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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rest of the words in this sentence were made ten

      times as large as they are, and _DID_ and _THOUGHT_ were kept at their

      present size, they would still be emphatic, because different.

      Take the following from Robert Chambers' novel, "The Business of Life."

      The words _you_, _had_, _would_, are all emphatic, because they have been

      made different.

      He looked at her in angry astonishment.

      "Well, what do _you_ call it if it isn't cowardice--to slink off

      and marry a defenseless girl like that!"

      "Did you expect me to give you a chance to destroy me and poison

      Jacqueline's mind? If I _had_ been guilty of the thing with

      which you charge me, what I have done _would_ have been

      cowardly. Otherwise, it is justified."

      A Fifth Avenue bus would attract attention up at Minisink Ford, New

      York, while one of the ox teams that frequently pass there would attract

      attention on Fifth Avenue. To make a word emphatic, deliver it

      differently from the manner in which the words surrounding it are

      delivered. If you have been talking loudly, utter the emphatic word in a

      concentrated whisper--and you have intense emphasis. If you have been

      going fast, go very slow on the emphatic word. If you have been talking

      on a low pitch, jump to a high one on the emphatic word. If you have

      been talking on a high pitch, take a low one on your emphatic ideas.

      Read the chapters on "Inflection," "Feeling," "Pause," "Change of

      Pitch," "Change of Tempo." Each of these will explain in detail how to

      get emphasis through the use of a certain principle.

      In this chapter, however, we are considering only one form of emphasis:

      that of applying force to the important word and subordinating the

      unimportant words. Do not forget: this is one of the main methods that

      you must continually employ in getting your effects.

      Let us not confound loudness with emphasis. To yell is not a sign of

      earnestness, intelligence, or feeling. The kind of force that we want

      applied to the emphatic word is not entirely physical. True, the

      emphatic word may be spoken more loudly, or it may be spoken more

      softly, but the _real_ quality desired is intensity, earnestness. It

      must come from within, outward.

      Last night a speaker said: "The curse of this country is not a lack of

      education. It's politics." He emphasized _curse, lack, education,

      politics_. The other words were hurried over and thus given no

      comparative importance at all. The word _politics_ was flamed out with

      great feeling as he slapped his hands together indignantly. His emphasis

      was both correct and powerful. He concentrated all our attention on the

      words that meant something, instead of holding it up on such words as

      _of this_, _a_, _of_, _It's_.

      What would you think of a guide who agreed to show New York to a

      stranger and then took up his time by visiting Chinese laundries and

      boot-blacking "parlors" on the side streets? There is only one excuse

      for a speaker's asking the attention of his audience: He must have

      either truth or entertainment for them. If he wearies their attention

      with trifles they will have neither vivacity nor desire left when he

      reaches words of Wall-Street and skyscraper importance. You do not dwell

      on these small words in your everyday conversation, because you are not

      a conversational bore. Apply the correct method of everyday speech to

      the platform. As we have noted elsewhere, public speaking is very much

      like conversation enlarged.

      Sometimes, for big emphasis, it is advisable to lay stress on every

      single syllable in a word, as _absolutely_ in the following sentence:

      I ab-so-lute-ly refuse to grant your demand.

      Now and then this principle should be applied to an emphatic sentence by

      stressing each word. It is a good device for exciting special

      attention, and it furnishes a pleasing variety. Patrick Henry's notable

      climax could be delivered in that manner very effectively:

      "Give--me--liberty--or--give--me--death." The italicized part of the

      following might also be delivered with this every-word emphasis. Of

      course, there are many ways of delivering it; this is only one of several

      good interpretations that might be chosen.

      Knowing the price we must pay, the sacrifice we must make, the

      burdens we must carry, the assaults we must endure--knowing full

      well the cost--yet we enlist, and we enlist for the war. For we

      know the justice of our cause, and _we know, too, its certain

      triumph._

      --_From "Pass Prosperity Around,"_ by ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE,

      _before the Chicago National Convention of the Progressive Party_.

      Strongly emphasizing a single word has a tendency to suggest its

      antithesis. Notice how the meaning changes by merely putting the

      emphasis on different words in the following sentence. The parenthetical

      expressions would really not be needed to supplement the emphatic words.

      _I_ intended to buy a house this Spring (even if you did not).

      I _INTENDED_ to buy a house this Spring (but something

      prevented).

      I intended to _BUY_ a house this Spring (instead of renting as

      heretofore).

      I intended to buy a _HOUSE_ this Spring (and not an automobile).

      I intended to buy a house _THIS_ Spring (instead of next

      Spring).

      I intended to buy a house this _SPRING_ (instead of in the

      Autumn).

      When a great battle is reported in the papers, they do not keep

      emphasizing the same facts over and over again. They try to get new

      information, or a "new slant." The news that takes an important place in

      the morning edition will be relegated to a small space in the late

      afternoon edition. We are interested in new ideas and new facts. This

      principle has a very important bearing in determining your emphasis. Do

      not