STAGE POINTS

                                   SUMMARIZE YOUR POINTS

               EVEN IN A SHORT TALK OF THREE TO FIVE MINUTES, A SPEAKER IS VERY APT TO COVER SO MUCH GROUND THAT AT THE CLOSE THE LISTENERS ARE A LITTLE HAZY ABOUT ALL HIS MAIN POINTS. HOWEVER, FEW SPEAKERS REALIZE THAT. THEY ARE MISLED INTO ASSUMING THAT BECAUSE THESE POINTS ARE CRYSTAL CLEAR IN THEIR OWN MINDS, THEY MUST BE EQUALLY LUCID TO THEIR HEARERS. NOT AT ALL. THE SPEAKER HAS BEEN PONDERING OVER HIS IDEAS FOR SOME TIME. BUT HIS POINTS ARE ALL NEW TO THE AUDIENCE; THEY ARE FLUNG AT THE AUDIENCE LIKE A HANDFUL OF SHOT. SOME MAY STICK, BUT THE MOST ARE LIABLE TO ROLL OFF IN CONFUSION. THE HEARERES ARE LIABLE, LIKE LARGO TO, "REMEMBER A MASS OF THINGS BUT NOTHING DISTINCTLY"

             SOME ANONYMOUS IRISH POLITICIAN IS REPOTTED TO HAVE GIVEN THIS RECIPE FOR MAKING A SPEECH, "FIRST, TELL THEM THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL THEM, THEN TELL THEM, THEN TELL THEM THAT YOU HAVE TOLD THEM," NOT BA, YOU KNOW. IN FACT, TOLD THEM, " BRIEFLY, OF COURSE, SPEEDILY- A MERE OUTLINE, A SUMMARY.

           HERE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE. THE SPEAKER IS A STUDENT OF MR.BILLS'CLASS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING. HE IS ALSO A TRAFFIC MANAGE FOR RAILWAYS.

          INSHORT, GENTLEMEN, OUR OWN BACKDOOR YARD EXPERIENCE WITH THIS BLOCK DEVICE, EXPERIENCE IN ITS USE IN THE EAST, IN THE WEST, IN THE NORTH-THE SOUND OPERATING PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING ITS OPERATION, THE ACTUAL DEMONSTRATION IN THE MONEY SAVED IN ONE YEAR IN WRECK PREVENTION, MOVE ME MOST EARESTLY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY TO RECOMMEND ITS IMMEDIATE INSTALLATION ON OUR SOUTHERN BRANCH.

           YOU SEE WHAT HE HAS DONE? YOU CAN SEE IT AND FEEL IT WITHOUT HAVING HEARD THE REST OF THE TALK. HE HASSUMMED UP IN A FEW SENTENCES, IN SEXTY-TWO WORDS, PRACTICALLY ALL THE POINTS HE HAS MADE IN THE ENTIRE TALK.

           DON'T YOU FEEL THAT A SUMMARY LIKE THAT HELPS? IF SO, MAKE THAT TECHNIQUE YOUR OWN.

DON'T GIVE UP

                                                             CHEER UP

           ONE TIME A YOUNG MAN WHO ASPIRED TO STUDY LAW, WROTE TO LINCOLN FOR ADVICE, AND LINCOLN REPLIED; IF YOU ARE RESLUTELY DETERMINED TO MAKE A LAWYER OF YOURSELF, THE THING IS MORE THAN HALF DONE ALREADY... ALWAYS BEAR IN MIND THAT YOUR OWN RESOLUTION TO SUCCEED IS MORE IMPROTANT THAN ANY OTHER ONE THING.

                                                   THE ART OF SITTING DOWN

        ISN'T IT WELL FOR THE SPEAKER HIMSELF NOT TO SIT FACING THE AUDIENCE BEFORE HE BEGINS? ISN'T IT BETTER TO ARRIVE AS A FRESH EXHIBIT THAN AN OLD ONE?

      BUT, IS WE MUST SIT, LET US BE CAREFUL OF HOW WE SIT. YOU HAVE SEEN MEN LOOK ROUND TO FIND A CHAIR WITH MODIFIED MOVEMENTS OF A FOXHOUND LYING DOWN FOR THE CHAIR, THEY DOUBLE UP AN WHEN THEY DID LOCATE A CHAIR, THEY DOUBLED UP AND FLOPPED DOWN INTO IT WITH ALL THE SELF-CONTROL OF A SACK OF SAND.

