PUBLIC SPEAKING




&




PUBLIC SPEAKING
BY
JAMES ALBERT WINANS
Professor of Public Speaking in Cornell University


REVISED EDITION


NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
I920




Copyright, 1915, 1917, by
JAMES A. WINANS




TO
HAMILTON COLLEGE
ALMA MATER
IN RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT
FOR A HUNDRED YEARS SHE HAS
UPHELD THE DIGNITY OF THE
SPOKEN AS WELL AS OF
THE WRITTEN WORD


-a.f- 1-, I~-:: A7\ r.* rcl
\ Ir.p asA"i








PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION


MUCH that might have been kept for the Preface, and
thereby safely hidden from students, has been set down
in the Introduction and in other parts of this book.
There remains only what I wish to say to my own tribe,the teachers of public speaking.
The scope of the book is indicated by its title; or would
be were it not for the fact that the term public speaking
is now being stretched to cover all oral expression. At
any rate, I treat here of practical public speaking, and
consider within the scope of this book whatever pertains
to preparing and delivering one's own speech. Whatever in this text pertains to interpretation is introduced
chiefly for its bearing upon the training of practical public speakers; and I have taken a broad view of what does
bear upon such training.
The field is too large for complete treatment in one
volume of convenient size. My endeavor has been to
make a book which should form the foundation for practically all the work in this field; but with it should be
used a book on argumentation, one or more books of
speeches, and also, for the sake of gaining various points
of view, other texts of the same general scope as this.
The main work of the student of public speaking, of
course, should be speech-making; and a great deal of his
instruction must be received as individual criticism.
Some teachers may be interested in a somewhat more
vii




viii


PREFACE


definite statement of my method of procedure. While
the book has been written in the order which, after much
experimentation, seemed best, especially with regard to
economy of space, I do not follow its order strictly in
teaching. I ask my class to read the Introduction and
study with care Chapter II,1 for discussion on the third
day. I assign a topic of general interest for a discussion at the second meeting, and arrange for more carefully prepared speeches to begin on the fourth day. For
these, outlines based upon the simple form in Chapter
XII are required. After these speeches Chapter XIII is
studied and discussed. After another round of speeches
we take up Chapters III, IV and V. After a third round
of speeches, we consider Chapter XIV, and study and
deliver the selection, Who is to Blame?    The first stage
of gesture training is brought in about this time, but the
speakers are urged to gesture freely, regardless of form,
from the start. After another round of original speeches,
we study together another selection, perhaps A Liberal
Education. This keeps us busy till the Holidays, in a
three-hour course. After New Year's we have study of
gesture somewhat more advanced, and end the half-year
with either original speeches or selections individually
prepared. Besides the speeches and selections mentioned, each student has part in discussions of principles,
in impromptu speeches, and has trials of speeches before
instructors and in small groups. Much the greater part
of his time is put upon practice work, but we have one
preliminary examination and a final examination.
The mind of the student is constantly directed to the
necessity of interesting his audience, of being clear and
convincing; but we reserve for the second term systematic study of the problems of interest and persuasion.
1 The chapter numbers given are those of the second edition.




PREFACE


ix


We put most of our time again upon practice work, making speeches of many kinds and by many methods, and
including some selections. In a second year of work for
upperclassmen we attempt a thoroughgoing study of
principles. Masterpieces are read, and illustrative matter is drawn, also, from current affairs, politics, reforms,
from advertisements and from whatever can be made to
serve. Speeches are made impromptu and extempore,
and each student is required to select a major topic on
which he writes several speeches, which are revised with
care. Debate in the narrower sense is at present studied
in a separate course; but I am not sure that this is a
wise policy. In the advanced work one feature is the
giving of lectures by students, usually based upon a textbook. I anticipate having papers and lectures upon
some of the problems not fully developed in this text;
for example, upon the restraint of radical action, attacking authorities, and the relation of novelty to persuasion.
I have not thought it best to fill up the book with long
extracts from speeches; especially as we have now many
books of extracts and complete speeches to draw from.
I have preferred to illustrate with briefly stated problems, drawn from matters well within the understanding
of intelligent people; thereby not only saving space, but
also applying the principle of "reference to experience."
Such extracts as are given will be found useful for illustrating more principles than those which they directly
support.
Not many exercises are given in this book, for I believe
one teacher is rarely able to use to good advantage another's exercises. To get the other teacher's ideas and
suggestions is stimulating; but set exercises, such as can
be set down in books, are rarely helpful. Here and there
<A




X


PREFACE


in this book suggestions are given, and in Chapter X are
a good many suggested programs. In general, I have
tried not to embarrass the teacher in the exercise of his
discretion in adapting the book to his own situation.
When I have spoken somewhat positively in regard to
methods, it has been with reluctance, and from a belief
that the ways insisted upon were too important to pass
over, and that it would be cowardly to refuse to express
my belief.
One lives and one learns. I believe that it makes a
great deal of difference how public speaking is taught;
but I do not suffer from the delusion that there is but
one way to do things well. I have taken a great deal of
pains to get acquainted with other teachers and learn of
their ways; and I know that you who are reading this
may be using methods that seem to me quite wrong, and
yet getting good results. I have tried to produce for
your consideration, therefore, a book of principles which
should be adaptable to the work of any one who agrees
with me in fundamentals.
I accept as inevitable the fact that some will disagree
fundamentally with my teachings. I only ask from them
the indulgence of a fair reading. Our subject is yet in
an unsettled state, and wide differences of opinion are
unavoidable, perhaps desirable. I hope that in the future we shall have more established truth as a result of
the scholarly efforts of the young men now entering our
field. As for myself, I shall be happy if after my fellowlaborers have reported upon this work, I can believe I
have contributed a little to the better day.
And here an invocation to my critics! I hope they
will prove wrong my statement in the Introduction that
honest criticism is hard to get. If you have any pleasant
things to say, please say them; and if you have unpleas



PREFACE


xi


ant things to say, please say them-to me. I do not
profess, hypocritically, that I like adverse criticism; but
I promise to receive it with the meekness of Moses (see
Exodus, 2:12), and to give it as fair consideration as a
poor human is capable of. I trust it is not too sensational
to say that I do not believe this the best possible book on
this subject. I believe that good books on public speaking have been written in the past. I hope that better
ones will yet be written, and I hope to write one of them
myself. Therefore, your criticisms, I pray! This does
not mean that I send this book out with excessive modesty,
either real or assumed. If I did not believe that out of
years of experience and study I have produced something
worthy of your attention, I should not publish it.
Of the matter contained in Chapters III and IV, read
as a paper at a conference, one teacher said, "That 's all
right; but, of course, it is not practical." I am prepared to say that if that teaching is not practical, then no
teaching is practical. There may easily be "too much
theory" in a course; but sound theory is practical.
Some may have courses so brief that there is time only
for a little speaking; but we find it profitable at Cornell
to introduce a considerable part of the matter in this
book into a course for engineers which meets but twice a
week for a half-year. After all, one is always proceeding
on some theory, and one's students have some amazing
theories. We want much practice; but we should found
practice upon sound principles. Practice which is not
based upon sound principles is not practical. I believe
in valid scientific theory, nailed down with the "brass
tacks" of practical suggestions and work....
I know well some will not approve of this book because
it is not written in what they consider a proper textbook




xii


PREFACE


style. I have not hidden behind the third person, or
the ponderous "editorial we"; but have spoken as teacher
to student. Again, I have not put a large number of
Jabels on all sorts of things. Labels are very tempting,
and sometimes handy; and also at times very troublesome. I have sought the happy mean. And I have not
sought new labels when I thought the old serviceable.
But back of the lack of labels is the lack of dogmatic
rules. A teacher who was a student in our summer
school argued that some college teacher should furnish
a syllabus for public speaking and should set down things
just exactly as they are, without any discussion or any
leeway for the student. One is not surprised to learn
that this gentleman is a teacher of mechanics. Of course,
the thing has been attempted often enough, and will be
again. It is much easier, when one wants quick and
showy results, to be dogmatic. The method produces
contented and docile students, for the most part; only,
the students best worth while may revolt, and all may be
disappointed later when they find that the dogmatic
teachings are not readily adaptable to many practical
situations. I have insisted, throughout this book, on
taking the student into my confidence, and on trying to
stimulate him to think for himself. This I do in my
own classes; and although my students are not particularly docile, or impressed with the belief that my ideas
are always right, I am satisfied with the result. I like
to see them grow. I have particularly endeavored to
lead students of this book to view speaking as a real and
practical matter, having to do with actual human concerns. And I have not hesitated to discuss anything
which might lead them to observe human nature as it is.
I have wished students using this book to become intelligent on the subject, not merely to learn rules. I have




PREFACE


xiii


therefore explained much. But I have not stopped with
explanation. I not only wish them to understand but
to believe that what is urged is wise, or to form an intelligent belief to the contrary. And I have not only wished
them to believe, but also to do. I have particularly
wished them to have the right attitude toward public
speaking. Many passages have been written as the immediate result of class-room struggles. I find in many
students, for example, prejudice against emotion and
imagination. This I have labored to overcome. If any
one says that, after all, the chief thought in Chapters III
and IV is that a speaker should master his subject, I
shall admit the charge. I have devoted space to what
may seem to us a truism, because I wish to impress the
truism, and show how it can be put into practice. However, I believe much more than the truism develops in the
process,-principles we need throughout our work.
While I have not attempted to reduce all the topics
of the subject to a simple system, which seems to me
impossible without artificiality, still I believe the work
has unity. The key word is Attention. I have not insisted upon this idea everywhere, but everywhere attention is the underlying thought. It may be that some
other thought would serve as the center of thinking on
this subject; but more and more my ideas group themselves about this center, and it seems to me that no other
can be equally good for the student of public speaking.
As regards sources, I have tried with scrupulous care
to give credit to whomever it is due. I can conceive of
no good reason for not doing so. But since one can never
tell where his ideas come from, and since a preface is
essentially egotistical, I will here set down, for those
interested enough to read, a few remarks in regard to the
influences I have been under. I was for four years in




xiv


PREFACE


Hamilton College, and was much influenced by its traditions and by Professor Brainard G. Smith. Most of
Professor Smith's teaching, as was usual twenty years
ago, related to delivery. With my principles of teaching
he can have little sympathy; but I am indebted to him
for his common-sense standards. After two years spent
in high school teaching, I came to Cornell and served
under the stimulating leadership of Professor Duncan
Campbell Lee, who showed me how to teach without
rules and without demanding imitation. I have had the
advantage of a summer term under Dr. and Mrs. S. S.
Curry, and have been helped by Dr. Curry's books. But
it would be unfair to these teachers and untrue to fact
to say that I have derived any great part of the teachings of this book from them. I doubt if any one of them
would own me as a disciple. The books from which I
have drawn are too numerous to remember; but I
acknowledge an indebtedness, in regard to teaching delivery, to Kirby's Public Speaking and Reading. In regard to the psychological foundations of this treatise, I
believe I have made full acknowledgments....
I wish to express my gratitude for help received in a
long evening's talk with my former teacher of psychology,
Professor William Harder Squires, of Hamilton College,
and in several conversations with Guy Montrose Whipple,
now Professor of Educational Psychology in the University of Illinois. To Professors Frank E. Brown, of South
Dakota State College, John M. Clapp, of Lake Forest
College, Harry Bainbridge Gough, of DePauw University, James Milton O'Neill, of the University of Wisconsin, Charles W. Paul, of the University of Virginia, and
Charles H. Woolbert, of the University of Illinois, to men
who are or have been my colleagues in the Department of
Public Speaking in Cornell University George A. Ever



PREFACE                      xv
ett, Smiley Blanton, Alex M. Drummond, Guy B. Muchmore, Elam J. Anderson, Theodore T. Stenberg and
Roland C. Hugins, for suggestions and encouragement,
given in letters and conversations (and sometimes heated
combats!); to William Strunk, Jr., Professor of English
in Cornell University, for reading a large portion of my
manuscript; to Messrs. Muchmore, Drummond, Anderson and Stenberg for reading portions of the manuscript
and assisting in the proof-reading; to Professor Muchmore for preparing voice and gesture exercises; to Willard Austen, Librarian of the Cornell University Library
for many helpful suggestions; and to my wife and my
mother for their encouraging confidence, I make grateful
acknowledgments.
J. A. WINANS.
November 8, 1915.








PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION


IN this second edition, following only a year after the
first, I have made no radical changes, but have tried
throughout to increase the clarity of expression and to
add helpful suggestions.
The most noticeable change is in order. Chapters II,
VI, VII, VIII, and IX of the first edition are in this
placed last, where they are out of the way of the general
reader, but are still within easy reach of the teacher who
may wish, as I do, to take them up early in his course.
Chapter I (now II) I have kept in its place, because I
wish to emphasize my belief that the student of speechmaking should begin by making speeches, for which he
needs some sound ideas, and because I believe the chapter establishes a desirable view-point for the whole subject.
There is no certainly best order. At any rate, there is
no order which many will accept as best. It will be
found entirely feasible to take up the chapters referred
to, or those on selecting subjects, finding material and
making outlines, as early as one pleases. I think it best
to get on at first with some rather simple notions of the
topics mentioned, and postpone more thorough study of
them until my students have, by experience and study,
gained some knowledge of fundamental principles.
From the various kindly suggestions which I have received, about order and about including this and omitting that, I am inclined to believe, not that I am surely
right, but that I am not nearly so wrong as I might have
xvii




xviii


PREFACE


been. It is, of course, impossible to satisfy all; or even
to satisfy myself. I am, nevertheless, grateful for the
suggestions, which I have found most helpful.
The numerous requests for suggestions in regard to
the use of the book I hope to answer soon, but it has
seemed to me that my answer might better be published
for the eyes of teachers only, and not be added to an
already rather bulky textbook.
One point I should like to make in this connection:
that a very poor use of the book is to make students
swallow it whole. My ambition is to make its readers
think for themselves, and to become intelligent on the
subject, capable, not of applying "rules," but of adapting my suggestions and the suggestions of experience to
situations that may confront them. I seek to get reactions from my own students; and especially by propounding practical problems and by asking for illustrations of
the principles.
To the few who seem determined to judge the book on
the assumption that it is an attempt at a systematic
treatise on the philosophy, or the psychology, of public
speaking, I must insist that it is no such thing. It is a
practical textbook, for the use both of college students
and of those who must teach themselves. I am gratified
to know that many of both classes have found it suited
to their needs. I have included topics, or omitted them,
in accordance with my belief in their utility for the purpose in hand.
Let me say, what seems hardly necessary to say, that
I make no pretense of being a psychologist; but that I
make no apology for endeavoring to use the work of any
man who can help the teachers of public speaking to get
their feet on a solid foundation.
The criticism that has interested me most has come to




PREFACE                       xix
my fellow teachers from several students at Cornell:
that the book is so interesting and so clear that they have
trouble in fixing its contents in mind, for the very lack
of friction! Should I take this criticism to heart?
In addition to the acknowledgments of the former
preface, I wish to thank Professor J. S. Gaylord, of the
University of Wisconsin, and the many others who have
taken pains to write me concerning the first edition. I
wish them and those who may write me about the book in
the future, to believe that all kindly meant comments are
gladly received, whether meekly accepted or not.
J. A. WINANS.
Cornell Heights, Ithaca, N. Y.,
December 22, 1916.








CONTENTS
CHAPTER                                             PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION...........                      3
Public speaking in practical affairs. As a
S   study.
II. CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE....   20
Public and private speaking compared. How
to be conversational in public delivery.
1. PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION......   50
Forms of attention. Derived interest. Novelty. Concreteness. Imagination. Sustained
attention.
IV. ATTENTION OF THE SPEAKER TO HIS TOPIC.. 77
Applications of the preceding chapter to the
three stages of preparation..   EMOTION............  97
Emotion necessary. Control of. James-Lange
theory. Emotion and imagination.
VI. ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE-INTEREST... 109
Variations in audiences. Principles of Chapter III applied. Illustrations. Qualities of
style.
VII.   HE EXPOSITORY SPEECH......  176
Pure exposition.  Exposition in Argument.
Use of charts, etc.
VIII. PERSUASION INFLUENCING CONDUCT.... 185
Persuasion  defined. The audience analyzed
with reference to persuasion. Attention theS ory of. Motives and emotion. Imagination.
Suggestion, crowds and mobs.




CONTENTS
CHAPTER                                              PAGE
IX. PERSUASION AND BELIEF........     245
Attention and belief. Logical argument. Emotion and belief. Common ground. Identification of beliefs. Conservatism. Precedent
and authority.  Personal attitude of the
speaker.  Tact. Persuasion  not trickery.
Making the impression permanent.
X. SELECTING THE SUBJECT........   349
Questions to consider. List of topics.
XI. FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY.....   369
Use of the library. Reference works. How to
read. What is originality. The moral question involved.
XII. EXTEMPORANEOUS OR WRITTEN-PLANS AND OUTLINES...........  385
Advantages and disadvantages of various methods of speaking. How to avoid defects of
extemporaneous address. Need of planning.
SImportance of outlines. How   to outline
speeches.
XIII. FURTHER ANALYSIS OF MENTAL ACTION AS AFFECTING DELIVERY........   424
Phrasing, centering, echoes, pause, inflection,
etc.
XIV. STUDY AND DELIVERY OF SELECTIONS.... 445
Value of. Qualities of a good selection. How
to study. Examples.
XV. GESTURE............  468
Instinctive  and  necessary. The   impulse.
Stages of training. Poise and freedom. Exercises. Criteria. Kinds of gesture.
XVI. PLATFORM MANNERS.........  492
XVII. VOICE TRAINING..........  497
/            Qualities of a good voice. Exercises and selections.
INDEX............... 513




PUBLIC SPEAKING




Socrates. But perhaps Rhetoric has been getting too
roughly handled by us, and she might answer: What
amazing nonsense you are talking! As if I forced any
man to learn to speak in ignorance of the truth!
Whatever my advice may be worth, I should have told
him to arrive at the truth first, and then come to me.
At the same time I boldly assert that mere knowledge of
the truth will not give you the art of persuasion.
-PLATO, Phcedrus.




PUBLIC SPEAKING
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
WITH the call for public speakers from pulpit, bar,
stump, and lecture platform remaining undiminished,
and with the large additional call in these latter days
from ever multiplying organizations, with their meetings,
conventions and banquets, it comes about that there is
to-day greater opportunity and demand for speech-making than ever before. The average man finds it greatly
to his advantage in civic, organization and business affairs to be able to stand up and speak his mind; while
any man who is known to have anything of interest to
say, or who has in any way aroused favorable public attention, will be fairly dragged upon the platform. Thus
it comes about that never before have so many untrained
and ill-prepared men found themselves upon their legs
facing audiences,-not unfrequently to the regret of both
parties. While many work out their own salvation,
literally with fear and trembling, more have but scanty
success.
I shall not enter upon any praises of the art of public
speaking. It is good and it is bad; it is base and it is
noble. It is part of human life and it is what one makes
it. My point is that it is important. I wish we might
start with a sane, well-balanced view of this subject,
which seems peculiarly unfortunate in the number of
3




4


PUBLIC SPEAKING


half truths that gather about it. We need not deny that
it is better to "do noble deeds" than to talk about them,
in order to recognize that often one must talk before he
will be allowed to do; and especially that he must talk
in order to induce others to do.
We need not deny that public speaking was comparatively more important in ancient than in modern times.
The point is that it is still important to-day, and that
apparently in this age of discussion and government by
public opinion it is increasingly important. It would
be easy to fill a book with expressions by men of affairs
to the effect that ability to speak well is important to
success. Earl Curzon, the former Viceroy of India,
told1 the students of Cambridge two years ago that
"never was eloquence, i.e., the power of moving men by
speech, more potent than now; never was it more useful,
or I may add, more admired as an accomplishment."
The late Senator Hoar, long a leader in the United States
Senate, declared in his old age: 2
"The longer I live, the more I have come to value the
gift of eloquence.... Every American youth, if he desires for any purpose to get influence over his countrymen in an honorable way, will seek to become a good
public speaker."
Eloqutence and oratory are words which easily acquire
bad meanings; for the art of public speaking is readily
prostituted to foolish or base uses. It is as easy to
"emit chatter and futility" and to utter lies upon
the platform as in conversation. When I use the word
oratory, I shall use it in the sense assigned by Earl
Curzon to eloquence, "the highest manifestation of the
power of speech."   It was used in its sinister meaning by
1 Modern Parliamentary Eloquence, p. 4.
2 Introduction to Vol. XI of Reed's Modern Eloquence.




INTRODUCTION


5


Andrew   D. White when he said in a public address,
"Nothing is so cheap as oratory."
But that same gentleman, statesman, educator and
Cornell's Grand Old Man, has had a different thought in
mind when on several occasions he has invited groups of
students to his home to urge them to improve themselves
in public speaking. At such times he has said to them
that while there is much regrettable speaking in this
country, he holds it particularly important that young
men of education and honor should train themselves
to speak; for the ability to speak well will greatly increase their influence. And this is true not only in America but in every country in Europe, unless it be Russia.
Two motives for learning to speak well are suggested
by the preceding: increasing one's chance to succeed
and increasing one's power to serve. In an age of service
and in an age when educated men are being recognized
as leaders as never before, the more generous motive
must appeal with force to young men.
Educators are waking up to the value of this discipline.
I shall cite only those best known to me. President
Schurman has often spoken publicly of its value, pointing
out that the decrease in the influence of the editorial
writer has increased the importance of the speaker.
And Dean Crane of Cornell, while Acting President in
1912-13, used his influence to stimulate interest in speaking. He said in an interview granted the University's
daily paper:
"It is interesting to note the great revival of interest
in public speaking all over the country at the present
time. A man is not considered educated unless he can
present his views clearly and forcibly. The importance
of college training in this subject has been emphasized
at more than one alumni banquet this year."




6


PUBLIC SPEAKING


To the assertion that the press has taken the place of
the speaker, Senator Dolliver of Iowa replied:1
"There need be no fear that the spoken word will ever
lose its power to influence the world. The newspaper
will have no more potency in abolishing the political
speech than the Tract Society will have in diminishing
the importance of the preacher. It may change, and in
fact already has changed, not only the taste of the audience but the style of the orator. And the opinion is ventured here that in both cases the alteration has been for
the better."
There is no good in discussing the comparative importance of press and platform when both are potent. The
press has its important function; but just so long as men
are influenced by personality so long will the speaker,
who employs this influence in the most direct way, have
his place. Let me quote, not from an orator, but from
one of the most thoughtful editorial pages in America: 2
"The strange notion that the day of the orator is gone
by was again disproved at Saratoga.     [The reference is
to the struggle in the New York State Republican convention in 1910.] We do not mean that there was much
that could be called oratory, but it is plain that the completeness of Roosevelt's triumph was due, in some measure, to his ability to take the platform for a vigorous and
homegoing statement of what he wanted to impress on
the men before him, and no less to the absence of any one
of opposing views who could do the same thing. Great
orators, like Mr. Dooley's 'gre-a-at iditors,' may be all
dead; but that they would be without profession, and
have to turn their energies to writing for the press, if
they were to come back, is preposterous."
But I must beware of alarming some with this talk of
orators and oratory, of political affairs and great influ1 Saturday Evening Post. May 25, 1901, p. 0.
2 The New York Evening Post, October 1, 1910.




INTRODUCTION


7


ence. While every year there come into my classes students who wish to become orators, there are also others
who are much afraid that they may be tricked into
oratory against their will. They need not fear. No one
will be an orator until he has, added to skill, a message
and an occasion. But with the real desires of these
students I have full sympathy. In the first place, they
do not wish to take up work in which they will be expected to deliver bombastic clap-trap, which is their idea
of oratory; and in the second place, they wish to learn
how to speak effectively in a plain way in their business
and professional affairs. The teachings of this text are
as applicable to such simple speeches as to the grandest
"efforts."  They will apply as well to getting a job,
or persuading the the town council to put in a sewage system,
as to "moving the listening thousands" to favor great
reforms.
That these students are right in their hope that ability
to speak well will help them in their practical affairs is
testified to by many. Justice Hughes, when he was one
of the leaders of the New York bar, in a lecture before
the Cornell College of Law urged the students to cultivate
public speaking. That the trial lawyer needs this
ability is patent; but we are told that this is the day of
the "office lawyer."  An important member of the law
department of one of our greatest railways, a strictly
office lawyer, tells me he is greatly hampered by his inability to make a speech, and that he could serve his
company much better if he were able to represent it,
particularly at dinners. But what of those men of deeds,
the enoineers?   The dean of a certain college of civil
engineering declares that if graduates in engineering
could have thorough training in speaking, and some training in law, they could take their places as presidents of




8


PUBLIC SPEAKING


all the corporations in the land. In the new generation,
he holds, the engineer will cease to be the hired man and
will take charge of affairs. A graduate of the same college, a practising engineer, has established generous
prizes to encourage engineering students to cultivate skill
in speech. And in opening the contest last year, the
dean of a college of mechanical engineering declared
that the donor of the prizes had acted wisely in anticipating the future; and that the engineer must be able to
carry conviction of the truth of his results, for otherwise
great enterprises cannot be carried on.
In a certain university the only students required to
take a course in public speaking are those in architecture.
The reason for this requirement is that the faculty concerned has been impressed with the failures of certain
practitioners to secure acceptance for excellent plans,
when presenting them before boards and committees.
Mr. H. M. Waite, City Manager of Dayton, himself a civil
engineer, writes:
"I am delighted to hear that at last some of the universities are
paying some attention to what I have felt for some time was of
great importance; that is, the teaching of engineers to express
themselves.... It isn't oratory that is necessary. It is simply
that men in the engineering profession should have experience in
presenting their propositions to people."
But no class of men dwells more earnestly on the ability
to speak well than that which describes itself as consisting of "plain     business men."     "It isn't oratory      I
want," such a man hastens to say, " but just the ability
to get up and say what I think when things are being
discussed." And those who have had a little training
will testify to its help in meeting and dealing with men
in all sorts of relations; for example, in dealing with their
workmen, in selling goods, and in taking part in the
affairs of their communities. Of course men do succeed
in most vocations without the ability to make a speech.




INTRODUCTION


9


The just claim is that they find this ability a help in most
callings and indispensable in some.
Let those who shy at the thought of " oratory," or
even " public speaking," forget those words and think
in terms of attention. We shall find that that is the
essential thing, attention and the right sort of attention,
whether we are trying to tell people things, or get them
to believe things or to do things; whether we consider the
case of the teacher, the preacher, the reformer, the solicitor, the salesman, or any other who seeks to exert influence. President Lowell has written,1 "For any one who
desires to advocate a new idea, the difficulty is not so
much to convince as to get a hearing, not so much to be
judged fairly as to be judged at all." And he dwells
upon the need of advertising new ideas. Now public
speaking is an important means of advertising, or drawing attention to ideas. We shall be more and more
impressed with this truth as we proceed.
But should speaking be studied?  To some, speaking is
a wonderful art, requiring remarkable powers which must
be the gift of nature. It is true that a liberal natural
endowment is necessary to the great orator; but I have
met with few who could not by persistent effort become
good speakers. There are others who think that speaking is too simple for study; as if a subject which is
concerned at every point with human nature could be
simple!
"But is it not just a matter of practice?" some ask.
Well, practice and experience are absolutely essential.
Without practical experience, no textbook and no course
of training is worth while. It is quite true that many
have become good speakers, even orators, without such
aids. All book and all school training, in whatever field
1 Public Opinion and Popular Government, p. 59.




10


PUBLIC SPEAKING


of endeavor, are subject to the same limitation. Gradually the conviction has gained ground, however, that lawyers, physicians, engineers, and now farmers too, are
better for the training of books and schools; or rather
that they are best trained by a judicious combination of
what the narrowly practical man is apt contemptuously to
call " theory," and experience gained, at first, under
skilled supervision. Particularly is it true that progress
in any field depends upon the development of theory.
Cabbages have been grown for centuries; and yet on a
farm I visited the other day the farmer, by the application of the much despised theories of the schools, was
producing ten. tons of cabbages more to the acre than
his neighbors. Now, if by study one can improve his
methods of raising cabbages, why can he not by study
improve the methods of planting and growing ideas?
We study everything in these days; even sport. It is
quite true that a man may have a natural gait which will
enable him to win a race over the best trained men; but
we should all have more confidence in the runner who has
both natural ability and training. A runner may train
himself, and to a great extent he must, as one must in
speaking or anything else; but he gets on faster and more
surely with the help of one who has studied running and
observed many in their development. The "get-there"
stroke sometimes wins a boat race; but those crews whose
stroke is the product of long study of ease and efficiency,
most often "sweep the river.'"
Many of those who have succeeded without aid will
testify to the great advantage they might have gained
by early training. Others please their vanity by cultivating the myth that they have succeeded without effort.
Henry Ward Beecher was an orator whose easy ways
caused people to assume that he could not help being a




INTRODUCTION


11


great speaker; but no man has testified more earnestly to
the benefits of study and training for public speaking.1
His ease was the product of training.
But what is to be learned? The following pages are
the best answer I can give to this question. Briefly,
a student of speaking can learn much about the choice
of topics, about finding material, and about preparing
his speech. He can learn much about "thinking on his
feet"; about the action of his own mind; about the relation of speaker to audience; and much, very much indeed, about audiences, and how to adapt material for
the purpose of interesting, informing, convincing and
persuading them. And what he learns he must train
himself to use. Many things stressed in this text any
intelligent reader knows, in a sense; but many an intelligent reader, nevertheless, needs to train himself long
before he can realize in practice what he knows. In
particular he must train his mental action on the platform, and he must develop his sense of an audience. Any
intelligent man knows the purposes of speaking; but
most find long experience necessary before they can
actually relate themselves to an audience in the right
way. That is in part a matter of self-control, and in
part a matter of growing gradually to realize the nature
of an audience.
No attempt is made in these pages to reveal a royal
road to eloquence. There is no way to make a good
speech without having something to say worth saying.
Attempts to ignore this truth bring public speaking into
discredit. But we need not run away with another half
truth and assert that the something to say is all that is
necessary. Given something to say, desire to say it and
a proper opportunity, a good speech has become possible..1 $ee his lecture on Oratory and hiU Yale Lectures on Preaching.




12


PUBLIC SPEAKING


But there is no need for arguing the pretty theory that
nothing more is needed; for we all know men who have
much to say and try hard to say it, yet with the poorest
of results.
Besides having something to say, a speaker must be
able to think; not only to think, but to say what he
thinks; not only to say it, but to make others listen to
it, understand it and feel the force of it. Some who can
do all else, simply cannot deliver a speech. We wish
they would write down what they have to say, and let
us read it. To take a sane view of this subject we must
take account of all that enters into the success of a speech,
-the topic, the subject-matter, its formulation and its
delivery; and all this, though not all of it can be treated
fully in one text, comes within the scope of this work.
But what can be done in college classes? This is a
question that is best answered by experience. It is a
fact that students do learn to speak well in college classes,
and learn to speak in such a way that they do not have to
unlearn in practical life, but only to go on developing.
It is quite true that a student in one of these classes may
at times learn more in one evening of experience outside
than in a month of work in the class. The soldier learns
in his first battle what years of drill could not teach him.
And yet the magnificent German fighting machine was
trained without actual fighting to a high pitch of readiness. But do not suppose that the parallel is exact; for
the practice work of a class in public speaking can be
made more real than any mock battle. If you are doubtful come to my class when it is discussing athletics, or
women's suffrage, or the European war, with neutrality
thrown to the winds. No mock skirmishes these, but
war!
I have kept in mind in writing this text the man who




INTRODUCTION


13


must "work out his own salvation," without class instruction. I believe that a person who has the intelligence to understand and apply the principles set forth,
and who has opportunity for actual practice, can succeed
in becoming an effective speaker,-especially if he is so
fortunate as to have a capable and candid friend to
criticize him. Most of the suggestions of the text are
directly applicable to work outside of classes; and the
others can, in great part, easily be adapted.
Nevertheless, I believe that there are advantages in
class work. The ideal way is to have class work and outside practice also. In class one has the advantage of
making one's first efforts along with others in a similar
situation, and this eases the embarrassment. Again,
while failure always has a weakening effect, it is likely to
be less disastrous in class than before other audiences.
The student has also the stimulus of working with others
who are trying to do the same thing. He has more opportunity for speaking in a variety of ways and on a
variety of topics than he is likely to have elsewhere.
But perhaps the greatest advantage is that he can get
honest, intelligent criticism by one who is trained to the
work and who has had experience in watching the development of many other students. Competent criticism is
extremely hard to get elsewhere. There are enough to
condemn or ridicule us, and our friends are quick to tell
us we do splendidly; but few will tell us the truth.
There are few who are candid enough, and fewer still
discriminating enough for that. The unskilful will usually touch upon the incidental rather than the essential;
they will base their comments upon a very mechanical
view of the subject, and they will usually criticize too
much. The teacher, on the other hand, should be capable, and it is to his self-interest to tell you the truth in




14


PUBLIC SPEAKING


order that you do his work credit. When you do find
anywhere a competent non-professional critic, "grapple
him to thy soul with hooks of steel." IHe is more
likely to be found in one's speaking class than elsewhere.
The comments of student on student are not the least of
the advantages of such a course.
Among my treasures is this, written in the firm hand of Andrew
D. White, in response to a request for a word to fraternity students
about debating:
"Let every student worthy of the name,-whether fraternity man
or not-make the most of his university opportunities for debate
and public speech. Such chances and such training he will not
easily find again."
I wish now to suggest another reason for studying
public speaking which may not be so evident as those
mentioned; that is, that the study is, in every sense of the
term, educational. Gain in practical efficiency is, of
course, a part of education; but this is not all. As has
been suggested, to become a good speaker is to become to
some degree a leader. It will be increasingly evident
that the principles of public speaking are the principles
of influence. To interest, to inform, to convince and to
persuade,-these are the purposes of the speaker. Again,
it is a truism that the leader must be a man of self-control, and to gain power with audiences involves gaining
self-control. It was Emerson who said, "If I should
make the shortest list of the qualifications of the orator,
I should begin with manliness; and perhaps it means
here, presence of mind."      We shall see very clearly in
the next chapter the importance of presence of mind and
self-possession; and we shall realize increasingly in later
chapters the necessity    for command      of thought and
feeling.
Education should also develop individuality, and en
able a man to stand out from the mass and on his owr




INTRODUCTION


15


feet. A course in public speaking takes a student off the
back seat, puts him up before his fellows and compels
him to do something on his own responsibility, to express
his own ideas and impress them upon others.
But we may go further. William James has declared:
"No reception without reaction, no impression without
correlative expression,-this is the great maxim      which
the teacher ought never to forget."   Yet in how much of
our college work is there encouragement to reaction and
expression on the part of students?    To sit on the small
of one's back, to absorb a little from lectures and assigned readings, to squeeze the mental sponge out on an
examination paper-so dry that only a trifle of sediment
is left,-this too often is education under the lecture system. It is a system worse even than the old textbook
method which it has superseded; for that did provide for
some class discussion. I do not know that it would be
wise for distinguished scholars who are also good lecturers, to keep still while sophomores talk; but at any
rate it is clear that our present methods make it highly
desirable that there be some courses in which the student
has opportunity for self-expression, in which he has an
opportunity to formulate and express and thus clarify
and develop his ideas. We are told that the father of
Woodrow Wilson "believed that nobody had grasped a
thought until he could put it quickly and definitely into
words. This he did himself and this he taught his son
to do."
One recalls Brendel in Ibsen's Rosmersholm. All his life he has
been intoxicating himself with what he believes very wonderful
thoughts, which have taken shape in his mind in "poems, visions,
pictures-in the rough"; but he has refused to give them to the
world, saying, "Why should I profane my own ideals?" At last
1 Talks to Tcuclters, p. 33.




