest and sides
+with his hands, and apparently finding that his ribs were in good order,
+would proceed to wash his hands with invisible soap.
+
+The strange thing about mannerisms is that the speakers are usually
+unconscious of them, and would be the first to condemn them in others.
+The remedy for such defects lies in thorough and severe self-examination
+and self-criticism. However eminent a speaker may be with objectionable
+mannerisms, he would be still greater without them.
+
+Every public speaker has certain characteristics of voice and manner
+that distinguish him from other men. In so far as this individuality
+gives increased power and effectiveness to the speaking style, it is
+desirable and should be encouraged. When, however, it is carried to
+excess, or in any sense offends good taste, it is merely mannerism, and
+should be discouraged.
+
+There is an objectionable mannerism of the voice, known as "pulpit
+tone," that has come to be associated with some preachers. It takes
+various forms, such as an unduly elevated key, a drawling monotone, a
+sudden transition from one extreme of pitch to another, or a tone of
+condescension. It is also heard in a plaintive minor inflection,
+imparting a quality of extreme sadness to a speaker's style. These are
+all departures from the natural, earnest, sincere, and direct delivery
+that belongs to the high office of preaching.
+
+Still another undesirable mannerism of the voice is that of giving a
+rising inflection at the close of successive sentences that are
+obviously complete. Here the speaker's thought is left suspended in the
+air, the hearer feels a sense of disappointment or doubt, and possibly
+the entire meaning is perverted. Thoughts delivered in such a manner,
+unless they distinctly require a rising inflection, lack the emphasis
+and force of persuasive speaking.
+
+Artificiality, affectation, pomposity, mouthing, undue vehemence,
+monotony, intoning, and everything that detracts from the simplicity and
+genuine fervor of the speech should be avoided. Too much emphasis may
+drive a thought beyond the mark, and a conscious determination to make a
+"great speech" may keep the speaker in a state of anxiety throughout
+its entire delivery.
+
+A clear and correct enunciation is essential, but it should not be
+pedantic, nor should it attract attention to itself. "What you are
+prevents me from hearing what you say," might also be applied to the
+manner of the speaker. Exaggerated opening of the mouth, audible
+smacking of the lips, holding tenaciously to final consonants, prolonged
+hissing of sibilants, are all to be condemned. Hesitation, stumbling
+over difficult combinations, obscuring final syllables, coalescing the
+last sound of one word with the first sound of the following word, are
+inexcusable in a trained speaker.
+
+When the same modulation of the voice is repeated too often, it becomes
+a mannerism, a kind of monotony of variety. It reminds one of a
+street-piano set to but one tune, and is quite as distressing to a
+sensitive ear. This is not the style that is expected from a public man.
+
+What should the speaker do with his hands? Do nothing with them unless
+they are specifically needed for the more complete expression of a
+thought. Let them drop at the sides in their natural relaxed position,
+ready for instant use. To press the fist in the hollow of the back in
+order to "support" the speaker, to clutch the lapels of the coat, to
+slap the hands audibly together, to place the hands on the hips in the
+attitude of "vulgar ease," to put the hands into the pockets, to wring
+the hands as if "washing them with invisible soap," or to violently
+pound the pulpit--these belong to the list of undesirable mannerisms.
+
+At the beginning of a speech it may give the appearance of ease to place
+the hands behind the back, but this position lacks force and action and
+should not be long sustained. To cross the arms upon the desk is to put
+them out of commission for the time being. Leaning or lounging of any
+kind, bending at the knee, or other evidence of weakness or weariness,
+may belong to the repose of the easy chair, but are hardly appropriate
+in a wide-awake speaker seeking to convince men.
+
+Rocking the body to and fro, rising on the toes to emphasize, crouching,
+stamping the foot, springing from side to side, over-acting and
+impersonation, and violence and extravagance of every description may
+well be omitted in public speaking. Beware of extremes. Avoid a
+statue-like attitude on the one hand and a constant restlessness on the
+other. Dignity is desirable, but one should not forget the words of the
+Reverend Sam Jones, "There is nothing more dignified than a corpse!"
+
+Gestures that are too frequent and alike soon lose their significance.
+If they are attempted at all they should be varied and complete,
+suggesting freedom and spontaneity. When only half made they are likely
+to call attention to the discrepancy, and to this extent will obscure
+rather than help the thought. The continuous use of gesture is
+displeasing to the eye, and gives the impression of lack of poise.
+
+The young speaker particularly should be warned not to imitate the
+speaking style of others. What is perfectly natural to one may appear
+ridiculous in another. Cardinal Newman spoke with extreme
+deliberateness, enunciating every syllable with care and precision;
+Phillips Brooks sent forth an avalanche of words at the rate of two
+hundred a minute; but it would be dangerous for the average speaker to
+emulate either of these examples.
+
+There is a peculiarity in a certain type of speaking, which, while not
+strictly a mannerism, is detrimental to the highest effect. It manifests
+itself in physical weakness. The speaker is uniformly tired, and his
+speaking has a half-hearted tone. The lifelessness in voice and manner
+communicates itself to the audience, and prevents all possibility of
+deep and enduring impression. Joseph Parker said that when Sunday came
+he felt like a racehorse, and could hardly wait for the time to come for
+him to go into the pulpit. He longed to speak.
+
+The well-equipped speaker is one who has a superior culture of voice and
+body. All the instruments of expression must be made his obedient
+servants, but as master of them he should see to it that they perform
+their work naturally and spontaneously. He should be able while speaking
+to abandon himself wholly to his subject, confident that as a result of
+conscientious training his delivery may be left largely to take care of
+itself.
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC
+
+
+There are two essential qualifications for making an effective public
+speech.
+
+First, having something worth-while to say.
+
+Second, knowing how to say it.
+
+The first qualification implies a judicious choice of subject and the
+most thorough preparation. It means that the speaker has carefully
+gathered together the best available material, and has so familiarized
+himself with his subject that he knows more about it than anyone else in
+his audience.
+
+It is in this requirement of thorough preparation that many public
+speakers are deficient. They do not realize the need for this
+painstaking preliminary work, and hence they frequently stand before an
+audience with little information of value to impart to their hearers.
+Their poverty of thought can not be long disguised in flamboyant
+rhetoric and sesquipedalian words, and hence they fail to carry
+conviction to serious-minded men.
+
+I would remind you that having something worth-while to say involves
+more than thorough preparation of the particular subject which the
+speaker is to present to an audience. The speaker should have a
+well-furnished mind. You have had the experience of listening to a
+public speaker who commanded your closest attention not only because of
+what he said, but also because of what he was. He inspired confidence in
+you because of his personality and reserve power.
+
+It is often what a man has within himself, rather than what he actually
+expresses, that carries greatest conviction to your mind. As you listen
+to such a man speak, you feel that he is worthy of your confidence
+because he draws upon broad experience and knowledge. He speaks out of
+the fulness of a well-furnished mind.
+
+It is important, therefore, that there should be mental culture in a
+broad way,--sound judgment, a sense of proportion and perspective, a
+fund of useful ideas, facts, arguments, and illustrations, and a large
+stock of common sense.
+
+Every man who essays to speak in public should cultivate a judicial
+mind, or the habit of weighing and estimating facts and arguments. Such
+a mind is supposedly free from prejudice and seeks the truth at any
+cost. Such a mind does not want this or that to be necessarily true, but
+wants to recognize as true only that which is true.
+
+In these days of multiplied publications and books of all kinds, when
+printed matter of every description is soliciting our time and
+attention, it is particularly desirable that we should cultivate a
+discriminating taste in our choice of books. The highest purpose of
+reading is for the acquisition of useful knowledge and personal culture,
+and we should keep these two aims constantly before us. It is noteworthy
+that men who have achieved enduring greatness in the world have always
+had a good book at their ready command.
+
+If you are ever in doubt about the choice of books, you would do well to
+enlist the services of a literary friend, or ask the advice of a local
+librarian. But in any case, be on your guard against books and other
+publications of commonplace type, which can contribute nothing to the
+enrichment of your mind and life.
+
+It is desirable that you should own the books you read. The sense of
+personal possession will give an interest and pleasure to your reading
+which it would not otherwise have, and moreover you can freely mark such
+books with your pencil for subsequent reference. It is also well to have
+a note-book conveniently ready in which to jot down useful ideas as they
+occur to you.
+
+Here we come to the use of the pen. All the great orators of the world
+have been prolific writers in the sense of writing out their thoughts.
+It is the only certain way to clarify your thought, to test it in
+advance of verbal expression and to examine it critically. The public
+speaker should write much in order to form a clear and flowing English
+style. It is surprising how many of our thoughts which appear to us
+clear and satisfactory, assume a peculiar vagueness when we attempt to
+set them down definitely in writing.
+
+The use of the pen tends to give clearness and conciseness to the
+speaker's style. It makes him careful and accurate. It aids, too, in
+fixing the ideas of his speech in his mind, so that at the moment of
+addressing an audience they will respond most readily to his needs.
+
+A well-furnished mind is like a well-furnished house. In furnishing a
+house we do not fill it up with miscellaneous furniture, bric-a-brac and
+antiques, gathered promiscuously, but we plan everything with a view to
+harmony, beauty, and utility. We furnish a particular room in a tone
+that will be restful and pleasing to the occupant. We choose every piece
+of furniture, rug, picture, and drapery with a distinct purpose in view
+of what the total effect will be.
+
+So with a well-furnished mind. We must choose the kind of material we
+intend to keep there. It should be chosen with a view to its beauty,
+power, and usefulness. We want no rubbish there. We want the best
+material available. Hence the vital importance of going to the right
+sources for the furniture of our mind, to the great books of the world,
+to living authorities, to nature, to music, to art, to the best wherever
+it may be found.