      A MAN WHO KNOWS HOW TO SIT FEELS THE CHAIR STRIKE THE BACK OF HIS LEGS, AND WITH HIS BODY EASILY ERECT FROM HEAD TO HIPS, HE SINKS INTO IT WITH HIS BODY UNDER PERFECT CONTROL.

                                              WHAT IS MEANT BY PREPARATION

           DOES THE PREPARATION OF A SPEECH MEAN THE GETTING TOGETHER OF SOME FAULTLESS PHRASES WRITTEN DOWN OR MEMORIZED? NO, DOES IT MEAN THE ASSEMBLING OF A FEW CASUAL THOUGHTS THAT REALLY CONVEY VERY LITTLE TO YOU PERSONALLY? NOT AT ALL. IT MEANS THE ASSEMBLY OF YOUR THOUGHTS, YOUR IDEAS, YOUR CONVICTIONS, YOUR URGES. AND YOU HAVE SUCH THOUGHTS, SUCH URGES. YOU HAVE THEM EVERY DAY OF YOUR WALKING LIFE. THEY EVEN SWARM THROUGH YOUR DREAMS. YOUR WHOLE EXISTENCE HAS BEEN FILLED WITH FEELINGS AND EXPERIENCES. THESE THINGS ARE LYING DEEP IN YOUR SUBCONCIOUS MIND AS THICK AS PEBBLES ON THE SEASHORE. PREPARATION MEANS THINKING, BROODING, RECALLING, SELECTING THE ONES THAT APPEAL TO YOU MOST, POLISHING THEM, WORKING SOUND LIKE SUCH A DIFFICULT PROGRAMME, DOES IT? IT ISN'T . IT JUST REQUIRES A LITTLE CONCENTRATION AND THINKING TO A PURPOSE. 

    

               

      

THE NECESSITY OF PERSISTENCE

                                                                  PERSISTENCE

       WHEN WE START TO LEARN ANY NEW THING, LIKE FRENCH, OF GOLF, OR PUBLIC SPEAKING, WE NEVER ADVANCES STEADILY. WE DO NOT IMPROVE GRADUALLY. WE DO IT BY SUDDEN JERKS, BY ABRUPT STARTS. THEN WE REMAIN STATIONARY A TIME, OR WE MAY EVEN SLIP BACK AND LOSE SOME OF THE GROUND WE HAVE PREVIOULSLY GAINED. THESE PERIODS OF STAGNATON, OR RETROGRESSION, ARE WELL KNOWN BY ALL PSYCHOLOGISTS; AND THEY HAVE BEEN NAMED, " PLATEAUS IN THE CURVE OF LEARNING". 

        STUDENTS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING WILL SOMETIMES BE STALLED FOR WEEKS ON ONE OF THESE PLATEAUS. WORKS AS HARD AS THEY MAY, THEY CANNOT GET OFF IT. THE WEAK ONES GIVE UP IN DESPAIR. THOSE WITH GRIT PERSIST, AND THEY FIND THAT SUDDENTLY, OVERNIGHT, WITHOUT THEIR KNOWING HOW OR WHY IT HAS HAPPENED, THEY HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS. THEY HAVE LIFTED FROM THE PLATEAU LIKE AN AIROPLANE. ABRUPTLY THEY ACQUIRED NATURALNESS AND FORCE AND CONFIDENCE IN THEIR SPEAKING.

         YOU MAY ALWAYS, AS WE HAVE NOTED ELSEWHERE IN THESE PAGES, EXPERIENCE SOME FLEETING FEAR, SOME SHOCK, SOME NERVOUS ANXIETY THE FIRST FEW MOMENTS YOU FACE AN AUDIENCE JOHN BRIGHT FELT IT TO THE END OF HIS BUSY CAREER, SO DID GLADSTONE; SO DID BISHOP WILBERFORCE; SO DID A  SCORE OF OTHER EMINENT SPEAKERS. EVEN THE GREATEST OF THE MUSICIANS HAVE FELT IT IN SPRITE OF THEIR INNUMERABLE PUBLIC APPEARANCE. PADEREWSKI ALWAYS FIDGETED NERVOUSLY WITH HIS CUFFS IMMEDIALTELY BEFORE HE SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO. NORDICA FELT HER HEART RACING. SO DID SEMBRICH. SO DID EMMA EAMES. BUT IT VANISHED QUICKLY, ALL OF THIS AUDIENCE FEAR, LIKE A MIST IN THE AUGUST SUNSHINE.

