SELF CONFIDENT DURING PUBLIC SPEAKING

                         START WITH A STRONG AND PERSISTENT DESIRE

      THIS IS OF FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU PROBABLY REALIZE. IF YOUR INSTRUCTOR COULD LOOK INTO YOUR MIND AND HEART NOW AND ACCERTAIN THE DEPTH OF YOUR DESIRE, HE COULD FORETALL, ALMOST WITH CERTAINLY, THE SWIFTNESS OF THE PROGRESS YOU WILL MAKE. IF YOUR DESIRE IS PALE AND FLABBY, YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS WILL ALSO TAKE ON THAT HUE AND CONSISTENCY. BUT, IF YOU GO AFTER THIS SUBJECT WITH PERSISTENCE, AND WITH THE ENERGY IF A BULLDOG AFTER A CAT, NOTHING UNDERNEATH THE MILKY WAY WILL DEFEAT YOU.

        THEREFORE, AROUSE YOUR ENTHUSIASM FOR THIS STUDY. ENUMERATE ITS BENEFITS. THINK OF WHAT ADDITIONAL SELF-CONFIDENCE AND THE ABILITY TO TALK MORE CONVINCINGLY IN BUSINESS WILL MEAN TO YOU. THINK OF WHAT IT MAY MEAN TO YOU SOCIALLY; OF THE FRIENDS IT WILL BRING, OF THE INCREASE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFLUENCE, OF THE LEADERSHIP IT WILL GIVE YOU. AND IT WILL GIVE YOU LEADERSHIP MORE RAPIDLY THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER ACTIVITY YOU CAN THINK OF OR IMAGINE.

         IT IS AN ATTAINMENT THAT ALMOST EVERY PERSON OF EDUCATION LONGS FOR. AFTER ANDREW CARNEGIE'S DEATH THERE WAS FOUND, AMONG HIS PAPERS, A PLAN HIS LIFE DRAWN UP WHERE HE WAS THIRTY-THREE YEARS OF AGE. HE THEN FELT THAT IN TWO MORE YEARS HE COULD SO ARRANGE HIS BUSINESS AS TO HAVE AN ANNUAL INCOME OF FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, SO HE PROPOSED TO RETIRE AT THIRTHY-FIVE, GO TO OXFORD AND GET A THROUGH EDUCATION, AND "PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION AND PLEASURE IN PUBLIC".

        THINK OF THE GLOW OF SATIFFACTION AND PLEASURE THAT WILL ACCURE FROM THE EXERCISE OF THIS NEW POWER. THE AUTHOR HAS TRAVELLED ROUND OVER NO SMALL PART OF THIS TERRESTIAL BALL; AND HAD MANY AND VARIED EXPERIENCES; BUT FOR DOWNRIGHT, AND LASTING INWARD SATISFACTION, BE KNOWS OF FEW THINGS THAT WILL COMPARE TO STANDING BEFORE AN AUDIENCE AND MAKING MEN THINK YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER YOU. IT WILL GIVE YOU A SENSE OF STRENGTH, A FEELING OF POWER. IT WILL APPEAL TO YOUR PRIDE OF PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT. IT WILL SET YOU OFF FROM AND RAISE YOU ABOVE YOUR FELLOWMEN. THERE IS MAGIC IN IT AND A NEVER-TO -BE-FORGOTTEN THRILL. "TWO MINUTES BEFORE I BEGIN", A SPEAKER CONFESSED, I BEFORE I FINISH, I WOULD RATHER BE SHOT THAN STOP.

          IN EVERY COUSE, SOME MEN GROW FAINT-HEARTED AND FALL BY THE WAYSIDE, SO YOU SHOULD KEEP THINKING OF WHAT THIS COURSE WILL MEAN TO YOU UNTIL YOUR DESIRE IS WHITE HOT. YOU SHOULD START THIS PROGRAMME WITH AN ENTHUSIASM THAT WILL CARRY YOU THOUGH EVERY SESSION, TRIUMPHANT TO THE END. TELL YOUR FRIENDS THAT YOU HAVE JOINED THIS COURSE. SET ASIDE ONE CERTAIN NIGHT OF THE WEEK FOR THE READING OF THESE LESSONS AND THE PREPARATION OF YOUR TALKS. IN SHORT, MAKE IT EASY AS POSSIBLE TO GO AHEAD. MAKE IT AS DIFFICULT AS POSSIBLE TO RETREAT.

         WHEN JULIUS CAESAR SAILED OVER THE CHANNEL FROM GAUL AND LANDED WITH LEGIONS ON WHAT IS NOW ENGLAND, WHAT DID HE DO TO INSURE THE SUCCESS OF HIS ARMS? A VERY CLERVER THING, HE HALTED HIS SOLDIERS ON THE CHALK CLIFF OF DOVER, AND LOOKING DOWN OVER THE WAVES TWO HUNDRED FEET BELOW, THEY SAW RED TONGUES OF FIRE CONSUME EVERY SHIP IN WHICH THEY HAD CROSSED. IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY, WITH THE LAST LINK WITH THE CONTINENT GONE, THE LAST MEANS OF RETREATING BURNED, THERE WAS BUT THING LEFT FOR THEM TO DO: TO CONQUER. THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT THEY DID.

         SUCH WAS THE SPIRIT OF THE IMMORTAL CAESAR. WHY NOT MAKE IT YOURS, TOO, IN THIS WAR TO EXTERMINATE YOUR FOOLISH FEAR OF AUDIENCES.