16


PUBLIC SPEAKING


stirred by the currents of the time. he resolves to "sacrifice them
on the altar of Emancipation." But, alas! "Just as I am standing ready," he explains later, "to pour forth the horn of plenty,
I make the painful discovery that I am bankrupt. For five-andtwenty years I have sat like a miser on his double-locked treasurechest. And then yesterday-when I open it and want to display
the treasure-there's none there!"
Altogether, this study is as valuable a discipline and
as cultural, as well adapted to developing and giving
control of one's powers and to "freeing the soul from
fear," as any study in the curriculum.
To those who have an honest fear that this study may
develop in them affectations, such as cause the objection
of many sensible folk to the "elocutionist," let me say
that all depends upon the way the subject is taken up.
If it is studied as principally a matter of delivery, as a
matter of tricks, of making fine birds with naught but
fine feathers, the danger is very great. But if we study
speaking strictly as a means to an end, as the means of
influencing audiences, the danger is small. Strangely
enough the end is often lost sight of in the study of the
means. Frequently       the  audience   is forgotten. But
when the ends of speech are kept in mind, it is then safe
to give due attention to any matter which affects those
ends.
It must be evident from the preceding that in this book
we are to deal with practical public speaking. This is
not a book on elocution, except as elocution is incidental
to practical speaking; and with parlor elocution we have
no concern. It is not a work on oral reading, although
portions of the book are applicable to that study. It
discusses the principles and makes suggestions which
should be helpful to one who wishes to present his own
ideas in his own way, for the purpose of interesting, in



INTRODUCTION


17


forming, convincing or persuading his hearers. In the
sense that the public speaker may arise to the heights of
eloquence which we call oratory, the book deals with that
subject; but it is intended to help speakers in commonplace as well as in extraordinary situations. It is not
designed for the encouragement of " college oratory, " if
we may use that term to describe a sort of speaking which
is sometimes developed in colleges and which would be
impossible elsewhere.
Indeed, this book is not designed to encourage public
speaking at all. Heaven forfend! I hope it will tend
toward the suppression of much public speaking,-of bad
public speaking, and most of it is bad. I have no desire
to develop the "gift of gal)," or the fluency which many
a beginner longs for, but which is rarely lacking after a
little practice. Fluency is a grave danger. It tempts
to utterance too frequent and too profuse. Mere fluency
is as ineffectual as the flow of a hose without a nozzle; it
does not carry. A serious study of this subject should
so increase one's respect for the power of speech and
give one such a realization of the difficulty and the responsibility of holding the attention for ten minutes or an
hour of a hundred or a thousand people, that speaking
will not be undertaken lightly, without something to say
worth saying or without due preparation.
As regards delivery, I hope the teaching here set forth
will help in attaining a style at once simple and effective.
It is based upon the belief that "right speaking depends
upon right thinking'"; but this theory will amount to
little unless we closely consider what right thinking
means and how it may be attained. Those advocates of
dogmatic rules and mechanical study of delivery who ridicule the claim that the all sufficient direction is " Think,"




18


PUBLIC SPEAKING


are justified, if we stop with that. We must improve our
thinking and learn to think like speakers.
This is not a book of thumb rules; for a subject so
complicated, which deals with human nature so constantly, cannot safely be reduced to fixed rules. Half
the time the rules will not apply; and often they are misleading. "It is better not to know so much than to know
so much that is n't so." There is no escape from the
necessity of being intelligent on the subject, from understanding the principles which lie back of rules, and thus
understanding their limitations and how to apply the
suggestions made to new situations. One should know
the principles, too, in order that his practical experience
and his observation of other speakers may be as fruitful
as possible. The man whose mind is fixed on a set of
rules will fail to see the truth that experience reveals
when it seems to escape his rules.
Since I am writing for college students and others of
equal understanding, I feel the more justified in avoiding
dogmatic teaching and in attempting to develop in my
readers a speaker's intelligence. Indeed, no other way
is worthy of those for whom I write. The book is perhaps a sufficient answer to the naive freshman, who when
he came to ask me about my course, exclaimed, "Gee, I
don't see how you can make that stu-Tf      hard!"   But
while there is no attempt made to dodge natural difficulties and offer "public speaking made easy," neither is
there an attempt to make the subject more difficult than
an intelligent treatment makes necessary. That would
be a sorry business indeed. Rather by careful illustration I have tried to be as clear as possible. If at any
point the reader thinks I have dwelt unnecessarily upon
the obvious, I can only say that I have written constantly out of the memory of class-room struggles.




INTRODUCTION                           19
We shall now proceed to a general consideration of delivery, not
because it is of principal importance, but because the student
should begin at once to deliver speeches, and he probably is more
worried about delivery than about subject-matter; and also because
the discussion of delivery furnishes a good opportunity for establishing a desirable view-point for the whole subject.




CHAPTER II


CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE
IMAGINE all memory of speech-making to be blotted
out; so that there is no person in the world who remembers that he has ever made a speech or heard a speech.
Imagine, too, all speeches and all references to speeches
in literature, to be blotted out; so that there is left no
clue to this art. Is this the end of speech-making?
Here comes a man who has seen a great race, or has been
in a great battle, or is on fire with enthusiasm for a cause.
IIe begins to talk with a friend he meets on the street;
others gather, twenty, fifty, a hundred. Interest grows
intense; he lifts his voice that all may hear. But the
crowd wishes to hear and see the speaker better. "Get
upon this cart!" they cry; and he mounts the cart and
goes on with his story or his plea.
A private conversation has become a public speech;,
but under the circumstances imagined it is thought of
only as a conversation, as an enlarged conversation. It
does not seem abnormal, but quite the natural thing.
When does the talker or converser become a speechmaker?    When ten persons gather?      Fifty?   Or is it
when he gets on.the cart? Is there any real change in
the nature or the spirit of the act? Is it not essentially
the same throughout, a conversation adapted to the growing number of his hearers as the talker proceeds? There
may be a change, of course, if he becomes self-conscious;
but assuming that interest in story or argument remains
the dominant emotion, there is no essential change in
20




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


21


his speaking. It is probable that with the increasing
importance of his position and the increasing tension of
feeling that comes with numbers, he gradually modifies
his tone and his diction, and permits himself to launch
into a bolder strain and a wider range of ideas and feelings than in ordinary conversation; but the change is in
degree and not in kind. He is conversing with an audience.
Nor is the situation essentially different if, instead of
our imagined case, our hero of field or forum is invited
to speak before a society, and this time has notice beforehand, has prepared, and speaks in a prepared room,
with a chairman introducing him, his hearers arriving at
a fixed time and sitting down in regular array. There
are differences to be sure; but these differences do not
change the nature of the act of speech.
I wish you to see that public speaking is a perfectly
normal act, which calls for no strange, artificial methods,
but only for an extension and development of that most
familiar act, conversation. If you grasp this idea you
will be saved from much wasted effort.
Public and private speech compared. Let us examine
the more important differences which will occur to the
reader of this chapter. First, it may be said, a public
speaker talks more loudly than one in conversatiom.
Well, a public speaker, just as a private speaker,
should speak so as to be heard without strain. If you
have occasion to speak to a person at the other end of,
a long table, you raise your voice. If you wish to speak
across a noisy stream, you may have to shout. This
would not be ordinary speaking to be sure, but it is still
conversation and not at all abnormal. The difference
is altogether a vocal one. You speak loud enough to be
heard.




2


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Again, one is told, the public speaker does all the talking; in conversation there is a give and take. These
statements are misleading. There are many conversations in which one party does all or nearly all the talking. Because an old man talks continuously to a young
man who listens respectfully, we do not say the old man
is making a speech. Our imaginary speaker talked continuously before he got on the cart, with but little response from his hearers. Nor is it true that the public
speaker does all the talking. The audience applauds
and thereby says, "We approve." It may hiss and
thereby say,' "We disapprove. " Questions may be asked
and encouragement shouted. But all these expressions
are only audible signs of what is going on in any audience whether quiet or not. His auditors are thinking
answers to the speaker's questions, or asking him questions, or assenting, or making objections; and the experienced speaker has learned to read less demonstrative, but
no less certain signs of the thoughts and moods of his
hearers. He can tell by attitude and facial expression
whether the other party to this conversation is interested
or bored, approves or disapproves, understands or is
puzzled, and he amplifies a point or touches it lightly in
accordance with what he sees. The story is told of how
Rufus Choate reiterated the arguments and pleas of one
of his jury addresses for three hours after eleven men
were won, until he saw the stern face of the twelfth juror
relax in sympathy. Many a passage of good oratorical
prose can be turned into a dialogue by writing out the
questions and objections that lie plainly between the
lines. (See for example the selection from  Curtis's
Public Duty of Educated Men, printed at the end of
Chapter XIV.) The young speaker can do nothing better for himself than to fix firmly in mind that public




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


23


speaking is a dialogue and to emphasize constantly the
part of the audience, anticipating and watching for its
response.
A third difference is said to be that the public speaker
prepares, while the converser speaks as things occur to
him.   It is true that a public speaker should prepare
when there is opportunity; but he is none the less a
public speaker because he is too indolent, or too busy,
or is called upon too suddenly. Nor is a man less a converser because he prepares for a private conversation.
Suppose a student is chairman of a committee formed for resistance to the abolition of cherished holidays. This student has
an appointment with the President of the University for the purpose of presenting the views of the student body. IIe talks with
his committee. One says, "This is a good argument to use."
Another, "That is not the way to put it; this is the way to reach
the President."  After discussing the arguments, the chairman
remembers that the President has promised him but ten minutes.
He must cut out some arguments and find brief ways of presenting
others; and by the time of his appointment he knows just about
what he intends to say and how he will say it. We will suppose
that the President says very little, simply listens attentively with
but an occasional question. We are assuming a wise student;
hence he does not take a loafing attitude or talk slang. HIe talks
as directly and pointedly and in as good language as he can and
stops on time. Has he made a speech or conversed? Conversed,
of course; but he has sifted his ideas, adapted them to his hearer,
and has not presumed upon his hearer's time. He has followed
a method excellent for a public speaker.
Suppose further, that at the end of the conversation the President says, "Mr. Smith, I wish you would come to the faculty
meeting to-morrow and say there what you have here."  At faculty meeting our chairman, has fifty or a hundred hearers. He
has to raise his voice a bit, he stands up, perhaps no questions are,asked; but if he has the good sense and self-control to talk to
the faculty in the same spirit and largely in the same manner as
when he spoke to the President alone, he will probably make an
effective speech.
If, on the other hand. he adopts a tone and manner strange to
himself, but which he may consider as belonging to speech-making,
he may easily be ridiculous.




94


PUBLIC SPEAKING


It is a matter of adaptation. If we are told that public
speaking demands more dignity of manner or of language, the answer is already plain: All depends upon
circumstances. Our student, though discussing the same
subject, talks to a fellow student in a more free and easy
way than to the President and he talks to the faculty in
a manner different from that in which he addresses a
meeting of the student body. In a similar way can be
met other arguments made to prove that public speaking
and private conversation are essentially different acts,
and that therefore the former calls for essentially different methods.
On the other hand, I do not maintain that public and
private speech are ordinarily just alike. We usually
have no difficulty in distinguishing conversation from
speech-making. Conventional differences, such as that
the public speaker usually stands before a considerable
group to talk while the converser usually does not, make
a distinction. Ordinarily, too, the public speaker does
speak more loudly, does talk more continuously, does
make more preparation, and especially he does have
to deal with more minds. These and other differences
may be important. They may make public speaking
seenm quite different from  private speaking; but since
there is practically nothing true of public speaking that
may not be true at times of conversation and nothing
true of conversation that may not be true of public speaking, we can hardly hold the differences essential.& They
are not essential to the problem of delivery, and particularly to the narrow phase of delivery we are about to
consider, the delivery of sentences with correct emphasis,
pause, pitch and inflection. Still, despite the essential
identity of public and private speaking, it is misleading




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


25


to say that one speaks to an audience just as to one per"son.ý
"A good deal of space has been given to this discussion, because this
conception is fundamental to all our work, and experience justifies
the elaboration. Perhaps there are few that would maintain that
public speaking is something far removed from other speaking; but
there are many who vaguely feel that there is a vast difference. As
a consequence, they begin to speak in a strange tone, they adopt a
manner stiff and pompous, they talk over the heads of their audience, vociferating loudly; or perhaps, they take a dull monotonous
tone, lacking the lively communicative inflections of conversation.
They may adopt a pompous diction in an abortive attempt to imitate Webster at his worst; or, what is the strongest evidence of
their perverted conception, they endeavor to speak by a marvelous
system of rules, which tell them when their voices should go up,
when down, what words to emphasize, when to use guttural tones,
when aspirate, and where to pause.
Certain common misconceptions removed. Before proceeding to our positive teaching on delivery it will be
"best to guard against certain misunderstandings which
often arise. First, public-speaking, to be conversational
in quality, need not sound like conversation, certainly
not like ordinary conversation. Conventional differences
may make it sound very different. However, conversation has many different sounds. Much depends upon
the hearer, the situation, the subject and the speaker.
The same man in discussing the weather, politics,
literature, religion, may have several different manners.
He may be listless while speaking of your hobby, but
while talking of his own impassioned. The diction of
the commonest man tends to become elevated when he
speaks of elevated subjects, even in private conversation.
We should note, also, the possibility of getting a distorted conception of the style of a speaker like Webster
because most of us read only isolated passages, and the
lofty strain of an impassioned peroration may be very




26


PUBLIC SPEAKING


different from the body of the speech. Each part is
fitted to itsL4ace. Nearly all have read Webster's apostrophe to the flag at the conclusion of the Reply to Hayne;
few have read the four-hour address. Most school children have met with Webster's terrible description of the
tortures of the murderer's mind, so far from ordinary
discourse; but very few indeed have read the whole of
that masterly address to the jury in the trial of the murderer of Captain Joseph White. Read all and you will
understand the assertion of one of Webster's contemporaries that Webster talked to the jury as if he were a
thirteenth juror who had just stepped out in front in
order to address them better. Again we must remember that the conversational style of Webster,-of whom
Carlyle wrote, "No man was ever so great as Daniel
Webster looked," and who made the British laborer exclaim, "By Jove, there goes a king, "-that the conversa-.
tion of such a man would not sound like that of more
commonplace people. An acquaintance has told me that
he was amazed by Roscoe Conkling's ability to pour out
impromptu a lofty diction in the Senate or on the
stump, until he knew Conkling personally and found
that he never let down in his vocabulary. The grand
style was his natural language.
Secondly, do not suppose when you are urged to be
conversational in public speech that you are expected to
be less careful, or dignified, or strong, or eloquent, than
you would be otherwise. There is nothing in this advice to restrain us from the exercise of our highest powers. Perhaps there is no better way to make the point
than to quote what has been said of Wendell Phillips,
the great anti-slavery orator. George William Curtis
said of him, "It was simple colloquy-a gentleman conversing," Yet that there was no lack of power is evi.




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


27


denced by the storms he stirred up. A Richmond newspaper, which detested his doctrine of abolition, said of
him, "He is an infernal machine set to music!"     Thomas
Wentworth Higginson said of Phillips:
"The key-note of the oratory of Wendell Phillips lay
in this: that it was essentially conversational-the conversational raised to its highest power. Perhaps no
orator ever spoke with so little apparent effort, or began
so entirely on the plane of his average hearers. It was
as if he simply repeated, in a little louder tone, what he
had just been saying to some familiar friend at his elbow...The colloquialism   was never relaxed, but it was
familiarity without loss of dignity. Then as the argument went on, the voice grew deeper, the action more
animated, and the sentences came in a long sonorous
swell, still easy and graceful, but powerful as the soft
stretching of a tiger's paw."
To take an example from present day speakers, Maud Ballir
ton Booth has said that in speaking "she never was conscious of
dropping a sense of conversation"; yet she is a speaker of rare
power. One of the greatest feats I have ever known was when
Mrs. Booth held for two hours and a quarter the close attention
of an audience at Cornell Univesity, an audience surfeited with
lectures. True, her story of work in the prisons was fascinating;
but a touch of the forced, unnatural manner affected by some
speakers would have sent us to boredom in half the time, nor
could she have held us had there not been in her delivery real
power.
Please understand clearly that to have conversational
quality in your public speech does not require a low
tone, or a careless manner, or undignified English.      So
far as our present problem is concerned, use what manner
seems good to you. Give your thoughts fitting garb; to
plain thoughts plain expression, to heightened thoughts
heightened expression. What I am now urging is, that,
whatever else you do, you should make your speech
genuine communication. Do not look upon public speak



28


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ing as a performance, but as a genuine dealing with
men.
Thirdly, and quite in line witth the preceding, do not
understand that I am advocating what is called sometimes
"the conversational style."   I advocate no style. The
word suggests too strongly that all should speak in one
manner, while we should stand for individuality. I
urge only that our public speaking should be conversational in its elements, and that each should develop and
improve his own best conversation. It is not conversational style but conversational quality that we want ill
our platform delivery. Do not understand that this is
some new thing; or that there are various kinds of good
speaking and that speaking whfich has conversational
quality is one of them. As we are using the term there
is no good speaking that is not conversational; and there
ver has been in any age whether grand or simple.
It is true that Phillips is called the exemplar of the "conversational style," and that it is frequently said that since his time
American public speaking has been reformed until, as Goldwiii
Smith says in his Reminiscences, you will go far to hear an ollStime "spread-eagle" speaker. Not only is the pomposity of former
days passing; but the old formality also, and perhaps too much of
the real dignity of earlier times, has disappeared along with the
heavier private manners and speech of our fathers. Properly understood as referring to the speaking of to-day as compared with
that of fifty or a hundred years ago, the term conversational style
is unobjectionable. But that is not what we are considering here.
It will be best to avoid the term.
A fourth common misconception remains to be dealt
with: Since the first important thing for the beginner
to do is to stand up and talk with his audience, some
are quick to say, "Just be natural." This advice is
plausible but hardly helpful. What does this phrase
"Be natural," constantly used to signify all that is good,
mean? The savage is nearer to nature than the civilized




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


o9


man; yet he is hardly a model. The child is more
natural than the adult. As Henry Ward Beecher says,
if nature were the ideal we should remain infants. It is
natural to be bad as well as to be good. It is natural
for some to stammer, for others to strut, for others to
be afraid of audiences. Indeed, is it not natural for some
to be affected? At least affectation comes without effort.
It is natural for many on the platform to be unnatural.
The advocates of "Be natural," as an all sufficient guide
are quite as likely as any to strut and bellow.
It is manifest that we are juggling with various meanings of the word natural. It may mean (1) in a state of
nature, untrained; (2) unaffected, sincere, not artificial,
or exaggerated; or (3) in accordance with nature's laws,
normal. The word as generally used is too loose for our
purpose. If it is good to be natural in the first sense,
then all education must be wrong. We wish to develop
nature and remove defects in speaking, as in all else.
Too often the plea of naturalness is made as a defense
for faults. If your mannerisms are objectionable to
your hearers or decrease your effectiveness, they should
be remedied if possible, whether "natural" or acquired.
Most of that which we call natural is merely acquired
habit.
Taking the second meaning of natural, we shall find
that the plausible advice, "Be natural," is difficult of
application by the beginner, and that it is indeed "natural to be unnatural." Most beginners feel embarrassment. Even old speakers suffer and rarely face an audience on an occasion of importance without a strong feeling of tension. At best the simple advice, "Be natural,"
is of but negative value, meaning for us, Don't con-!
ceiously assume strange tones and manners. It will be
best to avoid the phrase altogether, unless we define it




30


PUBLIC SPEAKING


each time we use it. We shall be helped more in escaping
embarrassment and attaining genuine naturalness, when
we look further and find out how to be natural. The
phrase may seem odd to you, but we need sometimes to
learn how to be natural. We need now to learn how to
act in accordance with nature and to develop habits that
will hold us to the normal under the stress of the platform. Let us look more closely into the nature of conversational speech, in order to learn what we have to
develop and adapt to public delivery.
Conversational delivery analyzed. Let us turn to a
common experience. Why is it that a small boy in school
reads "See-the-horse--on--the-hill " without a trace
of meaning in his tone, and yet five minutes later on the
playgrounds shouts the same words to his playmates with
perfect expression? And why is it that if the teacher
insists that Johnnie read over his sentence and get its
meaning before reading it aloud, he will read with far
better expression? PAnd why, if the teacher then asks
him to stand facing"his class and read or tell the story to
them, does he read with really good expression?       The
reason for his first improvement is apparent: in his first
reading all his mind is given to recognizing words as
words. They are without content for him; they bring no
meaning, no picture to his mind. His expressionless
voice is a true index of his impressionless mind; or rather,
to be strict, his high strained tone expresses truly the
anxious strain of his attention to the symbols before him.
When he grasps the meaning, expression comes into his
voice. He not only understands, but if he has a marked
success, he has more than bare understanding: the objects and incidents of which he reads are present to his
imagination. The horse is to him a real and significant
object at the instant he speaks the words. He has ap



CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


31


proached the conditions of his playground conversation.
He is "thinking on his feet"; he creates, or re-creates,
the thought at the moment of delivery.
But our small boy is still more successful in his reading when he is made to feel that he is reading or telling
his story to his classmates. To throw the statement into
a phrase we shall make much use of, Johnnie succeeds
when he reads or speaks with a sense of communication.
On the playground he has the most perfect expression of
all, when with no thought of how he says things, he uses
perfect tone, emphasis, and inflection. Still the advice,
"Forget your delivery," will be of little aid to the embarrassed beginner. We can forget only by turning our
attention to something else. Forget embarrassment then
by holding your mind to your subject-matter and your
business with your audience. Hold firmly to the conception that you are there to interest them, not in your
speaking, but in your ideas; to convince or persuade
them. Look     for their response. Stand       behind   your
speech, and embarrassment will disappear. As soon as
you can carry out these injunctions, whatever your faults,
you will be a speaker.
What to do. To summarize, then, your delivery will
have the desired conversational quality when you retain
upon the platform these elements of the mental state of
live conversation:
1. Full realization of the content of your words as you
utter them,1 and
2. A lively sense of communication.
1 It may be said that the first element is included in the second;
but it is doubtful if this is true in all cases. At any rate, both
elements need stress. In practice much attention must be given
the first; and a great deal of what follows is intended to show how
to develop full realization of content. This depends primarily upon
mastery of subject-matter; but beyond this is needed the well
established habit of "thinking on one's feet."




32


PUBLIC SPEAKING


When the first element is lacking we may characterize
the delivery as absent-minded; when the second is lacking we may describe the delivery as soliloquizing, not
communicative, or indirect.
These directions needed. Put so simply these directions may strike some as needless. They may ask, "Do
not all sensible speakers think as they speak, and do
they not realize that they speak to communicate?"
Many years of observation convince me that these natural questions must be answered in the negative. The
faults of absent-minded speaking and soliloquizing speaking are very common. Of course, there is usually some
consciousness of the meaning, but not always. Mind
you, no half grasp will do. Nor is it enough to grasp the
bare meaning; the emotional content also must be realized.
To fail of contact, to be indirect, is very common indeed. Young speakers too often look upon public speaking as an exhibition; and older speakers frequently fall
into a perfunctory manner, especially those who speak
frequently and in a routine way. Moreover, many of
those who do in a measure fulfil the conversational conditions, suffer from a wrong start. The man who begins
his career as a speaker because he "has something to say
which he wishes very much to say," and continues for
the same reason until his habits are fixed, and who has
no false notions of speaking, may come naturally to a
genuine delivery. But if a speaker begins with the notion that he speaks to make an exhibition of his delivery,
or that delivery is an external, mechanical thing to be
manipulated according to rule, or in imitation of a
model, he will probably develop a conventional tone and
other bad habits that will resist the force of even a




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


strongly felt message and an eager audience. Unfortunately, most of us have made a wrong beginning with our
reading and speaking, and have the habit of perfunctory
delivery. We began to read with all our attention on
pronunciation, and to "speak pieces" we did not understand, in order to make admiring aunts and jealous
neighbors say: "How splendid! I heard every word!"
when our delivery was really an abomination,-neither
song nor speech.
The conversational elements in reading. Perhaps it is.more common to read than to speak absent-mindedly and
" indirectly. The minister, for example, reading hymn or
scripture lesson, with his mind on his sermon, or on who
has come to church, may proceed with but the vaguest
consciousness of the meaning of what he reads and with
no feeling that he is reading to answering minds. He
may pronounce the words in a sonorous ministerial tone.
And his congregation? How rarely do they really listen!
If indifferent, they think of btisiness or fashions; if
devout, they piously feel it is all good and true and are
affected by the sound regardless of sense, like the old
lady who always wept when she heard "that blessed
word, Mesopotamia!"    In many churches there is a feeling that nothing really counts but the sermon, and there
is a notable shifting and comiing to attention when sermon time comes. In those churches where the reading is
of chief importane'e, the members of the congregation get
the meaning, so far as they do, by following the service
in their individual books. And all this is but the natural
result of the perfunctory reading that prevails. When a
preacher takes the pains to study out the significance of
what he reads, throws off the ministerial tune, and reads
as one who has thought to convey, the congregation




34


PUBLIC SPEAKING


looks up with surprised interest and thinks, "Why,
really, what a remarkable chapter that is!"
What I have elaborated in regard to the reading of
preachers is true generally of the reading of other speakers. Whenever a speaker in court or on the platform begins to read a quotation, the audience is likely to suspend
listening until the speaker explains the meaning of what
he has read.
The conversational element in speaking from manuscript. The speaker with manuscript in hand is peculiarly tempted to repeat empty words, because it is so easy
for him to do so. Nothing is easier than to recognize and
pronounce words without any recognition of their contents. Yet speaking from manuscript need not be empty
and monotonous. It may be lively and communicative,
if the speaker exerts himself to think and keep in touch
with his hearers.
When speaking from memory. The reading speaker is
not popular, but by no means all readers carry manuscript to the platform. The speaker who memorizes
should succeed better than the speaker with manuscript;
for he can better keep in touch with his audience. As
compared with the extemporaneous speaker, he is freed
from the harassing necessity of choosing ideas and words
from the many offering themselves, and from the necessity of determining order. He can, therefore, give all his
mind to presenting his thought to his audience. Probably, much as we admire the ability to speak extempore
and necessary as it is to the well-equipped speaker, most
of the great speeches have been delivered memoriter.
But too often one who delivers a memorized speech really
only reads, and reads badly, giving all his mind to recalling the words. Sometimes he is reading from a manuscript before his "mind's eye"; or his "consciousness




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


is empty of all but the sound and feel of the words."'
This tendency to keep mere words uppermost, we must
earnestly fight against. The method by which one memorizes is important and will be treated later; but the
gist of the matter is: hold yourself to the thought first,
last and all the time, and avoid the parrot-like repetition
of words.
Some hold that a speech committed to memory cannot
be delivered with spontaneity; but observation proves
that this is not true. It has been said concerning the
practice of George William Curtis, one of the best speakers of the last generation:    "He practised that perfect
memorization which has the virtues of extemporization
without its faults."    Higginson tells this story of Wendell Phillips:
"I remember that after his Phi Beta Kappa oration, in
which he had so carried away a conservative and critical
audience that they found themselves applauding tyrannicide before they knew it, I said to him, 'This could not
have been written out beforehand,' and he said, 'It is
already in type at the Advertiser office.' I could not
have believed it."
It is all a matter of re-creating the thought, and it is a
poor thought that cannot be thought more than once.
A man in earnest, let us say a senior canvassing for a
class memorial fund, or a candidate for office, will converse spontaneously enough though he has prepared even
his words and has repeated them in a dozen different
conversations. The chronic story teller often finds his
adventures growing in thrills as the years go by, if only
he can find new listeners.
1 "The difference between speaking sense and nonsense is this: in
tjhe latter case, consciousness is empty of all but the sound and feel
of the words; in the former, the words are the expression of a conscious situation, the discharge of an aggregate idea." Private letter
from Professor E. B. Titchener, quoted by permission.




36


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Whitefield, one of the greatest of preachers, declared that he was
at his best the fortieth time he delivered a sermon. The lecturers
of the Lyceum and Chautauqua platforms may repeat their addresses hundreds of times, and yet deliver them with freshness.
Again, when weary or indifferent, the best of them, for example,
Mr. Bryan, may give you as little sense of personal contact as a
phonograph. The book agent who keeps his mind alert and is
keen about his business will not remind you, as some poorer solicitors do, that his talk was handed him by his company.
When    speaking   extemporaneously. So indirect and
monotonous is much of the speaking by the memorizing
method, that it is widely condemned. The extemporaneous method is most popular of all. It has faults and
virtues which may be discussed later; but here it is in
order to point out that not even this method is free from
the faults under consideration. We must all know by
observation that it is quite as possible to make a speech
without well controlled thinking, as it is to converse without "knowing what we are talking about."         The extemporizer's mind is more.likel    t        eJ a etive; but under the
stress of choosing and rejecting, he may fall into confusion. Any experienced speaker knows how possible it
is to talk on without knowing at the end of a period what
he has been saying. Extraneous thoughts come,-an engagement forgotten, the train to be caught, disturbances
in the audience,-yet the speaker talks on, probably forming grammatical sentences, but rambling and "marking
time.'   Again, the effort of thinking out a point not
thoroughly mastered before, or consideration of a point
now first presenting itself, may throw him into a reflective frame of mind; his thought loses the objective character needed. As a result he breaks contact with his
audience and soliloquizes.
The extemporaneous speaker, therefore, needs quite as
much as others, a firmly fixed habit of always holding
his mind firmly to the matter in hand and of speakin




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


37


directly to his audience. To fix this habit requires for
most persons time and practice. The beginner has to
develop his powers, as does the athlete,-powers which
serve well enough for ordinary purposes, but not for
extra strain. Until this habit is fixed and he has found
himself as a speaker, the student should avoid all methods
that tend to draw him away from the fundamentals.
With special reference to directness. More speakers
fail in the second conversational element than in the first.
It is highly important that we understand the distinction
between communicative and non-communicative, or direct
and indirect, speaking,-a distinction more easy to feel
than to put into words. We hear a speaker, perhaps we
follow his thought, yet we do not feel he has business
with us. If he asks questions, we do not feel provoked
to reply even mentally. We are not participators, but
idle spectators. There is no challenge to our attention.
With another speaker we feel contact. It has been said 1
of Count Okuma, the Japanese statesman: "It is easy
to understand the delight with which he is always heard
upon the platform. lie is master of the art of being intimate with his audience-which is the secret... of the
highest quality of public speaking."
We may follow a speaker who lacks directness of delivery, from sheer interest in the subject-matter, or from
a sense of duty; but our attention is not due to delivery.
Such attention is wearying and can hardly be expected
from the average audience. The thought may be worthy,
the language fitting, the delivery may be otherwise good,
-voice clear and pleasing and the modulation true; and
yet lacking the communicative element, the speaking does
not reach or grip. It mnv be the speaker is thinking
intently, but as he lacks touch with his audience, his
1 Hamilton Wright Mabie in th1 Outlook, June 14, 1913, p. 331.