+
+The second essential of an effective public speech is knowing how to say
+it. This implies a thorough training in the technique of speech. There
+should be a well-cultivated voice, of adequate volume, brilliancy, and
+carrying quality. There should be ample training in articulation,
+pronunciation, expression, and gesture. These so-called mechanics should
+be developed until they become an unconscious part of the speaker's
+style.
+
+Your best opportunity for practice is in your everyday conversation.
+There you are constantly making speeches on a small scale. Public
+speaking of the best modern type is simply elevated conversation. I do
+not mean elevated in pitch, but in the sense of being launched upon a
+higher level of thought and with greater intensity than is usually
+called for by ordinary conversation.
+
+In conversation you have your best opportunity for developing your
+public speaking style. Indeed, you are there, despite yourself, forming
+habits which will disclose themselves in your public speaking. As you
+speak in your daily conversation you will largely speak when you stand
+before an audience.
+
+You will therefore see the importance of care in your daily speech.
+There should be a fastidious choice of words, care in pronunciation and
+articulation, and the mouth well opened so that the words may come out
+wholly through the mouth and not partly through the nose. Culture of
+conversation is to be recommended for its own sake, since everyone must
+speak in private if not in public.
+
+One of the best plans for self-culture in speaking is to read aloud for
+a few minutes every day from a book of well-selected speeches. There are
+numerous compilations of the kind admirably suited to this purpose. The
+important thing here is to read in speaking style, not in what is termed
+reading style as usually taught in schools. When you practise in this
+way it would be well to imagine an audience before you and to render the
+speech as if emanating from your own mind. The student of public
+speaking will wisely guard himself against acquiring an artificial style
+or other mannerism.
+
+Another good plan is to make short mental speeches while walking. When
+possible it is well to choose a country road for this purpose, or a
+park, or some other place where one's mind is not likely to be often
+diverted by passers-by. Lord Dufferin, the eminent British orator, was
+accustomed to prepare most of his speeches while riding on horseback.
+The habit of forming mental speeches is a great aid to actual
+speech-making, as it tends to give the mind a power and an adaptability
+which it would not otherwise have.
+
+The painter, the musician, the sculptor, the architect, and other
+craftsmen search out models for study and inspiration. The public
+speaker should do likewise, and history shows that the great orators of
+the world have followed this practise. You can not do better than take
+as your model the greatest short speech in all history, the Gettysburg
+Address.
+
+An authority on English style has critically examined this speech and
+acknowledges that he cannot suggest a single change in it which would
+add to its power and perfection.
+
+You recall the circumstances under which it was written. On the morning
+of November 18, 1863, Abraham Lincoln was travelling from Washington to
+take part next day in the consecration of the national cemetery at
+Gettysburg. He wrote his speech on a scrap of wrapping-paper, carefully
+fitting word to word, changing and correcting it in minutest detail as
+best he could until it was finished.
+
+The next day after the speech had been delivered, Edward Everett, the
+trained and polished orator, said that he would have been content to
+have made in his oration of two hours the impression which Lincoln had
+made in that many minutes.
+
+It will repay you to study this speech closely and to wrest from it its
+innermost secrets of power and effectiveness. The greatest underlying
+quality of this speech is its rare simplicity--simplicity of thought,
+simplicity of language, simplicity of purpose, and shining through it
+all, the simplicity of the great emancipator himself.
+
+This simplicity is one of the great distinguishing qualities of
+effective public speaking. It is characteristic of all true art. It is
+subtle and difficult to define, but Fenelon gives a definition that will
+aid us when he says, "Simplicity is an uprightness of soul that has no
+reference to self." It is another word for unselfishness.
+
+In these days of self-exploitation and self-aggrandizement, how
+refreshing it is to meet a man of true simplicity. We are won by his
+unaffected manner, his gentleness of argument, his ingratiating tones of
+voice, his freedom from prejudice and passion. Such a man wins us almost
+wholly by the power of his simplicity.
+
+This supreme quality is noticeable in men who are said to have come to
+themselves. They have tasted and tested life, they have learned
+proportion and perspective, they have appraised things at their real
+value, and now they carry themselves in poise and power and confidence.
+They have found themselves in a high and true sense, and they have come
+to be known as men of simplicity.
+
+Simplicity is not to be confounded with weakness or ignorance. It comes
+through long education. It does not mean the trite, or the commonplace,
+or the obvious. It is a strong and sturdy quality, is this simplicity of
+which I am speaking, and nothing else will atone for lack of it in the
+public speaker.
+
+Longfellow calls it the supreme excellence, since it is the quality
+which above all others brings serenity to the soul and makes life
+really worth living. Every man should earnestly seek to cultivate this
+great quality as essential to noble character.
+
+This speech is conspicuous for another indispensable quality for
+effective public speaking,--the quality of sincerity. It grows largely
+out of simplicity and is the product of integrity of mind and heart. Men
+recognize it quickly, though they cannot easily tell whence it comes. We
+find it highly developed in great leaders in business and professional
+life. There has never been a really great public speaker who was not
+preeminently a sincere man.
+
+Beecher said, "Let no man who is a sneak try to be an orator." Such a
+man can not be. He will shortly be found out. The world's ultimate
+estimate of a man is not far wrong.
+
+A politician of much promise was addressing a distinguished audience in
+Washington. The Opera House was crowded to the doors to hear him and
+apparently he was making a good impression upon all his hearers. But
+suddenly, at the very climax of his speech, while upwards of two
+thousand eyes were rivetted upon him, he was seen to wink at a personal
+friend of his sitting in a nearby box, and at that instant his future
+political prospects were shattered as a vase struck by lightning. In
+that single instant of insincerity he was appraised by that
+discriminating audience and his doom was sealed.
+
+Still another great quality in the Gettysburg speech is its directness.
+The speaker had a clearly-defined purpose in view. He knew what he
+wanted to say, and he proceeded to say it--no more, and no less.
+
+There was no straying away into by-paths, no padding of words to make up
+for shortage of ideas, no superfluous and big-sounding phrases, no empty
+rhetoric or glittering generalities.
+
+How many speakers there are who aim at nothing and hit it. How many
+speakers there are who are on their way but do not know whither.
+
+If this directness of quality were applied to talking in business, in
+committee meetings, in telephone conversations, in public speaking, it
+would save annually in this country millions of words and incalculable
+time and energy.
+
+You will note that this speech has the rare quality of conciseness. We
+have an illustration here of how much a man can say in about 265 words
+and in the short space of two minutes, if he knows precisely what he
+wants to say.
+
+It is well to bear in mind that although this speech was scribbled off
+with seeming ease, Lincoln owed his ability to do it to a long and
+painstaking study of words and English style.
+
+He was a profound student of the dictionary. He steeped himself in
+words. He scrutinized words, he studied words, he made himself a master
+of words.
+
+This is a valuable habit for every man to form,--to study words
+regularly and earnestly, and to add consciously to his working
+vocabulary a few words daily--so in the course of a year such a man will
+acquire a large and varied stock of words which will do his instant
+bidding.
+
+The conclusion is a vital part of a speech. It is a place of peril to
+many a public speaker. Countless speeches have been ruined by a bad
+conclusion.
+
+The most important thing here is that having decided beforehand upon the
+particular ideas or message with which you intend to conclude your
+speech, not to let any influence lead you away from this preconceived
+purpose.
+
+Some speakers are about to conclude effectively but are unwilling to
+omit anything which they have planned to give in their speech, and so
+continue in an endeavor to recall every item. At last such a speech has
+a loose and straggling ending.
+
+The words of the conclusion need not be memorized, but the ideas should
+be definitely outlined in the mind and fixed in the memory, not as
+words, but as ideas.
+
+The knowledge that you can turn at will to these definite ideas, and so
+bring your speech to a close, will confer upon you a degree of
+self-confidence which will be of immense service to you.
+
+You should ever bear in mind this golden rule for the conclusion of your
+speech: When you have finished what you have of importance to say, do
+not be tempted to wander off into by-paths, or to tell an additional
+story, or to say "and one word more," but having finished your speech,
+stop on the instant and sit down.
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL HINTS FOR SPEAKERS
+
+
+Cultivate as the most desirable thoughts those which are definite,
+clear, deep, logical, profound, strong, precise, impressive, original,
+significant, explicit, luminous, positive, suggestive, comprehensive,
+and practical. Resolutely avoid all thoughts which are uncertain,
+recondite, obscure, immature, unimportant, shallow, weak, visionary,
+absurd, vague, extravagant, indefinite, or impractical.
+
+In your choice and use of words give preference to those which are
+definite, simple, real, significant, forcible, expressive, adequate,
+musical, varied, and copious. Avoid those which are foreign, slangy,
+obsolete, unusual, extravagant, technical, long, colloquial, or
+commonplace.
+
+The most desirable qualities in the use of English are the simple,
+plain, exact, lucid, concise, trenchant, vigorous, impressive, lively,
+figurative, polished, graceful, fluent, rhythmical, copious, elevated,
+flexible, smooth, dignified, terse, epigrammatic, felicitous,
+euphonious, elegant, and lofty. Undesirable qualities are the diffuse,
+verbose, redundant, inflated, prolix, ambiguous, feeble, monotonous,
+loose, slip-shod, dry, flowery, pedantic, pompous, rhetorical,
+grandiloquent, artificial, formal, ornate, halting, ponderous,
+ungrammatical, vague, and obscure.
+
+The qualities you should develop in your speaking voice are the pure,
+deep, round, flexible, resonant, musical, clear, sympathetic, smooth,
+sonorous, powerful, silvery, melodious, full, strong, natural, mellow,
+magnetic, expressive, carrying, and responsive. Endeavor to keep your
+voice free from such undesirable qualities as the harsh, breathy, sharp,
+rough, rigid, throaty, guttural, thin, shrill, nasal, unmusical,
+discordant, muffled, explosive, strained, inaudible, hollow, strident,
+sepulchral, and tremulous.
