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

Автор: J. BERG ESENWEIN DALE CARNAGEY
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isbn: 9783753192390
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by in-_tens_-ity--tension--tightness of the cords of power.

      It is this tautness of the bow-string, this knotting of the muscles,

      this contraction before the spring, that makes an audience

      _feel_--almost see--the reserve power in a speaker. In some really

      wonderful way it is more what a speaker does _not_ say and do that

      reveals the dynamo within. _Anything_ may come from such stored-up force

      once it is let loose; and that keeps an audience alert, hanging on the

      lips of a speaker for his next word. After all, it is all a question of

      manhood, for a stuffed doll has neither convictions nor emotional

      tension. If you are upholstered with sawdust, keep off the platform, for

      your own speech will puncture you.

      Growing out of this conviction-tension comes _resolve to make the

      audience share that conviction-tension_. Purpose is the backbone of

      force; without it speech is flabby--it may glitter, but it is the

      iridescence of the spineless jellyfish. You must hold fast to your

      resolve if you would hold fast to your audience.

      Finally, all this conviction-tension-purpose is lifeless and useless

      unless it results in _propulsion_. You remember how Young in his

      wonderful "Night Thoughts" delineates the man who

      Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve,

      Resolves, and re-resolves, and dies the same.

      Let not your force "die a-borning,"--bring it to full life in its

      conviction, emotional tension, resolve, and propulsive power.

      _Can Force be Acquired?_

      Yes, if the acquirer has any such capacities as we have just outlined.

      How to acquire this vital factor is suggested in its very analysis: Live

      with your subject until you are convinced of its importance.

      If your message does not of itself arouse you to tension, _PULL_

      yourself together. When a man faces the necessity of leaping across a

      crevasse he does not wait for inspiration, he _wills_ his muscles into

      tensity for the spring--it is not without purpose that our English

      language uses the same word to depict a mighty though delicate steel

      contrivance and a quick leap through the air. Then resolve--and let it

      all end in actual _punch_.

      This truth is worth reiteration: The man within is the final factor. He

      must supply the fuel. The audience, or even the man himself, may add the

      match--it matters little which, only so that there be fire. However

      skillfully your engine is constructed, however well it works, you will

      have no force if the fire has gone out under the boiler. It matters

      little how well you have mastered poise, pause, modulation, and tempo,

      if your speech lacks fire it is dead. Neither a dead engine nor a dead

      speech will move anybody.

      Four factors of force are measurably within your control, and in that

      far may be acquired: _ideas_, _feeling about the subject_, _wording_, and

      _delivery_. Each of these is more or less fully discussed in this

      volume, except wording, which really requires a fuller rhetorical study

      than can here be ventured. It is, however, of the utmost importance that

      you should be aware of precisely how wording bears upon force in a

      sentence. Study "The Working Principles of Rhetoric," by John Franklin

      Genung, or the rhetorical treatises of Adams Sherman Hill, of Charles

      Sears Baldwin, or any others whose names may easily be learned from any

      teacher.

      Here are a few suggestions on the use of words to attain force:

      _Choice of Words_

      PLAIN words are more forceful than words less commonly used--_juggle_

      has more vigor than _prestidigitate_.

      SHORT words are stronger than long words--_end_ has more directness than

      _terminate_.

      SAXON words are usually more forceful than Latinistic words--for force,

      use _wars against_ rather than _militate against_.

      SPECIFIC words are stronger than general words--_pressman_ is more

      definite than _printer_.

      CONNOTATIVE words, those that suggest more than they say, have more

      power than ordinary words--"She _let_ herself be married" expresses more

      than "She _married_."

      EPITHETS, figuratively descriptive words, are more effective than direct

      names--"Go tell that _old fox_," has more "punch" than "Go tell that

      _sly fellow_." ONOMATOPOETIC words, words that convey the sense by the

      sound, are more powerful than other words--_crash_ is more effective

      than _cataclysm_.

      _Arrangement of words_

      Cut out modifiers.

      Cut out connectives.

      Begin with words that demand attention.

      "End with words that deserve distinction," says Prof. Barrett Wendell.

      Set strong ideas over against weaker ones, so as to gain strength by the

      contrast.

      Avoid elaborate sentence structure--short sentences are stronger than

      long ones.

      Cut out every useless word, so as to give prominence to the really

      important ones.

      Let each sentence be a condensed battering ram, swinging to its final

      blow on the attention.

      A familiar, homely idiom, if not worn by much use, is more effective

      than a highly formal, scholarly expression.

      Consider well the relative value of different positions in the sentence

      so that you may give the prominent place to ideas you wish to emphasize.

      "But," says someone, "is it not more honest to depend the inherent

      interest in a subject, its native truth, clearness and sincerity of

      presentation, and beauty of utterance, to win your audience? Why not

      charm men instead of capturing them by assault?"

      _Why Use Force?_

      There is much truth in such an appeal, but not all the truth.

      Clearness, persuasion, beauty, simple statement of truth, are all

      essential--indeed,