38


PUBLIC SPEAKING


speech is only soliloquy. We say of another speaker,
"He talks over our heads"; and this points to more than
the character of thought or vocabulary. The speaker
may literally talk and look over our heads; or, though his
eyes are turned toward us, he may be practically unconscious of our presence. Some advance from soliloquy to
monologue and talk at us, or thunder at us.
But true speech is a dialogue; better even than talking
to us is talking with us. It is conversation with an audience. The audience is conceived of by the speaker as,
responding, asking questions, approving and disapproving. He dwells on an idea till he is sure of the response.
He never follows his own train of thought to the ignoring of the thoughts of his hearers. This conception
brings into the speaker's voice the tone we call direct or
communicative.
We should make sure, in our efforts to be direct, that
this tone springs from mental attitude, from a felt contact with our hearers; for it, no more than other tones,
should be assumed as a trick of delivery. The attempt
to put on directness is likely to result in an over-familiar,
confidential, or wheedling tone which is most objectionable.
It takes courage and self-control to speak straight to an
audience. This is not because of embarrassment merely,
but because of the necessity of commanding and directing the thoughts of many. There are times when the
speaker feels that it is his will against the combined wills
of his hearers. The point was well put by a former
student who, from being a rather weak speaker in college,
developed a direct and effective style while preaching to
western cowboys: "I tell you, when your congregation
may jump out of a window or dance in the aisle if you
lose control, you have to grip them!"    If the speaker




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


39


weakens and retires within himself, he quickly loses control and a restless inattention ensues almost as distressing
as these "wild and woolly" extremes. Said President
Stryker of Hamilton College, at his best an orator of
great power, "It is four-fifths will power."
We should emphasize in connection with directness,
the effect of the eye, which is quite as important as the
voice in maintaining contact. The speaker should look
at his hearers squarely. No dodging will do; no looking            i
just over their heads, or down the aisle, or at a friendly
post. The speaker who meets the eyes of his hearers will
rarely see their eyes turn away from him     and he will
rarely lose contact. But the temptation is often strong
upon the young speaker to turn away; not merely because
of nervousness, but also because the necessity of thinking tempts him to drop his eyes to the floor, or raise them
to the ceiling. But the time for meditation has passed;
his facts, arguments and conclusions should be clearly
arranged in his mind. His thinking now should be of
that objective sort that is best stimulated by contact with
his audience. Of course a speaker who has no opportunity to prepare, may be pardoned if he fails to observe
this rule, and those who speak from notes cannot; but the
loss of force is easily noted.
While a speaker should avoid a constantly shifting gaze,
he should neglect no part of his audience. The part
directly in front should receive most attention. Many
speakers develop a bad habit of addressing one side of an
audience nearly all the time, with but glances at the other.
The neglected side soon grows restless. Do not let an
habitual posture cause you to neglect any part of your
audience. Make all feel that you are talking with them.
"I wonder," said a freshman, "why Prexy preaches all
his sermons at me."   " Why," replied his friend who sat




40


PUBLIC SPEAKING


on the other side of the chapel, "I thought Prex. aimed
them all at me!"   It must not be inferred from the above
that a speaker should stride forward with a fierce gaze
and an "I-am-going-to-make-you-listen" air. It must be
strength with ease, and self-confidence with respect for
others,-' a gentleman conversing."
Restraint and half-directness, Many beginners speak
in a half-direct way. They are not entirely lacking in
jthe sense of communication; but they do not come out of
Ithemselves and vigorously take command of their hearers'
attention. Sometimes they defend themselves against
criticism by declaring that they do not like noisy, demonstrative speaking, thus showing that they mistake the
critic's point. It is true that one may be effective without noisiness. There is a quiet directness which is highly
effective; but we should not, as some do, make mere
quietness an end in itself. A quiet delivery which fails
to hold attention is certainly not desirable. We wish always to have our words listened to and accepted, and
usually there is needed a display of frank earnestness.
Quiet force is good; but be sure there is force, not indifference. Self-restraint is not the same as self-control;
freedom is consistent with dignity.
The beginner, moreover, is rarely able to command the
quieter force. He gets on much faster if he throws off
restraint. To this end, I urge in particular that he
should indulge in great freedom of action (quite regardless of whether he makes good gestures or not); for
without free action most never arrive at genuine directness. As a result of dropping restraint, the beginner
may speak with needless loudness and exaggerated action; but if he will keep trying to communicate and impress his ideas, he will soon acquire the feeling of direct
speech with an audience, and will find that he can pre



CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


41


serve this as he tones down to a more composed manner.
We may well note at this point that this quality of communicativeness is not merely a matter of delivery. Much depends upon
composition, upon how the ideas are put into words, and very much
upon the character of the ideas themselves. This last will grow
clearer before we reach the final chapter.
Conversational delivery not necessarily good. There is
a strong tendency to assume at this point that when a
speaker has succeeded in reproducing conversational
mental conditions upon the platform, then his delivAry will be perfect, or "good enough"; and likewise a
tendency, when asked to explain conversational public
speaking, to ascribe to it all the virtues a speaker may
possess. But it is obvious that if one's conversation has
lefects, his enlarged conversation may have these de-!ects enlarged. Faulty pronunciation, indistinct enunci-'Ition, nasal or provincial twang, throaty tones, lack of
'ange or of agility of voice, are but examples of faultsi
hat may be transferred to the platform. A         rational
tudy of technique may be beneficial after the first sucess is won. A rational study of technique requires that
he student shall never look upon technical matters as of
irst importance, though they are often very important
adeed. It is due in part to over-emphasis of technique
hat the elocutionist often falls under the condemnation
f sensible folk. One reason for insisting that the class
f faults mentioned in this paragraph should be atmnded to after rather than before conversational condions are secured, is that we are prone to feel that the
art of a subject which we take up first is the most
indamental. It would seem that many never get beond the conception that public speaking is entirely a
Latter of the manipulation of voice and gesture.




42


PUBLIC SPEAKING


We were speaking in the last paragraph of faults of
delivery. There are of course many other reasons why a
speaker whose delivery is thoroughly conversational, may
yet be a poor speaker. He may have a weak vocabularly, or careless habits of thought and composition; he
may lack information and ideas, or understanding of
audiences; he may be deficient in imagination, earnestness and strength; he may have an unpleasant personality.
It should be pointed out, however, that many of these
faults tend to disappear when public speaking is thought
of as a larger conversation. For example, one earnestly
reaching out for the understanding of one's audience,
iwill make more effort to be distinct than in ordinary conversation; and often effort is all that is needed. Nervousness may cause a speaker to use his voice badly; but it
is clear that he is less liable to this fault when he looks
upon public speech as a larger conversation, calling for
a normal use of his voice, than if he assumes strange
tones. If our young speaker talks too rapidly,-and no
fault is more common with beginners,-a direct attempt
on his part to slow down often results in increase rather
than decrease of rate. But if a speaker holds himself to
a full realization of the content of his words, he will pause
much of necessity; and if he is earnestly striving to talk
with his audience, he will soon realize that an audience
cannot be carried so rapidly as one listener. Deliberatior
will be the natural result. Again, if a speaker come,
into intimate contact with his hearers, he is more likel3
to observe what manner of persons they are and adap
his message to their understanding, beliefs and feelings
How the student should begin. We shall proceed ti
more definite suggestions; but we have already enoug]
for a practical beginning. The first thing the beginne




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


43


has to do is to gain the powe-_to stand& up and talk with
an audience. Many will not find this easy, some because
of embarrassment and some because of bad habits already
established. In any case the effort should be to accentuate the mental conditions of conversation. In the measure in which the student succeeds in doing this he will
succeed in expressing his ideas with true emphasis, inflection, etc.  (The doctrine of this chapter goes much
further than delivery in this narrow sense, but we shall
limit ourselves to this here.)   If at first he does not
succeed, he must keep on trying. The chief remedy for
failure to express is more thinking, a firmer, more complete grasp of the ideas and more effort to talk with his
hearers. HIe must not let mere words fill his mind.
l.ords he m                     mnh tayM rpma-nsrbn r...
to _tthe thougt   Ie must establish the habit of speaking no phrase until its meaning is distinct in his mind.
And, as will become clear in the following chapters, the
thinking indicated in this chapter is not a mere dry, cold
process, but is to be taken broadly as including imagination and feeling. To carry out these suggestions,
the student should at once prepare simple speeches and
deliver them to whatever audiences are available.
Much practice needed. Mental habits need forming
and reforming. Long practice may be needed, too, before the expression, though correct, will be adequate.
We often wish to express a wider range of thoughts and
feelings on the platform than in conversation. This
fact makes necessary the development of the power of
expression. To this end we need not practise on a "set"'
of tones, such as "low aspirate oratund" and "high,
pure, aspirate, fast"; but we may wisely practise expressing a large variety of ideas and sentiments, using
both our own productions and those of others which we




44


PUBLIC SPEAKING


have assimilated. In such practice we should always
seek the right expression by means of a firm grasp of content and the effort to communicate directly to auditors,
real or imaginary.    (A   im      d audience is very
^atnt,anjd-4ipul for practice purposes.)    As a result,
we shall find the response of voice to mind growing more
prompt, certain and satisfying. And since, on the other
hand, the effort to express develops that which we seek
to express, we shall find in such practice that harmonious development of thought, feeling and voice which is
the truest vocal training.
The place of voice training. To this may be added
Sthe ps       tining of breathing and other exercises
for strengthening, purifying and freeing the voice. Any
exercises for bettering the response of voice and muscle
to the action of the mind may be welcomed; provided always that we never confuse ourselves with the notion
that somehow these means are public speaking, that we do
not think of such means at all when speaking, and never
try to substitute them for thinking. Exercises should be
employed strictly as exercises; and it is best that they
should be kept back until the beginner has gained the
power to maintain conversational conditions upon the
platform, through actual practice in addressing the class
or some other audience.
For further treatment of voice training, see Chapter XVII.
Do not be mechanical. If you have understood the
foregoing, you will see that there is no place in our
scheme for the mechanical stressing.O    word   pausing
and the like. If you have made a practice\9f consciously
fixing emphasis, pause and inflection, aandpn the practice. It is unnecessary and it will hinder you in acquiring the right mental attitude. If there is any time




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


45


for that practice at all, it is not at this stage. It is unnecessary for reasons already stated. The voice reflects
the mind with remarkable fi elity. "Expression," says
Cicero, "is always perfect.'"  A clear thought is clear in
expression, and a hazy thought is hazy in expressions
Our voices respond promptly and instinctively to our
changing thoughts, feelings and moods, and to the varying situations in which we find ourselves.. As a rule we
take no thought of emphasis, pause, inflection and tone;
yet the expression comes true. When we do take thought
of it, it is most often not to express ourselves better, but
to conceal indifference, eagerness, dislike, fear, or other
mood. Wrong emphasis is due to failure at the moment
to discriminate values; wrong pausing is due to failure to
distinguish the units of thought; the wrong tone is
prompted by the wrong feeling. The remedy is complete thinking and sincere feeling. The voice ordinarily
responds without conscious direction because this is one
of the earliest reactions fixed in the nervous system.
Why should not this response be as true in public as iin
private speech, provided we can maintain upon the platform conversational mental conditions?
Mechanical methods of expression have been reduced
to rules, which I refer to only because many readers of
these pages may have had experience with them. For
example, a rule states that a conditional clause should
end with a rising inflection. In speaking the sentence,
"If I go down town, I will do your errand," the voice
should rise at town. We may admit that this is usually
true, yet insist that the rule is both unnecessary and a
positive evil. Both points are vigorously put by Nathan
Shepard:1
1 Before an Audience, p. 69.
\ 0011




46


PUBLIC SPEAKING


"Another of the rules of the elocutionist is: 'Pause
before and after the emphatic word, and put a circumflex upon it.'
"Where did you get this rule? From conversation.
Finding that we do this naturally, let us do it mechanically. We do it by instinct in private talking, let us do it
by rule in public speaking. Finding that while eating,
every time your elbow bends your mouth flies open,
therefore this rule: When your elbow bends, open your
mouth.... If you deprive the speaker of his pauses
and emphasis and inflections, what is left for his brains? "
The last sentence touches the greatest evil in all mechanical methods: They check thinking. If we fix the
precise manner in which a sentence shall be delivered
and then, as is usually done, drill this delivery till there is
no danger that the vocal organs will perform otherwise
than in the manner prescribed, what indeed is there left
for the speaker's brains? This easy substitute for thinking is usually relied upon; and this is the more true because the student of mechanical training rarely conceives
of speaking as other than a matter of making his voice
and hands go right. lie manipulates his voice as an
organist manipulates his instrument, and when he
changes his tones for this or that emotion, you almost
see him pushing and pulling the stops. But instrumental music is an artifical matter, while the response of
voice and gesture to thought and feeling is a matter
of the deepest instincts of our nature, and mechanical
methods, which are a necessity to the musician, are a
positive hindrance to the speaker. Besides, the rules are
only half true; they conventionalize speech; and they
are cumbersome and needless. The agents of expression
will respond to right mental action; let us therefore attend to the thinking. If at first the unfamiliar conditions of the platform may interfere, the remedy is not




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE


47


an arbitrary substitute for thought, but more thinking
and truer feeling.
One particularly bad form of the mechanical method is
that which marks on the speaker's manuscript the pauses,
inflections, tones, gestures and emphatic words. Following out such a scheme takes the mind off the meaning of
the words, puts attention upon a mechanism, interferes
with the sense of communication, and in general has all
the faults of mechanical method in the most definite form.
Do not imitate. Mechanical methods do call for some
study on the part of the student; but the method of
learning delivery by imitation of another lacks even this
redeeming feature. It relieves from     all necessity for
thinking, and trains to absent-minded delivery. Moreover, when a student has delivered one speech by imitation, he is helpless when he attempts another. But worst
of all is the spprssia f      s-h    _ indiyiduality.
Fight against it as we may, there is nothing better for
any one of us than his own individuality, developed and
improved. David cannot fight in Saul's armor, nor is the
ass a success in the lion's skin. It is the fate of the imitator to copy the mannerism and miss the spirit. The
result is caricature. What Schopenhauer says of style
in writing can be applied to delivery: " Style is the physiognomy of the mind, and a safer index to character than
the face. To imitate another man's style is like wearing a mask, which, be it never so fine, is not long in arousing disgust and abhorrence, because it is lifeless; so that
even the ugliest face is better."  In the words of Wackernagel, "Style is no lifeless mask laid upon the substance of thought; it is the living play of countenance,
produced by the expressive soul within.'"  These brilliant
statements of Buffon's thought, "Style is the man himself, " are more true of delivery than of composition; be



48


PUBLIC SPEAKING


cause delivery is a more instinctive and intimate expression of personality than printed words.
In condemning conscious imitation as a method of learning to
speak in public, I do not overlook the fact that we learn to talk
in the first place largely by unconscious imitation and that imitation is a large factor in education. It may be admitted that in
treating some special minor faults, imitation may be valuable as
a last resort. It is the easiest of all methods for the teacher, and
may be justified sometimes when quick formal results are necessary. There are some who are slow in responding to other methods. But all this does not alter the fact that imitation is the
poorest of methods and disappointing in the long run: for it does
not ordinarily set the student on a course of normal development.
And for those mentally able to "run alone," it is well-nigh disgraceful. No man with proper self-respect will be content to follow, as his principal method, imitation, even of the best; and, in
the nature of things, the imitator must usually imitate the mediocre.
I recognize the fact that students have learned to speak well by
all sorts of methods and by no method. But as there are ways and
ways, I have tried to show you the way which after eighteen years
of experience as a teacher, I believe promises the least waste of
effort and the surest arrival. Nevertheless, the way is not an easy
one; Think is its "open-sesame"; and while we teachers can lead
you to the platform we cannot make you think.
Looking forward. We carry forward from this chapter
an understanding of the general problem        of delivery;
but we have as yet comparatively little to aid us in carrying out the suggestion, "Think as you speak."          It is
quite possible for us to think that we think very hard and
yet succeed only in deeply furrowing our brows. We
must make not only an effort, but an intelligent effort.
To this end we shall study in the following chapters how
our minds work and the nature of audiences. We shall
consider most of the speaker's problems, of which delivery is but one; and we shall find that thinking on our
feet is a relatively easy matter when thinking in preparation has been of the right sort, and that we are greatly




CONVERSING WITH AN AUDIENCE                        49
helped in talking with our hearers when we understand
the needs and nature of audiences and come before them
with definite purposes and speeches adapted to their
interests.
NOTE TO TEACHERS.-In the final chapters we shall consider
"thinking on one's feet" in a rather detailed way, venturing as far
into the technique of delivery as I deem it wise to go with a class
in practical public speaking, at least on paper. Other teachers
may find good reasons for differing with me.
Teachers will differ, also, with regard to the time of introducing
the work of Chapters XIII-XVII. I have found it good practice
to introduce Chapter XIII as soon as my class has digested Chapter II and has acquired some experience in outlining and speaking.




CHAPTER III


PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION
MANY of the problems of public speaking, plainly
enough, are related to attention. In the first place,
it is evident that the primary aim of a speaker is to hold
the attention of his audience. Secondly, as we considered in the preceding chapter, one of the essentials of
good speaking is "thinking at the instant of delivery."
And, thirdly, as in all studies, we need power of attention in the preparation of speeches. Throughout this
subject, then, we shall need knowledge of the principles
of attention.
Both clearness and vividness needed. That clearness
of thought is necessary is plain; for attention cannot be
sustained upon confused ideas. In nine cases out of ten,
when a speaker goes to pieces, the reason lies in lack of
clarity of thinking, particularly in lack of clear transitions. The audience will soon give up the attempt
to follow confused discourse. But more than cold clearness is needed; our ideas should have a vividness that commands attention.' This truth needs emphasis as applied
to the speaker himself. "The one prime requisite," says
Professor Titchener,2 "is self-forgetfulness, absorption in
the subject for its own sake,-such forgetfulness as shall
leave one as unconcerned before an audience as in one's
study.... I know of no golden rule, still less of any
1 I am glad to learn that a distinction found useful by a teacher
of public speaking, is sustained by so good an authority as DeGarmo. Interest and Education, p. 144.
2 From a private letter, quoted by permission.
50




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


51


royal road. Inaccuracy, carelessness, half-devotion,these are the bane of our students; once a man is earnest
enough to forget himself, to be ready to laugh at himself
with the audience without losing his head, to forget
how he looks and feels, he is successful and persuasive
with or without technical knowledge and practice; though
of course these things are assets, if he has them."  What
the speaker needs, then, is such preparation that his ideas
will command his attention, and awaken him to energetic
thinking and earnestness.
What makes an idea strong in the battle for attention?
At any moment there are innumerable ideas and sensations struggling to get into the focus of your attention.
The strongest-that is, the strongest at the momentwins. To understand how and why ideas gain strength
to command, we need to know more of the nature of
attention.
The forms of attention. Although there is but one
attention, it may be considered in three aspects. When
we attend to an object without conscious effort, our attention is said to be involuntary, or passive, or primary,
-there being no generally accepted term. When we
make an effort to attend, our attention is said to be voluntary, or active, or secondary. We shall use the terms
primary and secondary.
1" There are some things that we must attend to,
whether we will or no.... Such are loud sounds and
brilliant lights; things that move amidst unmoving surroundings; things that for some reason contrast with
their surroundings." This is the primary attention, so
called because it is the attention we have first as infants,
the kind we have in common with animals.
1 The quotations are from Titchener's Primer of Psychology, pp.
7G-80, but the terms adopted are from his later Textbook of
Psychology.




PUBLIC SPEAKING


"Sometimes, on the other hand, we seem to be holding
our mind upon an object by main force.... Thus we
may listen intently to a very faint sound, a sound that
under ordinary circumstances would have no power whatever to attract the attention; or we may note the minute
differences between two shells or two plants, finding distinctions where the ordinary uninterested observer would
find nothing but similarity." This is called secondary
attention. It develops from primary attention as a result of training; and it always involves effort. "The
list of things we must attend to is not very long. And
things not in the list cannot, of course, attract the attenlion so forcibly. Hence attention to them is... attention under difficulties, attention with several claimants
upon consciousness. The strongest idea wins."
This secondary or active attention, however, may pass
over into primary, or passive. "The man of science
who is comparing shells or plants may become so obsorbed in his work that he forgets his dinner or misses
an appointment; his mind is held as firmly by his work
as it could be by a loud sound or a movement. In such
a case, an object which has no right of its own to engross
consciousness has gained this right in course of time and
practice. At first attended to actively, with an effort,
and barely able to hold its own against distracting ideas,
it now absorbs the full measure of attention; the student
is buried or sunk in his task." This attention, since it is
like primary attention in being without conscious effort,
is called derived primary.
Now, while the power to hold one's attention true is
one of the characteristics of the developed mind, while
"active attention is the battle which must be won by
those who mean to master their surroundings and rise
to man's full height above the animal world," and certainly is highly important to the public speaker; nevertheless, it is easily seen that the less the effort involved
in attending to a given idea the better, for the power




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


of attention will be less quickly exhausted. "Active attention appears as a stage of waste."
Importance of derived primary attention to the speaker.
The speaker utilizes the primary attention of his hearers;
that is, he uses change, movement, etc.: but it is evident
that he wishes them to attend to things and ideas which
cannot command their primary attention; and, also, that
he does not wish them to listen with more effort than is
necessary, lest they soon weary. Again, notice especially
that the speaker himself should be freed from the waste
of active attention, so that amid the distractions of the
platform, his mind may be held to its complex task with
the least possible effort; that is, that his ideas should be so
developed as to hold his derived primary attention, or at
least, that they should approach that stage.
Training will develop primary attention to a given subject. After you have specialized in a subject for a time,
like the man of science with his shells, you find that the
subject draws you almost irresistibly. You try to attend to some other topic and the thought of your hobby
draws you away. And nearly everything you see, hear,
or any way experience, suggests that hobby to you and
leads you back, in spite of your best intentions, to whatever is, for the time being, your special interest. This
may be your life study or vocation; or it may be of lesser
importance to you, your avocation; or it may be a merely
temporary interest.
Attention and interest. First, in considering how to
develop attention, we note that attention and interest go
together. "What-we-attend-to and what-interests-us are
synonymous terms," says James.1      Interest and atteition are related as cause and effect, and either may be the
1 Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 448.




PUBLIC SPEAKING


cause of the other. It is plain enough that we attend to
what interests us; but this restates rather than solves our
problem. We shall make more progress by considering
the correlative truth, "Things are interesting because we
attend to them." 1   This is true becauseInterest grows with knowledge. "Interest grows with
knowledge, and, in     fact, is made by      knowledge." 2
"One's permanent interests, one's tendencies to attend,"
says Thorndike,3 "are largely dependent upon what one
has, on one 's permanent store of knowledge. Ordinarily
if one fills his mind with a subject he will become interested and attend to it."  This suggests that one may have
to force attention to a subject until knowledge is acquired.
The great scientist and teacher, Agassiz, handed a new student
a fish to study and report upon. Next day the student came back
with his task finished. The master sent him back for another day,
and then for another. The student became peevish; but soon with
increasing knowledge he became interested, and he studied the fish
for weeks with growing enthusiasm.
Derived interest. We are now ready for the principle
which lies back of the truth that interest grows with
knowledge. Derived interest is explained in a classic
statement in James's Talks to Teachers, which can readily be adapted to our problem:
"Any object not interesting in itself may become interesting through being associated with an object in which
an interest already exists. The two associated objects
grow, as it were, together; the interesting portion sheds
its interest over the whole; and thus things not interesting in their own right borrow an interest which becomes
as real and as strong as that of any natively interesting
thing.
"....There emerges a very simple abstract program
1 Pillsbury, Attention, p. 55. 3 Human Nature Club, p. 73.
2 Idem, p. 54.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


55


for the teacher to follow in keeping the attention of the
child: Begin with the line of his native interests, and
offer him objects that have some immediate connection
with these.
"Next, step by step, connect with these first objects
and experiences the later objects and ideas which you
wish to instill. Associate the new with the old in some
natural and telling way, so that the interest, being shed
along from point to point, finally suffuses the entire
system of objects of thought.
"If, then, you wish to insure the interest of your
pupils, there is only one way to do it; and that is to make
certain that they have in their minds something to attend
with.... That something can consist in nothing but a
previous lot of ideas already interesting in themselves
and of such a nature that the incoming novel objects
which you present can dovetail into them and form some
kind of logically associated,and systematic whole."
Here then is a major secret: to make a dull subject
interesting associate it with something already interesting. What that something shall be depends upon the
individual mind, upon individual tendencies and experiences. Unless the ideas appealing for attention do find
themselves welcomed by related ideas already in mind,
they are quickly driven from consciousness. Show a boy
that physics can explain the curve of a ball, or that mathematics has a relation to his chosen career as engineer,
and you may change a truant into an eager student. The
dull subjects are now related to his experience of interestingness.
While this is the best way to gain interest in dull topics, it seems
that relating the uninteresting to any existing knowledge may win
interest, at least temporarily; for the mind takes interest in the
discovery of likeness and unlikeness, and especially in identification. Witness how one looking at an unfamiliar picture will become enthusiastic on discovering that it is a new view of a familiar scene, and with what pleasure he identifies feature after
feature of the landscape. A boy studying his Bible lesson languidly




56


PUBLIC SPEAKING


came quickly to attention on learning that Paul traversed the same
Italy the youngster had studied about with equal languor in school.
There is danger, however, that distaste for one subject may be
transferred to another and that the reaction may be, "Oh, that's
the same old stuff!"
The following statement may add clearness by its pat figure.1
"Getting ideas is a system of grafting, and an idea cannot be
grafted on an alien stock. It is the teacher's business to find a
group of old ideas that can receive the new.. Budding and
grafting on to this native stock is our only possibility.... When
one by training becomes able to hold himself to the same task of
thought for a long time, it brings about a sort of mono-ideism.
Ideas hovering about the central thought continually come; all other
incongruous ideas are inhibited. Such thought becomes in the
highest degree effective."
So we see that what is needed is not merely filling one's
mind with heterogeneous information, but relating the
dull subject to existing interests. The more knowledge
we acquire the more relations we can find. The dull
subject may prove to be related to history, to literature,
to science, to business, to sport; for it is a trite saying
that any subject fully developed is found to be related
to every other subject. This explains why it is easier to
interest a well-informed than an ignorant man in a new
topic: he has so many more points of contact.
We may note here that we associate things or ideas sometimes
because they are alike, sometimes because unlike; sometimes because they occur together in time or place, that is, by contiguity;
sometimes because they are related as cause and effect, or have a
common source, or because one is necessary to the other, and so on.
Novelty and interest.    That novelty attracts attention
is clear enough; so clear that we need an understanding
of the limitations of this truth, lest we overestimate its
importance. Mere novelty may catch, but cannot hold
attention. Indeed, the extremely novel has less power
over the mind than the moderately novel. Professor
James goes so far as to say that "the absolutely new is the
1 Pyle, Outlines of Educational Psychology, p. 213.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


57


absolutely uninteresting."   Again he says, ''We hate anything absolutely new, anything without a name, and for
which a name must be forged."'1         When a thing is
absolutely new we have no points of contact with it,
nothing to compare, contrast and identify with it; that
is, it gains no derived interest, and the mind is baffled.
The fact that Hebrew is read from right to left is not
interesting to a man who does not read at all. As Angell2 says, the absolutely new is unintelligible. Royce 3
puts the matter most clearly:
"Novel objects, that are otherwise indifferent,.
tend to awake our attention and to become objects of
definite consciousness, at the moment when we are able
in some respect to recognize them. Apart from some
decided importance which a novel object possesses for
our feelings, the new in our experience, in so far as it is
unassimilable, tends to escape our notice.... If a pupil
is to be made to understand novel objects, they must be
made so far as possible, to seem relatively familiar to him
at each step of the process, as well as relatively novel.
Otherwise, he may simply fail to notice them.... We
see in this world, in general, what we come prepared to
see.
The chief interest in novelty, then, lies in our power
to assimilate it, to compare, contrast and identify it with
experience. If this were not so, then the engineer seeing
a new type of bridge would find comparatively little interest in it; for he knows other types in which are to be
found every feature of this new type. Yet he spends
hours over it, while a layman passes it as simply "a
queer sort of bridge."
It is well-nigh impossible to present anything absolutely new
to the educated adult; he at once begins to discover points of con1 Talks to Teachccr-s, p. 150.
2 Psychology, p. 4'42.
3 Outlines of Psychology, p. 235.




58


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tact. Primitive man furnishes us with better illustrations. A.
party of scientists, who traveled in a sailing vessel to the southern
extremity of South America, came upon a tribe of natives who
had no knowledge of white men or their ways. The aborigines
were observed to take great interest in the small boats, but paid no
attention to the ship. The boats could easily be compared with
dugouts, but the relation of the ship to their experience was too
much for their thinking powers.
A bit of imagination may help us here. Suppose that a man
were to come among us who has no knowledge of human relations,
and yet is able to communicate with us. What a large number
of our common notions would be meaningless to him! How could
he, for instance, give his attention to arbitration? Hle knows
nothing of war, or even of the rights of individuals; he knows nothing of peace-making. Where shall we begin our explanation? Perhaps he has observed strife among animals. Perhaps we can give
him an inkling by arranging a fight for the possession of food,
with an arbiter coming in to divide the food among the combatants.
Then he may have some little means of assimilating our explanations. We may be able to show him real war. Little by little he
may come to understand the history of human warfare and become
interested in arbitration.
Let one who needs illustration of what is said above about novelty, take a party of unlettered folk through a museum, and observe
what awakens keenest interest.
Interest in the familiar. We may learn again from
James:'
"The maximum of attention may then be said to be
found wherever there is a systematic harmony or unification between the novel and the old. It is an odd circumstance that neither the old nor the new, by itself, is interesting: the absolutely old is insipid; the absolutely new
makes no appeal at all. The old in the new is what
claims attention,-the old with slightly new form. No
one wants to hear a lecture on a subject completely disconnected with his previous experience, but we all like
to hear lectures on subjects of which we know a little
already."
We may accept this as sound doctrine, although it might lead
us to overlook the truth that there is interest in extremely familiar
1 Talks to Teachers, p. 107.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


59


things. As Royce says: "When I try to attend to a thing I,either try to recognize or to understand it, or I take contentment
in an already existent recognition or understanding of it, and dwell
upon it accordingly."  (Italics mine.) We find ourselves going
over the same experiences, stories, data, time after time. Witness the carpenter on an idle day turning to his shop and fondling
his tools. The business man's mind continues to run on his affairs; the athlete still thinks of his game. These are their "interests," the things they "attend to." Particularly do we return
to review great emotional experiences, as the soldier his battles.
And especially after struggling with the new and difficult, we turn
with relief to familiar scenes and familiar thoughts. With too
much of the new we may suffer homesickness.
Perhaps we should say that there is nothing absolutely
familiar; that we can always find something new in old
things or ideas. It is characteristic, at least of the
trained mind, to find ever new phases of familiar things.
Some old things bore us sadly, of course; perhaps because they are inherently unimportant, perhaps because
we really know    too little about them. But when we
are dealing   with   inherently  interesting  things, and
continue to add to our knowledge of them, interest
once enlisted, does not lapse, except temporarily from
weariness.
To summarize, interest is, generally speaking, strongest in old things in new settings, looked at from      new
angles, given new forms and developed with new facts
and ideas, with new light on familiar characters, new explanations of familiar phenomena, or new applications of
old truths.
Sustained attention. The problem of sustaining attention, once gained, though involved in the preceding, needs
special consideration. Psychologists tell us that attention
is intermittent and cannot be sustained upon one idea for
more than a few seconds. While this may not be admitted by all as regards derived primary attention (a
degree of attention we cannot always hope to have),




60


PUBLIC SPEAKING


it will generally be agreed that James is right in
saying:1
" There is no such thing as voluntary attention [secondary, active] sustained for more than a few seconds
at a time. What is called sustained voluntary attention
is a repetition of successive efforts which bring the topic
back to the mind. The topic once brought back, if a
congenial one, develops; and if its development is interesting it engages the attention passively for a time.
This passive interest may be long or short.... No one
can possibly attend continuously to an object that does not
change."
In another work 2 James says on the same topic:
"The subject must be made to show new aspects of
itself; to prompt new questions; in a word to change.... You can test this by the simplest possible case of
sensorial attention. Try to attend steadfastly to a dot
on the paper.... You presently find that... either your
field of vision has become blurred, so that you see nothing distinct at all, or else you have involuntarily ceased
to look at the dot in question.... But if you ask yourself questions about the dot-how big it is, how far, what
shade of color; in other words, if you turn it over, if you
think of it in various ways, along with various kinds of
associates,-you can keep your mind on it for a comparatively long time."
Professor James says 3 also:
" ' The natural tendency of attention when left to itself
is to wander to ever new things; and so soon as the interest of its object is over, so soon as nothing is to be noticed there, to something else. If we wish to keep it upon
one and the same object, we must seek constantly to find
out something new about the latter, especially if other
powerful impressions are attracting us away.' These
words of Helmholtz are of fundamental importance.
1 Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 224.
2 Talks to Teachers, p. 107.  3 Briefer Course, p. 227.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


61


And if true of sensorial attention, how much more true
are they of the intellectual variety! The conditio sine
quta  on of sustained attention to a given topic of thought
is that we should roll it over and over incessantly and
consider different aspects and relations of it in turn..
"And now we see why it is that what is called sustained attention is the easier, the richer in acquisitions
and the fresher and more original the mind. In such
minds, subjects bud and sprout and grow. At every
moment, they please by a new consequence and rivet
the attention afresh. But an intellect unfurnished with
materials, stagnant, unoriginal, will hardly be likely to
consider any subject long. A     glance will exhaust its
possibilities.... The longer one does attend to a topic
the more mastery of it one has. And the faculty of
bringing back a wandering attention over and over again
is the very root of judgment, character and will."
The same truth is put in a practical form by Angell:.
"To keep a thought alive we must keep doing something with it."   Continuing he speaks of a school boy
staring at his book, but unable to keep his mind from
more genuine interests. "For such a youth the sole possilility of progress consists in taking the topic and foreing his attention to turn it over, ask questions of it,
examine it from new sides. Presently, even though such
questions and inspection be very foolishly conceived,
tle subject will start into life, will begin to connect itself
with things he already knows, will take its place in the
general furniture of his mind; and if he takes the next
and all but indispensable step, and actually puts his
knowledge to some use, applies it to some practical problem, incorporates it, perhaps, in an essay, or even talks
about it with others, he will find he has acquired a real
mental tool he can use, and not simply a dead load he
must carry on his already aching back. What we call
attending to a topic for a considerable time will, therefore, always be found to consist in attending to changing
phases of the subject."
1 Psychology, p. 77.