+
+Your articulation should be clear, distinct, and correct. Avoid
+carelessness, lifelessness, mumbling, weakness, and exaggeration.
+
+Your pronunciation should be clear-cut and accurate. Avoid mouthing,
+lisping, hesitation, stammering, pedantry, omission of syllables, and
+suppression of final consonants.
+
+Your delivery in public speaking should be simple, sincere, natural,
+varied, magnetic, earnest, forceful, attractive, energetic, animated,
+sympathetic, authoritative, dignified, direct, impressive, vivid,
+convincing, persuasive, zealous, enthusiastic, and inspiring. Avoid that
+which is timid, familiar, violent, cold, indifferent, unreal,
+artificial, dull, sing-song, hesitating, feeble, unconvincing,
+apathetic, monotonous, pompous, formal, arbitrary, flippant,
+ostentatious, drawling, or languid.
+
+Your gesture should be graceful, appropriate, free, forceful, and
+natural. Avoid all gesture which is unmeaning, angular, abrupt,
+constrained, stilted, or amateurish.
+
+Your facial expression should be varied, appropriate, pleasing, and
+impassioned. Avoid the unpleasant, immobile, and unvaried.
+
+Let your standing position be manly, erect, easy, forceful, and
+impressive. Avoid that which is weak, shifting, stiff, inactive, and
+ungainly.
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMATIC ELEMENT IN SPEAKING
+
+
+There is a well-defined prejudice against the importation of anything
+"theatrical" into the pulpit. The art of the actor is fundamentally
+different from the work of the preacher. At best the actor but
+represents, imitates, pretends, acts. The actor seems; the preacher is.
+
+It is to be feared, however, that this prejudice has narrowed many
+preachers down to a pulpit style almost devoid of warmth and action. In
+their endeavor to avoid the dramatic and sensational, they have refined
+and subdued many of their most natural and effective means of
+expression. The function of preaching is not only to impart, but to
+persuade; and persuasion demands something more than an easy
+conversational style, an intellectual statement of facts, or the reading
+of a written message. The speaker must show in face, in eye, in arm, in
+the whole animated man, that he, himself, is moved, before he can hope
+successfully to persuade and inspire others.
+
+The modified movements of ordinary conversation do not fulfil all the
+requirements of the preacher. These are necessary and adequate for the
+groundwork of the sermon, but for the supreme heights of passionate
+appeal, when the soul of the preacher would, as it were, leap from its
+body in the endeavor to reach men, there must be intensified life and
+action--dramatic action.
+
+It is difficult to conceive of a greater tribute to a public advocate
+than that paid to Wendell Phillips by George William Curtis:
+
+"The divine energy of his conviction utterly possest him, and his
+
+         'Pure and eloquent blood
+     Spoke in his cheek, and so distinctly wrought,
+     That one might almost say his body thought.'"
+
+Poise is power, and reserve and repression are parts of the dignified
+office of the preacher, but carried too far may degenerate into weak and
+unproductive effort. Perfection of English style, rhetorical floridness,
+and profundity of thought will never wholly make up for lack of
+appropriate action in the work of persuading men.
+
+The power of action alone is vividly illustrated in the touch of the
+finger to the lips to invoke silence, or the pointing to the door to
+command one to leave the room. The preacher might often find it
+profitable to stand before a mirror and deliver his sermon exclusively
+in pantomime to test its power and efficacy.
+
+The body must be disciplined and cultivated as assiduously as the other
+instruments of the speaker. There is eloquence of attitude and action no
+less than eloquence of voice and feeling. A preacher drawing himself up
+to his full height, with a significant gesture of the head, or with
+flashing eye pointing the finger of warning at his hearers, may rouse
+them from indifference when all other means fail.
+
+Sixty years ago the Reverend William Russell emphasized the importance
+of visible expression. He said of the preacher:
+
+"His outward manner, in attitude and action, will be as various as his
+voice: he will evince the inspiration of appropriate feeling in the
+very posture of his frame; in uttering the language of adoration, the
+slow-moving, uplifted hand will bespeak the awe and solemnity which
+pervade his soul; in addressing his fellow men in the spirit of an
+ambassador of Christ, the gentle yet earnest spirit of persuasive action
+will be evinced in the pleading hand and aspect; he will know, also, how
+to pass to the stern and authoritative mien of the reproved of sin; he
+will, on due occasions, indicate, in his kindling look, the rousing
+gesture, the mood of him who is empowered and commanded to summon forth
+all the energies of the human soul; his subdued and chastened address
+will carry the sympathy of his spirit into the bosom of the mourner; his
+moistening eye and his gentle action will manifest his tenderness for
+the suffering: his whole soul will, in a word, become legible in his
+features, in his attitude, in the expressive eloquence of his hand; his
+whole style will be felt to be that of heart communing with heart."
+
+Dramatic action gives picturesqueness to the spoken word. It makes
+things vivid to slow imaginations, and by contrast invests the
+speaker's message with new meaning and vitality. It discloses, too, the
+speaker's sympathy and identification with his subject. His thought and
+feeling, communicating themselves to voice and face, to hand and arm, to
+posture and walk, satisfy and impress the hearer by a sense of adequacy
+and completeness.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher, a conspicuous example of the dramatic style in
+preaching, was drilled for three years, while at college, in
+voice-culture, gesture, and action. His daily practise in the woods,
+during which he exploded all the vowels from the bottom to the top of
+his voice, gave him not only a wonderfully responsive and flexible
+instrument, but a freedom of bodily movement that made him one of the
+most vigorous and virile of American preachers. He was in the highest
+sense a persuasive pulpit orator.
+
+A sensible preacher will avoid the grotesque and the extremes of mere
+animal vivacity. Incessant gesture and action, undue emphasizing with
+hand and head, and all suggestion of self-sufficiency in attitude or
+manner should be guarded against. All the various instruments of
+expression should be made ready and responsive for immediate use, but
+are to be employed with that taste and tact that characterize the
+well-balanced man. Too much action and long-continued emotional effort
+lose force, and unless the law of action and reaction is applied to the
+preaching of the sermon the attention of the congregation may snap and
+the desired effect be utterly destroyed.
+
+The face as the mirror of the emotions is an important part of
+expression. The lips will betray determination, grief, sympathy,
+affection, or other feeling on the part of the speaker. The eyes, the
+most direct medium of psychic power, will flash in indignation, glisten
+in joy, or grow dim in sorrow. The brow will be elevated in surprise, or
+lowered in determination and perplexity.
+
+The effectiveness of the whisper in preaching should not be overlooked.
+If discreetly used it may serve to impress the hearer with the
+profundity and seriousness of the preacher's message, or to arrest and
+bring back to the point of contact the wandering minds of a
+congregation.
+
+To acquire emotional power and dramatic action the preacher should
+study the great dramatists. He should read them aloud with appropriate
+voice and movement. He should study children, and men, and nature. He
+should, perhaps, see the best actors, not to copy them, but in order
+that they may stimulate his taste and imagination.
+
+
+
+
+CONVERSATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING
+
+
+The ideal style of public speaking is, with very little modification,
+the ideal of good conversation. The practical age in which we live
+demands a colloquial rather than an oratorical style of public speaking.
+A man who has something to say in conversation usually has little
+difficulty in saying it. If he presents the facts he will speak
+convincingly; if he is deeply in earnest he will speak persuasively; and
+if he be an educated man his speech will have the unmistakable marks of
+culture and refinement.
+
+In the conversation of well-bred children we find the most interesting
+and helpful illustrations of unaffected speech. The exquisite modulation
+of the voice, the unstudied correctness of emphasis, and the sincerity
+and depth of feeling might well serve as a model for older speakers.
+
+This study of conversation, both our own and that of others, offers
+daily opportunity for improvement in accuracy and fluency of speech, of
+fitting words to the mouth as well as to the thought, and of forming
+habits that will unconsciously disclose themselves in the larger work of
+public speaking. Care in conversation will guard the public speaker from
+inflated and unnatural tones, and restrain him from transgressing the
+laws of nature even in those parts of his speech demanding lofty and
+intensified treatment.
+
+Some easily remembered suggestions regarding conversation are these:
+
+1. Pronounce your words distinctly and accurately, like "newly made
+coins" from the mint, but without pedantry.
+
+2. Upon no occasion allow yourself to indulge in careless or incorrect
+speech.
+
+3. Open the mouth well in conversation. Much indistinct speech is due to
+speaking through half-closed teeth.
+
+4. Closely observe your conversation and that of others, to detect
+faults and to improve your speaking-style.
+
+5. Vary your voice to suit the variety of your thought. A well-modulated
+voice demands appropriate changes of pitch, force, perspective, and
+feeling.
+
+6. Avoid loud talking.
+
+7. Take care of the consonants and the vowels will take care of
+themselves.
+
+8. Cultivate the music of the conversational tones.
+
+9. Favor the low pitches of your voice.
+
+10. Remember that the purpose of conscious practise and observation in
+the matter of conversation is to lead ultimately to unconscious
+performance.
+
+
+The value of correct conversation as a means to effective public
+speaking is realized by few men. Beecher said: "How much squandering
+there is of the voice!" meaning that this golden opportunity for
+improvement was generally disregarded. It is not too much to say,
+however, that if the sweet and gentle expression of the mother, the
+strong and affectionate tones of the father, and the spontaneous musical
+notes of the children, as heard in daily conversation, could be united
+in the voice of the minister and brought to the preaching of his sermon,
+there would be little doubt of its magical and enduring effect upon the
+hearts of men. The wooing tone of the lover is what the preacher needs
+in his pulpit style rather than the voice of declamation and
+denunciation.
