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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      FLUENCY THROUGH PREPARATION

      Animis opibusque parati--Ready in mind and resources.

      --_Motto of South Carolina_.

      In omnibus negotiis prius quam aggrediare, adhibenda est

      præparatio diligens--In all matters before beginning a diligent

      preparation should be made.

      --CICERO, _De Officiis_.

      Take your dictionary and look up the words that contain the Latin stem

      _flu_--the results will be suggestive.

      At first blush it would seem that fluency consists in a ready, easy use

      of words. Not so--the flowing quality of speech is much more, for it is

      a composite effect, with each of its prior conditions deserving of

      careful notice.

      _The Sources of Fluency_

      Speaking broadly, fluency is almost entirely a matter of preparation.

      Certainly, native gifts figure largely here, as in every art, but even

      natural facility is dependent on the very same laws of preparation that

      hold good for the man of supposedly small native endowment. Let this

      encourage you if, like Moses, you are prone to complain that you are not

      a ready speaker.

      Have you ever stopped to analyze that expression, "a ready speaker?"

      Readiness, in its prime sense, is preparedness, and they are most ready

      who are best prepared. Quick firing depends more on the alert finger

      than on the hair trigger. Your fluency will be in direct ratio to two

      important conditions: your knowledge of what you are going to say, and

      your being accustomed to telling what you know to an audience. This

      gives us the second great element of fluency--to preparation must be

      added the ease that arises from practise; of which more presently.

      _Knowledge is Essential_

      Mr. Bryan is a most fluent speaker when he speaks on political problems,

      tendencies of the time, and questions of morals. It is to be supposed,

      however, that he would not be so fluent in speaking on the bird life of

      the Florida Everglades. Mr. John Burroughs might be at his best on this

      last subject, yet entirely lost in talking about international law. Do

      not expect to speak fluently on a subject that you know little or

      nothing about. Ctesiphon boasted that he could speak all day (a sin in

      itself) on any subject that an audience would suggest. He was banished

      by the Spartans.

      But preparation goes beyond the getting of the facts in the case you are

      to present: it includes also the ability to think and arrange your

      thoughts, a full and precise vocabulary, an easy manner of speech and

      breathing, absence of self-consciousness, and the several other

      characteristics of efficient delivery that have deserved special

      attention in other parts of this book rather than in this chapter.

      Preparation may be either general or specific; usually it should be

      both. A life-time of reading, of companionship with stirring thoughts,

      of wrestling with the problems of life--this constitutes a general

      preparation of inestimable worth. Out of a well-stored mind, and--richer

      still--a broad experience, and--best of all--a warmly sympathetic heart,

      the speaker will have to draw much material that no _immediate_ study

      could provide. General preparation consists of all that a man has put

      into himself, all that heredity and environment have instilled into him,

      and--that other rich source of preparedness for speech--the friendship

      of wise companions. When Schiller returned home after a visit with

      Goethe a friend remarked: "I am amazed by the progress Schiller can make

      within a single fortnight." It was the progressive influence of a new

      friendship. Proper friendships form one of the best means for the

      formation of ideas and ideals, for they enable one to practise in giving

      expression to thought. The speaker who would speak fluently before an

      audience should learn to speak fluently and entertainingly with a

      friend. Clarify your ideas by putting them in words; the talker gains as

      much from his conversation as the listener. You sometimes begin to

      converse on a subject thinking you have very little to say, but one idea

      gives birth to another, and you are surprised to learn that the more you

      give the more you have to give. This give-and-take of friendly

      conversation develops mentality, and fluency in expression. Longfellow

      said: "A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better

      than ten years' study of books," and Holmes whimsically yet none the

      less truthfully declared that half the time he talked to find out what

      he thought. But that method must not be applied on the platform!

      After all this enrichment of life by storage, must come the special

      preparation for the particular speech. This is of so definite a sort

      that it warrants separate chapter-treatment later.

      _Practise_

      But preparation must also be of another sort than the gathering,

      organizing, and shaping of materials--it must include _practise_, which,

      like mental preparation, must be both general and special.

      Do not feel surprised or discouraged if practise on the principles of

      delivery herein laid down seems to retard your fluency. For a time, this

      will be inevitable. While you are working for proper inflection, for

      instance, inflection will be demanding your first thoughts, and the flow

      of your speech, for the time being, will be secondary. This warning,

      however, is strictly for the closet, for your practise at home. Do not

      carry any thoughts of inflection with you to the platform. There you

      must _think_ only of your subject. There is an absolute telepathy

      between the audience and the speaker. If your thought goes to your

      gesture, their thought will too. If your interest goes to the quality of

      your voice, they will be regarding that instead of what your voice is

      uttering.

      You have doubtless been adjured to "forget