62


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Suppose now you wish to keep your mind upon, not
a dot, but some topic for a speech; let us say Lincoln.
You cannot continue to think just Lincoln; you must
think about Lincoln. To do this you need to know things
about him, how he looked and acted, what he did and
what his characteristics were. The more you know about
him, and the more ready your mind in sifting and arranging what you know, the longer you can concentrate
upon the topic. "Concentration is not a continuous stare
at a single idea." 1
Summary. We now have in mind these truths: That
the development of thought to command attention depends upon abundance of knowledge; that this knowlkdge
should be related to and combined with existing knowledge; and that the interest of novelty lies chiefly in our
ability to assimilate it to existing knowledge. We learn
further that to sustain attention to a single topic, requires change in our way of thinking about it, a shifting of our attention from point to point, which also requires wealth of knowledge. You will not be at loss to
see how these principles, which will become familiar in
the following chapters, bear upon the attention of the
speaker himself in his preparation and upon the platform, and upon his efforts to gain and keep the attention
of his audience.
Concreteness and attention. The average person finds
difficulty in holding his mind upon an abstraction. Ability to do so comes as the result of training. A concrete
idea is more vivid. We attend most easily to sensations,
-what reaches us through eyes, ears, etc.; next, to mental
representations of sensations, and with most difficulty to
abstractions and generalizations. Unless an abstraction
is easily translatable into concrete terms it is very elusive
1 Knowlton, Business Psychology, p. 65.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


63


indeed. A    legal textbook would be impossible reading
even to a student of the law, were it not for the constant
references to cases in which John Doe and Richard Roe
have struggled over their personal and property rights.
Most of us find a work on philosophy hard reading, even
though we understand all the terms used. The style is
too abstract for us. We are relieved by an occasional
illustration. When a speaker indulges in much abstract
discussion we either cease to listen, or do our best, hoping
we understand and waiting for the welcome "Now to
lliustrate."'  Says DeGarmo: 1
" Concreteness contributes perhaps more than any other
single phase of instruction both to clearness and to vividness. It lays the foundation, therefore, for interest. It
is an old saying that 'the road to hell is paved with abstractions.' However this may be in theology, it is certain that in education a path so paved rarely leads to
the goal of vivid ideas... Lotze tells us that all the
strivings of the mental life not only begin with the concrete perceptions of the senses, but that they return to
them  to obtain material and starting points for new
development of the mind's activity. If this be true, the
road paved with abstractions is the road away from interest, away from vivid and life-giving thought."
The term concreteness is here given its usual meaning, the opposite of abstraction. "A concrete name is the name of a thing, the
ablstract name is the name of a quality, attribute, or circumstance
of a thing. Thus red house is the name of a physically existing
thing, and is concrete; redcnss is the name of one quality of the
house, and is abstract." 2 A tall man, a tall tree, a tall snonument, are all concrete terms, but tallness, denoting a quality drawn
out or abstracted from them, is abstract.
Concreteness and clearness. In all the preceding discussion we might have emphasized the rather evident
fact that clearness is developed along with interest, by
gaining wealth of knowledge, by linking the new to the
1 Intcrest and Education, p. 141.   2 Jevons, Logic, p. 20.




64


PUBLIC SPEAKING


old, the unknown to the known, comparing, turning ideas
over and viewing them from many angles. The longer we
dwell upon ideas with active mind the clearer they become. In the words of Royce: 1
" If our attention succeeds in any case,... the object
of this interest grows clearer in our minds; that is, grows
more definite and gets a better 'relief' upon its background. Indeed, attention is the conditio sine qua,non
of all important intellectual processes."
Let us now give some special attention to the relation
of concreteness to clearness. First, observe, the value of
abstract thinking is not questioned. Abstraction and
generalization are necessary to rapid and progressive
thought.2   The clear thinker will be able to put his ideas
into both abstract and concrete form, and one form will
be a corrective of the other. But we must observe that
general and abstract terms are treacherous and often
cover confusion and ignorance. The ignorant but pretentious man may talk loudly of justice, liberty, social welfare, wonders of science, philosophy, without definite
meaning behind his words. He will explain wireless
telegraphy with a comprehensiove gesture and one word,
"Electricity''; or questions about mental phenomena
with, "That 's psychology,'" or, "That is nothing but
suggestion."
Gardiner 3 says we must expect abstractions from two classes of
men: "First, the great thinkers whose intellectual powers work,
as it were, by leaps and flights; in the other extreme, from people
who are too lazy to think their subject out in specific detail....
It is only the man who can think clearly who is not afraid to
think hard, and to test his thought by the actual facts of experience."
1 Outlines of Psychology, p. 201.
2 For a well balanced discussion of this subject see Adams'
Exposition and Illustration in Tcac(hing, chapter on Elaboration.
3 Forms of Prose Discourse, p. 52.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


65


The German philosopher Schopenhauer,1 speaking of writers who
have little to say, remarks: "Another characteristic of such writers is that they always avoid a positive assertion when they can
possibly do so, in order to leave a loophole for escape in case of
need. Hence, they never fail to choose the more abstract way of
expressing themselves; whereas intelligent people use the more concretc."
Professor Hill sums up the advantages and disadvantages of general words: 2 The general term covers more ground but is less
definite than the specific. It serves to classify and, as it were,
store up knowledge. General words are of service in writings intended to popularize science, enabling the writer to avoid technical
terms. General expressions are sometimes more striking than specific ones; as when we say of something, "It is perfection," or
when Byron spoke of a "sublime mediocrity."  General words are
a resource of those who seek to disarm opposition, or to veil unpleasant facts; but also of those who seek "to hide poverty of
thought in richness of language, to give obscurity an air of cleverness and shallowness the dignity of an oracle, to cover the intention to say nothing with the appearance of having said much, or
to 'front South by North,' as Lowell's 'Birdofredum Sawin' did.
They abound in the resolutions of political parties, 'appeals' of
Ipopular orators, 'tributes to departed worth,' second-rate sermons,
and school compositions."
Few of us would find it possible to prove all our generalizations; but we certainly should avoid using abstractions and generalizations which we have not tested by
comparison    with   the world    of fact and     experience.
Unfortunately we accept far too much from teachers
and books.    One is often surprised at the wild way in
which, for example, economic terms are bandied              by
those to whom      they   have but the haziest meaning.
Just as the truth that two and two makes four is learned
by the child by putting together two apples and two
apples, so other conceptions should be put to the test of
reality.
1 Essay On Style, found conveniently in Cooper's Theories of
Style.
2 Foundations of Rhletoric, p. 187. A book on common grammnatical and rhetorical errors, very sane and very useful in a student's  library.




PUBLIC SPEAKING


We can learn the meaning of words from dictionaries, but we
are liable to absurd mistakes when we use dictionaries which "divest the words of all concrete accompaniments that really would
make them intelligible to the learner."  (By the way, do you at
once get a clear-cut meaning from that quotation?)  If you are
not familiar with the word apperception, turn to a small dictionary
and learn that it means "mental perception." Perhaps you think
you understand. Look in your Webster and find that apperception
is "perception involving self-consciousness."  Now if you are told
that apperception is the process I have been urging and illustrating under the head of Derived Interest, you may understand the
further definition, "Cognition through the relating of new ideas to
familiar ideas." A student of the law of contracts may think he
understands consideration when he reads the definition; but after
a week spent in the study of cases he knows that he did not know.
We can rarely be sure of a word until we refer it to concrete.
situations.
Even familiar words in new combinations may be elusive. Un--
less we have given more than ordinary attention to such terms as:
social consciousness, survival of thie fittest, natural selection, socialization of wealth, we are not likely to know their precise meaning, and thus to have earned the right to use them.
Experience with students in interpreting selections proves that
abstract statements are far more often misunderstood, even when
simple, than concrete ones. Take the sentence (found in the Curtis selection, at the end of Chapter XIV): "When an American
citizen is content with voting merely, he consents to accept a doubtful alternative." This has often been misunderstood, and more
often remained meaningless, until it has been translated into concrete terms, as "Jeremy Diddler and Dick Turpin"; or, better, into
the names of two rascally students known to the student. For me
it becomes significant when I think of an aldermanic election
where one candidate was described as a knave and the other as a
fool. Indeed, how can one think about the matter-really think
about it-otherwise? Is it not the natural action of the mind
when one tries to attend to this expression, to refer to actual
political conditions? From the same paragraph is taken this sentence, which has made more trouble than the other: "In a rural
community such as this country was a hundred years ago, whoever was nominated for office was known to his neighbors, and the
consciousness of that knowledge was a conservative influence in
determining nominations." Surely not a difficult thought, but it
has proved very indistinct to many until there has been pictured
a country village with a caucus in progress: Bill Jones is an aspirant for the nomination for supervisor, but the leaders are shak



PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


ing their heads because all the folks know of Bill's shady connections with a certain bridge company. Any clear-headed person
gets readily enough the main outlines of the selection from which
these quotations are taken; but it is much clearer, and of course
much more vivid to those who by experience, observation and study,
have gained a knowledge of political conditions.
Clearness, evidently enough, is a matter larger than concreteness. By every means, educated men should strive to use words
accurately as an aid to thinking and speaking clearly. It is regrettable that so many students are content to use words with but
a guess at their meaning. Emphasis on this subject is justified in
a textbook on public speaking, for accurate use of words and clear
thinking are not likely to go with "hot air" and bombast.
Specific vs. general words. I have used abstract and
general as synonyms, and there is ample authority for so
doing;' but generalizations can be expressed in concrete
terms, as, "All men are liars."    Plainly enough the specific is yet more vivid than the concrete. A horse may
bring to mind but a hazy, characterless image; but old
Dobbin brings a picture with proper color, shape and
size. Herbert Spencer, in developing his principle of
economy of attention, tells us that concrete and specific
expressions are more vivid and require less effort to translate into thoughts, than abstract and general terms.
"We should avoid,"l he says,2 "such a sentence as:
"In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations
of their penal code will be severe.
"And we should write:
"In proportion as men delight in battles, bull-fights,
and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging,
burning, and the rack."
But the change shows less the advantage of the concrete
over the abstract than that of the specific over the general.
1 Spencer, Philosophy of Style, found in Cooper's Theories of
Style, p. 277; Hill, Foundations of Rhetoric, p. 188; Titchener,
"Textbook, p. 529.           2 Cooper, Theories of Style, p. 278.




68


PUBLIC SPEAKING


As an example of the greater power of the specific to catch attention, take this: A newsboy passes through a car shouting,
"Papers here, morning papers!" All faces wear an indifferent
look. "New York papers, World, Herald, Sun, American!" and
several call him back. The specific names had stirred interest in
particular papers, or topics associated with particular journals, as
sport, politics, foreign news. "All about the baseball games," may
succeed better yet; and still better, "Athletics beat the Giants;
Baker gets two home-runs!"
It may be said concerning Spencer's sentences, that
while the second is undoubtedly more vivid and more
likely to catch attention, we shall have the clearest understanding of the thought when we take the two together;
for when the general truth is what is aimed at, there is
always a possibility that the hearer may not deduce it
from a specific statement. Note how, in the following
sentence, the concrete and abstract statements help each
other:
"In the nature of things we may not be presumed to have attained
through evolutionary processes that perfection in which the lower
nature shall be in complete subjection to the higher. The ghost of
our four-footed ancestry will not down."
Summary. For the sake of both clearness and vividness, we should think and express our thoughts, not
merely in abstract and general terms, but also in concrete and specific terms. As a rule, the concrete attracts
attention more than the abstract, and the specific still
more than the merely concrete.
Dewey's definitions of the term concrete.   Some writers
give to the terms abstract and concrete modified meanings which are not without suggestion for us. Professor
Dewey says:1
"Concrete denotes a meaning marked off from other
meanings so that it is readily apprehended by itself.
When we hear the words, table, chair, store, coat, we do
1 How WVe Think, p. 136.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


69


not have to reflect in order to grasp what is meant. The
terms convey meaning so directly that no effort at translation is needed. The meanings of some terms and thing's,
however, are grasped only by first calling to mind more
familiar things and then tracing the connections between
them and what we do not understand. Roughly speaking, the former kind of meanings is concrete; the latter
abstract."  So "what is familiar is mentally concrete."
If you are beginning physics molecule is abstract, for
you have to translate it; when at home in the subject
the term becomes concrete. To most of us, the terms of
the metric system are abstract. So concreteness is a relative matter, depending on the intellectual progress of the
individual.
- In this use of the word, Be concrete means: Think
out your subject in terms with which you are so familiar,
of the meanings of which you are so certain, that no
translation is necessary. One has but to reflect on his
difficulties in getting with certainty and clearness the
thought in a passage from a foreign tongue in which he
is not thoroughly at home, to appreciate the force of this
advice.
Dewey goes further and finds that the limits of the
concrete, that is, the familiar,"are fixed mainly by the demands of the practical life.
Things such as sticks and stones, meat and potatoes,
houses and trees, are such constant features of the environment of which we have to take account in order to
live, that their important meanings are soon learnt, and
indissolubly associated with objects.... The necessities
of social intercourse convey to adults a like concreteness
upon such terms as taxes, elections, wages, the law, and
so on.... By contrast, the abstract is the theoretical, or
that not intimately associated with practical concerns.
The abstract thinker... deliberately abstracts from
application in life; that is, he leaves practical uses out




70


PUBLIC SPEAKING


of account.... When thinking is used as a means to
some end, good, or value beyond itself, it is concrete;
when it is employed simply as a means to more thinking,
it is abstract." Education should develop the capabilities, possessed by every human being, to think in both
ways. "Nor is theoretical thinking a higher type of
thinking than practical. A person who has at command
both types of thinking is of a higher order than he who
possesses only one."'
Here again is food for thought. Most of us understand truth more clearly and attend to it more easily
when we see its practical applications. Think concretely
in this sense, means: Think out your subjects with reference to their practical bearings; think, not only in terms
of men and things and institutions, but also in terms of
their aims, uses and purposes.
Imagination. If we fill our minds with knowledge of
our subject, if we relate this to experience, if we think
in concrete terms and emphasize practical applications,
we shall fill our minds with images. This tendency of
thought to take the form of images is to be encouraged by
the speaker.
Kinds of imagery. The psychologist's use of the word
images is technical and covers not only what one sees
in the "mind's eye," but also what one hears in the
mind's ear, and movements, tastes, smells, touches which
one experiences in imagination. When there comes into
mind a picture, one is said to have a visual image; when
one hears sounds not actual, as when a musician hears the
music of the score he is reading, one has an auditory
image.
"I call up a former experience in which I was playing
football," says Professor Scott, "... I feel in imagi1 Psychology of Public Speaking.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


71


nation the straining of the muscles as I attempted to
push against the line. I imagine the terrible struggle,
the twisting, straining and writhing of every muscle,
tendon and joint. As I imagine it, I find the state is
reestablished and I am unconsciously leaning toward the
goal as if the experience were a present one. My motor
imagery of the football game is almost as distinct as the
motor perception of moving the table.... In my imagination I feel a fly slowly crawling up my nose-I have a
tactual image of it-and the image is so strong that I
have to stop to rub my nose. I ate a peach this morning.... As I think of how it tasted, my mouth waters
-I have a vivid gustatory image of the peach.... As
I think of how the gas factory smelt yesterday when I
passed it, I have an olfactory image of the gas.... As
I think of how it felt when I stepped on a rusty nail, I
have a mental image of the pain."
Individuals differ with regard to the forms of imagery which
predominate in their consciousness, and they differ in the vividness
of their imagery; but images are common to all. The majority
have visual images as their most vivid form and are said to be
"eye-minded." Others are "ear-minded"; while others are more
strongly motor. The other forms of images are usually less distinct. Most persons are of mixed type and have, in varying degrees of distinctness, several of the forms.
Mental images vary from those faint and incomplete to those so
vivid that we mistake them for perceptions coming through the
senses. We think we see Brown on the street, but learn he is out
of town; we think we hear a call but no one is near; we think
the bullet pierced our flesh, but the surgeon finds only a hole in
our coat. Balzac, we are told, "could produce, in his own body,
the sharpest pain of being cut with a knife by imagining himself
cut."
Images and imagination. "The term          imagination is
most conveniently used as a name for the sum total of
the mental processes that express themselves in our
mental imagery. When used psychologically the word
imagination    conveys no implication      that the mental
imagery in question stands for unreal or fantastic ob



72


PUBLIC SPEAKING


jects." 1  We have here at once an authoritative definition and the correction of a mistaken notion.
The imaginative and the imaginary. We must drive
out of our heads once for all the mistaken belief that
in speaking of imagination we refer to the fanciful. It is
true that without control imagination may lead us far
astray; but rightly controlled, "The imaginative is not
necessarily the imaginary... The proper function of
imagination is vision of realities which cannot be exhibited under existing conditions." 2   A  general planning
a battle, and directing it over a field a hundred miles in
extent; a war correspondent writing his despatch, weaving together what he has seen and what he has been told,
with no part of the reality before him as he writes, the
historian writing the authoritative description years after,
-do not all these need imagination to make situations
real and true? Imagination is also the foundation of
sympathy, faith, hope, ambition.
"The imagination is not a process of thought which
must deal chiefly with unrealities and impossibilities,
and which has for its chief end our amusement.... It
is rather a commonplace necessary process, which illumines the way for our everyday thinking and actinga process without which we think and act by haphazard
chance or blind imitation. It is the process by which the
images from our past experiences are marshaled and
made to serve our present. Imagination looks into the
future and constructs our patterns and lays our plans.
It sets up our ideals and pictures us in the act of achieving them. It enables us to live our joys and sorrows, our
victories and defeats, before we reach them. It looks
into the past and allows us to live with the kings and seers
of old, or it goes back to the beginning and sees things
in the process of making. It comes into our present and
1 Royce, Outlines of Psychology, p. 161.
2 Dewey, How We Think, p. 224.




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


73


plays a part in every act from the simplest to the most
complex....
". Suppose I describe to you the siege which gave
Port Arthur to Japan. Unless you can take the images
which my words suggest and build them into struggling,
shouting, bleeding soldiers; into forts and entanglements
and breastworks; into roaring cannon and whistling bullet and screaming shell-unless you can take all these
separate images and out of them get one great unified
complex, then my description will be to you only so many
words largely without content, and you will lack the
power to comprehend the historical event in any complete way. Unless you can read the poem and out of the
images suggested by the words reconstruct the picture
which was in the mind of the author as he wrote 'The
Village Blacksmith' or 'Snowbound,' the significance will
have dropped out, and the throbbing scenes of life and
action become only so many dead words, like the shell
of the chrysalis after the butterfly has left its shroud.... Without the power to reconstruct [the pictures] as
you read, you may commit the words, and be able to recite them, and to pass an examination upon them, but
the living reality... will forever escape you."'
Imagination and attention. The first reason why a
speaker should encourage the tendency of his thought
to take the form of images, is that imagery makes a strong
demand upon attention. Imagery makes thought more
vivid, because more life-like and objective; that is, more
like actual experience coming to us through our senses.
We cannot help attending to strong sensations; and we
are strongly drawn by images which reproduce sensations
and perceptions. If you wished to interest a boy in
France, you would take him there if possible. If you
could not do that, you would try to make him imagine
what France is like, its scenery, people, art and life.
Imagination and clearness. While chief emphasis is
1 Betts, Mind and its Education, p. 128.




PUBLIC SPEAKING


laid upon imagination as a source of vividness, we see
from the preceding examples that imagery makes for
clearness of thought also. "History, literature, and
geography, nay, even geometry and arithmetic, are full of
matters that must be imaginatively realized if they are
realized at all."'  The mathematician treating of solid
forms, the physicist considering atoms and gravitation
and projecting his theories and laws into the universe,
and the biologist evolving theories of life, must have
imagination. Faraday and Darwin are ranked among
the great imaginative minds of the last century. Coming into the world of affairs, the inventor constructing a
machine, the architect working over elevations and the
arrangement of rooms, chimneys and stairways, the statesman seeking to grasp the situation in a distant province,
or to forecast the effect of a new tariff law, the speaker
presenting these same matters to an audience, or any one
who has to realize an object or situation, past, present, or
future, not actually present to his senses, is dependent
upon the imagination, "the instrument of reality."
"Unless the flagging interest of the common man," says
Ross,2 "be stimulated to divine the multifarious life of his
country, his will be no fit hands to hold the reins."
Imagination, productive and reproductive. We find the
terms productive and reproductive used as distinguishing, not so much two kinds, as two functions of imagination. (Productive imagination is sometimes called creative, a word somewhat too pretentious, as we shall see.)
As the preceding examples indicate, imagination reproduces past experiences, though never with complete fidelity. This is memory. Again, we imagine things or
events we have not experienced; that is, we exercise productive imagination.
1 Dewey, How We Think, p. 224. 2 Social Control, p. 259,




PRINCIPLES OF ATTENTION


75


Imagination must have material with which to work.
Productive imagination cannot really create anything; it
can only present new combinations of already familiar
elements. We have done no better in picturing an angel
than to attach wings to a beautiful human being and our
gods are always glorified men. Almost any boy has his
idea of what a battle is like; but it is made up from his
experiences in fist and snowball fights and his little knowledge of guns and cannons, helped out by pictures and
vivid descriptions. Since the most brilliant imagination
is thus limited by previous experience, it follows that to
imagine vividly and accurately a scene, a situation, or an
experience, we have to store our minds with an abundance
of data arising from accurate observation and wide reading. The boy's idea of a battle may be in many
ways grotesque. It is sure to be unless he has added
study to his small experience. So a statesman may have
a distorted idea of affairs in the Far East.
What imagination     can   do  with   proper  material.
Equally important is the truth that, given sufficient facts,
imagination can use them to build conceptions both vivid
and true. Without imagination the facts are dead stuff;
but with imagination a gifted boy can, by adding study to
his little experience, gain such a true picture of a battle
that he can write a realistic battle story. He may be
able to feel the actual sensations of going under fire.1
So too the statesman, by a study of the materials at hand,
warmed into life by constructive imagination, may gain a
view of the situation in the Far East in which products,
peoples and armaments fall into proper relations, so
that he can deal justly with situations as they arise. He
is like a blindfolded chess-player, only his game is vastly
more complicated. It would be much easier, of course, if
1 Read Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage,




76


PUBLIC SPEAKING


one had actual observation and experience to reproduce
directly; but it is rather rare that one has complete firsthand knowledge of a situation with which one has to deal,
or of which one has to speak. "The image thus affords
us," says Angell,1 "the method by which we shake off the
shackles of the world of objects immediately present to
sense, and secure the freedom to overstep the limits of
space and time as our fancy, or our necessity, may
dictate."
Conclusion. Everywhere we have found need for a
thorough knowledge of the subjects we wish to treat.
We find that this knowledge must be combined with our
existing store and all worked over in many ways. Among
possible ways, we emphasize thinking our material out in
concrete terms, and building it, by power of imagination,
into the forms of actual things,-men, situations and
events. This is not the place, of course, for the systematic
treatment of these topics; and I have simply emphasized
those matters which experience indicates as needing special attention in our work. In the next chapter we shall
apply the principles of this to the attention of the speaker
himself. In later chapters the principles will prove of
value with reference to the attention of the audience.


1 Psychology, p. 178.




CHAPTER IV


THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION TO HIS TOPIC
WE are now prepared to consider more fully the means
of fulfilling the requirement that a speaker should have a
full realization of the content of his words as he utters
them. Since he must also attend to his audience, he
cannot absolutely lose himself in his subject; but we
know that the danger is that the young speaker will attend to neither ideas nor audiences, and will speak only
empty words. Ile should seek, therefore, so to develop his
theme that it will powerfully command his attention.
His attention, as he stands on the platform, will depend
not merely upon his will, but more upon his preparation,
the abundance of his material and his handling of it.
He can do much by sheer determination to attend, by
forming the habit of never speaking with wandering
attention; but more than will power is needed.
Topics of interest. When feasible, the speaker should
choose topics of interest to himself, as well as to his
audience, so that he may have an initial interest to develop. Here we touch upon one of the most common
causes of poor work in public speaking classes: the speakers often take subjects, not because they are interested,
but because they must have "something to talk about."
But though one has to speak upon a subject that does
not interest him at the outset (and there may be good
reason in the occasion, the expectation of the audience, or
in the ultimate purpose of the speaker himself), even
then the case is not hopeless.
77




78


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Applications of the preceding chapter. To such a case
as that just mentioned and to the commoner case of an interest which needs deepening, we may apply the lessons of
the preceding chapter. The application is so aptly made
by a student, in an examination paper written at the end
of a brief elementary course, that I take pleasure in
quoting him:
"To work up interest in any subject we must have
more than a superficial knowledge of it. It is the person
who knows nothing about things who is not interested
in them. Suppose a person has never studied bridges;
then all bridges are alike to him, either very long, or very
wide, or very high, and beyond that he is not interested.
In other words, his interest in a new bridge is shortlived and may be exhausted by looking at it a moment
or so. But to one who has made a study of their every
member, every unit has a significance, and he can spend
hours inspecting them, if anything increasing his interest.
Thus it is with a topic for a speech. The more work
done upon its preparation the more points of connecting
interest with other things we see; and the minute the
mind correlates the speech with other things in our own
experiences interest becomes quickened. Whenever we
see an article upon the subject, or a like subject, we jump
to read it, for it is connected with something we already
know a little about."
Let us suppose, as an extreme case, that you are assigned to speak upon Greek archeology, and you do not
know even what the term means. What to do?          First,
you proceed to find out what the topic means, and by
applying secondary attention, gain some information
about it. You discover that the Greeks, instead of beinmi
mere book creatures, actually had sports, Olympic gamesc
in fact; and that we are imitating their sports to-day
Thus a connection is made between them and your estab
1 Mr. J. C. Ward Jr., Sibley College, 1914.




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


79


lished interest in athletics. Go into the museum of casts
and look at the Discus Thrower and the Wrestler; study
their muscles and attitudes. Following this line of study,
you may become interested in Greek art. Again, you
find the Greeks were a military people and fought heroic
b)attles on land and sea. Now you have at least two
points of contact which would make the Greeks interesting even to a twelve-year-old. You find, furthermore,
that they had industries, science, engineers, lawyers,
doctors, slaves. Some or all of these, and many other
bits of information, develop in you more and more interest, until you find it no hardship to study the material
remains of this wonderful people. The points of first
contact will shed their interest upon related points, and
gradually interest will suffuse the entire subject. The
new and novel will furnish interest by comparison and
contrast with the familiar. There will be ample scope
for inmagination in making real the country, the people
and their life.
First stage of preparation: review of what one has.
To illustrate more in detail, suppose you are to speak upon
Lincoln, and that you have some knowledge of and interest in your subject. First, see what can be made of
your present store. If you sit down and frown at a
piece of paper, you are not likely to accomplish much
thinking. You must do something with your material.
Apply the directions of Angell and James: "To keep a
thought alive... keep turning it over and over, keep
doing something with it"; "roll it over and over incessantly and consider different aspects of it in turn."
"Ask questions of it; examine it from all sides."  Think
of Lincoln in various characters,-as a boy on the frontier, as laborer, student, lawyer, politician, stump speaker,
writer, president. Ask yourself how he became educated




80


PUBLIC SPEAKING


with such meager opportunities, the secret of his success
as a lawyer, of his hold upon the people, of his success in
a terrible crisis.
In asking questions and considering possibilities, do not refuse
to consider those that seem futile; they may lead to something.
You will find a mechanical device 1 of great benefit in this work:
write each idea on a separate slip of paper or a card. First, this
serves to objectify your idea, to get it out where you can view it
more as if it were another's. The very process of writing it down
may show you its futility, or make it bloom into a better idea.
Expression both clarifies and develops. In the second place, this
method is better than writing in a note book, because of greater
ease of arranging and rearranging until the fruitless ideas are
rejected and the remainder brought into a system which shows
their relations.
By the process here advised, your mind is aided in
"attending to the various phases of the subject"; and as
a result your mastery increases. You are at least on the
trail of some ideas and have "got the subject on your
mind."    You have a beginning on that important matter,
an analysis; for to analyze is to find out the possible
topics and their relations. You have a tentative plan
and outline. Furthermore, this stage of work makes for
independence and originality of thought, for you start
with an individual point of view. It may be you will
abandon every supposed fact, every opinion, every bit of
analysis, as a result of further study; still you will not
simply "swallow whole" what you read, but will use discrimination and judgment, since you have brought forth
from the recesses of your subconscious mind something
for a basis of comparison. You will also save time in the
end; for knowing what you have and what you lack, and
what some of the phases of the subject are, you now proceed to read to more purpose, looking for definite things,
rather than reading hit and miss.
1 Cf. Wendell, English Composition, pp. 1G5, 173, 211.




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


81


A common cause of poor speaking is the omission of
this stage of preparation.
Second stage of preparation: reading and conversing.
Another cause of poor speaking is found in failure to
acquire an abundance of material. You should now proceed to increase your information about Lincoln. This
you will, in this case, gain chiefly by reading. In ideal
preparation you would read everything obtainable. In
practice you should read as much as time and opportunity
permit. You should read about Lincoln in general, till
you have a good understanding of his career as a whole,
in order that you may not get and give a distorted view
of him. Then you should read especially upon that
phase which is your theme. While you should read much,
you should spend more time in thinking of what you read,
-really thinking, not mooning over your book. You
should be assimilating what you learn with what you already have, comparing, rejecting or accepting, as judgment dictates. "Knit each new thing on to some acquisition already in mind"; for example, each fact you learn
in regard to Lincoln's attitude toward slavery should not
be left isolated, but should be compared with what you
already have in mind on that topic, confirming or correcting your views. Sift, compare, contrast, bind together.
"To think," says Halleck,' "is to compare things with
each other, to notice wherein they agree and differ, and
to classify them according to those agreements and differences. " You need not only information, but information analyzed and synthesized into order.
But reading is not the only way to gain facts and the
stimulation of comparing your own ideas with those of
others. Talk with those who know. What could be
more helpful, in preparing our imagined speech, than to
1 Psychology and Psychic Culture, p. 180.




82


PUBLIC SPEAKING


talk with a man who actually knew Lincoln?      Particularly would such a conversation bring Lincoln home to
you as a real person. But talk also with people who do
not know much of your subject, with many kinds of people. They will suggest new ideas to you; and in particular show you how your audience is likely to take your
speech and what the difficulties are. It helps some
speakers in preparing a speech to talk to themselves.
In all this work, and in that which follows, notes should be
taken on slips or cards, and the new cards arranged with the old
until the best order is found and the main heads stand out.
Third stage: working the material. The work now to
be discussed should not be held back till all suggested
above has been done; it simply should be more emphasized after the materials are gained. Now make sure
that your thought of the subject is concrete. In treating
of a man, your thinking will tend to concreteness; yet
there may be much in what you have read on Lincoln
that needs to be brought to the touchstone of reality,
especially the "glittering generalities" in eulogistic utterances. What comes to you in unfamiliar terminology
and method of thought, reduce to familiar terms. Compare Lincoln's experiences with familiar experiences and
his traits with those you observe in others. Think of
his going about the homely duties of life, in commonplace situations; do not get a theatrical view of him, or
imagine him always at the storm center of a crisis.
Think of him in practical terms; for instance, ask yourself how Lincoln, with his characteristics as man, lawyer,
or president, would act to-day. Would he be a corporation lawyer? A "standpatter" or a liberal? What suggestions, practical for young men, with regard to education, can be drawn from his life?