+
+The study of conversation serves to guide the public speaker not only in
+the free and natural use of his voice, enunciation, and expression, but
+also in his use of language. He will here learn to choose the simple
+word instead of the complex, the short sentence instead of the involved,
+the concrete illustration instead of the abstract. He will acquire ease,
+spontaneity, simplicity, and directness, and when he rises to speak to
+men he will employ tones and words best known and understood by them.
+
+A preacher may spend too much time in study and solitude. If he does he
+will soon realize a distinct loss through lack of social intercourse
+with his fellow men. The faculties most needed in pulpit preaching are
+those very powers that are so largely exercised in ordinary
+conversation. The ability to think quickly, to marshal facts and
+arguments, to introduce a vivid story or illustration, to parry and
+thrust as is sometimes needed to hold one's own ground, and the general
+mental activity aroused in conversation, all tend to produce an
+interesting, vivacious, and forceful style in public speaking.
+
+We should not underestimate the value of meditation and silence to the
+public speaker. These are necessary for original and profound thinking,
+for the cultivation of the imagination, and for the accumulation of
+thought. But conversation offers an immediate outlet for this stored-up
+knowledge, testing it as a finished product in expression, and
+projecting it into life and reality by all the resources of voice and
+feeling. This exercise is as necessary to the mind as physical exercise
+is to the body. Indeed, a full mind demands this relief in expression,
+lest the strain become too great.
+
+The daily newspaper and the magazines should not be allowed to usurp the
+place of conversation. If the art of talking is rapidly dying out, as
+some assert, we should do our share to revive it. We may not again have
+the wit and repartee, the brilliant intellectual combats of those other
+days, but we can at least each have a cultivated speaking-voice, an
+interesting manner of expressing our ideas in conversation, and a
+refined pronunciation of our mother tongue.
+
+
+
+
+A TALK TO PREACHERS
+
+
+The aim of one who would interpret literature to others, by means of the
+speaking voice, should be first to assimilate its spirit. There can be
+no worthy or adequate rendering of a great poem or prose selection
+without a keen appreciation of its inner meaning and content. This is
+the principal safeguard against mechanical and meaningless declamation.
+The extent of this appreciation and grasp of the inherent spirit of
+thought will largely determine the degree of life, reality, and
+impressiveness imparted to the spoken word.
+
+The intimate relationship between the voice and the spirit of the
+speaker suggests that one is necessary to the fullest development of the
+other. The voice can interpret only what has been awakened and realized
+within, hence nothing discloses a speaker's grasp of a subject so
+accurately and readily as his attempt to give it expression in his own
+language. It is this spiritual power, developed principally through the
+intuitions and emotions, that gives psychic force to speaking, and which
+more than logic, rhetoric, or learning itself enables the speaker to
+influence and persuade men.
+
+The minister as an interpreter of the highest spiritual truth should
+bring to his work a thoroughly trained emotional nature and a cultivated
+speaking voice. It is not sufficient that he state the truth with
+clearness and force; he must proclaim it with such passionate enthusiasm
+as powerfully to move his hearers. To express adequately the infinite
+shades of spiritual truth, he must have the ability to play upon his
+voice as upon a great cathedral organ, from "the soft lute of love" to
+"the loud trumpet of war."
+
+To assume that the study of the art of speaking will necessarily produce
+consciousness of its principles while in the act of speaking in public,
+is as unwarranted as to say that a knowledge of the rules of grammar,
+rhetoric, or logic lead to artificiality and self-consciousness in the
+teacher, writer, and thinker. There is a "mechanical expertness
+preceding all art," as Goethe says, and this applies to the orator no
+less than to the musician, the artist, the actor, and the litterateur.
+
+Let the minister stand up for even five minutes each day, with chest and
+abdomen well expanded, and pronounce aloud the long vowel sounds of the
+English language, in various shades of force and feeling, and shortly he
+will observe his voice developing in flexibility, resonance, and power.
+For it should be remembered that the voice grows through use. Let the
+minister cultivate, too, the habit of breathing exclusively through his
+nose while in repose, fully and deeply from the abdomen, and he will
+find himself gaining in health and mental resourcefulness.
+
+For the larger development of the spiritual and emotional powers of the
+speaker, a wide and varied knowledge of men and life is necessary. The
+feelings are trained through close contact with human suffering, and in
+the work of solving vital social problems. The speaker will do well to
+explore first his own heart and endeavor to read its secret meanings,
+preliminary to interpreting the hearts of other men. Personal suffering
+will do more to open the well-springs of the heart than the reading of
+many books.
+
+Care must be had, however, that this cultivating of the feelings be
+conducted along rational lines, lest it run not to faith but to
+fanaticism. There is a wide difference between emotion designed for
+display or for momentary effect, and that which arises from strong inner
+conviction and sympathetic interest in others. Spurious, unnatural
+feeling will invariably fail to convince serious-minded men.
+
+"Emotion wrought up with no ulterior object," says Dr. Kennard, "is both
+an abuse and an injury to the moral nature. When the attention is
+thoroughly awakened and steadily held, the hearer is like a well-tuned
+harp, each cord a distinct emotion, and the skilful speaker may evoke a
+response from one or more at his will. This lays him under a great and
+serious responsibility. Let him keep steadily at such a time to his
+divine purpose, to produce a healthful action, a life in harmony with
+God and a symphony of service."
+
+The emotional and spiritual powers of the speaker will be developed by
+reading aloud each day a vigorous and passionate extract from the
+Bible, or Shakespeare, or from some great sermon by such men as
+Bushnell, Newman, Beecher, Maclaren, Brooks, or Spurgeon. The entire
+gamut of human feeling can be highly cultivated by thus reading aloud
+from the great masterpieces of literature. The speaker will know that he
+can make his own words glow and vibrate, after he has first tested and
+trained himself in some such manner as this. Furthermore, by thus
+fitting words to his mouth, and assimilating the feelings of others, he
+will immeasurably gain in facility and vocal responsiveness when he
+attempts to utter his own thoughts.
+
+Music is a powerful element in awakening emotion in the speaker and
+bringing to consciousness the mysterious inner voices of the soul. The
+minister should not only hear good music as often as possible, but he
+should train his ear to recognize the rhythm and melody in speech.
+
+For the fullest development of this spiritual power in the public
+speaker there should be frequent periods of stillness and silence. One
+must listen much in order to accumulate much. Thought and feeling
+require time in which to grow. In this way the myriad sounds that arise
+from humanity and from nature can be caught up in the soul of the
+speaker and subsequently voiced by him to others.
+
+The habit of meditating much, of brooding over thought, whether it be
+our own or that of others, will tend to disclose new and deeper
+meanings, and consequently deeper shades and depths of feeling. The
+speaker will diligently search for unwritten meanings in words; he will
+study, whenever possible, masterpieces of painting and sculpture; he
+will closely observe the natural feeling of well-bred children, as shown
+in their conversation; and in many other ways that will suggest
+themselves, he will daily develop his emotional and spiritual powers of
+expression.
+
+The science of preaching is important, but so, too, is the art of
+preaching. A powerful pulpit is one of the needs of the times. A
+congregation readily recognizes a preacher of strong convictions, broad
+sympathies, and consecrated personality. An affectionate nature in a
+minister, manifesting itself in voice, face, and manner, will attract
+and influence men, while a harsh, rigid, vehement manner will as easily
+repel them.
+
+It is to be feared that many sermons are written with too much regard
+for "literary deportment on paper," and too little thought of their
+value as pulsating messages to men.
+
+The preacher should train himself to take tight hold of his thought, to
+grip it with mental firmness and fervor, that he may afterward convey it
+to others with definiteness and vigor. Thoughts vaguely conceived and
+held tremblingly in the mind will manifest a like character when
+uttered. Into the writing of the sermon put vitality and intensity, and
+these qualities will find their natural place in delivery. Thrill of the
+pen should precede thrill of the voice. The habit of Dickens of acting
+out the characters he was depicting on paper could be copied to
+advantage by the preacher, and frequently during the writing of his
+sermon he might stand and utter his thoughts aloud to test their power
+and effectiveness upon an imaginary congregation.
+
+There should be the most thorough cultivation of the inner sources of
+the preacher, whereby the spiritual and emotional forces are so aroused
+and brought under control as to respond promptly and accurately to all
+the speaker's requirements. There should be assiduous training of the
+speaking voice as the instrument of expression and the natural outlet
+for thought and feeling. In the combined cultivation of these two
+essentials of expression--spirit and voice--the minister will find the
+true secret of effective pulpit preaching.
+
+
+
+
+CARE OF THE SPEAKER'S THROAT
+
+
+The throat as a vital part of the public speaker's work in speaking is
+worthy of the greatest care and consideration. It is surprising that so
+little attention is given to vocal hygiene, when it is remembered that a
+serious weakness or affection of the throat may disqualify a speaker for
+important work. The delicate and intricate machinery of the vocal
+apparatus renders it peculiarly susceptible to misuse or exposure. The
+common defects of nasality, throatiness, and harshness, are due to wrong
+and careless use of the speaking-instrument.
+
+In the training of the public speaker the first step is to bring the
+breathing apparatus under proper control. That is to say, the speaker
+must accustom himself, through careful practise, to use the abdominal
+method of breathing, and to keep his throat free from the strain to
+which it is commonly subjected. This form of breathing is not difficult
+to acquire, since it simply means that during inhalation the abdomen is
+expanded, and during exhalation it is contracted. It should be no longer
+necessary to warn the speaker to breathe exclusively through the nose
+when not actually using the voice. While speaking he must so completely
+control the breath that not a particle of it can escape without giving
+up its equivalent in sound.