        THEIR EXPERIENCE WILL BE YOURS, IF YOU WILL BUT PERSEVERE, YOU WILL SOON ERADICATE EVERYTHING BUT THIS INITIAL FEAR, AND THAT WILL BE INITIAL FEAR, AND NOTHING MORE. AFTER THE FIRST FEW SENTENCES, YOU WILL HAVE CONTROL OF YOURSELF. YOU WILL BE SPEAKING WITH POSITIVE PLEASURE

HOW FAMOUS SPEAKERS PREPARED THEIR ADDRESSES

                                                        FAMOUS SPEAKERS

           "LUCK IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PREPARATION MEETS

             OPPORTUNITY"

   

      I WAS PRESENT ONCE AT A LUNCHEON OF A ROTARY CLUB WHEN THE PRINCIPLE SPEAKER WAS A PROMINENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL. THE HIGH POSITION THAT HE PROMINENT GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL. THE HIGH POSITION THAT HE OCCUPIED GAVE HIM PRESTIGE, AND WE WERE LOOKING FORWARD WITH PLEASURE TO HEARING HIM. HE HAD PROMISED TO TELL US ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES OF HIS OWN DEPARTMENT, AND IT WAS ONE IN WHICH ALMOST EVERY BUSINESSMAM WAS INTERESED.

      HE KNEW HIS SUNJECT THROUGHLY, KNEW FAR MORE ABOUT IT THAN HE COULD POSSIBLY USE, BUT HE HAD NOT PLANNED HIS SPEECH. HE HAD NOT SELECTED HIS MATERIAL. HE HAD NOT ARRANGED IT IN ORDERLY FASHION. NEVERTHELESS, WITH A COURAGE BORN OF ENEXPERIENCE, HE PLUNGED HEEDLESSLY, BLINDLY, INTO HIS SPEECH. HE DID NOT KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING, BUT HE WAS ON HIS WAY.

      HE HAD BEEN TRYING TO TALK IMPROMPTU, BUT IN DESPERATION NOW, HE DREW A BUNDLE OF NOTES OUT OF HIS POCKET, CONFESSING THAT HIS SECRETARY HAD COMPLILED THEM FOR HIM-AND NO ONE QUESTIONED THE VARACITY OF HIS ASSERTION. THE NOTES THEMSELVES EVIDENTLY HAD NO MORE ORDER THAN A VAN FULL OF SCRAP IRON. HE FUMBLED THROUGH THEM NERVOUSLY, GLANCING FROM ONE PAGE TO ANOTHER, TRYING TO ORIENT HIMSELF, TRYING TO FIND A WAY OUT OF THE WILDERNESS, AND HE ATTEMPTED TO TALK AS HE DID SO. IT WAS IMPOSIIBLE. HE APOLOGIZED AND, CALLING FOR WATER, TOOK A DRINK WITH A TREMBLING HAND, UTTERED A FEW MORE SCATTERING SENTENCES, REPEATED HIMSELF, DUG INTO HIS NOTES AGAIN.... 

            MINUTE BY MINUTE HE GREW MORE HELPLESS, MORE LOST, MORE BEWWILDERED, MORE EMBARRASSED. NERVOUS PERSPIRATION STOOD OUT ON HIS FORHEAD, AND HIS HANDKERCHIEF SHOOK AS HE WIPED IT AWAY. WE IN THE AUDIENCE SAT WATCHING THE FIASCO, OUR SYMPATHIES STIRRED, OUR FEELINGS HARROWED. WE SUFFERED POSITIVE AND VICARIOUS EMBARRAMENT. BUT WITH MORE DOGGEDNESS THAN DISCRETION, THE SPEAKER CONTINUED, FLOUNDERING, STUDYING HIS NOTES, APOLOGIZING AND DRINKING. EVERYONE EXPECT HIM FELT THAT THE SPECTACLE WAS RAPIDLY APPROACHING TOTAL DISASTER, AND IT WAS A RELIEF TO US ALL WHEN HE SAT DOWN AND CEASED HIS DEATH STRUGGLES. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE AUDIENCES I HAVE EVER BEEN IN, AND HE WAS THE MOST ASHAMED AND HUMILIATED SPEAKER I HAVE EVER SEEN. HE HAD MADE HIS TALK AS ROUSSEAU SAID A LOVE LETTER SHOULD BE WRITTEN: HE HAD BEGUN WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT HE WAS GOING TO SAY, AND HE HAD FINISHED WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT HE HAD UTTERED.

      THE MORAL OF THE TALE IS JUST THIS:" WHEN  A MAN'S KNOWLEDGE IS NOT IN ORDER", SAID HERBERT SPENCER, "THE MORE OF IT HE HAS, THE GREATER WILL BE HIS CONFUSION OF THOUGHT".