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


88


Do you think these suggestions unnecessary? I well remember
the flat failure of a college senior in preparing a speech on Lincoln,
-a speech he very much wanted to make good. He could not
"get going." lie failed simply because he did not know how to
work and did not begin by saturating himself with Lincoln and
mulling over the material. lie was not unique in his method or
failure.
Imagination in preparation, Throughout the preparation, but increasingly as you proceed, utilize imagination, "the instrument of reality."    See in your mind's
eye the persons, things, acts, and conditions with which
you deal. If you are trying to understand a person,
vizualize him as clearly as you can; not as a mere homo,
but as tall, sandy-haired, ruddy-complexioned, wearing
a sack suit, etc. And you should acquire the needed information for imagination to work upon. Also, you must
give  imagination    time  to   work. Encourage      sound
images, if sound has a part in the reality you are considering,-as in treating of a battle. Give free rein to
your motor imagery. Sometimes you can best realize a
situation by imaginatively putting yourself into it, taking part in its action and conversations. Sometimes a
single image will suffice; again you will be helped by
elaborating a situation in detail, even working out a sort
of drama. Sometimes it is important that the imagery
be as true as possible to fact, as when an engineer is striving to make clear to himself and to his audience of capitalists, the situation of a proposed water power; but
more often it is sufficient that imagination build forms
approximately and essentially true to reality, true in impression. In no case should imagination be permitted to
produce what is essentially untrue.
To be more concrete and specific, let us return again to
your speech on Lincoln. You will readily find numerous
pictures and descriptions from which you can construct




84


PUBLIC SPEAKING


his appearance. There is also a wealth of anecdote about
Lincoln, touching every phase of his life, the most ordinary features as well as the most important; and these
will enable you to know the man. And you must know
him as a man in order to understand him as an orator or
as a statesman. You can come to know how he acted,
how he talked, the changes of his countenance from mirth
to sorrow; to know him, in short, so that were it possible
for you to meet him in the flesh, you would feel like saying, "Good morning, Mr. Lincoln!"      Let us have no
mistake about this: I do not mean that you should merely
know certain facts about Lincoln, but that so far as your
peculiar mentality permits, you should realize Lincoln;
not merely know that his face would change from mirth
as he told a story to sadness as he felt again the burden
of the war, but see the change take place.
I have emphasized getting acquainted with Lincoln,
because the personal aspect is most liable to be neglected
by the beginner. You will, of course, try to realize the
great situations in which Lincoln was placed. Suppose
you are studying him as a speaker: after you have some
knowledge of his career as a whole and have acquired
personal acquaintance with the man, you may take up
the data relating to his early speeches. You may see
him making speeches on a literal stump, while the other
hands hoe the corn; you may hear him at the village
store, telling stories, arguing politics, and gaining something of his later power to hold attention, to make clear
arguments and to expose fallacies. You may see him
pouring over scanty documents of American history; and
later arguing with consummate logic and eminent fairness in the courts. If you are giving special attention to
the Lincoln-Douglas debates, you cannot understand
these or feel their significance unless you first understand




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


85


and feel the situation in state and nation into which they
fitted. You will wish also to realize the immediate settings of those debates. See the places in which he spoke,
take your place upon the platforms, gay with flags; look
over the groves, the people who come driving ten and
twenty miles in farm wagons, frontiersmen and children
of frontiersmen, making a holiday, but yet serious in
their realization of the crisis, thinking men and women
who can rise to the high level of argument to which Lincoln calls them.
I cannot carry this farther without taking undue space. The
events can be found vividly pictured for us by biographers and in
historical fiction.1 You may study the First Inaugural Address,
the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural and Lincoln's other
speeches as you have the debates.
You will see that in all this work you will need facts
and more facts; but quite as much, judgment and imagination to enable you to get at the truth and to realize
the truth about Lincoln. With such study as is suggested you can develop such a conception that you will
be able to speak of Lincoln with a verity and a personal
interest that will go far toward putting you on an equality with those who knew Lincoln face to face; perhaps,
with a more just estimate.
Preparing a more abstract subject. If one is speaking
on such a subject as arbitration, the teachings of this
chapter are still more needed. The young speaker is
prone to deal with such subjects with too little basis in
concrete facts; and consequently too shallow understanding and interest. Having but a second-hand enthusiasm.
1 See, for example, Churchill's novel, The Crisis. HIerndon gives
an intimate view of Lin(coln, his law )patner, but is not always
reliable. For a basis of study take the large work of Nicolay and
Iay. You may well read also general histories of Lincoln's time
and the lives of his contemporaries in order to correct the views
gained from his partizans.




86


PUBLIC SPEAKING


for arbitration, or worse, a mere hope that the topic will
do for a speech, with scanty data drawn from a shoddy
magazine article, he makes but a conventional, and probably a muddy, speech. A man of large knowledge of
history and long diplomatic experience, like Andrew D.
White, will find little trouble in fixing his mind on arbitration. For such a one there are so many phases, relations, applications, so many men who have advocated or
condemned, Hague conferences, signs of the times,-such
a wealth of thought material that the topic is likely to
tyrannize over attention. The young speaker has no
such advantage; but by proper handling of the material
which he can find, he can change arbitration from      an
uncertain object of attention, drifting for lack of mooring
in his mind, into a strong, clear concept.
Again, he should make his preliminary analysis of the
subject, his search for information and the opinions of
others, and sift, compare and relate, until he has a well
organized body of experience and clear ideas. Again,
he should link his new ideas to his established interests,
in politics, in economics, in social science, in morals, in
religion; and in these fields to his special interests, as in
eugenics. And again he should transmute the lifeless
data into living forms. By true imagination he should
realize the effects of war, upon the battlefield, in the
homes of the people, in exhaustion of resources, and in
deterioration of character; and no less should he realize
the working of his proposed plan. Given this sort of
preparation, carried out in sufficient detail, a young man
can earn the right to speak; and he will speak with
neither listlessness nor declamation, but with grasp and
sincerity.
I take pleasure in inserting here another paragraph from the
examination paper quoted before in this chapter. We may note




'IHE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


87


that the writer has in mind a considerable knowledge of the pyramids, that this knowledge has been linked to his dominant interest,
engineering, and that his imagination has done what he says it
should do.
"Suppose we were making a speech on the Construction of the
Pyramids of Egypt....We may never have even seen them.
However, if we bring imagination into play, we can picture the
vast armies who built them, the huge, cumbersome carts used in
carrying the stones, the hundreds of sweating, babbling slaves who
were made to haul them, the harsh overseers who drove the slaves
on to work, the inclined planes up whicl'h the stones were dragged by
sheer might; and in time we could make the whole scene be so real
to us that we could almost imagine ourselves to be the designers
and engineers. In this way the subject would be made alive to us,
and awhen we talked it would be with the conviction that we were
talking on.oiietliing we k)'nei aboot from our own experience, and
not soumething taken out of a few dusty old books and here merely
something to talk about."
Expression during preparation. In working over your
material, a method you will naturally employ to some
extent is to be encouraged,-that of talking and writing
on the subject. Write out your ideas quite regardless
of the final form   they are to take. If you write from
several different angles at different times, so much the
better. As you learn a forest by going through it in
many directions, so you may learn a subject. To change
the figure, make many different cross sections.        Some
will find talking the subject through to the imagined
audience better than writing. The disadvantage of talking is that it is likely to be less clear and orderly than
writing. On the other hand, talking helps one more to
feel the audience in advance; and also the talks are not
preserved. The early written drafts ought to be put
resolutely in the fire.
Work not wasted. It matters not that much you have
learned and thought out cannot be used in your speech;
no truth learned need be considered useless, though some
truths are more important than others and more pertinent to your purpose. All go to build up the concept
in your mind. You gain in mastery as well as in inter



88


PUBLIC SPEAKING


est, and become able to speak with a clearness, a sense of
proportion, a discrimination, and an earnestness which
constitute the charm of a speaker who is "full of his
subject," as contrasted with one of shallow knowledge.
We cannot always explain an impression, which nevertheless grows upon us as we listen, that a speaker has
nothing back of what he says, that he has exhausted his
fund.
"That man," said a keen student of a young lecturer, "seems to
me to pump himself dry every day; he has to fill up again over
night." In contrast, I have a friend who, when he talks of medieval history, seems to be quite as much at home as in this present
age; and he speaks of historical characters as of intimates of whom
he might tell us no end of good stories. He makes even an ignoramus interested.
A Princeton graduate tells of a lecture in which Professor Woodrow Wilson was saying to his class that Gladstone could make any
subject of interest, even a four-hour speech on the "budget."
"Young men," exclaimed the professor, "it is not the subject that
is dry; it is you that are dry!" Not unrelated to Gladstone's
power of interesting audiences are the facts that he had wonderful
stores of knowledge on a great diversity of subjects, and that he
had also a remarkable ability in "getting up" a special topic.
We all like to hear the speaker who has known the hero
he eulogizes, or has been through the experience he
describes, or has fought for the cause he advocates; because, as we say, "his subject means something to him."
There is a sense of reality and a ring of earnestness
rather than forced interest. It is in experience that the
older speaker has an advantage over the younger, whose
flashy enthusiasm is much less impressive than the
quieter words of the veteran. This advantage cannot
be entirely overcome; but the man who knows and who
is in earnest will be listened to whatever his age.
Give time to your work: begin early. "The longer one
does attend to a topic, the more mastery of it one has."
We have considered at length the means of prolonging




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


89


and developing attention. It remains to be said that not
only the time spent in actual work counts, but also the
mere length of time you carry your topic in mind. Select
your topic as early as possible and give it time to "bud
and sprout and grow," time for the relationships to clear
up, and for the processes of assimilation to complete
themselves, give time for the "unconscious cerebration,"
or in homely phrase, for the matter to "soak in"; and
especially give time for imagination to work.
We may appropriate what Oliver Wendell Holmes makes the
Autocrat say 1 of conversation: "Talk about those subjects you
have had long in your mind.... Knowledge and timber should n't
be used till they are seasoned.'  When you have put an idea in
your mind and return to it after an interval, "you do not find it as
it was when acquired. It has domiciliated itself, so to speak,become at home,-entered into relations with your other thoughts,
and integrated itself with the whole fabric of the mind."
There is another good reason for starting early in the
fact that once we have set our minds for a certain topic,
materials and ideas seem to flow to us from every direction. They existed all about us before, of course, but
we did not notice them. We find articles and books on
the subject when we are looking for other matter, and
from the commonest experience we may draw a valuable
illustration. Good illustrations are highly important in
speech-making and exceedingly hard to find when wanted.
Other materials we usually can find by systematic search,
but the right illustration may elude us. If we discover
early what sort of illustrations we need, we have a better
chance to find them by good luck.
We should begin early, also, that we may the better
criticize our own work. We all know that after struggling over a piece of composition, or other constructive
work, we are not immediately in a position to judge it.
1 The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table, p. 138.




90


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Put it aside for a time, and we are better able to "size it
up." And we shall find that it is with extreme difficulty
that we get any genuine criticism except our own.
Failure to begin speeches early is one of the commonest causes of poor speaking, especially in class work.
Students often feel that it is all the same if they put in
the due amount of work in a hurry as late as possible;
but they deceive themselves. In the hastily prepared
speech there is lack of assimilation, of clear order, of
sureness of touch, of the sense of reality. Moreover, the
speaker who has hurried his work at the end will be
nervous, and will lack good control of his thoughts.
Whatever amount of time you have for the preparation
of a speech, use part of that time as early as possible.
You will get a better return on the time and energy spent.
These teachings are practical. "But,"      demands a
voice, "how much time do you think we can give to the
preparation of a short speech?   We have something else
to do! " I beg your pardon; I thought you wished to
make a good speech, the best you are capable of. Of
course, those who wish to learn how to make a speech
with nothing to say, have no use for the doctrines of this
chapter. I have been speaking of thorough-going preparation. It is true that such preparation may take a
long time. When great speeches have been made with
apparently little preparation, as in the classic instance
of Webster's Reply to Hayne, they have really sprung
from years of study, discussion and experience, in which
materials have been amassed. "Young man," Webster
is reported to have said to a conceited youth, "there is
no such thing as extemporaneous acquisition."         Not
only have materials been amassed, but, what is quite as
important for the purpose, they have been formulated
over and over again, and in different ways.




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


91


Grady, we are told, rose to make his speech on the New South,
which gave him fame in a night, without knowing what he would
say. In the first place, one simply does not believe Grady so
foolish as to come to this important event without careful thought
of matter, arrangement and form of expression. He probably
left until the occasion decisions in regard to which of certain
points and illustrations were best suited to the spirit of the hour,
how serious he might be, how strong and open his appeal; it may
be that with his experience he trusted in part to the moment for
the phrasing of his thoughts. But as to what he wished to do
and what means he had to use, he was no doubt clear in advance.
In the second place, Grady had been thinking, writing and speaking on his subject all his life. It was the one topic to dominate
the thought of a man of his temperament and generation in the
South. His position as editor of an influential Southern daily also
kept him discussing this theme.
It is true that speakers unprepared may sometimes
have brilliant inspirations, just as one may sometimes
find gold when only out for a walk; but usually inspirations come to those who make ready for them. They are
the product of preparation. We find on investigation
that most of the stories of unprepared successes are apocryphal. They are like the stories of the brilliant passing
of examinations without preparation. The thing           is
done; but nine stories out of ten are, not to be harsh,
brag, and the other case is not a safe precedent for the
average student.
Granted that the foregoing suggestions cannot be carried out ideally in all cases, still it is better to know what
can be done, in order that we may work wisely and not
fail to work for lack of knowledge of something to do.
After all, much can be done even in a short time, by
working on the right lines. We may not be able to become specialists on all our themes, though that would be
desirable; yet we may approach the specialist in having
a considerable body of knowledge and in having this
well analyzed and synthesized. We should note, too,
that it is better to make a few good speeches than many




92


PUBLIC SPEAKING


poor ones. If we cannot have some degree of mastery
of our topics, we had better keep still.
There are several encouraging features. In the first
place, the class of speakers for whom this book is written,
having lived a considerable number of years, should not
be entirely empty-headed or without experience. They
should begin with their established interests, the things
they know about. To return to Lincoln, Americans of
college age should know a good deal of American history,
should understand something of the great struggle between the North and the South, and they should know a
good deal about Lincoln. So they should have a pretty
good foundation to build upon. Unfortunately many
college students have very little historical knowledge;
but there are thousands of good subjects, and many of
these are very close to the interests of young men. Generally the topic one does know about and is interested in,
or some offshoot of it, will serve for a speech. (See
chapter on Selecting the Subject.)
But, as was said before, even if one must take a theme
for which he has little foundation, still the case is not
hopeless. One should in any case choose a subject worth
thorough study for its own sake, and thus secure a double
return for the work done. This does not mean the subject must have to do with the foundations of the earth;
but still it should be something one will be glad to know
about later.
Another encouraging circumstance is that not every
speech need be made in a new field. Any subject has
many phases, any one of which is likely to prove more
than sufficient for a speech, provided the speaker is well
informed. The desire to range superficially all over a
large subject is evidence of ignorance. Having spoken on
one phase of a subject, next time the speaker may take




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


93


another phase of the same subject, and he will find that
the previous study proves helpful. Knowledge, mastery
and interest will grow; the speeches will be better and the
incidental culture greater than if one touches superficially
many fields. This presumes, of course, that the speaker
will make real progress each time he speaks, and not go
on repeating on the basis of his first preparation. A man
may do a great deal of speaking throughout a long career,
without tiresome repetition, yet use but few themes and
those related. Nearly all that Webster said in his many
speeches, if we except those incidental to his law practice
and the routine business of the Senate, and including
Imuch in those, could be grouped around one theme, The
Constitution. A man gains more reputation and produces more effect by limiting his range.
On the platform. So far we have dealt with preparation, thouglh the effect upon delivery has been one of the
objects in view. Wh en preparation is right, the prospect
f:,r good delivery is encouraging. It has become possible,
even probable. It is nearly always true in speaking that,
in the phrase quoted from IHIlmholtz, "other powerful
impressions are attracting us away."    The clearer our
understanding and the stronger the hold of our ideas on
our attention, the easier it is to think on our feet and to
speak our words with full and definite "consciousness of
meaning."    Stage fright is far less likely to attack one
whose thought is clear and vivid and based upon ample
foundations. While the preparation urged in this chapter does not insure "talking with the audience," yet a
well developed interest and the feeling of having something to say, are likely to create a strong desire to reach
one's hearers.
Imagery during delivery. Just how      much imagery
there should be in a speaker's mind during delivery, no




91,


P.UBLIC SPEAKING


one can say; but we can say that, while imagery should
not be forced, it should be encouraged for the sake of
added vividness. If the sentences deal with objective
realities, persons, objects, events, then a great deal of
imagery should be present; for one can surely describe
better to others what he himself images. Moreover, abstractions can be translated into concrete forms, and this
translation is often needed. Such a sentence as this
from Carlyle (see selection at end of Chapter XIV, entitled Await the Issue), "One strong thing I find here
below, the just thing, the true thing," may need some
image like that of a rock defying the sea, in order that
the speaker may get the feeling of assured strength that
the sentence contains,-the same effect we get from an
expressed  metaphor. Imagery      enhances feeling. Of
course, much that has come into mind during preparation
must drop out, havilsg served its purpose of putting
meaning and feeling iito ou- ideas and words. There
should be no attempt 1o force the mind as one speaks to
form some particular image, unless for the purpose of
accurate description. The mind should be left as free as
circumstances permit; but if in preparation the "thought
movement" has been gone through repeatedly, with appropriate and helpful imagery encouraged and inappropriate and distracting imagery inhibited, imagination
will tend to be helpfully active during delivery, especially
if the speaker is duly deliberate. In practice speaking
before public appearance, one may well definitely strive
for the formation of distinct and appropriate mental
imagery.
Staleness. When one has to repeat a speech several
times, he should find it growing in interest and improving in expression. This will be true if his knowledge
grows and his thinking continues. But if one does find




THE SPEAKER'S ATTENTION


95


himself stale, the best way to freshen interest is to repeat
the steps of the original preparation, going over the
data, the analyses, the concrete situations, utilizing
imagination; and also finding new data, new illustrations, new applications, combining the new with the old
and doing more thinking. Very easily this could be done
to-day with speeches on peace and war.          Often it is
best to prepare a new speech, approaching the subject
from a new angle, and thus avoiding the dangers of new
wine in old bottles and new patches on old cloth. The
process will compel fresh thinking, and that is what is
needed.
Often a student in preparing for a speaking contest begins to
lose mi rest in his speech. lie is sure to do so if his preparation
has, not been,nine, if it has been too much a matter of form and
is not based on conviction. The standard prescription is: Go fill
yourself wilh the subject; read about it, talk about it with those
who know; forget your speech and ponder your subject until you
rtiepy i want to speak because you have a message. If the speech
will not ear tllhis treatment, or if the student is not capable of
following the advice, his case is hopeless; though be may make a
very pretty speech.
Conclusion. In this and in the preceding chapter I
have put great stress upon a truism,-that a speaker
should have a mastery of his subject before he speaks.
Perhaps as an abstract proposition, few would question
this truth; but practically the need for emphasis is great.
Truisms often suffer neglect. There are a few whose ambition it is to succeed in public speaking by mere tricks
of delivery and a few smart sayings. There are many
who, though sincere, yet do practically ignore the truism,
through both indolence and training. From         the lower
grades up, they have been copying matter from         books,
with a little condensing and rearranging, but with little
assimilation, and handing it in to satisfy the unceasing




96             PUBLIC SPEAKING
demand for compositions and "papers."  The emphasis
here put upon the principles and methods of preparation
is due to long experience in attempting to teach college
students to speak in an interesting, effective and sincere
way.




CHAPTER V


EMOTION
WE should now give special attention to a subject that
is much involved in Chapters III and IV; that is, feeling
or emotion. For our purposes we may disregard the
psychologist's distinction between these words.
Importance of emotion. One often meets a prejudice
against the very words feeling and emotion. This is due
in part to a misuse of them. The prejudice is often
really against excessive emotion, against control by emotion in defiance of reason, or against the over-free expression of emotion. Perhaps a better word to express
the thing objected to is sentimentality. Emotion is a
constant factor in our mental states, unless we reach
absolute indifference. To be without emotion, indeed, is
to be without interest, without happiness as well as without sorrow, without desires good or bad. Even our reasons are usually emotions. Whether we act for the sake
of "fat" war contracts or for love of country, whether
we seek selfish pleasure or die for a friend, whether we
decide for "a short life and a merry one" or for a
moral, temperate career, and whether we do our work
or go to the game,-in all cases we act, if we are acting
beyond the range of habit, under the control of emotion.
It makes no difference that we may call our emotion a
reason or a motive. Even the man who prides himself
most on living the life of reason must, if he be a true
philosopher, be led by one master emotion,-love of
97




98


PUBLIC SPEAKING


truth. We should fix in our minds the fact that emo.
tion, as such, is neither good nor bad; that a particular
emotion may be good or bad. Also, emotions may be
violent, moderate, or weak in their expression. The man
who loses himself in the study of minerals may be as
truly emotional as one who cheers for Alma IMater.
Emotion has no necessary relation to either whoops or
tears.
Emotion and sincerity. To say the speaker should feel
as well as think, is not to say that he must be sentimental, or speak with "tears in his voice," or exhibit
any extreme whatever, except in the rare instances when
extreme expression is the fitting response to the ideas
expressed and the situation faced. On the other hand,
when a speaker represses himself for fear of being insincere, he forgets that the pretense of indifference is no
less insincere than the pretense of feeling. We should
not only mean what we say, but say what we mean; and
this includes emotion as well as thought. Sincerity demands responsiveness to the moods and feelings expressed. It does not ordinarily demand excitement in
expression, for ordinarily one is not expressing excitement. Sincerity is usually calmni though earnest; but
there are times when calmness is the worst of affectations.
Self-control is good and necessary: but indifference and
repression are not only insincere; they mean failure as
a speaker. Even though the subject-matter be as cold
as a demonstration in geometry, the speaker should not
be indifferent. There is always at least one appropriate
emotion,-the desire to reach one's hearers. in the nature of things, few speeches are cold; they deal for the
most part with warm human interests and range through
the whole gamut of emotions.
Emotion necessary to the speaker. A speaker should




EMOTION


99


feel what he says, not only to be sincere, but also to be
effective. It is one of the oldest of truisms that if we
wish to make others feel, we ourselves must feel. And
it is frequently important to a speaker that he should
make others feel, make them care about the causes he
presents and desire the end he seeks. We know we do
not respond with enthusiasm to an advocate who lacks
enthusiasm. And quite apart from response, we do not
like speakers who do not seem to care. We like the man
who means what he says.
Emotion not to be assumed. It may be that some actors
go through their parts cold; and we may even admire
the more their consummate skill. But a speaker is not
an actor; he is not playing a part. He is expressing himself; and the suspicion that he does not care about what
he is saying, that he is not sincere, is fatal to his influence. And if a speaker is not sincere, he is almost sure
to betray himself. There are subtle effects upon voice,
the tones and the accent, which only the most skilled
actor can control, but which the simplest man can feel.
There is a man, rather prominent in public life for many
years, who is called a great orator. Nature gave him a
voice of such quality that his mere "Ladies and Gentlemen" sends a thrill through his hearers. IHe has held
many an audience spellbound for hours; yet his influence has been notably small. It has rapidly dwindled
as his reputation for insincerity has grown; for even
though one may trick an audience once or twice, he
cannot continue to deceive. For the average speaker,
lacking a high degree of skill, deception is impossible.
It is true that we sometimes hear men delivering with seeming
earnestness, truths with which their practice does not square; but
the contradiction is more apparent than real. Men often do believe
earnestly in virtues which they do not practise. The drunkard,
when sobered up, believes, and no one has better reasons for be



100


PUBLIC SPEAKING


lieving, in the virtue of temperance. Men rarely speak with a
tone of conviction without, at least for the time being, believing
what they say. Of course, no intelligent hearer is deceived by
mere loudness of tone, redness of face, or extravagance of gesture.
And, of course, no honest man will desire to gain the skill to deceive successfully.
Can a speaker command his feelings?        Feelings are
most difficult of control. They will not bear watching;
nor can they be commanded in the sense that one can say,
"Go to, now, this is a patriotic occasion; I will therefore
feel patriotic!"  What then is the speaker's case?    Must
he wait till feeling comes along to move him out of his
indifference?   This would do, perhaps, if he could speak
always on great occasions, or before inspiring audiences;
but he cannot. Nor does he speak just when he feels
like it; but most often on some conventional occasion,
often without any inspiration, without any initial inspiration, at any rate, from   occasion or audience. He
looks into faces which at best express only mild curiosity.
Consider the faces with that "do-your-duty-and-go-tochurch" expression which the average preacher has to
confront. On most occasions, if there is to be life, interest and enthusiasm, the speaker must arouse them.
There are, of course, audiences and occasions which
stimulate the speaker, but these are the exceptions.
Again, while the speaker usually does well to begin
quietly, still he must be thoroughly alert and prepared in
spirit at the start; he cannot afford to waste the initial
interest of his hearers. What, then, can he do to prepare
himself emotionally for his address?
He can refrain from repressing his feelings. Many a
young speaker will find by introspection that by a feigned
indifference, assumed to cover embarrassment or because
of a foolish fear of being thought to "put on," or by a
habit of repression, he is actually killing off his emotions




EMOTION


101


Express emotion and it grows; repress it and it dies.
He can positively encourage emotion: by physical
means. Instead of repressing his tendencies to feeling,
the speaker should arouse himself, throw off the air of
indifference and take on alertness. "Setting-up exercises," and especially deep breathing, give a good start.
Physical earnestness is an important condition of mental
earnestness. This is beyond dispute.
The James-Lange theory of emotions. The statements
of the two preceding paragraphs find support in the
theory which holds that "the feeling, in the coarser emotions, results from the bodily expression." To quote
Professor James: 1
"Common-sense says, we lose our fortune, are sorry
and weep; we meet a bear, are frightened and run; we
are insulted by a rival, are angry and strike.... The
more rational statement is that we feel sorry because we
cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble.
S.. Stated in this crude way, the hypothesis is pretty
sure to meet with immediate disbelief."
But Professor James proceeds to give an argument,
too long and technical to be quoted here, which has
convinced   many. The theory      that the emotion    is
"nothing but the feeling of a bodily state, and it has a
purely bodily cause," is difficult to demonstrate by experiment; for2 "the immense number of parts modified... makes it so difficult for us to reproduce in cold blood
the total and integral expression of any one emotion.
We may catch it with the voluntary muscles, but fail
with the skin, glands, heart, and other viscera." Now,
if the theory be true, a corollary should be that any voluntary manifestation of an emotion should give us the
emotion itself.


1 Briefer Coursc, p. 375).


2 Idem, p. 378.




102


PUBLIC SPEAKING


1 "Everybody knows how panic is increased by flight,
and how the giving away to the symptoms of grief or
anger increases the passions themselves... In rage, it
is notorious how we 'work ourselves up' to a climax by
repeated outbursts of expression. Refuse to express the
passion and it dies. Count ten before venting your
anger, and its occasion seems ridiculous. Whistling to
keep up courage is no mere figure of speech. On the
other hand, sit all day in a moping posture, sigh, and
reply to everything with a dismal voice, and your melancholy lingers. There is no more valuable precept in
moral education than this, as all who have experience
know; if we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the first
instance cold-bloodedly, go through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which we prefer to
cultivate. The reward of persistency will infallibly
come, in the fading out of the sullenness or depression,
and the advent of real cheerfulness and kindliness in
their stead. Smooth the brow, brighten the eye, contract
the dorsal rather than the ventral aspect of the frame,
and speak in a major key, pass the genial compliment,
and your heart must be frigid indeed if it do not gradually thaw."'
Did you never begin to speak mildly your displeasure, and suddenly flame out into denunciation; or to express approval and find
yourself running into extravagant praise? "I did n't mean to say
all that," you explain ruefully, "but my tongue ran away with
me." And do we not all know how laughing freely increases one's
sense of humor?
It should be said that this theory of emotion has not
been generally accepted in its entirety, though most
psychologists admit it contains a large measure of truth.
It undoubtedly contains an important suggestion for us,
seen especially in the last quotation from    James. We
have some control over our feelings, in a physical way;
we can at least prepare for them and encourage them.
1 Briefer Course, p. 382.




EMOTION


103


Action and expression increase emotion. Act bold and
we shall tend to feel bold; act interested and we shall
tend to feel interested. But perhaps the most valuable
lesson we can draw from our consideration of the relation
of action and bearing to emotion, is just this: By means
largely physical one can bring himself out of indifference
and establish a mood of alertness and responsiveness to
the emotions of one's speech.
The speaker can develop emotion from ideas. Having
gained a valuable suggestion from the James-Lange theory of emotion, we are still glad we do not have to accept
it fully, but may retain our belief that emotions spring
directly from perceptions and ideas. To what extent
these may arouse emotions in a given instance, depends
of course upon what they are, upon what we are and
upon how they are related to our experiences; and also
upon how vivid, recent and oft repeated these experiences have been, and upon the way in which the ideas are
presented to our minds. The more concrete their presentation and the more vivid their imagery, the more ideas
tend to arouse emotion. In other words, emotion will be
the natural result of much of the work urged in the two
preceding chapters, which might well be reviewed at this
point with the thought of emotion in mind.
The term associations will prove useful in this connection. We may say that the feeling which is aroused by a
word or an idea depends greatly upon the associations
one's mind has for it; upon what has been attached to it
by observation, study and experience. Home, flag and
mother are examples of words notably strong in emotional associations and therefore tending to arouse vivid
imagery and strong feeling. It is evidence of their force
that the words instanced are greatly overworked for the
purpose of evoking feeling.




104


PUBLIC SPEAKING


It should be plain from the preceding chapto   hat we
are not limited to actual experience for associations. To
the youth who has lived the ordinary protected life, the
idea of justice has little emotional significance. He will
tell you he knows what it means, that he believes in justice for all, he will readily subscribe to any maxim about
justice; yet the idea has little meaning for him and his
voice lacks the ring of conviction. But suppose he has
suffered injustice, or is of a people that has suffered injustice; then the idea will possess him and he will speak
with an accent that leaves no doubt of sincerity. I have
in mind students from Porto Rico and the Philippines,
who believed their countries wronged by the United
States. But suppose, again, the youth has been stirred
by the wrongs of others and has fought for justice to an
individual or a class: then also the idea may command
him. Or, again, let us suppose he has read history until
the long struggle for human rights has become real to
him: then, again, though the interest may not be so keen
and enduring, it may still be commanding.
What to do. Go over the thought material of which
your speech is composed, considering the importance of
the issues involved, their practical bearings, illustrations
from history and experience, especially those warm with
human interest; bring the matter home to yourself in the
most familiar and intimate way. Imagination has a
great part to play here; for it is the spring of sympathy,
-the means of "putting yourself in the other fellow's
place."  By means of visual, auditory and motor imagery
put yourself into the very situation discussed, and you
will feel the struggle, the triumph, or whatever emotion
the situation contains. In general, do the work outlined
in the preceding chapter.
Analysis and feeling. It is desirable that there should




EMOTION


105


be some interval between the analytic part of one's preparation and the delivery of the speech. The analytic
frame of mind is cold, for analysis is largely a process of
abstraction; and abstraction has as little as possible to
do with words of vivid imagery and emotional association. The speaker should be able to make a cold, clear
analysis of his subject; but he should pass from this
stage of work to another in which he feels as well as understands his ideas.
The time element. In considering feeling we are again
impressed with the need of taking time in preparation.
Feeling is not to be coerced; it is to be developed from
the thought as it is worked over and assimilated. Only
through assimilation can there be genuine feeling, with
the requisite self-forgetfulness and abandon. When a
man speaks out of earnest feeling without prolonged
special preparation, as in the case of Grady referred to
in the preceding chapter, it will be found that back of
the speech lies long experience.
Balance of thought and feeling. A speaker who makes
his study of Lincoln, arbitration, or the "honor system,"
in the ways before urged, will not lack sincere feeling.
At the same time, since the work outlined will give grasp
of his subject, he will not be unduly swayed by feeling.
The ideal condition of the speaker demands strong feeling controlled by clear thinking. But this is the condition which makes a man strong in all sorts of activities,feeling for motive power, thought to control and direct.
The mental machine is useless if either is lacking.
The hours immediately preceding delivery. When a
speaker is to make an "effort," he should take pains to
come upon the platform     physically and mentally fit.
He should, if possible, have a pleasant restful day, with
enough occupation to keep him      from  worrying. He




106


PUBLIC SPEAKING


should not tire himself with a great deal of exercise.
Well-meaning friends and committeemen who may wish
to entertain with sight-seeing or heavy dinners, should
be firmly discouraged. Each speaker should learn, by
observing his experience, what course of action is best
calculated to bring him on the platform with energy on
tap and nerves at peace; and to avoid whatever in the
way of eating, drinking, or smoking is likely to make
his mind sluggish or his voice husky. It is generally
best to avoid eating within two hours of the time of
speaking.
Some will find it to their advantage to spend the time
immediately preceding the speech, say the last hour, in
special preparation. They may need to bring themselves
to physical alertness, to gain poise and command. Exercises will aid in this; and especially deep-breathing exercises will do much to check nervousness (for they demand
good control of the nerves), to relieve throat constriction and to help the speaker "find his voice." Such
exercises take a speaker's mind off his worries, if he has
any. Nervousness over speaking is not due so much to
the fact that public speaking is such a fearsome thing in
itself, as to worry about it. It is not desirable, however,
that a speaker should be as cool as the proverbial cucumber; only that the necessary nervous tension should not
be so great as to destroy self-control. And here we may
make another application of the James-Lange theory:
Let a man act as if he were courageous, alert, at ease
and he will tend to feel so.
Often it is best to keep one's mind off one's speedc]
during the day it is to be delivered; and in particular t(
avoid fussing over its structure and wording. At times
it is helpful to read and think on the subject, "pumpin(
one's self full of it,"  This presumes, of course, tha




EMOTION


107


preparation has been completed. Shortly before speaking it may be a relief to run over the thought of one's
speech to assure one's self that it is clearly in mind and
to get into its mood. The conclusions and purposes of
the speech should especially be considered to guard
against yielding overmuch to the superficial aspects of
the occasion.
A colored student preparing to take part in a speaking contest,
with a speech which was a plea for equal opportunity, kept saying,
"I am not out for the prize; I am going to speak for my people."
And he did, with great force and sincerity.
Obviously there will be many circumstances under
which some of the foregoing suggestions will be useless,
or even unwise. But it is not unwise to take note of the
fact that just as the athlete must not only know his game,
but must come on the field in fit condition, so should the
speaker not only know his subject, but also come upon
the platform in condition to do his best.
Emotional drifting during delivery. By drifting is
meant continuing in one mood regardless of the character
of the ideas expressed. The effect is as incongruous and
monotonous as that produced by a certain fiddler who
played always on one string. Many a speaker needs to
guard against working himself into a strained, excited
mood in which he gives neither himself nor his audience
relief. The resulting monotony is as truly monotony
as that of one who never warms up, or one who speaks
always in a gently complaining mood. I have in mind a
preacher of some note who, about five minutes from the
end of his sermons, invariably drops into a low, supposedly solemn tone of exhortation, and this quite regardless of the character of his concluding remarks.
Such habits are easily acquired, especially when one
speaks often under the same circumstances. All such




108               PUBLIC SPEAKING
tendencies are to be fought by keeping constantly alert
on the platform. It is also well for a speaker to watch
his speeches to see that he does not encourage such habits
by writing always in one vein. If he extemporizes much
the danger of following habit is still greater; and he
should either occasionally write a speech or have a
stenographer reveal to him his tendencies.
Emotion of the audience. The treatment of this topic will be
reserved for the chapters which deal with interesting, persuading
and convincing audiences. The emotion of the speaker will also
receive further treatment in those chapters.
Gesture. it will be well, at this point, to take up the first part
of the chapter on gesture (so far as the "Second Stage of Gesture
Training"). The subject is closely related to emotion.