+
+"Clergyman's sore throat" is the result of improper use or overstraining
+of the voice. Sometimes the earnestness of the preacher causes him to
+"clutch" each word with the vocal muscles, instead of using the throat
+as an open channel through which the voice may flow with ease and
+freedom. Many speakers, in an endeavor to be heard at a great distance,
+employ too loud a tone, forgetting that the essential thing is a clear
+and distinct articulation. To speak continuously in high pitch, or
+through half-closed teeth, almost invariably causes distress of throat.
+Most throat troubles may be set down to a lack of proper elocutionary
+training. To keep the voice and throat in order there should be regular
+daily practise, if only for ten minutes. The example might profitably
+be followed of certain actors who make a practise of humming
+occasionally during the day while engaged in other duties, as a means of
+keeping the voice musical and resonant.
+
+When the throat becomes husky or weak it is a timely warning from nature
+that it needs rest and relaxation. To continue to engage in public
+speaking under these circumstances is often attended with great danger,
+resulting sometimes in total loss of voice. It is economy in the end to
+discontinue the use of the voice when there is a serious cold or the
+throat is otherwise affected. Nervousness, anxiety, or unusual mental
+exertion may cause a vocal breakdown. For this condition rest is
+recommended, together with gentle massaging of the throat with cold
+water mixed with a little vinegar or _eau de Cologne_.
+
+A public speaker should not engage in protracted conversation
+immediately after a speech. The sudden transition from an auditorium to
+the outer air should remind the speaker to keep his mouth securely
+closed. The general physical condition of the speaker has much to do
+with the vigor and clearness of his voice. A daily plunge into cold
+water, or at least a sponging of the entire surface of the body, besides
+being a tonic luxury, greatly invigorates the throat and abdominal
+muscles. After the "tub" a vigorous rubbing with towel and hands should
+produce a glow.
+
+To the frequent question whether smoking is injurious to the throat, it
+is safe to say that the weight of authority and experience favors
+abstinence. Any one who has spoken for half an hour or more in a
+smoke-clouded room, knows the distressing effect it has had upon the
+sensitive lining of the throat. It must be obvious, therefore, that the
+constant inhaling of smoke must even more directly irritate the mucous
+membrane.
+
+The diet of the public speaker should be reasonably moderate, and the
+extremes of hot and cold avoided. The use of ice-water is to be
+discouraged. Many drugs and lozenges are positively injurious to the
+throat. For habitual dryness of throat a glycerine or honey tablet will
+usually obviate the trouble. Dr. Morell Mackenzie, the eminent English
+throat specialist, condemns the use of alcohol as pernicious, and
+affirms that "even in a comparatively mild form it keeps the delicate
+tissues in a state of congestion which makes them particularly liable to
+inflammation from cold or other causes."
+
+It must not be assumed that the throat is to be pampered. A reasonable
+amount of exposure will harden it and to this extent is desirable. To
+muffle the throat with a scarf, unless demanded by special conditions,
+may make it unduly sensitive and increase the danger of taking cold when
+the head is turned from side to side.
+
+A leading physician confirms the opinion that the best gargle for daily
+use is that of warm water and salt. This should be used every night and
+morning to cleanse and invigorate the throat. Where there is a tendency
+to catarrh a solution made of peroxide of hydrogen, witch-hazel, and
+water, in equal parts, will prove efficacious. Nothing should be snuffed
+up the nose except under the direction of a physician, lest it cause
+deafness.
+
+Many speakers and singers have a favorite nostrum for improving the
+voice. The long and amusing list includes hot milk, tea, coffee,
+champagne, raw eggs, lemonade, apples, raisins,--and sardines! A good
+rule is to eat sparingly if the meal is taken just before speaking. It
+need hardly be said that serious vocal defects, such as enlarged
+tonsils, elongated uvula, and abnormal growths in the throat and nose
+are subjects for the specialist.
+
+Whenever possible a speaker should test beforehand the acoustic
+properties of the auditorium in which he is to speak for the first time.
+A helpful plan is to have a friend seat himself at the back of the hall
+or church, and give his opinion of the quality and projecting power of
+the speaker's voice. It is difficult to judge one's own voice because it
+is conveyed to him not only from the outside but also through the
+Eustachian tube and modified by the vibratory parts of the throat and
+head. A speaker never hears his own voice as it is heard by another.
+
+Nothing, perhaps, is so taxing to the throat as long-continued speaking
+in one quality of tone. There are two distinct registers which should be
+judiciously alternated by the speaker. These are the "chest" register,
+in which the vocal cords vibrate their whole length, and the quality of
+tone derives most of its character from the chest cavity; and the "head"
+register, in which the vocal cords vibrate only in part, and the quality
+of tone is reenforced by the resonators of the face, mouth, and head.
+The first of these registers is sometimes called the "orotund" voice
+from its quality of roundness, and is employed principally in language
+of reverence, sublimity, and grandeur.
+
+The head tone is the voice of ordinary conversation and should form the
+basis of the public-speaking style.
+
+No one who has to speak in public should be discouraged because of
+limited vocal resources. Many of the foremost orators began with marked
+disadvantages in this respect, but made these shortcomings an incentive
+to higher effort. One well-known speaker makes up for lack of vocal
+power by extreme distinctness of enunciation, while another offsets an
+unpleasantly heavy quality of voice by skilful modulation.
+
+A few easily remembered suggestions are:
+
+1. Rest the voice for an hour or two before speaking in public.
+
+2. Gargle the throat night and morning with salt and water.
+
+3. Never force the voice.
+
+4. Avoid all occasions that strain the voice, such as prolonged
+conversation, speaking against noise, or in cold and damp air.
+
+5. Practise deep breathing until it becomes an unconscious habit.
+
+6. Favor an outdoor life.
+
+7. Hum or sing a little every day.
+
+8. Discontinue public speaking when there is a severe cold or other
+affection of the throat.
+
+9. Rest the voice and body immediately after speaking in public.
+
+
+
+
+DON'TS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS
+
+
+     Don't rant.
+     Don't prate.
+     Don't fidget.
+     Don't flatter.
+     Don't declaim.
+     Don't be glib.
+     Don't hesitate.
+     Don't be nasal.
+     Don't apologize.
+     Don't dogmatize.
+     Don't be slangy.
+     Don't antagonize.
+     Don't be awkward.
+     Don't be violent.
+     Don't be personal.
+     Don't be "funny."
+     Don't attitudinize.
+     Don't be monotonous.
+     Don't speak rapidly.
+     Don't sway your body.
+     Don't be long-winded.
+     Don't "hem" and "haw."
+     Don't praise yourself.
+     Don't overgesticulate.
+     Don't pace the platform.
+     Don't clear your throat.
+     Don't "point with pride."
+     Don't tell a long story.
+     Don't rise on your toes.
+     Don't distort your words.
+     Don't stand like a statue.
+     Don't address the ceiling.
+     Don't speak in a high key.
+     Don't emphasize everything.
+     Don't drink while speaking.
+     Don't fatigue your audience.
+     Don't exceed your time limit.
+     Don't talk for talking's sake.
+     Don't wander from your subject.
+     Don't fumble with your clothes.
+     Don't speak through closed teeth.
+     Don't put your hands on your hips.
+     Don't fail to stop when you have ended.
+
+
+
+
+DO'S FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS
+
+
+     Be prepared.
+     Begin slowly.
+     Be modest.
+     Speak distinctly.
+     Address all your hearers.
+     Be uniformly courteous.
+     Prune your sentences.
+     Cultivate mental alertness.
+     Conceal your method.
+     Be scrupulously clear.
+     Feel sure of yourself.
+     Look your audience in the eyes.
+     Be direct.
+     Favor your deep tones.
+     Speak deliberately.
+     Get to your facts.
+     Be earnest.
+     Observe your pauses.
+     Suit the action to the word.
+     Be yourself at your best.
+     Speak fluently.
+     Use your abdominal muscles.
+     Make yourself interesting.
+     Be conversational.
+     Conciliate your opponent.
+     Rouse yourself.
+     Be logical.
+     Have your wits about you.
+     Be considerate.
+     Open your mouth.
+     Speak authoritatively.
+     Cultivate sincerity.
+     Cultivate brevity.
+     Cultivate tact.
+     End swiftly.
+
+
+
+
+POINTS FOR SPEAKERS
+
+
+As far as possible avoid the following hackneyed phrases:
+
+     I rise with diffidence
+     Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking
+     By a happy stroke of fate
+     It becomes my painful duty
+     In the last analysis
+     I am encouraged to go on
+     I point with pride
+     On the other hand (with gesture)
+     I hold
+     The vox populi
+     Be that as it may
+     I shall not detain you
+     As the hour is growing late
+     Believe me
+     We view with alarm
+     As I was about to tell you
+     The happiest day of my life
+     It falls to my lot
+     I can say no more
+     In the fluff and bloom
+     I can only hint
+     I can say nothing
+     I cannot find words
+     The fact is
+     To my mind
+     I cannot sufficiently do justice
+     I fear
+     All I can say is
+     I shall not inflict a speech on you
+     Far be it from me
+     Rise phoenix-like from his ashes
+     But alas!
+     What more can I say?
+     At this late period of the evening
+     It is hardly necessary to say
+     I cannot allow the opportunity to pass
+     For, mark you
+     I have already taken up too much time
+     I might talk to you for hours
+     Looking back upon my childhood
+     We can imagine the scene
+     I haven't the time nor ability
+     Ah, no, dear friends
+     One more word and I have done
+     I will now conclude
+     I really must stop
+     I have done.
+
+
+
+
+THE BIBLE ON SPEECH
+
+
+How forcible are right words!
+
+To every thing there is a season, a time to keep silence, and a time to
+speak.
+
+Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
+
+Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
+is good to the use of edifying.
+
+Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
+
+Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may
+know how ye ought to answer every man.
+
+Be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
+
+Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking,
+be put away from you.
+
+Know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.