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR TALK

                                                      STAGE SPEECH

WHAT TOPICS OUGHTYOU TO SPEAK ON DURING THE SESSIONS OF THIS COURSE?

     ANYTHING THAT INTERESTS YOU. IF POSSIBLE, CHOOSE YOUR OWN TOPICS; YOU WILL BE MORE FORTUNATE STILL IF YOUR TOPIC CHOOSE YOU. HOWEVER, YOU WILL OFTEN HAVE TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR YOU BY YOUR INSTRUCTOR.

      DON'T MAKE THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL MISTAKE TO TRYING TO COVER TOO MUCH GROUND IN A BRIEF TALK. JUST TAKE ONE OR TWO ANGLES OF A SUBJECT AND ATTEMPT TO COVER THEM ADEQUATELY. YOU WILL BE FORTUNATE IF YOU CAN DO THAT IN THE SHORT SPEECHES THAT ARE NECCESITATED BY THE TIME SCHEDULE OF THIS COURSE.

       DETERMINE YOUR SUBJECT A WEEK IN ADVANCE SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO THINK IT OVER IN ODD MOMENTS. THINK IT OVER FOR SEVEN DAYS; DREAM OVER IT FOR SEVEN NIGHTS. THINK OF IT THE LAST THIN WHEN YOU RETIRE. THINK OF IT THE NEXT MORNING WHILE YOU ARE SHAVING, WHILE YOU ARE BATHING, WHILE YOU ARE RIDING DOWNTOWN, WHILE YOU ARE WAITING FOR LIFTS, OR LUNCH, FOR APPOINTMENT. DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS. MAKE IT A TIPIC OF CONVERSATION.

       ASK YOURSELF ALL POSSIBLE QUESTIONS CONCERNING IT. IF FOR EXAMPLE, YOU ARE TO SPEAK ON DIVORCE, ASK YOURSELF WHAT CAUSES DIVORCE, WHAT ARE THE EFFORTS ECONOMICALLY, SOCIALLY. HOW CAN THE EVIL BE REMEDIED? SHOULD DIVORCE BE MADE IMPOSSIBLE? MORE DIFFICULT?EASIER?

       IF YOU STAND UP AND THINK CLEARLY AND KEEP GOING FOR TWO OR THREE MINUTES, THAT IS ALL THAT WILL BE EXPECTED OF YOU DURING YOUR FIRST FEW TALKS. A TOPIC, SUCH AS WHY YOU ENROLLED FOR THIS COURSE, IS VERY EASY; THAT IS OBVIOUS. IF YOU WILL SPEND A LITTLE TIME SELECTING AND ARRANGING YOUR MATERIAL ON THAT TOPIC,YOU WILL BE ALMOST SURE TO REMEMBER IT, FOR YOU WILL BE SPEAKING OR YOUR OWN OBSERVATIONS, YOUR OWN DESIRES, YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES.

         ABOUT ALL ELSE, DON'T MAKE YOUR TALK AN ABSTRACT PREACHMENT. THAT WILL BORE US. MAKE YOUR TALK A REGULAR LAYER CAKE OF ILLUSTRATION AND GENERAL STATEMENTS. THINK OF CONCRETE CASES YOU HAVE OBSERVED, AND OF THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS WHICH YOU BELIEVE THOSE SPECIFIC INSTANCES ILLUSTRATE. YOU WILL ALSO DISCOVER THAT THESE CONCRETE CASES ARE FAR EASIER TO REMEMBER THAN ABSTRACTIONS; THEY ARE FAR EASIER TO TALK ABOUT. THEY WILL ALSO AID AND BRIGHTEN YOUR DELIVERY.

         SOME MEN,IN SPEAKING OF THEIR BUSINESS, COMMIT THE UNFORGIVABLE ERROR OF TALKING ONLY OF THE FEATURES THAT INTEREST THEM. SHOULD'T THE SPEAKER TRY TO ACCERTAIN WHAT WILL ENTERTAIN NOT HIMSELF BUT HIS HEARNERS? SHOULDN'T HE TRY TO APPEAL TO THEIR SELFISH INTERESTS? IF FOR EXAMPLE, HE SELLS FIRE INSURANCE, SHOULDN'T HE TELL THEM HOW TO PREVENT FIRES ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY? IF HE IS A BANKER, SHOULDN'T HE GIVE THEM ADVICE ON FINANCE OR INVESTMENTS?

       WHILE PREPARING, STUDY YOUR AUDIENCE. THINK OF THEIR WANTS, THEIR WISHES. THAT IS SOMETIMES HALF THE BATTLE.