CHAPTER VI


ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE-INTEREST
TURNING now to the more definite consideration of
audiences and the adaptation of speeches to their needs
and capacities, we shall, in great part, be developing and
re-applying principles already familiar in the preceding
pages. Plainly enough, in dealing with audiences interest and attention are of primary importance; yet you
may be surprised to learn how constantly these are the
major considerations.
No classification of topics in this discussion seems
entirely satisfactory; but we shall find most helpful an
analysis based upon the speaker's purposes. A sufficient
reason is the opportunity this analysis offers for emphasizing the fact that speakers have purposes.
Importance   of considering   the   speaker's purposes.
Much poor work is done because the real purposes of
public speech are forgotten, while primary stress is placed
upon form. Form needs attention, but it can be safely
studied only in subordination to purpose. Strange as it
may seem, the audience is often forgotten. The results
are affectation and ineffectiveness. We must think of
form always as a means to an end,-the impression desired upon the audience.
But the trouble does not always arise from too much
attention to form; it may exist together with too great
indifference to form. Self-centeredness is perhaps the
Thief reason for indifference to audiences. One who has
109




110


PUBLIC SPEAKING


occasion to observe is often astounded at the indifference
of speakers to the thoughts and feelings of their hearers.
Presumably these speakers have a hazy purpose; but
completely wrapped up in their own processes, intolerant
of the opinions of others, lacking sufficient imagination
for a sympathetic understanding of the kinds and conditions of men and of the motives which move them, they
go their own way unaware of response or lack of response.
Sometimes we say their speeches "smell of the lamp,"
but the trouble is not that they have studied, but that they
have failed to prepare with definite purposes and audiences in mind. If a speaker keeps clearly in mind that
he is going before a certain kind of audience to seek certain results, the chances are good that he will make a
proper selection and arrangement of material, adopt a
style of composition suitable for the platform and speak
in a direct manner.
The young speaker should take this exhortation to mind his
audience very seriously. He is prone to think that his hearers
will understand whatever he says, however complicated; that they
have no emotions, and that they will attend simply because he
speaks. He rarely considers the best method of approach or of
awakening interest. From the very first he should treat his class,
if he is in a class, as a real audience, to be interested, convinced
and persuaded; and the class should listen as a real audience, not
as a body of critics. The student should also embrace opportunities to speak before other audiences, where the thought of manner
will not be so prominent and where he may have a more real purpose to accomplish.
There may be some with an almost instinctive knowledge of the
nature of audiences. These, if sufficiently endowed otherwise, are
the "born orators."  But most of us need to work out of our embarrassment, our self-centeredness and our false notions, till there
some day comes to us a sense of what speaking really means. Then
by study of human nature and by practice, we may learn to influence audiences. If through plenitude of endowment, persistent
labor and right opportunity, we come to master audiences, we shall
be orators.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


111


What the speaker's purposes are. I shall consider the
speaker's purposes to be: 1. To interest, 2. To make
clear, 3. To induce belief, 4. To influence conduct. Now
any one of these purposes may be a speaker's final object
on a given occasion; or may be a subsidiary purpose, a
means to another end. Thus interest and clearness must
be sought in any speech. In many instances belief must
be won before conduct can be affected, and we shall find
that in most cases the processes by which conduct is affected must be employed before belief is established.
Again, exposition and argument may be employed to interest.
Interesting an audience. It seems strange that there
is need of putting stress upon the necessity of interesting
our audiences; yet we well know how common it is in
conversation to talk on about our affairs, our ideas, our
stupid adventures, our smart children, calmly ignoring
the yawns of our hearers. This may explain why a student speaker will expound in detail before a class of
juniors the peculiar advantages accruing to freshmen
from subscribing to the college daily.
An audience always holds it a natural right to be interested; often it asks nothing more. The speaker himself
may at times have no purpose beyond interesting; that
is, entertainment.1  More often the speaker has a purpose beyond this; but the demand for interest he must
satisfy, for he must have attention. A "polite hearing"
is rarely genuine; and very few members of the average
audience will listen by sheer will power, nor is it desir1 Entertainment has been made one of the general ends, and is an
end proper enough. Phillips, who makes this classification (Effectirc rpclckinX, p.;:3), treats it only with the "factors of interestingness." Interest is, of course, a much larger thing than entertainment. WVlihn we are interested in a pleasant way, with no serious
purpose impressed upon us, we say we are entertained: but we may
be interested in the most serious, even unpleasant, things.




112


PUBLIC SPEAKING


able that they    should. Applying Herbert Spencer's
principle, "economy of attention,'' a speaker should aim
to hold his hearers with a minimum       of effort on their
part; for whatever energy goes into mere effort to attend
is lost to consideration of the subject-matter.
Another reason for seeking to interest is that few speakers are
able to go energetically through a speech without evidences of response from their audience. Without such evidence one feels a
great load on his spirits. It is sometimes worth while to take
pains to interest a single person in order to have his sympathetic
following; but unless a speaker has a majority of his audience following with easy attention, he cannot often do well. When practically the whole audience listens with keen interest he is drawn
out in a wonderful way. Then he has "liberty."
There are times when the speaker has the advantage of
an aroused interest in his audience. There are times
when he can rely on this interest, even abuse it; but such
times are rare, and even strong initial interest is usually
easily lost. I have seen 2000 eager listeners, come together to hear a potential presidential candidate, bored
into helpless irritation by an inept address. The young
speaker will find few occasions indeed when he can safely
ignore the means of interesting.
The speaker standing before his audience faces a very
practical problem: How can he gain and hold attention?   No matter how noble his purpose, how splendid
his rhetoric, how sound his arguments, if he is not listened
to. There they sit, his potential hearers; presumably
most of them are willing to be interested: but unless
they are interested, they will think of their own affairs,
sink into bored endurance, or become restless. The
speaker must grip their attention, right at the start, and
he must hold it.
How can attention be won?      In the first place, it does
little good to tell one's audience that the theme is inter



ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


113


esting. Young speakers are constantly defending their
dull efforts with, "They ought to be interested in that";
but the question remains, Are they interested?  Is it only
the speaker of high prestige with his audience who can
depend upon the assertion of interest, even for initial
attention.
We see at once that the question, What does interest
audiences, is too complicated for brief and final answer.
We can, nevertheless, establish a few principles and become intelligent in applying them to different situations.
The most obvious suggestion is that we should have something to say worth saying; something not necessarily of
vital importance, but at least worth considering for a
few moments. The occasions are but few when audiences are willing to listen to sheer nonsense.
Fundamental interests. Certain interests common to
most men, may be noted. When we speak of a man's
interests we mean those things to which he gives his time,
thought and labor; not merely those things directly necessary to existence and success, but also those which give
him pleasure, or otherwise enlist his emotions. We put
first life and health. The vast deal of matter printed
nowadays on health presumably supplies a demand. But
it is probable that men in general are more willing to give
attention to the acquirement of property than to prolonging life. The pocket-book interest is one of the surest to
which a theme can be linked. This interest is not limited
to one's own pocket-book, but extends to all business.
Witness the number of business stories in popular periodicals.
AMen generally are interested in the means of acquiring
power and reputation. But there are some who are still
more interested in what pertains to honor, to social twelfare, to the good of country and to righteousness, and to




114


PUBLIC SPEAKING


other so-called sentiments. Again, men are interested in
what touches their affections, as the education of their
children. They are interested in all that gives them
pleasure, as sports, music, drama, literature. In short,
men are interested in whatever they are interested in,
whatever arouses emotion; and the most valuable suggestion is one which will grow increasingly familiar;
study human nature, study your audience. The chief
use of such an incomplete list as the above, is to impress
upon the self-centered speaker the truth that men are
many-sided in their interests.'
The human interest, Carlyle says: "Man is perennially interesting to man; nay, if we look strictly to it,
there is nothing else interesting." Terence, the old
Roman playwright, brought forth thunderous applause
with his line, "I am a man, and all human affairs are of
interest to me."   The interest of humanity pervades, of
course, history, fiction, drama, social science, and many
another interest; but still it is well to note that there is a
strong interest in just "folks,"-men, women, children
and babies. Personality is always interesting. So a
speaker may find it of advantage to throw his material
into terms of persons, persons with names and characteristics. Hitch your cause to the man who represents it.
A newspaper man of wide opportunity for observation,
recently declared that the public is never interested in
reform, but in its heroes and especially in its villains.
Elihu Root has said, "It seems sometimes as if our people
were interested in nothing but personalities, and that we
wanted a government of men and not a government of
laws."
Consideration of these fundamental interests does not
1 Those familiar with Phillips' Effective Speaking will see that I
have drawn here upon his Impelling Motives.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


115


carry us far; for we see that what will, in a given case, be
interesting, will depend much upon audience and occasion and how and by whom the matter is presented.
Differences in groups. No one is likely to overlook the
fact that a group of farmers may be interested in topics
very dull to laboring men, and that both farmers and
laborers may be interested in themes which will not touch
a body of artists; but there are less noticeable divergencies which are no less important. One may sometimes
hear city men talking to farmers on the assumption that
all farmers are alike; yet fruit farmers may take no more
interest than do artists in the tariff on wool. Speakers
coming to our universities may be heard making painful
efforts at classical allusions before engineering colleges.
The obvious means of safety is to know your audience, its
interests, its information and its habits of thought.
I referred just now to a presidential possibility who bored an
eager audience. We had gone to hear him because we wished to
know what manner of man he was, what his opinions and his
tendencies were. lie chose to read to us a dry, impersonal survey
of the origins of the common law, without an attempt to link this
history to the present day. It was, he explained, a paper he had
prepared for a law school lecture. It may have been adapted to
a convention of legal historians.
One reason for Mr. Roosevelt's success with audiences lies in
his varied career, as son of an old New York family, Harvard
student, politician, cowboy, historian, naturalist, hunter, traveler,
rough rider, police commissioner, president and one forgets what
else,-all giving him intimate knowledge of many kinds of people, of how they think, what their associations are, and what allusions and illustrations will appeal to them.
Variations of the same group. At one time an audience
of laboring men may be chiefly interested in a great railway strike, again in the doings of the I. W. W., again in
socialism, or the open shop. I do not mean to suggest
that a speaker should always address his hearers on their




116


PUBLIC SPEAKING


supreme interest of the moment; but only that he should
be alert to the possibilities arising from special occasions
and occurrences. A group may have also great variations of mood.1  A body of economists in convention assembled may in the morning wish to hear discussions of
taxation; in the evening at a banquet they may resent a
heavy discussion. Ministers do not always wish to think
of their duties; and college students may at times wish
to hear of something other than athletics. Attention is
caught by objects and ideas congruous with our present
mood, be it sad, gay, business-like, critical, or what not.
The speaker's relation to audience, occasion and theme.
The audience may wish to hear a speaker upon a certain
theme because of some special advantage he possesses, as
having taken part in the movement he discusses. Almost
any audience would like to hear Peary or Amundsen describe their polar explorations, and yet might be greatly
bored to hear one with no record of achievement speaking
on the same subject, although he were well informed and
actually giving a better lecture. Cornellians would not
care to hear a freshman speak on the beginnings of the
University; but they would like very much to hear Cornell's first president, Andrew D. White, tell of events of
which he might use the words of XEneas, "All of which
I saw and part of which I was."
A speaker should beware of attempting to discuss a
subject of which he has little knowledge before a body of
experts. If you have to give an address of welcome to a
1 Those who wish a scientific starting point for study may take
this from Pillsbury, Attention, p. 52: "The conditions of any act
of attention are to be found in the present environment (objective
conditions) and in the past experiences of the individual (subjective
conditions). The main objective conditions are the intensity, extent, and duration of the stimulus. The subjective conditions are
to be found in the idea in the mind at the time, in the mood of the
moment, the education, previous social environment, and heredity
of the individual."




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


117


convention of specialists, keep on safe ground. Do not
think to make a hit by reading up in an encyclopedia.
Probably what you read is to them exploded doctrine; at
any rate you are sure to expose your ignorance. Painful
also are those attempts to retail the history of a town to
its inhabitants. Even if the speaker knows the facts
better than the inhabitants, still they may not wish to
hear them from a stranger, though they may relish references which show that the speaker knows something of
their history. In any case, the speaker does well to ask
himself whether he is the right person to present the proposed topic, not only from the standpoint of preparation,
but also from   that of personal acceptability. A     labor
audience may not think you qualified to speak on the
closed shop, no matter how much preparation you have;
and may even be prejudiced against hearing you, if, for
example, they suspect you of hostility to unionism.
The age of a speaker is often important in the minds of
his audience. "The idea of that young thing trying to.
tell us how to bring up our children!"' exclaim indignant
matrons when a freshly ordained preacher essays this
theme. There is a pride in knowing one's own affairs, or
the affairs of one's time, which may blind people to actual
wisdom on the part of a speaker.
Ringwalt 1 furnishes the following suggestive comment and incident:
"A student may be better informed on a public question than a
congressman, but the latter will get the invitation to speak; what
a man may be expected to know weighs heavily. A young student
who had gained considerable reputation as a speaker, was asked.
with a number of distinguished men, to respond to a toast of his
own selection at a banquet held on the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Had he chosen to speak on Lincoln's political career, he
would have been listened to with courtesy, but, by men who knew
from experience the facts he related from histories, hardly with
interest. He chose rather as his subject, 'Lincoln as a Master of
English Style,' and scored the chief success of the evening. This
1 Modern American Oratory, p. 38.




118


PUBLIC SPEAKING


was the one theme about which he not only knew more than his
hearers, but about which they all realized he could know more."
A student friend of mine was asked to address the Grand Army
Post in his home village on Memorial Day. I will leave to you
the questions: What should have been his theme, and how should
he have treated it?
The general audience. So far we have considered special audiences, homogeneous groups. The interests of
the general audience are less dependable.       The more
heterogeneous an audience, the more difficult to control
and to "fuse" its members into one mood.
The preacher, for example, in his efforts to reveal the relation
of religion to human needs, has a weekly problem hardly to be
solved. Before him are children of very limited experience and
understanding; people of the age of reliance on one's own strength,
and those who have reached the stage where they feel peculiarly
the need of support and consolation. Some preachers feel so
keenly the disadvantage of an uninterested and restless element
in the congregation, that they attempt a partial solution by preaching first a brief sermon to the children, who are then free to go
home.
To appeal to each element of a mixed audience in turn
makes sustained interest on the part of all improbable;
yet this is sometimes the only feasible method. Varied
illustrations and applications may be needed to catch the
interest, now of the business man, now of the women,
now of the factory workers; but all that is said should be
at least intelligible to the great majority of those present,
and no considerable time should pass in which any group
is given nothing of interest. Sometimes a speaker of
great prestige may venture to say frankly, "Now I wish
the rest of you to wait while I talk to these merchants";
but unless the other groups can have some sympathetic
interest in this special discussion, they will soon grow
restless. And if the speaker be "talking over the heads"
of any group, resentment may be aroused. If a speaker




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


119


in a college town especially addressed himself to the
faculty members present, in a way which presumed them
to be of superior intelligence, he might easily arouse the
old town-and-gown hostility.
Indefiniteness is not necessary. Though the appeal to
the interest of a general audience must at times be very
broad, still it need not be indefinite. Though one has an
audience composed of scientists, workingmen, teachers,
farmers, philosophers and social workers, still all men are
alike in many ways, and have in one way or another the
same needs and the same human experiences, just as all
catch  the measles. "The Colonel's lady         and   Judy
O'Grady are sisters, under their skins." The orator
understands and shares the common human interests,
and under all circumstances finds a common ground of
interest and sympathy.
The complaint is sometimes made that speakers indulge too
much in commonplace and platitude. The charge is true, just as it
is true of those who write and converse. But critics should not
be too strict, in view of the necessity of finding a meeting place
for all sorts of people. At the same time, speakers do well to relieve necessary commonplaces with freshness of form.
In many cases, even with the most heterogeneous audience, no preliminary search for a common ground Is
needed; for all may be already interested in the same
political issue, the same application of a scientific discovery, the same story of heroism, the same sanitary regulation, or the same high cost of living. I have seen an
audience as heterogeneous as that suggested above, all
fused into one splendid enthusiasm     for the support of
Governor Hughes of New York, in his demand that the
state constitution should be enforced against race-track
gambling.
Most of the members of the usual audience have much




120


PUBLIC SPEAKING


in common in origin, tradition, prejudice, religion, experience, association, politics, and general information.
They live in the same community, or have been brought
together by common interests, or by congeniality. They
can be expected to recognize certain allusions, to think at
a certain rate, to know certain facts, and to respond to
certain appeals. One can hardly hope to reach every
member of an audience. How far the attempt should
be carried, to what level in one's audience and to how
many elements a speech should be addressed, are questions that cannot be answered except with reference to
particular cases.
We turn now to consider means of interesting which
are more or less applicable to all audiences.
Derived interest. If the principle is not fresh in your
mind, you should turn back to Chapters III and IV, and
especially you should re-read the quotation from James
at p. 54. Just as teachers no longer begin geography
with a discussion of the planetary system and gradually
approach the child's place in it, but begin with phenomena already familiar to him, the towns, streams and
islands he knows; so speakers should start with that
phase of their subject already known and interesting to
their hearers, at the point where they "have something
to attend with." If the topic does not relate itself directly to the existing interests of your audience, then
connecting links must be supplied. When this is impracticable, the topic is impracticable. It may be said, further, that unless a speaker has a strong reason for taking
a topic far removed from the interests of his audience,
the fact that he must take a considerable portion of his
time for establishing a derived interest, will usually be a
good reason for choosing another topic.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


121


The illustration in Chapter IV of a man going deliberately to
work to interest himself in Greek archeology might easily be
turned into a problem in interesting an audience. Work this out:
Suppose your task were to interest a group of business men in
excavations on the sites of Egyptian cities. Could you in any
way utilize the religious interest? Where would you begin with
the same group in interesting them in the peace movement?
Problems of deriving interest arise every day in a public speaking class. If one is talking of, What is the matter with the football team? no problem arises, but to use that sort of topic all
the time proves limiting. A student of agriculture had some good
ideas on the common complaint that too much time is spent upon
teaching the theory of agriculture, and too little upon practical
applications. Two-thirds of the class, not being students in agriculture, evinced little interest. The speaker might have gained
general interest by first taking the question up as one that arises
in all courses, law, engineering, etc., and then proceeded to illustrate with the course he knew most about. Another student of
the same college wished to speak on the Grange; but when asked
the standard question, How will you interest all in that? he gave
up. Yet there are phases of the Grange which would interest
most of us; the cooperative principle, for example, or the Grange
in politics. Another wished to speak upon the growing of apples.
He might have taken up the enormous business of marketing apples, for business interests most students to-day; but as he wished
to take the technical phases, such as the composition of sprays,
it did not seem worth while to make the far-fetched connection.
Law students may fail to detach themselves from the law school
atmosphere; but one who wished to practise legal discussion succeeded in making his talk both interesting and tangible by using
as a basis rooming contracts, a burning issue at the time. A
student in architecture, speaking in a class including no others
from his college, kept up interest in his favorite theme by selecting illustrations from the campus buildings. The student of chemistry who started with the keen interest in automobiles carried
us far into a discussion of substitutes for gasoline. Even the
hackneyed subject of capital punishment may get a new lease of
life from the case of some noted criminal about to be executed.
Ways of deriving interest.     Sometimes the existing interests of your hearers may be utilized by starting with
one of these and leading into the desired topic, as by
beginning with the present war and leading to interna



122


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tional law, assuming that to be the topic in which you
wish to arouse interest; sometimes by beginning with a
phase of one's topic which quickly shows its relation to
an existing interest, as by taking a question of international law which is closely related to the war, e. g.,
blockades; and again, by one's selection of illustrations.
By whatever method you choose to proceed, do not ask
your audience to listen long without seeing how your
topic is related to something they consider interesting;
and as you proceed you should continue to link the new
matter to that already made interesting, "so that the
interest, being shed along from point to point, finally
suffuses the entire system of objects of thought." You
may be able, also, to reach out, at various stages, and
connect your ideas with other interests than those first
touched. It is conceivable that in a single short speech,
with perfect unity, you might enlist the interest which
your hearers possess in athletics, in education, in temperance and in religion; and the fusion of these interests
would make a strong whole. One may think of each of
these interests as throwing a rope to assist in mooring
the new subject.
Interest derived through illustrations. Examples of
the common device of using illustrations which come
peculiarly within the experience of one's audience, were
given in the comments on class speeches above. A stump
speaker addressing now farmers, now railroad men, now
salesmen, will usually try to vary his illustrations to fit
each group. However, we should not suppose that any
class of people is interested only in its own specialties.
Another warning is in order: do not try to draw illustrations from any field unless you are sure of your ground.
Railroad men may like to hear you draw illustrations
from their work, if you can do so easily and naturally;




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


123


but they will be amused or bored by a strained attempt.
Of a preacher who tried to talk to an audience of sailors
in their own terms, one of his hearers said: " There are
two things he does n't understand, navigation and religion."
Novelty and the interest of audiences. After the discussion in Chapter III you will readily understand that
while new things and new ideas are a source of interest,
the strongest and most sustained interest arises from the
union of old with new. Read again with care the quotation from   Royce on p. 57 of this text, and that from
James on p. 58. "The old in the new is what claims
attention." When we present new ideas to an audience
we should present them in such a way that their relation
to familiar things is apparent, so that they may be compared or identified, or so that the relation of cause and
effect or some other relation is evident; and when we
present old matter we should give it new aspects, relations and applications.
A group of housewives may be interested in hearing an explanation of the familiar phenomenon of the rising of bread. I was
much interested in learning from the speech of a student of architecture of the considerable accomplishment of Thomas Jefferson as
an architect; while the student derived an interest in the statesman
who was also an artist.
Travel lectures have great vogue on Lyceum and Chautauqua
platforms. They furnish a pleasant opportunity for comparing
and contrasting, and discovering the familiar in the seemingly unfamiliar. "What an odd way to do!" we hear a listener say: that
is, how different from our way of doing the same thing. "What
a queer-looking place in that picture! Why, it 's a kind of store,
is n't it? How interesting!"  The following sentence, written of
an Eastern country, illustrates the force of contrast with the familiar:
"It is a country where the roses have no fragrance, and women
no petticoats;... where the roads bear no vehicles, and the
ships have no keels; where old men fly kites,... and the sign
of being puzzled is to scratch the heel."




124


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The familiar. While the absolutely familiar is said to
be uninteresting, we should note that the very familiar is
at times welcomed. Do we not love old songs and old
stories? The question was recently asked, Why are so
many jokes made reflecting upon stenographers? and
Harper's Weekly replied, "The world loves familiar jokes
and familiar effects."   At any rate, while I should be
very sorry to encourage triteness, we must recognize the
fact that there are times when people like to hear familiar
ideas, and also like them put in a familiar way. Indeed,
they may object to a departure from the old way, as
children hold their entertainers to the very words of oft
repeated stories. We know that partisan audiences love
to gather on Jackson's birthday to hear again the familiar
phrases in praise of party and party heroes. Gatherings
of old soldiers never weary of their familiar themes and
eulogies. It is said that the veterans from North and
South at the great gathering on the field of Gettysburg in
1913, did not take kindly President Wilson's attempt to
talk to them of the duties of the present. Their minds
were full of the past.
What is triteness? In apparent conflict with the above
is the fact that no complaint is more common or damning
than that a speech was trite, that its matter was stale, or
wornout with much repeating. The complaint is evidently a demand for novelty. Plainly enough, it behooves a speaker to get a clear idea of triteness.
The reconciliation of this criticism with the liking for
the familiar may be sought, first, in the kind of subject
used in a given case. It may not have been one considered important by the fault-finder. Some one has well
said, "No truth ever is or can be trite to one who uses
it."  Old problems still pressing for solution do not become trite, though we may temporarily weary of them.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


125


The old, old negro problem     can still be depended upon
for an interesting discussion in my classes. Again, the
subject may not have been one dear to the hearts of the
audience. We may note that the themes which people
love to hear about in the old way are those on which they
have warm    convictions and strongly emotional associations. Secondly, much depends upon the occasion. The
old recital is especially welcomed at gatherings which
awaken old and emotional associations.      Then the old is
congruous with the hearer's mood. The old soldiers
gathered at Gettysburg are very different from the same
men at home, with business uppermost in their minds.
Political and religious meetings also arouse emotional
associations and remove the critical spirit. As a student,
summing up our discussion of this topic, once put it,
''Triteness is saying the old thing in the old way, at the
wrong time."'    This is true, though not all the truth.
Thirdly, the treatment of the old topic may have been
dull, confused, or inferior to what the audience was accustomed to. To fall below the expectation of the audience, based on memory of other speakers, is especially
unfortunate. Fourthly, much depends upon the presumption with which old matter is presented. If old
information is presented as new, or old arguments are
made as arguments which the audience has not before understood, resentment may be provoked. "Does he think
we don't know that?" is sometimes heard.
There are many young speakers who offend in this way, always
"carrying coals to Newcastle."  Students will tell their classmates
how the campus is arranged and the most obvious faults of the
old gymnasium. The explanation seems to be that they have not
realized what speech-making is, and are still in the essay habit,
writing for instructors who have no right to be interested. I have
heard the commonplaces about our gymnasium so many times that,
given the start, 1 know the rest. This speech and several others




126


PUBLIC SPEAKING


of its kind simply embody the campus talk, which any sophomore
can give without preparation. Yet I have heard a speech on that
same gymnasium and its same deficiencies, which combined so
much new information and such an individual point of view with
the old ideas, that it was genuinely interesting. There is another
kind of student speaker, somewhat of a thinker and scholar, who
tries to give us just as much new matter as possible, quite regardless of the state of our interest and understanding.
Audiences differ in their relish for novelty, because
some are more conservative than others in their thinking.
Some like to look back and dwell upon what we owe the
past; they glory in Webster's speeches at Bunker Hill
and Plymouth Rock; while others think those speeches
tiresome commonplaces, and find their interest in what is
and what is to be. Some love old ideas just because they
are old, as they love old furniture; others love the new
because it is new, as they love new words and new fashions. There are tories and radicals of thought. The difference may arise not only from      temperament, but also
from training. A body of scholars, while insisting upon
the recognition of established truths and approved modes
of thought, may still delight in ventures into the fields of
speculation; they gladly seek new truth for its own sake.
A body of "advanced thinkers," generally lacking sound
training, may insist not at all upon the recognition of
familiar landmarks, and take with enthusiasm the boldest
flights into the uncharted realms of fancy. On the other
hand, those who are unaccustomed to thinking and who
are guided by a few inherited beliefs, are subject to
mental homesickness when out of sight of the familiar
headlands. They may even resent the introduction of a
great deal that they cannot interpret. We recall, also,
that the educated find fewer things entirely new, and they
are more rarely carried beyond the point of comparison.
nost persons will expect, on most occasions, to gain




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


127


something from attending your address. They usually
hope for new information, or to get new light on an old
problem, or perhaps to receive reassurance and inspiration. Excepting the unusually serious-minded, few are
so keen for improvement that they will take stock afterward of what they have gained; provided, they have been
interested. But if you have not succeeded in interesting
them, they will grumble that the time has been wasted,
that it was " the same old stuff, " and that they have heard
it much better put before.
Summary. The new has power to interest; and the
new is what the speaker himself often desires to present.
We must keep in mind, however, the principle of derived
interest. New ideas and facts should be presented so that
they can be readily related to existing interests; so that
the audience can see that the new is a valuable addition
to existing' knowledge, furnishes a new explanation, or is
in opposition to existing beliefs. The audience likes to
identify the familiar in new guise, simply to identify, or
to recognize in an incident or situation a new instance to
confirm an old conviction, or to find that accepted principles have applications hitherto unknown. We must
recognize that there are circumstances under which
audiences like to hear familiar ideas put in familiar ways;
and yet that they are quick to complain of triteness, which
seems to be the result of putting old material in a way
wvhich fails to respond to or awaken their emotions, in a
way which falls short of their expectations, or which assumes the ignorance of the audience. Usually we should
aim to give something new in material or something new
in treatment; or better, something new in both.
Making the audience think. I have been speaking
merely of holding attention, leaving out of view the other
purposes of thle speaker. I have considered this problem,




128


PUBLIC SPEAKING


too, chiefly from the standpoint of the pleasure of the
audience. If we consider the question of new and old
with reference to making the audience think, which is, of
course, to make them attend, we shall come to the same
conclusion. We may rest this on the following from
Dewey's How We Think.1
" The more remote supplies the stimulus and the motive
[of thinking]; the nearer at hand furnishes the point of
approach and the available resources. This principle
may also be stated in this form: The best thinking occurs when the easy and the difficult are duly proportioned
to each other. The easy and the familiar are equivalents,
as are the strange and the difficult. Too much that is
easy gives no ground for inquiry, too much of the hard
renders inquiry hopeless."
Sensational methods. To    catch   attention   speakers
sometimes use methods in sharp contrast with the usual.
These are at times justifiable; as when your audience is
peculiarly inattentive because of stupidity, or weariness,
or because of anger, as in case of a mob, or because their
attention is strongly drawn by other attractions, as is
often the case in outdoor speaking. In a sense, every
speaker uses sensational methods when he suddenly lifts
his voice, or uses a striking gesture or epigram; but when
an evangelist advertises, "Hell to-night at the Presbyterian Church," or tears off coat and collar, or suddenly
shouts, "Look out!" we say he is sensational. Between
these extremes are many grades of sensationalism, and it
is useless to attempt to say what is justifiable and what is
not. There is this to be considered: When a speaker's
public becomes accustomed to his extraordinary methods,
it will not listen so well when he wishes to use more convenient ordinary methods. Extreme methods are like
1 P. 222.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


129


stimulants, the dose has to be increased. If you turn a
physical or a mental handspring to-day, you will be expected to turn it backward to-morrow. Again, the sensational method may defeat its purpose of drawing attention to what you wish to impress, by drawing attention
to itself. If you acquire a reputation as a "stuntster,"
people will come for the stunts, and perhaps feel
impatient when you try to slip in a few ideas.
To illustrate effective use of a striking expression, we may take
the opening sentence of a bulletin of the New York State Health
Board, intended to catch the public eye from the pages of a newspaper: "It has been said that for every death from tuberculosis,
some one should be hanged."  Having caught attention without
committing the Board to this startling proposal, the bulletin proceeds: "It has been better said that for every death from tuberculosis, some one should be educated." And note that this attracts
attention to the very point of the bulletin. I would not at all
discourage the use of the genuinely effective phrase.
Curiosity. One of the surest ways of catching attention
is to provoke curiosity in regard to what is coming.
This is done sometimes by announcements or titles which
cause guessing, such as Jelly-Fish and Equal Rights;1 or
it may be done by hints of notable disclosures to be made,
or by a course of argument which keeps the hearer in
doubt as to the speaker's ultimate position. Again,
tricks are played upon the audience; as when a speaker
displays a mysterious document, to which he may or may
not refer. Unless the speaker, having caught attention,
really interest his audience in something else, or in opening up his mystery satisfies them that their attention has
been repaid, they may resent the trick; as one feels peevish to find that a great secret he has been called aside to
hear, is but trivial. If Mark Antony had not had a real
sensation after holding back Caesar's will so long, his own
1 Atlantic Monthly, July, 1914.