+
+Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable
+in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
+
+
+
+
+THOUGHTS ON TALKING
+
+
+To make a good talker, genius and learning, even wit and eloquence, are
+insufficient; to these, in all or in part, must be added in some degree
+the talents of active life. The character has as much to do with
+colloquial power as has the intellect; the temperament, feelings, and
+animal spirits, even more, perhaps, than the mental gifts. "Napoleon
+said things which tell in history like his battles. Luther's Table-Talk
+glows with the fire that burnt the Pope's bull." Caesar, Cicero,
+Themistocles, Lord Bacon, Selden, Talleyrand, and, in our own country,
+Aaron Burr, Jefferson, Webster, and Choate, were all, more or less, men
+of action. Sir Walter Scott tells us that, at a great dinner party, he
+thought the lawyers beat the Bishops as talkers, and the Bishops the
+wits. Nearly all great orators have been fine talkers. Lord Chatham, who
+could electrify the House of Lords by pronouncing the word "Sugar," but
+who in private was but commonplace, was an exception; but the
+conversation of Pitt and Fox was brilliant and fascinating,--that of
+Burke, rambling, but splendid, rich and instructive, beyond description.
+The latter was the only man in the famous "Literary Club" who could cope
+with Johnson. The Doctor confessed that in Burke he had a foeman worthy
+of his steel. On one occasion, when debilitated by sickness, he said:
+"That fellow calls forth all my powers. Were I to see Burke now, it
+would kill me." At another time he said: "Burke, sir, is such a man
+that, if you met him for the first time in the street, where you were
+stopped by a drove of oxen, and you and he stepped aside to take shelter
+but for five minutes, he'd talk to you in such a manner, that when you
+parted you'd say--'This is an extraordinary man.'" "Can he wind into a
+subject like a serpent, as Burke does?" asked Goldsmith of a certain
+talker. Fox said that he had derived more political information from
+Burke's conversation alone than from books, science, and all his worldly
+experience put together. Moore finely says of the same conversation,
+that it must have been like the procession of a Roman triumph,
+exhibiting power and riches at every step, occasionally mingling the low
+Fescennine jest with the lofty music of the march, but glittering all
+over with the spoils of a ransacked world.
+
+--_Mathews._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The fault of literary conversation in general is its too great
+tenaciousness. It fastens upon a subject, and will not let it go. It
+resembles a battle rather than a skirmish, and makes a toil of a
+pleasure. Perhaps it does this from necessity, from a consciousness of
+wanting the more familiar graces, the power to sport and trifle, to
+touch lightly and adorn agreeably, every view or turn of a question _en
+passant_, as it arises. Those who have a reputation to lose are too
+ambitious of shining, to please. "To excel in conversation," said an
+ingenious man, "one must not be always striving to say good things: to
+say one good thing, one must say many bad, and more indifferent ones."
+This desire to shine without the means at hand, often makes men
+silent:--
+
+     The fear of being silent strikes us dumb.
+
+A writer who has been accustomed to take a connected view of a
+difficult question and to work it out gradually in all its bearings, may
+be very deficient in that quickness and ease which men of the world, who
+are in the habit of hearing a variety of opinions, who pick up an
+observation on one subject, and another on another, and who care about
+none any further than the passing away of an idle hour, usually acquire.
+An author has studied a particular point--he has read, he has inquired,
+he has thought a great deal upon it: he is not contented to take it up
+casually in common with others, to throw out a hint, to propose an
+objection: he will either remain silent, uneasy, and dissatisfied, or he
+will begin at the beginning, and go through with it to the end. He is
+for taking the whole responsibility upon himself. He would be thought to
+understand the subject better than others, or indeed would show that
+nobody else knows anything about it. There are always three or four
+points on which the literary novice at his first outset in life fancies
+he can enlighten every company, and bear down all opposition: but he is
+cured of this quixotic and pugnacious spirit, as he goes more into the
+world, where he finds that there are other opinions and other
+pretensions to be adjusted besides his own. When this asperity wears
+off, and a certain scholastic precocity is mellowed down, the
+conversation of men of letters becomes both interesting and instructive.
+Men of the world have no fixed principles, no groundwork of thought:
+mere scholars have too much an object, a theory always in view, to which
+they wrest everything, and not unfrequently, common sense itself. By
+mixing with society, they rub off their hardness of manner, and
+impracticable, offensive singularity, while they retain a greater depth
+and coherence of understanding. There is more to be learnt from them
+than from their books.
+
+--_Hazlitt._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are some people whose good manners will not suffer them to
+interrupt you, but, what is almost as bad, will discover abundance of
+impatience, and lie upon the watch until you have done, because they
+have started something in their own thoughts, which they long to be
+delivered of. Meantime, they are so far from regarding what passes, that
+their imaginations are wholly turned upon what they have in reserve, for
+fear it should slip out of their memory; and thus they confine their
+invention, which might otherwise range over a hundred things full as
+good, and that might be much more naturally introduced.
+
+There is a sort of rude familiarity, which some people, by practising
+among their intimates, have introduced into their general conversation,
+and would have it pass for innocent freedom or humor; which is a
+dangerous experiment in our northern climate, where all the little
+decorum and politeness we have are purely forced by art, and are so
+ready to lapse into barbarity. This, among the Romans, was the raillery
+of slaves, of which we have many instances in Plautus. It seems to have
+been introduced among us by Cromwell, who, by preferring the scum of the
+people, made it a court entertainment, of which I have heard many
+particulars; and, considering all things were turned upside down, it was
+reasonable and judicious; although it was a piece of policy found out
+to ridicule a point of honor in the other extreme, when the smallest
+word misplaced among gentlemen ended in a duel.
+
+There are some men excellent at telling a story, and provided with a
+plentiful stock of them, which they can draw out upon occasion in all
+companies, and, considering how low conversation runs now among us, it
+is not altogether a contemptible talent; however, it is subject to two
+unavoidable defects, frequent repetition, and being soon exhausted; so,
+that, whoever values this gift in himself, has need of a good memory,
+and ought frequently to shift his company, that he may not discover the
+weakness of his fund; for those who are thus endued have seldom any
+other revenue, but live upon the main stock.
+
+--_Swift._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The highest and best of all the moral conditions for conversation is
+what we call tact. I say a condition, for it is very doubtful whether it
+can be called a single and separate quality; more probably it is a
+combination of intellectual quickness with lively sympathy. But so
+clearly is it an intellectual quality, that of all others it can be
+greatly improved, if not actually acquired, by long experience in
+society. Like all social excellences it is almost given as a present to
+some people, while others with all possible labor never acquire it. As
+in billiard-playing, shooting, cricket, and all these other facilities
+which are partly mental and partly physical, many never can pass a
+certain point of mediocrity; but still even those who have the talent
+must practise it, and only become really distinguished after hard work.
+So it is in art. Music and painting are not to be attained by the crowd.
+Not even the just criticism of these arts is attainable without certain
+natural gifts; but a great deal of practice in good galleries and at
+good concerts, and years spent among artists, will do much to make even
+moderately-endowed people sound judges of excellence.
+
+Tact, which is the sure and quick judgment of what is suitable and
+agreeable in society, is likewise one of those delicate and subtle
+qualities or a combination of qualities which is not very easily
+defined, and therefore not teachable by fixed precepts. Some people
+attain it through sympathy; others through natural intelligence; others
+through a calm temper; others again by observing closely the mistakes of
+their neighbors. As its name implies, it is a sensitive touch in social
+matters, which feels small changes of temperature, and so guesses at
+changes of temper; which sees the passing cloud on the expression of one
+face, or the eagerness of another that desires to bring out something
+personal for others to enjoy. This quality of tact is of course
+applicable far beyond mere actual conversation. In nothing is it more
+useful than in preparing the right conditions for a pleasant society, in
+choosing the people who will be in mutual sympathy, in thinking over
+pleasant subjects of talk and suggesting them, in seeing that all
+disturbing conditions are kept out, and that the members who are to
+converse should be all without those small inconveniences which damage
+society so vastly out of proportion to their intrinsic importance.
+
+--_Mahaffy._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the course of our life we have heard much of what was reputed to be
+the select conversation of the day, and we have heard many of those who
+figured at the moment as effective talkers; yet, in mere sincerity, and
+without a vestige of misanthropic retrospect, we must say that never
+once has it happened to us to come away from any display of that nature
+without intense disappointment; and it always appeared to us that this
+failure (which soon ceased to be a disappointment) was inevitable by a
+necessity of the case. For here lay the stress of the difficulty: almost
+all depends in most trials of skill upon the parity of those who are
+matched against each other. An ignorant person supposes that to an able
+disputant it must be an advantage to have a feeble opponent; whereas, on
+the contrary, it is ruin to him; for he can not display his own powers
+but through something of a corresponding power in the resistance of his
+antagonist. A brilliant fencer is lost and confounded in playing with a
+novice; and the same thing takes place in playing at ball, or
+battledore, or in dancing, where a powerless partner does not enable you
+to shine the more, but reduces you to mere helplessness, and takes the
+wind altogether out of your sails. Now, if by some rare good luck the
+great talker, the protagonist, of the evening has been provided with a
+commensurate second, it is just possible that something like a brilliant
+"passage of arms" may be the result,--though much even in that case will
+depend on the chances of the moment for furnishing a fortunate theme,
+and even then, amongst the superior part of the company, a feeling of
+deep vulgarity and of mountebank display is inseparable from such an
+ostentatious duel of wit. On the other hand, supposing your great talker
+to be received like any other visitor, and turned loose upon the
+company, then he must do one of two things: either he will talk upon
+_outre_ subjects specially tabooed to his own private use,--in which
+case the great man has the air of a quack-doctor addressing a mob from a
+street stage; or else he will talk like ordinary people upon popular
+topics,--in which case the company, out of natural politeness, that they
+may not seem to be staring at him as a lion, will hasten to meet him in
+the same style, the conversation will become general, the great man
+will seem reasonable and well-bred, but at the same time, we grieve to
+say it, the great man will have been extinguished by being drawn off
+from his exclusive ground. The dilemma, in short, is this:--If the great
+talker attempts the plan of showing off by firing cannon-shot when
+everybody else is content with musketry, then undoubtedly he produces an
+impression, but at the expense of insulating himself from the sympathies
+of the company, and standing aloof as a sort of monster hired to play
+tricks of funambulism for the night. Yet, again, if he contents himself
+with a musket like other people, then for us, from whom he modestly
+hides his talents under a bushel, in what respect is he different from
+the man who has no such talent?
