THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. J. BERG ESENWEIN DALE CARNAGEY. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: J. BERG ESENWEIN DALE CARNAGEY
Издательство: Bookwire
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isbn: 9783753192390
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Well, you walked along together, overhead the starlit

      sky; and I'll bet--old man, confess it--you were frightened. So

      was I.

      So you strolled along the terrace, saw the summer moonlight pour

      all its radiance on the waters, as they rippled on the shore,

      till at length you gathered courage, when you saw that none was

      nigh--did you draw her close and tell her that you loved her? So

      did I.

      Well, I needn't ask you further, and I'm sure I wish you joy.

      Think I'll wander down and see you when you're married--eh, my

      boy? When the honeymoon is over and you're settled down, we'll

      try--What? the deuce you say! Rejected--you rejected? So was

      I.

      --_Anonymous_.

      The necessity for changing pitch is so self-evident that it should be

      grasped and applied immediately. However, it requires patient drill to

      free yourself from monotony of pitch.

      In natural conversation you think of an idea first, and then find words

      to express it. In memorized speeches you are liable to speak the words,

      and then think what they mean--and many speakers seem to trouble very

      little even about that. Is it any wonder that reversing the process

      should reverse the result? Get back to nature in your methods of

      expression.

      Read the following selection in a nonchalant manner, never pausing to

      think what the words really mean. Try it again, carefully studying the

      thought you have assimilated. Believe the idea, desire to express it

      effectively, and imagine an audience before you. Look them earnestly in

      the face and repeat this truth. If you follow directions, you will note

      that you have made many changes of pitch after several readings.

      It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you

      can hardly put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is rust

      upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the

      machinery but the friction.

      --HENRY WARD BEECHER.

      _Change of Pitch Produces Emphasis_

      This is a highly important statement. Variety in pitch maintains the

      hearer's interest, but one of the surest ways to compel attention--to

      secure unusual emphasis--is to change the pitch of your voice suddenly

      and in a marked degree. A great contrast always arouses attention. White

      shows whiter against black; a cannon roars louder in the Sahara silence

      than in the Chicago hurly burly--these are simple illustrations of the

      power of contrast.

      "What is Congress going to do next?

      (High pitch) |

      |

      | I do not know."

      -----------------

      (Low pitch)

      By such sudden change of pitch during a sermon Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis

      recently achieved great emphasis and suggested the gravity of the

      question he had raised.

      The foregoing order of pitch-change might be reversed with equally good

      effect, though with a slight change in seriousness--either method

      produces emphasis when used intelligently, that is, with a common-sense

      appreciation of the sort of emphasis to be attained.

      In attempting these contrasts of pitch it is important to avoid

      unpleasant extremes. Most speakers pitch their voices too high. One of

      the secrets of Mr. Bryan's eloquence is his low, bell-like voice.

      Shakespeare said that a soft, gentle, low voice was "an excellent thing

      in woman;" it is no less so in man, for a voice need not be blatant to

      be powerful,--and _must_ not be, to be pleasing.

      In closing, let us emphasize anew the importance of using variety of

      pitch. You sing up and down the scale, first touching one note and then

      another above or below it. Do likewise in speaking.

      Thought and individual taste must generally be your guide as to where to

      use a low, a moderate, or a high pitch.

      QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

      1. Name two methods of destroying monotony and gaining force in

      speaking.

      2. Why is a continual change of pitch necessary in speaking?

      3. Notice your habitual tones in speaking. Are they too high to be

      pleasant?

      4. Do we express the following thoughts and emotions in a low or a high

      pitch? Which may be expressed in either high or low pitch? Excitement.

      Victory. Defeat. Sorrow. Love. Earnestness. Fear.

      5. How would you naturally vary the pitch in introducing an explanatory

      or parenthetical expression like the following:

      He started--_that is, he made preparations to start_--on

      September third.

      6. Speak the following lines with as marked variations in pitch as your

      interpretation of the sense may dictate. Try each line in two different

      ways. Which, in each instance, is the more effective--and why?

      What have I to gain from you? Nothing.

      To engage our nation in such a compact would be an infamy.

      Note: In the foregoing sentence, experiment as to where the

      change in pitch would better be made.

      Once the flowers distilled their fragrance here, but now see the

      devastations of war.

      He had reckoned without one prime factor--his conscience.

      7. Make a diagram of a conversation you have heard, showing where high

      and low pitches were used. Were these changes in pitch advisable? Why or

      why not?

      8. Read the selections on pages 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38, paying careful

      attention to the changes in pitch. Reread, substituting low pitch for

      high, and vice versa.

      _Selections for Practise_

      Note: In the following selections, those passages that may best be

      delivered