130


PUBLIC SPEAKING


might have been among the houses burned by the mob.
One remembers, too, the fate of the boy who cried, " Wolf,
wolf!" when there was no wolf.
Suspense. Closely related to curiosity is that element
which carries us with breathless interest to the conclusion
of a novel, seeking to know the hero's fate, and which
makes most thrilling the game which is in doubt till the
last "put-out."    There may be in most cases strong
reasons why the speaker should tell his audience in advance what he proposes to explain or prove or ask them to
do, but the element of suspense is often available. A conservative audience was held in considerable trepidation by
a student speaker who devoted the first half of his speech
to the best possible arguments for anarchy; and then
listened with relief while he toppled over these same arguments. Mere uncertainty is not very effective; the uncertainty should arise with regard to something the audience cares about. Sometimes the material of a speech can
be thrown into the form of a dramatic narrative which has
suspense as a principal element.
Anticipation. But it is not sheer blank inability to
foresee any issue at all that is most provocative of interest; rather the chance to anticipate, to make a shrewd
guess at the outcome.
A preacher kept even the regular sleepers of his congregation
awake by announcing that his text would not be given until the
end of his sermon, and requesting that each should fix upon an
appropriate verse of Scripture.
More than this, we must admit great pleasure in looking
forward to a known outcome.
A writer in the Atlantic Monthly 1 points out that we go to a
popular play with pretty complete advance inform'ation.
"Consequently, there is not the slightest danger, even if we come
late, that I shall laugh at the wrong place or fail to laugh at the
1 May, 1914, The Show, by Simeon Strunsky.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


131


right place, or that Emmeline will fail to grope for her handkerchief
at the right time. Through the same agency of the newspaper the
funniest lines, the strongest 'punch,' the most sympathetic bits of
dialogue have been charted and located. At college I used to be
told that the tremendous appeal of the Greek drama was dependent
in large measure on the fact that it dealt with stories which were
perfectly familiar to the public. The Athenian audience came to
the theater expectant, surcharged with emotion, waiting eagerly
to let its emotion go."
The speaker will meet with such anticipation usually
only in times of public excitement, when perhaps the
papers have been prophesying that a leader will make a
certain announcement on a given occasion. In some cases
these announcements are skilfully prepared for by hints
to the papers for several days, hints which preserve an
element of uncertainty. In political campaigns a candidate may go about day after day, reiterating a popular
pledge, making damaging charges, or asking hard questions of his opponent. We know what he is going to say,
but we want to hear him say it.
Mr. Jerome with his brass checks from the "red-light" district,
in one of his campaigns for the district attorneyship of New York
City, and Mr. Taft with his oft reiterated pledge in 1908 to "carry
out absolutely unaltered the policies of Theodore Roosevelt," may
serve as examples. Mr. IIennessey, who during the mayoralty campaign in New York City, in 1913, gave each night a portion of his
revelations of Tammany rule, with a promise of more to-morrow,
illustrated the force of both anticipation and suspense.
Humor. An audience will listen as long as it is amused,
and a good laugh may banish weariness or hostility. So
true is this that ability to make an audience laugh is a
dangerous temptation to overuse humor. Unless the
story or witty saying serves the purpose of the speech, it
is likely to distract attention. The practice of dragging
in stories without connection, or with only a fictitious connection, though very common, is one to "make the
judicious grieve." The determination to be "funny" at




132


PUBLIC SPEAKING


any cost comes within the spirit of Hamlet's condemnation:
"Let those that play your clowns speak no more than
is set down for them; for there be of them that will
themselves laugh, to set on some barren quantity of spectators to laugh, too; though, in the meantime, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered:
that 's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in
the fool that uses it."
Professor Ketcham 1 tells of a student, with whom we might sympathize in his yielding to temptation, without approving of his
action. The speaker in question was third in a college oratorical
contest, and one after the other the first two speakers forgot their
speeches and retired. He came forward and began:
"Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget."
Professor Ketcham   justly observes: "The effect was a decided
success, if success were to be judged by the amusement of the
audience; but it only prolonged the time required to get the attention of the audience fixed on the serious subject which the
speaker wished to present."  There is one possible justification for
what this speaker did,-that the quotation served to relieve the
strain of feeling which holds all after the failure of a speaker.
If the student had had the skill to frame a new introduction to
lead gradually from the fun to his serious subject, I should say he
had done well, but that is beyond the average ability.
Even on the lightest of occasions, when the "necessary
question" is inconsiderable, one should not be content to
descend to the mental level of the Duchess:2
"He might bite," Alice cautiously replied...
"Very true," said the Duchess, "flamingoes and mustard both
bite. And the moral of that is-'Birds of a feather flock together.' "
It is no great stretch of imagination to hear one of our everready after-dinner speakers saying:
"Mr. Chairman, I see before me a dish of mustard. A simple
object to be sure; yet it reminds me of other days. It reminds inm
that mustard bites."  (Here story of the mustard plaster of child
1 Argumentation and Debate, p. 101.
"2 Alice in Wonderland, Chap. IX.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


133


hood.)  "But, Mr. Chairman, mustard is not the only thing that
bites. Dogs bite, horses bite, tigers bite, and even birds, though
toothless, bite. Yes, setting hens bite, and the other day I learned
that flamingoes bite."  (Story of how a flock of flamingoes bit a
crocodile.)  "Well, Mr. Chairman, the hour is late, and I will only
take time to observe, in more serious vein, that we see here again
exemplified the old adage, 'Birds of a feather flock together.' I
thank you."
Young speakers will do well to note that the repetition
of "stories" is not the only way to add humor to a speech.
It may spring from the whimsical turn of a phrase, from
placing in juxtaposition an opponent's incongruous arguments, from a comical bit of narration or description,
without going at all outside the proper materials of the
speech, or checking its movement. This may be illustrated from a student's speech on athletics: 1
"Unconsciously we have made a huge caricature of the whole
business.... We train up our athletes as did the colonial cavalier
his fighting cocks, or as does the modern millionaire his racing
horse; we specially feed them, transport them in special trains;
we yell for them, bet on them and weep over them. If it were not
so serious it would be highly humorous, the sight of our five-thousand dollar coaches and trainers,-intelligent men for the most
part,-running around after their charges, coddling them  and
denying them, looking solicitously after their appetites, seeing that
they are properly rubbed down, tucking them into bed, turning out
the lights, aye, and report has it, even praying for them in a fashion
all their own."
Here and in several other places in the speech the
speaker amused his hearers without in the least going out
of his way. All the humor served to impress emphatic
ideas.
The funny story is much in vogue and undoubtedly has its use
as well as its abuse. A word about the means of having a supply
is in order. While we like old jokes, about fat men and about
mothers-in-law, still they do pall upon the taste when we hear
them often told in the same form, and listeners are rather apt to
murmur, "That 's an old one," especially when they are told as
new. Joke books may help (Shurter's Jokes I Hare Met, is as
1 Tendencies of American Athletics. by W. W. Taylor, Cornell,
'07, winner of the Central Oratorical League contest in 1900. See
Shurter's Rhetoric of Oratory, p. 219.




184


PUBLIC SPEAKING


good as any); but as one's fellow sufferers at a banquet may have
had recourse to the same work, a speaker does well to have a private supply. It may prove worth while to preserve in a scrapbook
or card index such stories as appeal to one as possibly useful in
future speeches.
Interest in conflict. We have an instinctive interest in
conflict. We may hate it, dread it, joy in it, but are
rarely indifferent to it, whether it takes the form of a dog
fight, of athletic struggles, of war, of business competition,
or of a struggle with nature. We also like stories of conflict, so told that through imagination we become spectators of or participants in the struggle.
At times a speaker can utilize this interest by throwing
his speech, or a part of it, into a narrative of the conflict
with the forces of the opposition, whether those forces
consist of men, as in war, politics and commerce, or of
natural obstacles, as in building a canal or overcoming
disease. No doubt interest is keenest where the conflict
is with men, where passions are aroused; but enmity is
not necessary. The story of the heroic period of an enterprise or reform will usually hold attention.
Antagonizing the audience, Another and quite different way to utilize the interest of conflict is to antagonize
one's hearers; as, by statements contrary to their beliefs,
or by condemning their customs or their heroes. A
speaker may startle a sleepy audience into attention by
a sweeping statement which he later modifies. The
speaker, instanced before, who seemed to advocate anarchy, was employing antagonism as well as suspense.
There would have been little point to an orthodox refutation of anarchy before an audience convinced of its awfulness; but after becoming excited by an argument for anarchy they listened with relief while he demolished it. A
student preaching the advantages of "student activities"




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


135


would get better attention, if he first stated very fairly
the argument against them. The method secures more
thinking on the part of the audience. Manifestly, if the
speaker wishes to get more than attention from his
hearers, antagonizing them is a dangerous game to play;
and one who plays it should be confident of his ability to
keep cool and to restore his audience to good humor.
I consider only the question of interest here and not at all the
moral question involved. I assume that speakers will say, in one
way or another, what they believe, and will not try to deceive. I
recognize, too, that at times one may feel it his duty to antagonize
an audience.
Interest in activity. "Nothing      is more    interesting
than a person, an animal, even a machine, in action.
Much of the strength of window demonstrations, street
vending, etc., depends on this fact. The New            York
Herald has no better advertisement than the sight of its
presses, from the windows on Broadway." 1       Probably all
students will recognize the picture of "a roomful of college students suddenly becoming perfectly still to watch a
professor of physics tie a piece of string about a stick he
was going to use in an experiment, but immediately growing restless when he began to explain the experiment."
The appeal of action may be added to a speech sometimes
by the use of apparatus, but more often by a measure of
acting, by gesture, by the rapid narration of events and
by descriptions of animated scenes. We see here the relation of this topic to imagination.
Illustrations can be found in the selections, Who is to Blame?
and Await the Issue, printed at the end of Chapter XIV, and in
Wendell Phillips's Toussainat L'Ouvcrture.
Concreteness. What has been said of concreteness in
Chapters III and IV should be reviewed and applied to
1 Hollingworth, Advertising and Selling, p. 114.




136


PUBLIC SPEAKING


audiences, for they need concrete expression even more
than the speaker himself. Great speeches will be found
notably concrete in language and abounding in illustrations; and experienced speakers, at least those who succeed with general audiences, tend to grow more and more
concrete. I heard a noted scholar, now distinctly concrete
in his speech, say, "When I returned from Europe, filled
with the German abstract philosophy, my audiences did
not ask me to come again."     Highly trained thinkers may
hold unnecessary the wealth of fact and incident which
experienced speakers put into their discourse; but the
speakers know that the less highly trained will hardly
make an effort to listen to abstractions, but will wait till
their speakers "come down to cases." Narratives, examples, illustrations, fables, parables-these hold attention and stick in memory.
We recall the less usual meanings of the term concrete.
Our ideas should be clothed in familiar terms, such as
require no translation. These will be of the best Eng-;,lish, the English known to all, the words we acquire
early in life and which have the greatest significance for
us. These familiar words will not be bookish or "big."
It does not matter what language they are derived from,
nor whether they are long or short, just so they are familiar and suitable; though they will more often than not be
Saxon and short.
There are obvious limitations on this doctrine: less familiar
words may be needed for accuracy, and even for force, and the
more specialized one's subject the greater the need for technical
language. But the use of technical and unfamiliar words should
not be extended beyond what is necessary.
Long and short words and Latin and Saxon derivatives are discussed in Spencer's Philosophy of Style. You will find a simple
and specific statement of what good sense and good taste decree on
the use of words, in Hill's Foundations of Rhetoric, under the
heading, Words to Choose,




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


137


Again, we recall that the average man is practical in
his thinking, and will be chiefly interested in the applications of your ideas. Hie may dismiss the whole matter
unless he sees early in your address that you are coming
to a practical application. Says Dewey:1
"For the great majority of men under ordinary circumstances, the practical exigencies of life are almost, if
not quite, coercive. Their main business is the proper
conduct of their affairs. Whatever is of significance only
as affording scope for thinking is pallid and remotealmost artificial. Hence the contempt felt by the successful executive for the 'mere theorist'; hence his conviction that certain things may be all very well in theory,
but that they will not do in practice; in general, the depreciatory way in which he uses the terms, abstract,
theoretical, and intellectual-as distinct from      intelligent."
A group of men listens to a professor of physics explaining gyrostatic motion. At the end the questions show that the chief interest is in such practical questions as how the principle affects
automobiles on curves. Some of the scientific men present inquire
about more theoretical applications, but their questions are practical to them. The so-called practical man might consider the
above quotation from Dewey, "moonshine"; but I find it interesting because I see its practical applications.
Once your average man has derived an interest in a
subject through some practical application, he may be
carried far beyond the limits of the practical.
Be specific with audiences. Generalizations have their
place, but they should usually be accompanied by specific
expressions when strong impression is desired. If you
wish to say of a man that he has known many of the great
of his time, it may be better to say, Ie has met and
talked familiarly with Gladstone, Bismarek, Cavour and
many another of the great of his day-thus securing the
1 How We Think, p. 138,




138


PUBLIC SPEAKING


advantages of both      general and    specific statement.
Macaulay writes:
"Down went the old church of France, with all its pomp and
power. The churches were closed; the bells were silent; the
shrines were plundered; the silver crucifixes were melted down;
buffoons dressed in surplices came dancing the carmagnole, even to
the bar of the convention."
The statement grows more vivid and imagination is
touched as the specific items are added. But to enumerate is only one way to be specific. One can say maple
instead of tree, Sam Adams instead of one of the Revolutionary Fathers, or it snowed instead of the weather
was bad. Consider the difference in vividness caused by
the substitution of walked for went in He went down the
street; and then substitute for walked one of these:
marched, paced, plodded, sauntered, hurried, shuffled,
shambled, slunk, staggered, strode, swaggered. The
specific terms provoke a mental image, and the desired
mental image, more quickly and certainly than the general expression. The word tree may call up an elm, when
the speaker meant a maple tree; or just a vague any sort
of tree, or no tree at all. Moreover, as our emotional associations group themselves about particular things, the
specific term is more likely to find firm footing in the
mind.
Specific and general illustrations. It has been pointed
out that illustrations, which are by their nature concrete, may be either general or specific. The statement
that college education is not necessary to the development
of strong men, may be given this general illustration:
We have had many great statesmen, warriors, inventors
and business men who enjoyed but meager schooling;
but we come to specific instance with1 Phillips, Effective Speaking, p. 89.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


139


"Abraham    Lincoln had learned at school only the
three R's.... President Andrew    Johnson, a former
tailor, visited no school.... Andrew Carnegie began his
commercial career when twelve years of age, as a factory
hand... Edison was engaged in selling papers when
twelve years of age."
The general illustration has the advantages of giving
fuller scope to the idea and of not checking the hearer
in supplying instances from his own experience; but it is
comparatively vague and there is no certainty that the
hearer will be able, on the spur of the moment, to support the statement with any instances at all. The specific
instance limits the scope, but is more certain to provoke
response and to add to the convincingness of a statement;
provided the instances given have strong associations in
the minds of one's hearers. Eucalyptus would more
certainly bring a sharp image to a California audience
than would tree, but not to a New York audience.
Imagination and attention of the audience. If a
speaker in his preparation duly exercises his imagination
and gives it ample material to work upon, he will tend to
express his thoughts in such forms as will stimulate the
imagination of his hearers. This is a tendency to be
encouraged. Every teacher and every speaker knows
he can hold attention longer with experiments, with
objects and processes to see, than with words alone. But
since the actual presentation of the things discussed is
limited, maps, charts, diagrams and stereopticon pictures
are brought into play when feasible. So strong is their
command of attention that it is a disadvantage to have
them present when one does not wish his audience to look
at them.
I recently heard a young lecturer who permitted his operator to
run off near the end of his discourse, a series of views having no




140


PUBLIC SPEAKING


immediate connection with what he was saying. Needless to say,
that part of an interesting lecture was lost.
In the majority of cases, the use of pictures and charts
is impracticable or undesirable, but their effectiveness
serves to impress upon us the fact that a speaker who can
fill the minds of his audience with images of sight, sound
and motion, is pretty sure of attention. Of the speaker
who cannot stir imagination, one writer 1 has gone so far
as to say: "A man who cannot translate his concepts
into definite images of the proper objects is fitted neither
to teach, preach nor practise any profession. He should
waste as little as possible of the time of his fellow-mortals
by talking to them."
Imagination and the materials of a speech. One does
not have to introduce special material for the purpose
of rousing imagination, but can use the proper materials
of his speech. The facts in regard to the life of Lincoln
can be woven together to make him stand before us a
living man; the facts upon which one bases his argument for arbitration can be arranged so as to make conditions real. Narration and description are the chief
means of accomplishing these ends; and the study of
works which deal with these forms of discourse is recommended, though the reader must bear in mind that they
are prepared for the student of written rather than of
oral discourse.2
If you were discussing the fortification of the Panama
Canal, the prospects of the Mexican people, the causes of
the European war, the safeguarding of passengers on
steamships, the business future of the South, the promise
of a railroad your hearers are asked to finance, the best
1 Halleck, Psychology and Psychic Culture, p. 188.
2 Gardiner's Forms of Prose Discourse, Lamont's English Composition and Baldwin's Composition Oral and Written, are suggested. Use their indexes.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


141


kind of a steam plant for a certain factory,-in all these
cases, both for clearness and for interest, you would
wish so to group your facts that your hearers would
imaginatively realize situations, conditions and events.
Some speeches will fall naturally into narrative or into descriptive form; but others will more conveniently take an
expository or an argumentative form. These, however,
may need narrative or descriptive passages, as in explaining or arguing about the causes of a war, or the wisdom
of the Monroe Doctrine. Besides the necessary descriptions of places, situations and major events, there is also
opportunity for enlivening discourse by descriptions of
personalities and by anecdotes.
Analogy. We may reach out beyond the necessary materials of a speech and touch imagination by the use of
analogies, comparisons and figures of speech. For examples of analogy we may turn to the selection from
Huxley at the end of Chapter XIV.
Illustration, of one form or another, is the very life
of speech. No one can be unconscious of the satisfaction,
the relief from strain, the coming back to attention, when
a speaker follows a theoretical discussion with, ''To illustrate."'  Illustrations can best be studied in complete
speeches or long excerpts such as it is not feasible to include here. One also needs something of the situation
to appreciate a good illustration. But the subject is of
such importance that I shall emphasize a few points in
regard to the use of illustrations.
First suggeslio): Take care that each illustration
adds its strengoth to that which deserves emphasis in your
speech, and does not obscure that by unduly emphasizing minor points. Resist the temptation to use a good
story or striking pi'ture for its own sake, regardless of
the worth of the idea that it strengthens. Do not "work




142


PUBLIC SPEAKING


illustrations in" if they are not strictly pat, no matter
how amusing, or stirring, or beautiful. Your hearers will
either puzzle over the relation which should exist, or they
will be drawn off to the thought the illustration really
illumines. A speaker who is privileged to hear the comments of his auditors will often be pained at the number
of instances in which their attention has been caught
by some idea incidental to an illustration used, while the
main thought has escaped them. You may expect your
illustrations to be remembered longest; they should therefore be of such a character that they will recall to mind
your major ideas.
I heard a noted advocate of equal suffrage spend a third of her address on the illustration of a minor point in her argument,-that the
country people before her should be interested in the rights and
wrongs of city workers. This suggested the truth that all the
world to-day is bound together by common interests: and this point
she illustrated by the effect that a change of administration in
Korea had upon an industry in a New York town. For fifteen
minutes she described very beautifully life in Korea, while we forgot the suffrage and even the direct application of her illustration.
Second suggestion:    Use only illustrations which are
congruous with the spirit of your speech and of the occasion. Beware, for example, of frivolous illustrations on
serious occasions and of such as will seem     pretentious
and over-serious on lighter occasions. It should be noted,
however, that illustrations, especially of a narrative character, are useful in gradually changing the spirit of an
audience.
Third suggestion:    Do not use unnecessary details,
but choose those needed to make the picture. To give
every detail is to stifle imagination; as a photograph may
suggest less than a few strokes of an artist's brush. The
street urchin I heard replying to his chum's question,
"How is the ice?" with, "Fine; so clear you can see a




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


148


snake on the bottom!'" could not have improved the picture of good skating with any number of details. Do not
let needless preliminary details take more time than the
incident. A formal introduction is not always necessary,
not even " To illustrate." Instead of a long preamble,
as, This reminds me of a man who used to live in our
town, who had a son named John, who would not go to
school. So the father decided he would find a way to
impress the desirability of school upon his son. So one
morning he said to John, at the breakfast table, says he,
"John, etc., "-instead of all this rigmarole, in most cases
it would be better to say, As a father said to his son who
would not go to school, etc.
Fourth suggestion: On the other hand, there must be
details. How many it is useless to attempt to say: enough
to serve the purpose. If needed details are omitted the
audience may make no imaginative effort; or may supply wrong details.
If you wish them to imagine a scene of great animation,
you must give enough details of life and movement to
prevent their imagining a lifeless scene. However, it is
generally true that fewer details are needed when you
wish to convey merely an impression than when you
wish your hearers to form an image substantially correct;
as when you wish a board of directors to know the proposed arrangement of a factory, or a jury to realize exactly how the parties to a tragedy were grouped. There
may be times when elaboration is desired simply to hold
attention upon the illustration longer, in order to deepen
the impression.
Sufficiency of details is often consistent with brevity.
Much is gained by using specific words. If instead of
saying building, you say tower or church, your hearers
have the right image at once, and no further detail may




144


PUBLIC SPEAKING


be needed. It is not necessary to give each detail a separate statement. To illustrate both this and the preceding hint, if you say, The army was moving along a
stream, you still need several details, lest your hearers
see a creek when you mean a considerable river, and
see the army on the left bank going north, when you wish
them  to see the army on the right bank going south.
But if you say, General Jones was hurrying with his
cavalry division down the right bank of the Delaware
River to reach the ford at X, several essential points
have been economically conveyed, and yet given sufficient
prominence.
You should beware of asking.an audience to carry in mind a
very elaborate mass of details: and when complexity is necessary
you should use charts, pictures and models. I hear students trying
to explain complicated apparatus, and requiring their hearers to
put in order in imagination so many thingumbobs articulating in
so many ways with so many thingumjigs, that the class gives i:p
and waits politely for the end. Even with diagrams and all possible aids, some explanations are impossible in a short speech, and
these should simply not be attempted. The answers to criticism,
"Why I said so and so," and "I thought anybody could understand
that," are no answers at all.
An analogy may be helpful in explaining a complicated situation.
A famous example is that by Hugo beginning, "Those who wish to
form a distinct idea of the battle of Waterloo need only imagine
a capital A laid on the ground." The description that follows is
well worth looking up.1 The elevation on which the Northern army
lay on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg has been compared
to an enormous fish-hook, with Little Round Top hill at the eye
of the hook, the cemetery at the beginning of the bend, which
curves away from Lee's main position, bringing the two wings of
Meade's army rather close together.
Fifth suggestion:    The success of any piece of word
painting will depend much upon order of details. It has
been proved that the time taken by an experienced mechanic in assembling a machine, can be cut down two
1 Les Miserables: Cosette, Book I, Chapter IV.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


145


thirds by providing him a rack which presents the parts
to his hands in the best order. Somewhat similar is the
increase in your hearers' imaginative effectiveness when
you give them details in the right order. If some needed
detail is not given in time, your hearers may be at a loss,
or may supply it wrongly, and then have to "reassemble" the whole. The illustration above of describing
the movement of an army, may be applied here also.
That this suggestion is not merely one of the notions of fussy
pedagogues, may be seen from the fact that so great a thinker as
Herbert Spencer has laid stress upon the order of details in an
image, going so far as to weigh the relative advantages of the English and the French orders in a black horse and a horse black, and
deciding in favor of the former on the ground that when one
hears the word horse he is likely to image a bay horse, and thus
have to reconstruct his mental image when black is added. We
may agree with critics that Spencer pressed his point too far, but
not o, the ground that the effort of reconstruction is too slight to
matter. "Mony a mickle makes a muckle," and the nerve force
wasted in listening to a half-hour address may prove considerable.
Often as one listens in conversation to a description or narration,
he is deeply puzzled until some missing detail is given. "Oh," he
says, "that is what stuck me. Now it begins to clear up"; and he
straightens out the matter by asking questions and rearranging
details. But one who listens to a speech usually cannot do this.
Sixthi suggestion:   Consider your audience in choosing illustrations. First, you should consider what illustrations your audience will understand. The references
to Dick Turpin, Jeremy Diddler and Jonathan Wild, in
the selection, Who is to Blame? (see Chapter XIV) are
open to criticism. I refer here to brief allusions. If time
permits and the illustration is worth it, sufficient explanation to make it intelligible may, of course, be given.
Secondly, when you use illustration for the sake of interest, you should draw from fields which interest your
hearers. Thirdly, you should consider what associations
you may be stirring up. You can get the interest of




146


PUBLIC SPEAKING


old soldiers by illustrations drawn from the Civil War;
but in your Memorial Day address in the North you had
better not confine yourself to Bull Run, Chancellorsville
and other defeats, nor in the South would you choose
Sherman's "bummers" to illustrate reckless daring. Not
only may unfortunate illustrations provoke unpleasant
feelings, but also they may distract attention from your
main thought. An illustration, even though apt and applied to the central thought, may be too interesting,
whether the feelings be pleasant or unpleasant. If today one draws an illustration from the European war,
he risks losing attention.
Sources of material for illustration. The possible
sources are too numerous to mention; but illustrations
are so little used by young speakers that some suggestions are justified. Besides such general sources as
politics, history, literature, science and religion, we have
the special suggestions of the time and place of speaking,
the events which are filling the press, or are still fresh in
memory, and the direct experiences of the audiences. It
is well to note also that there is a pleasurable interest in
merely recalling events of the more distant past. The
old especially will awaken to interest when you remind
them of events, important or unimportant, which once
held their attention, though long out of mind. "Yes,"
said an old man with wistful interest, "'I remember I
was a little boy when the war with Mexico broke out.
Father used to read to us out of the papers about General
Taylor and Santa Anna."
Among the more tangible sources of illustration are
such history   and literature as come within      common
knowledge: Shakespeare, JEsop's fables, American historyl.and the Bible are perhaps the commonest sources
before general audiences. A student of affairs has at



ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


147


tributed something of Mr. Byran's power with such audiences to the fact that he has "the Bible and American
history at his tongue's end."     This does not mean that
Mr. Byran has a scholar's knowledge of American history
and the Bible, but that he has a good command of the
better known facts.
It is interesting to read, in connection with that statement, Mr.
Bryan's own discussion of illustration.1 He says that nature and
literature are the two sources, and nature, in which term he evidently includes human nature, is the more important. People
know nature better than they know books, and the illustrations
drawn from everyday life are the most effective. To quote:
"If the orator can seize upon something within sight or hearing
of his audience-something that comes to his notice at the moment
and as if not thought of before-it will add to the effectiveness of
the illustration. For instance, Paul's speech to the Athenians derived a large part of its strength from the fact that he called attention to an altar near by, erected 'to the Unknown God,' and then
proceeded to declare unto them the God whom they ignorantly worshiped.
"Classical allusions ornament a speech, their value being greater
of course when addressed to those who are familiar witth teir
source. Poetry can often be used to advantage..... By far the
most useful quotations for the orator, however, are those from Holy
Writ. The people are more familiar with the Bible than with any
other single book, and lessons drawn from it reinforce a speech.
The Proverbs of Solomon abound in sentences which aptly express
living truths. Abraham  Lincoln used scripture quotations very
frequently and very powerfully. Probably no Bible quotation, or,
for that matter, no quotation from any book. ever has had more
influence upon the people than the famous quotation made by Lincoln in his Springfield speech of 1858,-'A house divided against
itself cannot stand.' It is said that he had searched for some time
for a phrase that would present in the strongest possible way the
proposition he intended to advance-namely, that the nation could
not endure half-slave and half-free."
A very important source of illustration is observation.
The speaker who observes human life and its various occupations, talks with all sorts of men, looks straight at
things and asks questions until he understands them,
will gather a mass of illustrative material that will serve
him in good stead when needed.
1 Introduction to his World's Famous Orations, p. xiii.




148


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Webster, standing one morning at daybreak on the heights of
Quebec, heard the drumbeat from the fortress and fell to thinking
of the extent of England's power. Years after, when wishing to
impress upon the Senate the rash courage of our forefathers in
resisting so great a power, he does not content himself with statistics of England's army and navy and wealth, but illuminates all
with,"They raised their flag against a power to which, for purposes of
foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her glory,
was not to be compared, a power which has dotted over the surface
of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose
morning drumbeat, following the sun, and keeping company with
the hours, circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken
strain of the martial airs of England."
Figures of speech. The consideration of analogies leads
us naturally to figurative language. I shall not attempt
to treat of the reasons why "words, singly or in composition, diverted from their original meaning to suggest or
signify something analogous,"' serve to add to the clearness and beauty of composition. We are concerned with
figures as a means of holding attention. Wendell treats
figures under the head of Force, which he defines 2 as
"the emotional quality of style,... the distinguishing quality of a style which holds the attention." We are
particularly interested in figures here because they tend
to create images in the mind.
A brief review of speech literature will convince one
that there is force in figures well used. We shall find
that many of those passages which peculiarly cling to
memory are enlivened by figure. The popular declamations are filled with figures; such as Grady's "The University the Training-Camp of the Future," with a
metaphor in its title, and beginning, "We are standing in
the daybreak of the second century of this republic.
The fixed stars are fading from the sky, and we grope in
uncertain light." A glance through Curtis's "Leader

1 Wendell, English Composition, p. 245.


2 Idem, p. 235.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


149


ship of Educated Men," reveals figures in almost every
line.  Observe this paragraph:
"The scholar is denounced as a coward. Humanity falls among
thieves, we are told, and the college Levite, the educated Pharisee,
pass by on the other side. Slavery undermines the Republic, but
the clergy in America are the educated class, and the church makes
itself the bulwark of slavery. Strong drink slays its tens of
thousands, but the educated class leaves the gospel of temperance
to be preached by the ignorant and the enthusiast, as the English
Establishment left the preaching of regeneration to Methodist
itinerants in fields and barns. Vast questions cast their shadows
upon the future: the just relations of capital and labor; the distribution of land; the towering power of corporate wealth; reform
in administrative methods; but the educated class, says the critic,
instead of advancing to deal with them   promptly, wisely, and
courageously, and settling them as morning dissipates the night,
without a shock, leaves them to be kindled to fury by demagogues,
lifts a panic cry of communism, and sinks paralyzed with terror."
One may be surprised on examination to find how
constantly one uses figures. Even if some student says
he will "leave such flowery stuff to the wind-jammers
and hot air artists," he is using metaphors, and mixing
them  too. Figures give the "punch" to slang. Some
one has said that language is but a nosegay of faded metaphors.   Some    of  these   lie  partly  hidden   in   Latin
derivatives.   "Attention really means a stretching out toward.... Apprehend is nothing more or less than the
Latin for catch on." 1    More plainly we see the figures in
daybreak, a wild idea, flight of time, break the ice, grit,
fret. We cannot help using figures if we would. It is
doubtful if one should often seek a figure; though he
may when wishing a rallying cry, or other expression
which he very especially wishes to stick in mind. But
since we are bound to use figures, and since well used
they have force and badly used may be absurd, some attention to them is desirable.
Wendell finds 2 that the essence of figure is a "deep
sense of connotation,"' and that their good use demands
1 Wendell, Englis.h Composition. p. 248.
2 Idem, pp. 255, 25S.




150


PUBLIC SPEAKING


primarily sympathy; that is, such an understanding of
those addressed as will enable one to know what associations a figure will arouse in their minds.   The comparison
should be "broadly, sympathetically human."
A complete treatment of figures would be out of place here.
Those not familiar with the subject will profit by turning to one
or more of the following works: IHill's Foundations of Rhetoric,
Wendell's English Composition, Spencer's Philosophy of Style, Genung's Working Principles of Rhetoric. Read also what Whipple
says on the subject in his essay, Webster as a Master of English
Style. I will speak only of the chief danger in the use of figures.
The chief danger lies in the mixed metaphor, the product of a
mind too unimaginative to realize that it is using figures, or of a
very nimble imagination which leaps too rapidly from picture to
picture.
Probably few are capable of the famous bull: "I smell a rat,
I see it floating in the air; but mind you, I shall nip it in the bud,"
or of that product of the same mind, "I stand prostrate before the
throne."  These were nearly equaled, however, by the member of
Parliament who declared that the British lion, "whether roaming
the plains of India, or climbing the forests of Canada, will never
draw in his horns or crawl into his shell."  "The young men are
the backbone of this country," declared a speaker, "and that backbone should be brought to the front."  I heard a preacher depicting
a young girl coming forth from her home to go tripping o'er the
sea of life, while the devil reaches for her on every hand.
The famous "bulls" are only especially absurd instances of what
any one is likely to produce who is careless in his use of words.
While the slips are rarely so amusing as those given above, they
may be quite as confusing to those hearers who have active imaginations.
You will notice that the absurdities are often due to failure to
recognize the figures in hackneyed expressions. Backbone, smell
a rat, sea of life, are faded metaphors, but are still too strongly
figurative to be used freely in disregard of their original meanings.
The best suggestion for avoiding error is that we should develop
the habit of visualizing our expressions. No man who does this
will make the ship of state jump the rails, or break the backbone
of a cold wave.
A well developed sense of words, such as is acquired by language
study, is a great safeguard.1  Every speaker should develop some
1 Cf. Titchener, Primer of Psychology, p. 205.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


151


sense of the figures which lie in the plain English forms, at least;
such as staindard, safeguard and hand. Every one should realize
that a standard may be raised or lowered, but hardly laid down
when one means set up; and that one is not injured at the hands
of a bulldog. If a hearer is not confused, he is at least distracted,
when he is told of Goldwin Smith that his "intellectual activities
kept pace with his declining years."
Since the figures to which our attention is called are usually
either absurd or magnificent, it may be well to call attention to
some of homely force. These we may find in many a proverb, such
"as, "A burnt child dreads the fire," "A rolling stone gathers no
moss." Of the extreme abolitionists, Beecher said, "They are trying to drive the wedge into the log butt-end foremost, and they will
only split their beetle." And Robert Collier said of Beecher, who
broke through the traditional theology of his church, "Hie was an
oak planted in a washtub; it was hard on the tub."
Variations in imagery. We should note again, that
individuals differ in regard to their dominating forms of
imagery. These differences are likely to affect expression; that is, an eye-minded person in describing an event
is likely to emphasize the visual imagery, dwelling upon
what was to be seen; while an ear-minded person
will emphasize sounds. A pertinent suggestion arising
from these facts I am permitted to quote as follows:
1 " If the speaker is a visual, and his audience is made
up predominantly of motors, his images are of no use.
As a matter of fact, most audiences are largely visual;
but there is a large motor element everywhere, and allowance must be made for it.... Another thing to remember is the audience's limits of attention. Shift from
one type of cue to another on the part of the lecturer is
more restful than the attempt to be concrete within the
range of a single kind of cue. A man speaks very differently on the same subject, according as he speaks
from sight, sound or feel. lie becomes a different man;
his language and the nature of his appeal are different;
and so the audience does not get tired."
SA letter from Professor Titchener.