+
+--_De Quincey._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some, in their discourse, desire rather commendation of wit, in being
+able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in discerning what is
+true; as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what
+should be thought. Some have certain commonplaces and themes wherein
+they are good, and want variety; which kind of poverty is for the most
+part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The
+honorablest part of talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate
+and pass to somewhat else; for then a man leads the dance. It is good in
+discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary, and intermingle speech
+of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of
+questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a
+dull thing to tire, and, as we say now, to jade any thing too far. As
+for jest, there be certain things which ought to be privileged from it,
+namely, religion, matters of State, great persons, any man's present
+business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity; yet there be
+some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out
+somewhat that is piquant, and to the quick. That is a vein which would
+be bridled; _Parce, puer, stimulis, et fortius utere loris._ And,
+generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and
+bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh
+others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. He
+that questioneth much shall learn much, and content much, but
+especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he
+asketh; for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in
+speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge: but let his
+questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him
+be sure to leave other men their turns to speak: nay, if there be any
+that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take
+them off, and to bring others on, as musicians use to do with those that
+dance too long galliards. If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of
+that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to
+know that you know not. Speech of a man's self ought to be seldom, and
+well chosen. I knew one was wont to say in scorn, "He must needs be a
+wise man, he speaks so much of himself;" and there is but one case
+wherein a man may commend himself with good grace, and that is in
+commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue
+whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch towards others should be
+sparingly used; for discourse ought to be as a field, without coming
+home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England,
+whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his
+house; the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table,
+"Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry blow given?" To which the
+guest would answer, "Such and such a thing passed." The lord would say,
+"I thought he would mar a good dinner." Discretion of speech is more
+than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more
+than to speak in good words, or in good order. A good continued speech,
+without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good
+reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth
+shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those that are
+weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the turn; as it is betwixt
+the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances, ere one come
+to the matter, is wearisome; to use none at all, is blunt.
+
+--_Bacon._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Think as little as possible about any good in yourself; turn your eyes
+resolutely from any view of your acquirement, your influence, your
+plan, your success, your following: above all, speak as little as
+possible about yourself. The inordinateness of our self-love makes
+speech about ourselves like the putting of the lighted torch to the
+dried wood which has been laid in order for the burning. Nothing but
+duty should open our lips upon this dangerous theme, except it be in
+humble confession of our sinfulness before our God. Again, be specially
+upon the watch against those little tricks by which the vain man seeks
+to bring round the conversation to himself, and gain the praise or
+notice which the thirsty ears drink in so greedily; and even if praise
+comes unsought, it is well, whilst men are uttering it, to guard
+yourself by thinking of some secret cause for humbling yourself inwardly
+to God; thinking into what these pleasant accents would be changed if
+all that is known to God, and even to yourself, stood suddenly revealed
+to man.
+
+--_Bishop Wilberforce._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In speaking of the duty of pleasing others, it will not be necessary to
+dwell on the ordinary courtesies and lesser kindnesses of our daily
+living, any further than to observe that none of these things, however
+trifling, is beneath the notice of a good man, ... but I mention one
+thing, because I think that we are most of us apt to be rather deficient
+in it, and that is in the trying to suit ourselves to the tastes and
+views of persons whose professions or inclinations, or situation in
+life, differ widely from our own.... As a general rule, no man can fall
+into conversation with another without being able to learn something
+valuable from him. But in order to get at this benefit there must be
+something of an accommodating spirit on both sides; each must be ready
+to hear candidly and to answer fairly; each must try to please the
+other. We all suffer from the want of acquaintance with the habits and
+opinions and feelings of different classes of society.
+
+--_Dr. Arnold._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If you would be loved as a companion, avoid unnecessary criticism upon
+those with whom you live. The number of people who have taken out
+judges' patents for themselves is very large in any society. Now it
+would be hard for a man to live with another who was always criticising
+his actions, even if it were kindly and just criticism. It would be like
+living between the glasses of a microscope. But these self-elected
+judges, like their prototypes, are very apt to have the persons they
+judge brought before them in the guise of culprits.
+
+Let not familiarity swallow up old courtesy. Many of us have a habit of
+saying to those with whom we live such things as we say about strangers
+behind their backs. There is no place, however, where real politeness is
+of more value than where we mostly think it would be superfluous. You
+may say more truth, or rather speak out more plainly to your associates,
+but not less courteously than to strangers.
+
+--_Helps._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Much of the sorrow of life springs from the accumulation, day by day and
+year by year, of little trials--a letter written in less than courteous
+terms, a wrangle at the breakfast table over some arrangement of the
+day, the rudeness of an acquaintance on the way to the city, an
+unfriendly act on the part of another firm, a cruel criticism
+needlessly reported by some meddler, a feline amenity at afternoon tea,
+the disobedience of one of your children, a social slight by one of your
+circle, a controversy too hotly conducted. The trials within this class
+are innumerable, and consider, not one of them is inevitable, not one of
+them but might have been spared if we or our brother man had had a grain
+of kindliness. Our social insolences, our irritating manners, our
+censorious judgment, our venomous letters, our pin pricks in
+conversation, are all forms of deliberate unkindness, and are all
+evidences of an ill-conditioned nature.
+
+--_John Watson._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+If this be one of our chief duties--promoting the happiness of our
+neighbors--most certainly there is nothing which so entirely runs
+counter to it, and makes it impossible, as an undisciplined temper. For
+of all the things that are to be met with here on earth, there is
+nothing which can give such continual, such cutting, such useless pain.
+The touchy and sensitive temper, which takes offence at a word; the
+irritable temper, which finds offence in everything whether intended or
+not; the violent temper, which breaks through all bounds of reason when
+once roused; the jealous or sullen temper, which wears a cloud on the
+face all day, and never utters a word of complaint; the discontented
+temper, brooding over its own wrongs; the severe temper, which always
+looks at the worst side of whatever is done; the wilful temper, which
+overrides every scruple to gratify a whim,--what an amount of pain have
+these caused in the hearts of men, if we could but sum up their results!
+How many a soul have they stirred to evil impulses; how many a prayer
+have they stifled; how many an emotion of true affection have they
+turned to bitterness! How hard they sometimes make all duties! How
+painful they make all daily life! How they kill the sweetest and warmest
+of domestic charities! The misery caused by other sins is often much
+deeper and much keener, more disastrous, more terrible to the sight; but
+the accumulated pain caused by ill-temper must, I verily believe, if
+added together, outweigh all other pains that men have to bear from one
+another.
+
+--_Bishop Temple._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Wicked is the slander which gossips away a character in an afternoon,
+and runs lightly over a whole series of acquaintances, leaving a drop of
+poison on them all, some suspicion, or some ominous silence--"Have you
+not heard?"--"No one would believe it, but--!" and then silence; while
+the shake of the head, or the shrug of the shoulders, finishes the
+sentence with a mute meaning worse than words. Do you ever think of the
+irrevocable nature of speech? The things you say are often said forever.
+You may find, years after your light word was spoken, that it has made a
+whole life unhappy, or ruined the peace of a household. It was well said
+by St. James, "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth
+not his tongue, that man's religion is vain."
+
+--_Stopford Brooke._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because
+inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and
+passions, is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit. But
+the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts,
+because that is essential to internal recollection, and because it lays
+a foundation for a proper regulation and silence in other respects.
+
+--_Madame Guyon._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The example of our Lord, as He humbly and calmly takes the rebuff, and
+turns to go to another village, may help us in the ordinary ways of
+ordinary daily life. The little things that vex us in the manner or the
+words of those with whom we have to do; the things which seem to us so
+inconsiderate, or wilful, or annoying, that we think it impossible to
+get on with the people who are capable of them; the mistakes which no
+one, we say, has any right to make; the shallowness, or conventionality,
+or narrowness, or positiveness in talk which makes us wince and tempts
+us towards the cruelty and wickedness of scorn;--surely in all these
+things, and in many others like them, of which conscience may be ready
+enough to speak to most of us, there are really opportunities for thus
+following the example of our Saviour's great humility and patience. How
+many friendships we might win or keep, how many chances of serving
+others we might find, how many lessons we might learn, how much of
+unsuspected moral beauty might be disclosed around us, if only we were
+more careful to give people time, to stay judgment, to trust that they
+will see things more justly, speak of them more wisely, after a while.
+We are sure to go on closing doors of sympathy, and narrowing in the
+interests and opportunities of work around us, if we let ourselves
+imagine that we can quickly measure the capacities and sift the
+characters of our fellow-men.
+
+--_Bishop Paget._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How much squandering there is of the voice! How little is there of the
+advantage that may come from conversational tones! How seldom does a man
+dare to acquit himself with pathos and fervor! And the men are
+themselves mechanical and methodical in the bad way, who are most afraid
+of the artificial training that is given in the schools, and who so
+often show by the fruit of their labor that the want of oratory is the
+want of education.
+
+How remarkable is sweetness of voice in the mother, in the father, in
+the household! The music of no chorded instruments brought together is,
+for sweetness, like the music of familiar affection when spoken by
+brother and sister, or by father and mother.