        IN PREPARING SOME TOPICS, IT IS VERY ADVISIBLE-IF TIME PREMETS-TO DO SOME READING, TO DISCOVER WHAT OTHERS HAVE THOUGHT, WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ON THE SAME SUBJECT. BUT DON'T READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FIRST THOUGHT YOURSELF DRY. THAT IS IMPORTANT-VERY. THEN GO TO THE PUBLIC LIBERARY AND LAY YOUR NEEDS BEFORE THE LIBERARIAN. TELL HER YOU ARE PREPARING A SPEECH ON SUCH AND SUCH A TOPIC. ASK HER FRANKLY FOR HELP. IF YOU ARE NOT IN THE HABIT OF DOING RESEARCH WORK, YOU WILL PROBABLY BE SURPRISED AT THE AIDS SHE CAN PUT AT YOUR DISPOSAL; PERHAPS A SPECIAL VOLUME ON YOUR VERY TOPIC, OUTLINES AND BRIEFS FOR DEBATE, GIVING THE PRINCIPLE ARGUMENTS ON BOTHS SIDES OF THE PUBLIC QUESTIONS OF THE DAY, THE READER'S GUIDE TO PERIODICAL LITERATURE LISTING THE MAGAZINE ARTICLES THAT HAVE APPEARED ON VARIOUS TOPICS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY, THE DAILY MAIL ALMANAC, THE ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, AND DOZENS OF REFERENCE BOOKS. THEY ARE TOOLS IN YOUR WORKSHOP. USE THEM. 

 

STAY PATIENCE

                                      PLAY PATIENCE WITH YOUR NOTES

       MAKE NOTES. HAVING GOT YOUR VARIOUS IDEAS AND ILLUSTRATIONS DOWN ON SCRABS OF PAPER, PLAY PATIENCE WITH THEM- TOSS THEM INTO SERIES OF RELATED PILES. THESE MAIN PILES TO REPRESENT, APPROXIMATELY, THE MAIN POINTS OF YOUR TALK. SUBDIVIDE THEM INTO SMALLER LOTS. THROW OUT THE CHAFF INTIL THERE IS NOTHING BUT NUMBER ONE WHEAT LEFT-AND EVEN SOME OF THE WHEAT WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO BE PUT ASIDE AND NOT USED. NO MAN, IF HE WORKS RIGHT, IS EVER ABLE TO USE BUT A PERCENTAGE OF THE MATERIAL HE GATHERS.

       ONE OUGHT NEVER TO CEASE THIS PROCESS OF REVISION INTIL THE SPEECH HAS BEEN MADE- EVEN THEN HE IS VERY LIKELY TO THINK OF POINTS AND IMPROVEMENTS AND REFINEMENTS THAT OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN MADE.

        A GOOD SPEAKE USUALLY FINDS WHEN HE FINISHES THAT THERE HAVE BEEN FOUR VERSIONS OF HIS SPEECH: THE ONE THAT HE PREPARD, THE ONE THAT HE DELIVERED, THE ONE THAT THE NEWSPAPERS SAID THAT HE DELIVERED, AND THE ONE THAT HE WISHES, ON HIS WAY HOME, THAT HE HAD DELIVERED.

                                                                       REHEARSE

              TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, HORACE WROTES:

        " SEEK NOT FOR WORDS, SEEK ONLY FACT AND THOUGHT,

           AND CROWDING IN WILL COME THE WORDS UNSOUGHT."

          AFTER YOU HAVE IDEAS FIRMLY IN MIND, THEN REHEARSE YOUR TALK FROM BEFINNING TO END. DO IT SILENTLY, MENTALLY, AS YOU WALK THE STREET, AS YOU WAIT FOR CARS AND LIFTS. GET OFF IN A ROOM BY YOURSELF AND GO OVER IT ALOUD, GESTURING, SAYING IT WITH LIFE AND ENRGY. AS YOU PRACTISE, IMAGINE THERE IS A REAL AUDIENCE BEFORE YOU.

         IMAGINE IT SO STRONGLY THAT WHEN THERE IS ONE, IT WILL SEEM LIKE AN OLD EXPERIENCE. THAT IS THE REASON WHY SO MANY CRIMINALS ARE ABLE TO GO TO THE SCAFFOLD WITH SUCH BRAVADO, THEY HAVE ALREADY DONE IT SO MANY THOUSAND TIMES IN THEIR IMAGINATION THAT THEY HAVE LOST FEAR OF IT. WHEN THE ACTUAL EXECUTION DOES TAKE PLACE, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT THEY HAVE GONE THROUGH VERY OFTEN BEFORE.

     

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.