Page:Hill's manual of social and business forms.djvu/99

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The Public Speaker.

MEANS BY WHICH TO WIN SUCCESS.

KNOWLEDGE is well; it is of great importance; but a person may be very wise, and yet lack influence because wanting in readiness of speech.

The ability to make an off-hand speech, without the aid of manuscript, at once entertaining and instructive, is an accomplishment very much to be desired; and it is one that can in most cases be acquired by the man or woman of average talent, who has the requisite amount of training for this purpose, accompanied by the necessary opportunities for intellectual culture. Such being the fact, the following suggestions may be opportune, as giving an outline of the requisites necessary for the production of a ready speaker.

First. The foundation of the discourse should be thoroughly fixed in the mind, and the order of succession in which the arguments are to follow.

Second. These should be so arranged that one thought should be the natural outgrowth of the other, and each idea should be so distinctly marked out as to be in readiness the moment it is wanted.

Third. The speaker should vividly feel all that he may design to speak, in order that clear ideas may be expressed. The mind should not, however, be so absorbed with the subject in hand as to prevent its acting readily in the development of the topic under consideration. It is possible for the feelings to become so vehement in their expression as to paralyze utterance from their very fullness.

Fourth. The feelings, in speaking, must be resolved into ideas, thoughts into images, to express which there must be suitable language. While the main idea should be firmly grasped, in its elucidation it should be separated into its principal members, and these again divided into subordinate parts, each under perfect command of the speaker, to be called upon and used at will, until the subject is exhausted.

Fifth. The full, complete and ready use of the imagination is of the greatest importance to the extemporaneous speaker, which power may be greatly cultivated by reading the works of Walter Scott, Dickens, and other standard writers who excel in imaginative description. To hold up before the audience a clear, distinct outline of the subject in hand, and paint the picture in fitting language so vividly that the auditors will delightedly follow its progress, step by step, is the distinguishing excellence of the off-hand speaker. With many persons of real talent, the powers of imagination work too slowly to hold the attention of the audience. This hindrance, however, can be largely overcome by practice.

Sixth. The difficulty of embarrassment, which afflicts some people upon public appearance, is overcome by practice, and by having a perfectly distinct understanding of what is to be said, which consciousness tends to give confidence and self-possession. To obtain the ability to present this clear conception of the subject, the speaker should study logic, geometry, and kindred subjects that arrive at conclusions through a process of analytical reasoning. The speaker should be able to think methodically, being able to decompose his thoughts into parts, to analyze these into their elements, to recompose, regather and concentrate these again in a manner such as will clearly illustrate the idea sought to be conveyed.

10em
bashfulness.	self-possession.
The above illustrations represent the effect of practice and culture. While speaker No. 1, by his unpolished manner and diffidence, is an object of pity or ridicule, and without influence as a public speaker, No. 2, representing John B. Gough, as he apostrophizes a glass of water, entrances his audience by his self-possession, his earnestness, and his naturalness.