+
+Conversation itself belongs to oratory. How many men there are who are
+weighty in argument, who have abundant resources, and who are almost
+boundless in their power at other times and in other places, but who,
+when in company among their kind, are exceedingly unapt in their
+methods. Having none of the secret instruments by which the elements of
+nature may be touched, having no skill and no power in this direction,
+they stand as machines before living, sensitive men. A man may be as a
+master before an instrument; only the instrument is dead; and he has the
+living hand; and out of that dead instrument what wondrous harmony
+springs forth at his touch! And if you can electrify an audience by the
+power of a living man on dead things, how much more should that audience
+be electrified when the chords are living and the man is alive, and he
+knows how to touch them with divine inspiration!
+
+--_Beecher._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Every one endeavors to make himself as agreeable to society as he can;
+but it often happens that those who most aim at shining in conversation,
+overshoot their mark. Tho a man succeeds, he should not (as is
+frequently the case) engross the whole talk to himself; for that
+destroys the very essence of conversation, which is talking together. We
+should try to keep up conversation like a ball bandied to and fro from
+one to the other, rather than seize it all to ourselves, and drive it
+before us like a football. We should likewise be cautious to adapt the
+matter of our discourse to our company, and not talk Greek before
+ladies, or of the last new furbelow to a meeting of country justices.
+
+But nothing throws a more ridiculous air over our whole conversation
+than certain peculiarities easily acquired, but very difficultly
+conquered and discarded. In order to display these absurdities in a
+truer light, it is my present purpose to enumerate such of them as are
+most commonly to be met with; and first to take notice of those buffons
+in society, the Attitudinarians and Face-makers. These accompany every
+word with a peculiar grimace or gesture; they assent with a shrug, and
+contradict with a twisting of the neck; are angry by a wry mouth, and
+pleased in a caper or minuet step. They may be considered as speaking
+harlequins; and their rules of eloquence are taken from the
+posture-master. These should be condemned to converse only in dumb show
+with their own persons in the looking-glass, as well as the Smirkers and
+Smilers, who so prettily set off their faces, together with their words,
+by a _je-ne-sais-quoi_ between a grin and a dimple. With these we may
+likewise rank the affected tribe of mimics, who are constantly taking
+off the peculiar tone of voice or gesture of their acquaintance, tho
+they are such wretched imitators, that (like bad painters) they are
+frequently forced to write the name under the picture before we can
+discover any likeness.
+
+Next to these whose elocution is absorbed in action, and who converse
+chiefly with their arms and legs, we may consider the Profest Speakers.
+And first, the Emphatical, who squeeze, and press, and ram down every
+syllable with excessive vehemence and energy. These orators are
+remarkable for their distinct elocution and force of expression; they
+dwell on the important particulars _of_ and _the_, and the significant
+conjunction _and_, which they seem to hawk up, with much difficulty, out
+of their own throats, and to cram them, with no less pain, into the ears
+of their auditors. These should be suffered only to syringe (as it were)
+the ears of a deaf man, through a hearing-trumpet; tho I must confess
+that I am equally offended with the Whisperers or Low-speakers, who seem
+to fancy all their acquaintance deaf, and come up so close to you that
+they may be said to measure noses with you, and frequently overcome you
+with the full exhalations of a foul breath. I would have these oracular
+gentry obliged to speak at a distance through a speaking-trumpet, or
+apply their lips to the walls of a whispering-gallery. The Wits who will
+not condescend to utter anything but a _bon-mot_, and the Whistlers or
+Tune-hummers, who never articulate at all, may be joined very agreeably
+together in concert; and to these tinkling cymbals I would also add the
+sounding brass, the Bawler, who inquires after your health with the
+bellowing of a town-crier.
+
+The Tattlers, whose pliable pipes are admirably adapted to the "soft
+parts of conversation," and sweetly "prattling out of fashion," make
+very pretty music from a beautiful face and a female tongue; but from a
+rough manly voice and coarse features mere nonsense is as harsh and
+dissonant as a jig from a hurdy-gurdy. The Swearers I have spoken of in
+a former paper; but the Half-Swearers, who split and mince, and fritter
+their oaths into "gad's but," "ad's fish," and "demme," the Gothic
+Humbuggers, and those who nickname God's creatures, and call a man a
+cabbage, a crab, a queer cub, an odd fish, and an unaccountable skin,
+should never come into company without an interpreter. But I will not
+tire my reader's patience by pointing out all the pests of conversation,
+nor dwell particularly on the Sensibles, who pronounce dogmatically on
+the most trivial points, and speak in sentences; the Wonderers, who are
+always wondering what o'clock it is, or wondering whether it will rain
+or no, or wondering when the moon changes; the Phraseologists, who
+explain a thing by all that, or enter into particulars, with this and
+that and t'other; and lastly, the Silent Men, who seem afraid of
+opening their mouths lest they should catch cold, and literally observe
+the precept of the Gospel, by letting their conversation be only yea and
+nay.
+
+The rational intercourse kept up by conversation is one of our principal
+distinctions from brutes. We should, therefore, endeavor to turn this
+peculiar talent to our advantage, and consider the organs of speech as
+the instruments of understanding; we should be very careful not to use
+them as the weapons of vice, or tools of folly, and do our utmost to
+unlearn any trivial or ridiculous habits, which tend to lessen the value
+of such an inestimable prerogative. It is, indeed, imagined by some
+philosophers, that even birds and beasts (tho without the power of
+articulation) perfectly understand one another by the sounds they utter;
+and that dogs, cats, etc., have each a particular language to
+themselves, like different nations. Thus it may be supposed that the
+nightingales of Italy have as fine an ear for their own native woodnotes
+as any signor or signora for an Italian air; that the boars of
+Westphalia gruntle as expressively through the nose as the inhabitants
+in High German; and that the frogs in the dykes of Holland croak as
+intelligibly as the natives jabber their Low Dutch. However this may be,
+we may consider those whose tongues hardly seem to be under the
+influence of reason, and do not keep up the proper conversation of human
+creatures, as imitating the language of different animals. Thus, for
+instance, the affinity between Chatterers and Monkeys, and Praters and
+Parrots, is too obvious not to occur at once; Grunters and Growlers may
+be justly compared to Hogs; Snarlers are Curs that continually show
+their teeth, but never bite; and the Spitfire passionate are a sort of
+wild cats that will not bear stroking, but will purr when they are
+pleased. Complainers are Screech-Owls; and Story-Tellers, always
+repeating the same dull note, are Cuckoos. Poets that prick up their
+ears at their own hideous braying are no better than Asses. Critics in
+general are venomous Serpents that delight in hissing, and some of them
+who have got by heart a few technical terms without knowing their
+meaning are no other than Magpies. I, myself, who have crowed to the
+whole town for near three years past may perhaps put my readers in mind
+of a Barnyard Cock; but as I must acquaint them that they will hear the
+last of me on this day fortnight, I hope that they will then consider me
+as a Swan, who is supposed to sing sweetly at his dying moments.
+
+--_Cowper._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never
+inflicts pain. This description is both refined, and, so far as it goes,
+accurate. He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which
+hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him, and he
+concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself.
+His benefits may be considered as parallel to what are called the
+comforts or conveniences in arrangements of a personal nature--like an
+easy chair or a good fire, which do their best in dispelling cold and
+fatigue, tho nature provides both means of rest and animal heat without
+them. The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may
+cause a jar or a jolt in the mind of those with whom he is cast--all
+clashing of opinion or collision of feeling, all restraint or suspicion
+or gloom or resentment, his great concern being to make every one at
+ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his company, he is tender
+toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the
+absurd. He can recollect to whom he is speaking; he guards against
+unseasonable allusions or topics which may irritate; he is seldom
+prominent in conversation, and never wearisome. He makes light of favors
+when he does them, and seems to be receiving when he is conferring. He
+never speaks of himself except when compelled, never defends himself by
+a mere retort; he has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in
+imputing motive to those who interfere with him, and interprets
+everything for the best. He is never mean or little in his disputes,
+never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp
+sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out.
+From a long-sighted prudence, he observes the maxim of the ancient sage,
+that we should ever conduct ourselves toward our enemy as if he were
+one day to be our friend. He has too much good sense to be affronted at
+insults. He is too well employed to remember injuries and too indolent
+to bear malice. He is patient, forbearing, and resigned on philosophical
+principle; he submits to pain because it is inevitable, to bereavement,
+because it is irreparable, and to death because it is his destiny. If he
+engages in controversy of any kind, his disciplined intellect preserves
+him from the blundering discourtesy of better, perhaps, but less
+educated minds, who, like blunt weapons, tear and hack instead of
+cutting clean, who mistake the point in argument, waste their strength
+on trifles, misconceive their adversary, and leave the question more
+involved than they find it. He may be right or wrong in his opinion, but
+he is too clear-headed to be unjust; he is as simple as he is forcible,
+and as brief as he is decisive. Nowhere shall we find greater candor,
+consideration, indulgence; he throws himself into the minds of his
+opponents, he accounts for their mistakes. He knows the weakness of
+human reason as well as its strength, its province, and its limits. If
+he can be an unbeliever, he will be too profound and large-minded to
+ridicule religion or to act against it; he is too wise to be a dogmatist
+or fanatic in his infidelity. He respects piety and devotion; he even
+supports institutions as venerable, beautiful or useful, to which he
+does not assent; he honors the ministers of religion, and it contents
+him to decline its mysteries without assailing or denouncing them. He is
+a friend of religious toleration, and that not only because his
+philosophy has taught him to look on all forms of faith with an
+impartial eye, but also from the gentleness and effeminacy of feeling
+which is attendant on civilization.
+
+--_Cardinal Newman._
+
+
+
+     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENTS
+
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+
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