STAGE SPEEKING TIPS

                                          WHEN YOU SPEAK IN PUBLIC

                    LET US TAKE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE. THE LATE MR. BRYAN SAID, YOU CANNOT MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND A SUBJECT, UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THAT SUBJECT YOURSELF. THE MORE CLEARLY YOU HAVE A SUBJECT IN MIND, THE MORE CLEARLY CAN YOU PRESENT THAT SUBJECT TO THE MINDS OF OTHERS.

               I SELDOM TEACH A SINGLE SESSION OF THIS COURSE WITHOUT HEARING ONE OR PERHAPS HALF A DOZEN TALKS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CLEAR, MORE IMPRESSIVE, HAD THE SPEAKER BUT EMPLOYED THIS PRICIPLE OF RESTATEMENT. IT IS ALMOST ENTIRELY IGNORED BY THE BEGINNER. AND WHAT A PITY!

        ONE OF THE SUREST AND EASIEST WAYS TO MAKE YOUR POINTS CLEAR IS TO FOLLOW THEM WITH GENERAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND CONCRETE CASES. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO? ONE. AS THE TERM IMPLIES, IS GENERAL, OTHER OTHER, SPECIFIC. LET US ILLUSTRATE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM AND THE USES OF EACH WITH A CONCRETE EXAMPLE. SUPPOSE WE TAKE THE STATEMENT. THERE ARE PROFESSIONAL MEN AND WOMEN WHO EARN ASTONISHINGLY LARGE INCOMES.

CLARIFY OF MIND MEANS CLARIFY OF PASSION, TOO, THIS IS WHY A GREAT AD\ND CLEAR MIND LOVES ARDENTLY AND SEES DISTINCTLY WHAT HE LOVES.

              DO NOTHING TO DULL YOUR ENERGY. IT IS MAGNETIC. VITALLY, ALIVENESS, ENTHUSIASM, THEY ARE AMONG THE FIRT QUALITIES I HAVE ALWAYS SOUGHT FOR IN EMPLOYING SPEAKERS AND INSTRUCTORS OF SPEAKING. PEOPLE CLUSTER AROUND THE ENERGETIC SPEAKER, THE HUMAN DYNAMO OF ENERGY, LIKE WILD GEESE AROUND A FIELD OF AUTUMN WHAT.

             I HAVE OFTEN SEEN THIS ILLUSTRATED BY THE OPEN AIR SPEAKERS IN HYDE PARK, LONDON. A SPOT NEAR MARBLE ARCH ENTRANCE IS A RENDEZVOUS FOR SPEAKERS OF VERY CREED AND COLOUR. ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON,  ONE CAN TAKE HIS CHOICE AND LISTEN TO A CATHOLIC EXPLAINING THE DOCTRINE OF THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE, TO A SOCIALIST PROPOUNDING THE ECONOMIC GOSPEL OF KARL MARX, TO AN INDIAN EXPLAINING WHY IT IS RIGHT AND PROPER FOR A MOHAMMEDAN TO HAVE FOUR WIVES, AND SO ON. HUNDREDS CROWD ABOUT ONE SPEAKER, WHILE HIS NEIGHBOUR HAS ONLY A HANDFUL WHY? IS THE TOPIC ALWAYS AN ADEQUATE EXPLANATION OF THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE DRAWING POWERS OF DIFFERENT SPEAKERS? MO. MORE OFTEN THE EXPLANATION IS TO BE FOUND IN THE SPEAKER HIMSELF. HE IS MORE LIFE AND SPIRIT. HE RADIATES VITALITY AND ANIMATIONS, THEY ALWAYS CHALLENGE ATTENTION.

WHEN A LITTLE CHILD TALKS, OR WHEN WE TALK IN ORDINARY CONVERSATION, WE CONSTANTLY CHANGE OUR RATE OF SPEAKING. IT IS PLEATING, IT IS NATURAL. IT IS UNCONSCIOUS. IT IS EMPHATIC. IT IS, IN FACT, ONE OF THE VERY BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WAYS TO MAKE AN IDEA STAND OUT PROMINENTLY.

 

WALTER B. SREVENS, IN HIS REPPORTER'S LINCOLN, ISSUED BY THE MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY, TELLS US THAT THIS WAS ONE OF LINCOLN'S FAVOURITE METHODS OF DRIVING A POINT HOME.

HE WOULD SPEAK SEVERAL WORDS, WITH GREAT RAPIDITY, COME TO THE WORD OR PHRASE HE WISHEDTO EMPHASIZE, AND LET HIS VOICE LINGER AND BEAR HARD ON THAT, AND THEN HE WOULD RUSH TO THE END OF HIS SENTENCE LIKE LIGHTNING... HE WOULD DEVOTES AS MUCH TIME TO THE WORD OR TWO HE WISHED TO EMPHASIZE AS HE DID TO HALF A DOZEN LESS IMPORTANT WORDS FOLLOWING IT.

 

SUCH A METHOD INVARIABLY ARRESTS ATTENTION. TO ILLUSTRATE. I HAVE OFTEN QUOTED IN A PUBLIC TALK THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT BY CARDINAL GIBBONS. I WANTED TO EMPHASIZE THE IDEA OF COURAGE, SO I LINGERED ON THESE ITALICIZED WORDS, DREW THEM OUT AND SPOKE AS IF I MYSELF WERE IMPRESSED WITH THEM - AND I WAS. WILL YOU PLEASE READ THE SELECTION ALOUND, TRYING THE SAME METHOD AND NOTE THE RESULTS.

A SHORT TIME BEFORE HIS DEATH. CARDINAL GIBBONS SAID, I HAVE LIVED EITHTY - SIX - YEARS. I HAVE WATCHED MEN CLIMB UP TO SUCCESS, HUNDREDS OF THEM. AD OF THE ELEMENTS THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS, THE MOST IMPORTANT IS FAITH. NO GREAT THING COME TO ANY MAN UNLESS HE HAS COURAGE. 

TRY THIS SAY THRTY MILLIONS DOLLARS, QUICKLY AND WITH AN AIR OF TRIVIALITY SO THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE A VERY SMALL SUM. NOW, SAY.THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, SAY IT SLOWLY SAY IT FEELINGLY, SAY IT AS IF YOU WERE TREMENDOUSLY IMPRESSED WITH THE HUGENESS OF THE AMOUNT. HAVEN'T YOU NOW MADE THE THIRTY THOUSAND SOUND LARGER THAN THE THIRTY MILLION.?