152


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Sustaining attention. We have noted that novelty,
curiosity, and sensational methods, while they may catch
attention, will not of themselves hold it; but what we
have learned of derived interest, concreteness and imagination is as applicable to sustaining as to gaining attention. And what we shall proceed to concerning composition is applicable to both phases. There are, however,
some special considerations under this head.
The principle especially in mind here is already familiar from Chapter III. Fix in mind the statement quoted
from Professor James on p. 60, noting in particular, "The
subject must be made to show new aspects of itself; to
prompt new questions; in a word to change." Few
phases of this whole subject are better worth our consideration than the avoidance of monotony; and we are
now prepared to enumerate some of the ways of presenting a topic with due variation. They can be used only
by a man "of full mind, in whom the subject in hand is
so mastered and matured that his thought upon it is active
and germinant." 1 Amplification of a thought does not
mean dilution, but enrichment.
First, we have the various phases of our subject-matter.
If Lincoln is our theme, we may view him in the many
phases before suggested. If we have narrowed down to
Lincoln's tact, we may consider his tact in the law court,
in politics, in dealing with his generals, with diplomats,
etc. If the theme is arbitration, we may look at its
economic side, its social side, its moral side, etc. If we
speak on "Honesty is the best policy," we may treat it
first theoretically, then practically; and then we may
consider honesty in social life, in the practice of law or
1 Genung. Working Principles of Rhetoric, p. 464. This is an
excellent refrence on amplificaiion. See also Phillips's Effective
Speaking under the headings, Cumulation, Restatement, General
Illustration, Specific Instance and Testimony.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


153


medicine, or in selling goods. Taking up the negro
problem, a mind at all familiar with that subject can
work out twenty phases in as many minutes. But since
we must usually treat but one small part of a subject, we
must carry analysis further. From the negro question
we may select the negro in slavery; then, even without
study, we think of how the negroes were brought into
slavery, the economic factors that made their labor profitable in the South, but not in the North, different types
of negroes in slavery, negroes as skilled workers, relations of masters and slaves, education permitted, means
of gaining freedom, their music, religion, etc. But almost any one of these divisions would make a topic for
a speech; and on study and analysis we should find that
we could go on subdividing, as the botanist continues to
make more and more classifications as his knowledge
grows more intensive. Here, of course, the study of the
topic as urged in Chapter IV comes in play.
Again, we may consider our material from different
angles, as it will be viewed by different classes of people.
If lynching is our theme, we may consider how the
ignorant negro is affected by it, how the intelligent
negro views it, how the North looks upon it, and how different classes of Southern people view it. Further, we
may very profitably consider with how many existing interests of our hearers we can link our topic; for every new
relationship gives it a new aspect. We may put our
ideas now into abstract, now into concrete terms; now into
general use, now into specific terms. We may utilize apt
quotations. We may throw our arguments now into the
forms of hard and fast exposition and logic, now into
forms which will touch the imagination and the dramatic
sense. We may use examples, illustrations general and
specific, and analogies and figures.




154


PUBLIC SPEAKING


This list of possibilities is suggestive rather than complete. It is further to be observed that how much variation is needed depends upon the length of the speech,
its difficulty and the ability of the audience to attend
and their eagerness to listen. Experience indicates that
all this is not too obvious to mention, but should prove
useful as a means of self-criticism. Beginners are often
weak in the use of wise amplification.
Brevity. Often the beginner does not see that amplification is needed for clearness and impressiveness, but
thinks it means simply making a little go a long way,dilution. The virtue of brevity is much impressed upon
us. We are told that "brevity is the soul of wit," that
the average composition would be improved by cutting
out half its words. Adjectives and adverbs in excess are
particularly warned against. When Hamlet says of his
father, "IIe was a man, take him for all in all," he could
not have strengthened his praise by adding any adjective
to man. Too many words and phrases, circumlocutions,
such as iron utensil frequently employed for excavation
instead of spade,-all these are clumsy and clog movement. Brevity is an essential ingredient in many a forceful saying, though surprise is quite as important:
"Verbosity is cured by a wide vocabulary"; "Language
is the art of concealing thought"; "Do not mistake perspiration for inspiration"; "God pays, but he does
not pay every Saturday." And finally, we know that
audiences like brevity; that is, they like short speeches.
Granting all this and more, still we must not overestimate the value of mere brevity. There is a necessity
of iteration, of staying attention upon an idea until it
grows clear and impressive. Psychologists tell us that
frequency as well as intensity is important in fixing impressions. Mlore than this, amplification is not mere




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


155


repetition; there is gain in information and understanding. Even the restatement sheds new light on a point.
If this were not true, many of the greatest essays, poems,
books, even the life work of some great men might as well
be condensed into a few sententious sayings. Would it
have been better if Newman, having written in The Idea
of a University that a gentleman "is one who never inflicts pain," had not gone on for several fine paragraphs,
explaining and impressing his meaning? Yet there is
the whole thought "in a nutshell."
Let us take an earnest presentation of the argument
for brevity by Dr. Austin Phelps:'
"Many years ago, Kossuth the Hungarian patriot, in
an address in the city of New York, expressed the idea
that the time had gone by when the people could be
depended upon for their own enslavement by standing
armies. IHe compressed it into two words. Said he,
'Bayonets think.' The words caught the popular taste
like wildfire. They took rank with the proverbs of the
language immediately. The idea was not new, but the
style of it was. It had been floating in the dialect of
political debate ever since the battle of Bunker Hill,
but never before had it been condensed into a brace of
words. The effect was electric. Millions then, for the
first time, felt it as a fact in political history. Within a
monthi the newspapers of Oregon had told their readers
that b.ayonets think. Everybody told everybody else
that bayonets think. In style it was a minie-bullet:
everybody who heard it was struck by it. Such is the
force of laconic dialect.'"
Observe, first, that this expression "Bayonets think,'"
would be very hard to interpret if it stood alone. Dr.
Phelps tells us it is an old idea, yet he feels the need of
giving its meaning in advance. No doubt Kossuth had
presented the idea fully before he reached this expres1 Phelps and Frink, Rhetoric, p. 139.




156


PUBLIC SPEAKING


sion in his speech, and this was only a way of condensing
his thought into a flashing phrase that would stick in
memory. Usually these phrases, wonderful for brevity
and force, depend upon the previous understanding of
the audience, gained either beforehand or from the
speech itself; and they simply crystallize this understanding. This is true of the epigrams quoted above. HIow
much would they mean to one who could not translate and
amplify them?    So much depends upon the information
and belief of one's hearers that we cannot safely accept
the dogmatic statement, the briefer the better.
So much for brevity and clearness. We cannot doubt
that brief statements are often forceful. I should like
to insist on this truth, were there need; but it is also true
that brevity is not necessarily forceful. Note how Dr.
Phelps, in his desire to impress us with the force of Kossuth's phrase, multiplies words. Hie goes into details,
he reiterates, and he employs figures of speech. Emphasis requires time as well as sheer force. The hearer must
have time to think, to take in the thought. If you can
keep me thinking of a matter for an hour, you have made
that matter important in my eyes. The Gettysburg Address is pointed to as a marvel of brevity; but if the utmost brevity is good, this speech is verbose. Short as it
is, it contains words not necessary, and even repetitions.
Moreover, the times prepared the audience for the speech
and Edward Everett, who spoke before the President, had
in a long discourse, reviewed the history which formed a
background for Lincoln's address. And after all, there
is strong evidence that the audience were not so much impressed with the speech as we are. It was too short for
a hearer, who lacks the reader's opportunity to deliberate.
When Lincoln debated with Douglas he usually took his
full two hours.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE  7


157


Short sermons are csuecially welcomed. Is it not because we go to
church from a sense of duty, andl because hearers and preachers alike
often fail to do thwir shre loaward taking sermons interesting? We
(do not like a really tol -eriimon to stop in fifteen minutes. Some
iiaa find interest in urni to tle Outlca1 for July 10, 1f)1", and examininýg the seon tt p. GT,) selccted alid commended for its brevity. It amuses, it lits its poiit; but does it satisfy? Is the application clear? YWoul' it be equally good before an ordinary congregation?
A good thing should not be made a fetish.        Serious
writers, includiug- Dr. Plihelps, recognize the limitations
of the doctrine, be brief, anid they dwell also upon the
need for amplification. Whiat, tkhen, is thle truth? Am
I urgingll YOU to to as 1l010-AiEded as you like?  Heaven
-)forbid  Ihort -pches are usually best. First, we must
talke the f  ilir suOoestio:ll  Consider thie circumistances
11and the needs of votir audieiice.  Is the brief statement
sulficieitlyf clear? sufficiently irnpressive?  If so, use no
Imore words.   Secelnu,- in answering the first questiolln,
consider iwhether you tire aminplifying a thought that deserves emuhas's. Tir l, waste no wTords.         Be ecoiowtical; but that 1loes not lieal n1iiggaý,(rdly with words,
as Professor IPalmer svys  Emerson wias. An old lawyer
has said that "' the (number of a   at's words should he
like the length of a    llnket,-- nough to cover the bed
aiid to tuck in besides.''  Do niot cut out till the effect is
bareness. Ask yourself, does tihe word in question serve
a proper purpose?    W\ould one serve as well as two?
Fourthly, in order to secure needed amplification and yet
keep our speeches short, we should nvarrote our theiiies.
There are but few occasions weiin wv alre required to cover
a large subject in a few miiinutes    On tihle occasion of
Lincoln's second inaugural there were imany topics crying
for attentiot; and yet his address was brief because he
1 Self-Cuit iertiion in English, p. 12.




158


PUBLIC SPEAKING


limited his scope. This is the brevity audiences like, that
of a well developed but limited idea, not that of a bare,
hard-packed address. A      short dull speech may seem
longer than a long interesting one.
There is no mistake more common with our college debaters, who
are compelled to be brief, than that of endeavoring to pack as many
arguments as possible into five or ten minutes, instead of trying to
make a few essential points impress and cling to the judges' minds.
Unity in variety. I have emphasized the need for
change and also the need for dwelling upon important
ideas; and now    I emphasize the need for unity, which
demands that each speech should " group itself about one
central idea."    We must make a distinction between
merely holding attention through a given period, and
holding attention to those ideas which, properly impressed, will accomplish our further purposes. It may be
possible to hold attention, if that is all that is desired, by
a series of disconnected "hits," whether these be jokes,
stories, "purple patches," epigrams, passages of sheer
beauty, or    any   other  resource   of composition    and
delivery; but all this is a waste for a speaker with a
purpose, unless he has used all to produce a unified
impression. The importance of unity will grow upon us
as we study and practise public speaking.
A writer tells 1 us the plays of to-day "do not depend for their
effect upon cumulative interest, but upon individual 'punch.'..
Our latest dramatic form combines all forms in a swift medley of
effects that I can describe by no other term than vaudeville." IHe
adds significantly that when the curtain falls, turning from the play
instantly, "we lean back into the ordinary world" and "resume conversation interrupted in the subway."
I have in mind a preacher whose sermons might also be described
as vaudeville. There is the call to laugh and the call to weep, occasional dashes at the text, anything and everything that will make a
hit, with extremely slight regard for the supposed theme. When he
1 Simeon Strunsky, in the Atlantic 3Mothly for May, 1914, p. 627.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


159


comes to the final appeal you feel it is simply tacked on to satisfy
custom; indeed, you have a sense of surprise that a show should end
that way.
Three unities. There is need for unity of thought and
this is the unity usually emphasized in the texts. Whatever is said, however many ideas are advanced, all should
be subordinated to one central thought which all serve
to develop. There is also a unity of feeling. However
imany emotions are touched, all should blend to produce
the desired mood. Both these unities enter into and are
subbordinate to iunity of purpose; that is, all that goes into
a speech should bear the test of promoting understanding,
inducing belief, or influencing conduct, according to the
speaker's aim in a given speech.
Due attention to unity does not preclude variety.
Variety in iunityj James declares "the secret of all interesting talk and thought."     Other writers say, "Variety in
unity is the secret of sustained attention."    Unity you
need; variety you need; there is no conflict. While you
must turn attention from    one aspect of your theme to
another, you should turn to aspects of that part which is
under consideration. And also, as indicated above, you
gain variety by stating the same idea in different ways.
Fix this in mind:     Change does not require jumping
from one topic to another; or even to another part of the
sante subject than that under consideration. Nor is a
higgledy-piggledy turning from     point to point within
your proper scope suggested; rather an orderly, coherent
procedure, such as will encourage the efforts of your audience to see the relations of part to part.
To illustrate the foregoing we may turn to the selections, Who is
to IIlame? and Await the Issue, in Chapter XIV. Certainly these
have variety, and their unity is admirable. There is progress; each
1 Colvin and Bagley, Humaen Behavior.




160


PUBLIC SPEAKING


paragraph serves to give a new view-point; yet each serves the
central thought and turns attention to it again and again. So evident is the central thought in each iaragraph that careless summaries of the paragraphs will be much alike v;;(   ill really be
suimmaries of the whole. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is a remnarkable example of unity with progress and variety.
"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on thi;
continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether [t1'it
nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can 1
Siire. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have
coime to dedicate a portion of that field as a final re-1ing- lace for
those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
"But, in a larger sense, we cannot de'dicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave meen, living and
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, fir above our poor
power to add or detract. Th'le world will little note. nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
uniinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced, It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great
task remaining b)efore us--tlait from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave tlie last full
measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain--that 1lits nation, under God, shall have
a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by
the people. for the people.? n [ t  ris frolm the earth."
(Delivercd at Gettysburg, Novemo r, lSoi.)
Here is unity of thought: all serves to develop the proposition.
popular government must be preserved in the world. Our fathers
established a free government: this war is testing the durability of
such government; we have met to honor those who have died that
it may endure; we cannot honor them, but we can catch inspiration
from them and solemnly resolve that free government shall endure. Almost every sentence directly echoes or amplifies the
central thought. There is unity of feeling: veneration for the
fathers because of the work they wrought for free government;
sorrow for the dead, pride in their courage and gratitude for their
sacrifices, and with all a glorying in the conviction that this is a
struggle for human liberty;-all these blend into high resolve to
continue the struggle. That is to say, there is also unity of purpose: Lincoln wishes to honor the occasion and more to hionor
the dead; but these purposes accomplished serve the grand purpose
of inspiring his hearers and the country to greater sacrifices.
There is a very real temptation to attempt too much in
a single speech, and the speaker often feels that his




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


161


hearers ought to be capable of understanding several
major thoughts in one period, and so they are; but still
experience proves that no audience is likely to carry away
from a discourse more than one important thought; that
where there is not proper limitation, elimination and
subordination of all to one central thought, the audience
carries away little that is clear and well impressed, and
that little as often the least important as the most important. In exposition, in argument, and particularly
in persuasion, there is need of "pounding in" a single
idea. The hearer, we must always remember, cannot,
like the reader, review and ponder and so impress many
thoughts on his mind. The speaker must resist the
temptation to attempt too much, and consider that he has
done well if he has clearly and forcefully expressed one
thought; very well indeed, if next day his hearers are able
to state justly his main idea.
Some analogies may help us to grasp the idea of unity. Although the painter may give his picture a wealth of detail, yet he
will strive to make each detail accentuate the central figure. The
statue of Lincoln, which stands in the park which bears his name in
Chicago, has been said by a competent authority to owe much
of its greatness to the fact that every line of the figure leads the
observer's eye back to Lincoln's face. If this analogy seems to
suggest that one should be forever circling about his theme and
never going forward, let us compare a speech to a river which
grows broader and deeper as it receives its tributaries, some of
which have their sources far away, and bears all forward in unity.
Too many speeches are like a stream flowing into a desert, throwing off one branch here a an another there, until all is lost in the
sand.
A few specific warnings may assist in securing unity.
Do not let yourself be led astray by mere association of
ideas, such as guides most conversations. Each sentence
may be related to its neighbors, and yet unity of the whole
be lacking. To give an exaggerated example:




162


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Speaking of California, I am reminded of her great prune
orchards. Now prunes properly prepared are an excellent food. I
do not mean as boarding-house keepers prepare them. Boarding
house keepers are trying to give you as little as possible for your
money. One can hardly blame them either, with the high cost of
living, which does not seem after all to be lowered by the new
tariff law. We had great hopes of better times when Wilson
put his measures through; but now it looks as if the House would
go Republican this fall. But speaking of California, the Progressives and the women make that state doubtful. I don't know about
women's suffrage, etc., etc.
Absurd, do you say? Of course, but very easy to fall
into, and not much worse than the production of a distinguished preacher who, declaring that Christianity must
be militant, turned to the militant suffragettes for illustration and proceeded for several minutes to defend them,
till the point supposedly being illustrated was quite
swamped.
Again, do not think you have unity because all you say
is or can be related to one subject. You might say a
thousand things about Lincoln that are not clearly related to the particular theme, Lincoln's education. Perhaps many of those things could be twisted into some
semblance of a relation to his education; yet upon the
whole they would not serve to develop your main thought,
or the right mood, or make for the end in view. And
many of the ideas that might be forced into support of
the central thought, are not worth while for the purpose
in hand. Unity requires elimination as well as subordination, and many an interesting fact, or seemingly brilliant thought or expression, must be ruthlessly sacrificed.
Unfortunately few of us have the courage of our judgment in this sort of self-sacrifice; but the practical question is, Does this detail serve the purpose?      When in
doubt, omit.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


163


Some preachers make the mistake of assuming that any thought
which can be drawn from their text has proper place in their sermon. I heard a preacher and lecturer of some note preaching on
the story of Caleb and the other spies who were sent by Moses to
investigate the land of Canaan.1 After a discourse which touched
on everything which chanced to be in the Doctor's mind that morning, he drew these three lessons: 1. It is sometimes a duty to be a
spy. Spying is not muckraking. 2. Those who make ventures of
faith are rewarded. 3. The best years of life come after fifty.
The speaker, then, should ordinarily narrow his theme
and strive to hold attention to a single idea. If this
results in monotony or tiresome repetition, it is because
the speaker is not skilful; he is not profiting by the lesson of variety in unity. It is also probable that his mind
is not "richly furnished with materials," and that for
lack of sufficient analysis he has not viewed his subject
in its various aspects and relations.
Simplicity. Both Genung and Hart, authorities on
rhetoric, say that unity and simplicity are the most essential elements in oratorical style. These are closely
related; yet a speech or a sentence may be both perfectly
unified and very complex. We recall the need for economizing the hearer's interpreting power. We may borrow from   Genung:
"Words from the every-day vocabulary, simplicity and
directness of phrase, a strong and pointed sentence structure, an ordering of parts made lucid by marked indications of plan and consecutiveness, reasoning where there
is only one step from premise to conclusion and no solution is left obscure or in long suspense,-these are the
economizing agencies which adapt oratorical style to popular apprehension."
The plan of a speech should be simple and easily comprehended. The sentences should not be involved or


1 Numbers, 13.


2 11'orkiiii1 g Prhlcipilles, p3. G;53.




164


PUBLIC SPEAKING


made heavy with many modifiers; but there is little use
in making dogmatic statements in regard to the respective
merits of long and short sentences, or loose and periodic.
The question in regard to any sentence is, Will it be
readily grasped? A sentence may be very long and have
many clauses, and yet be easy for the hearer. The last
sentence of Who is to Blame? is an example; but the
second sentence in the same paragraph has made much
trouble. We may say that sentences which require the
hearer to carry forward much matter of which the bearing is not evident immediately, will weary an audience, if
much employed. (See examples in Chapter XIII.)
Coherence. Closely related to unity and simplicity is
coherence. To cohere is to stick together. In coherent
composition the relation of each part to its neighbors and
to the central thought is unmistakable. This would seem
to be the requirement of unity, but the emphasis is upon
unmistakable. Not only should every sentence and paragraph have a proper relation, but this should be made
plain, in order that attention shall not be wasted.
In securing coherence, much is gained by making a
clear plan, with main-heads showing clearly their relation to each other and to the theme, and with each subhead clear in its relation to its main-head. Most stress is
laid by the authorities, perhaps, upon clear sequence of
ideas, as shown by clear transitions from sentence to
sentence and from paragraph to paragraph. A review of
"college orations" shows that a too common method of
seeking force, a sort of snapping, crackling force, is by
trimming out connective words and phrases. These have
been called the "hooks and eyes of style," and cannot be
dispensed with. In listening to such speeches one has
difficulty in seeing the relation of sentences while keeping up with the speaker; and often one finds on exam



ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


165


ination, that this disconnected method of composing has
encouraged the speaker in stringing together "snappy'"
sentences which are not well related. For example:
"On Virginia's historic soil has been proved the fact
that Revolution may be but a stepping stone for Evolution. Man is the center of all evolution. His moral
growth or decay is irresistible. Innumerable problems
of human progress are the unwelcome inheritance of
every generation. To ignore these problems is fatal.
America is rousing from a moral lethargy; a thrilling
spirit of reform typifies the present age. The fundamental evil of American society is the industrial basis
upon which it stands. The State, institutions and men
are judged from the standpoint of the almighty dollar.
What are the results of this standard, what does it involve, and what is the remedy? "
We shall dwell in Chapter XIII upon the effect of
echoes, "the connective tissue of language," in binding together a speech. Their use is especially notable in the
Gettysburg Address. Another means is the use of
parallel constructions; that is, giving similar form   to
phrases of similar significance.1 Wendell speaks of "the
amazing value of parallel construction," and he illustrates with the Lord's Prayer. A study of a master of
speech composition, like Wendell Phillips, will reveal
much use of connective words, echoes and parallel constructions. I have chosen the following passage,2 not because it is the most remarkable for coherence that could
be found, but because it combines coherence with the
abrupt force sought in the excerpt above.
"In this mass of ignorance, weakness, and quarrel, one
keen eye saw hidden the elements of union and strength.
With rarest skill he called them   forth and marshaled
1 Wendell, English Composition, p. 137.
2 From Phillips's oration on Daniel O'Connell.




166


PUBLIC SPEAKING


them  into rank. Then this one man, without birth,
wealth, or office, in a land ruled by birth, wealth, and
office, molded from these unsuspected elements a power
which, overawing king, senate, and people, wrote his
single will on the statute-book of the most obstinate nation in Europe. Safely to emancipate the Irish Catholics, and in spite of Saxon-Protestant hate, to lift all
Ireland to the level of British citizenship-this was the
problem  which statesmanship and patriotism had been
seeking for two centuries to solve. For this blood had
been poured out like water. On this the genius of Swift,
the learning of Molyneux, and the eloquence of Bushe,
Grattan, and Burke had been wasted. English leaders
ever since Fox had studied this problem anxiously. They
saw that the safety of the empire was compromised. At
one or two critical moments in the reign of George III,
one signal from an Irish leader would have snapped the
chain that bound Ireland to his throne. His ministers
recognized it; and they tried every expedient, exhausted
every resource, dared every peril, kept oaths or broke
them  in order to succeed. All failed; and not only
failed, but acknowledged they could see no way in which
success could ever be achieved.
" O'Connell achieved it. Out of the darkness, he called
forth light. Out of this most abject, weak, and pitiable
of kingdoms, he made a power, and dying, he left in
Parliament a specter which, unless appeased, pushes
Whig and Tory ministers alike from their stools."
Another important consideration in securing coherence
is point of view. Rhetoricians 1 call attention to the fact
that in describing a scene one should view all from one
spot; or, if one changes view-point, one should give due
warning. If you were describing the campus as seen
from the south end, and without warning began to describe things as seen from the east, your hearers would
be in a fine state of confusion. You will see, too, that
many and rapid changes, even with warning, will be
1 Cf. Baldwin, Composition, Oral and Written, p. 60.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


167


troublesome. Now, the same confusion will arise if you
try to speak of arbitration as seen by a soldier, a business man, a humanitarian, all at once; or if you too
rapidly shift from one to the other. Unnoted shift from
past to present or to future is also troublesome.
Emphasis. A large element in speech-making, as regards both composition and delivery, is emphasis. Emphasis attracts attention, and right emphasis attracts it
to what should especially be noticed. The term      might
be extended to cover this entire chapter. In its narrower
sense, emphasis is largely a matter of proportion, giving
due space to the different ideas of a speech, holding attention longest upon what is chiefly to be impressed.
For this purpose we use reiteration and amplification, as
has been explained. The longer a topic is held before
attention,-genuine attention,-the more importance it
gains in the hearer's mind, assuming that attention does
not reveal its inherent unimportance. Sufficient warnings have been given against the overuse of any of the
means of attracting and sustaining attention, such as speeific enumeration and illustration, at points where emphasis is not desired.
Delivery. The resources of delivery are, of course,
available for making a speech coherent and giving due
emphasis to its parts; but the speaker should not compose
sentences and paragraphs which throw the burden of
labored  stress, inflection, etc., upon   delivery. Newcomer says,1 "One of the tests of good style is the ease
with which a reader, reading the work aloud without
previous acquaintance, will properly stress... the different sentence elements."    It is very commonly true
that beginners will write their opening sentences so that
their speech subject is swamped in the midst of numerous
1 Elements of Rhetoric, p. 192.




168


PUBLIC SPEAKING


clauses. "Seek so to place words," says Genung,1 "that
they shall emphasize themselves."      It may be added that
the practice of delivery, and especially the interpretation
and delivery of selections, tends to develop a sense of
sound emphasis in composition.
An admirable treatment of emphasis in composition will be found
in Baldwin's Composition Oral and Written, p. 19. Especially good
is his illustration of bad emphasis by developing in the Gettysburg
Address the less essential part devoted to the battle and shortening
the appeal to the audience.
Use of texts on composition. I have no intention of
giving in this text a systematic treatment of composition. I only wish to emphasize those elements which
class-room experience indicates as needing special attention. A fair degree of knowledge of composition on the
part of my readers must be assumed. For those lacking
due preparation, and for all with regard to certain questions, the references to other texts are given. We should
note that all that writers on composition have to offer
on force, strength, energy or vigor of style, however
named, is germane to the subject of attention; for as we
recall from  Wendell's definition,2 "force, the emotional
quality of style," is "the distinguishing quality of a style
that holds attention."
Much that comes under this head has already been presented. I
advise you to look up the references given, and in particular to read
the chapter on Force in Wendell's English Composition, and the
chapters on Energy in Phelps and Frink's Rhetoric. The latter
work has the advantage of being written from the speaker's viewpoint. It will be worth while to run over some of its headings here:
First, the speaker must have forcible thought, thought to which
forcible expression is appropriate. "Do not take a sledge hammer
to kill a fly."  Then one should write or speak with enthusiasm.
"Logic set on fire," is one of the definitions of eloquence. It is important, further that one prepare with audience in mind, and also
1 Practical Rhetoric, p. 179.  2 English Composition, p. 236.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


169


have some immediate object in view. But enthusiasm must be
accompanied by self-possession. Delirium and convulsions are not
strength. Dr. Phelps proceeds to discuss energy as affected by
words, taking up pure words, Saxon words, specific words, short
words, onomatopoetic words. lie next considers the force of conciseness, and the weakness of verbosity. The arrangement of a
sentence for emphasis, and the advantages and disadvantages of
loose and periodic sentences are treated. A chapter is given to
figurative language as an element in energy; but by figures Dr.
Phelps refers to certain methods of expression which later writers
do not class as figures,-climax, antithesis, interrogation, colloquy,
hyperbole, irony, exclamation, vision and apostrophe. Plainly
enough all these are means of winning special attention. We need
note only the first three of these so-called figures of speech.
Climax is more important in speaking than in writing.
It seems to answer an instinctive demand of the hearer,
and is the natural expression of one who warms to his
work. Anticlimax, when it is not burlesque, as in "he
had a good conscience and a Roman nose," is always
weak. To proceed without increase of force gives much
the same effect as anticlimax. As a rule, the order of
climax should be followed within the sentence, in the arrangement of sentences and in the plan of a speech,
though there may often be good reason for departing
from the rule. Wendell says 1 that anticlimax is essentially false emphasis; and a speaker realizes this in delivery, when his instinct prompts him to stress the ends
of sentences, paragraphs and speeches.
Antithesis is based on contract, with the force of which
we are already familiar. The antithetic structure makes
a contrast sharper.
"A  soft answer turneth away wrath; but a grievous word
stirreth up anger."'-Procerbs.
"The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the
bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators."'-Macaulaii.
"It is because Shakespeare dares, and dares very frequently.
S.. simply to be foolish, that he is so preeminently wise; tl)(
others try to be always wise, and, alas! it is not necessary to complete the antithesis."-Saintsbury.
1 English Composition, p. 133.




170


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Interrogation. Says Phelps: "Few         expedients of
speech so simple as this are so effective in giving vigor to
style. Composition comparatively dull may be made
comparatively vivacious, and so far forcible, by a liberal
use of interrogatives.... Put it to the hearer as if he
must sharpen it by a response." Plainly enough, questions tend to bring the conversational quality into delivery, to bring speaker and hearer into contact. The virtue
of interrogation is in its prompting the hearer to think
for himself. Mr. Bryan says of it: 1
"The interrogatory is frequently employed by the
orator, and when wisely used is irresistible. What dynamic power, for instance, there is in that question propounded by Christ, 'What shall it profit a man if he gain
the whole world and lose his own soul?' Volumes could
not have presented so effectively the truth that he sought
to impress upon his hearers."
The effective phrase. There are college students who
are far too fond of striking phrases, and who carry their
labors to the point of affectation. They frequently try
to make expression take the place of thought. It has
been my fortune to meet, in large universities with many
technical courses, more of those who despise any careful
attention to phraseology. "What 's the odds if people
only get it?" they demand; and do not see that they beg
the question. If one's words are not precise, or are offensive to the taste of one's hearers, if one's constructions are cloudy and weak, then one's hearers do
not "get it," or not with full force. The idea of efficiency, which has taken a strong hold upon present-day
technical students, can be applied to language. The way
l World's Famous Orations, Introduction.




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


171


we do things counts. Those who can appreciate good
form in pulling an oar or in driving a golf ball, ought not
to be at a loss to realize the importance of the manner of
expressing ideas.
There is a false notion of sincerity which lies back of
the notion that it is unworthy of a man to try to say
things well. "If a man has a worthy thing to say," exclaimed Henry Van Dyke,l "shall he not think it worth
while to find a worthy way to say it?"    What is it we
instinctively object to? I do not believe the man lives
w'ho does not respond to really good expression. Is not
our objection to the effort to make a commonplace idea
sound profound, the use of the "feeble forcible" in an
effort to make a puny thought startling?  The refusal to
say a simple thing simply produces bombast, against
which we properly react. There are those, also, who
carefully avoiding the "highfalutin," and even honest
eloquence, yet indulge in so much cleverness that one
feels they are trying to be "smart."    They attract attention less to their ideas than to their way of expressing
them. And this, like a showy gesture, is both ineffective
and in bad taste. It is neither the "big bow-wow, " once
so common in American oratory, nor affectedly clever
expression, that is urged upon you; but just an honest
effort to give effecive effective, fitting expression to your thoughts
and feelings, so that without waste they shall hold and
impress the attention of your audience. And if your
words, without attracting attention to their beauty
and rhythm, give your audience pleasure, so much the
better.
Some stand by the great half truth: If you think
1 Caught from a sermon and perhaps not exactly Dr, Van Dyke's
words.




172


PUBLIC SPEAKING


clearly and vigorously, you will express yourself clearly
and vigorously. It is true you cannot speak clearly and
vigorously until you so think, and that clear, vigorous
thought will tend to secure fiting expression; but there is
also need for study and strenuous endeavor. And we
must remember that the very effort for clear, vigorous
expression reacts to clarify and strengthen our thought.
We should remember, too, that we are students, not
masters; and that if we are to be ready in the crises we
look forward to, when with smoothly working minds and
ready command of ample vocabularies, we shall meet unexpected emergencies, we shall have to train ourselves
well. Those who would say, Just be natural, were well
answered by Professor George L. Burr in his address
upon Robert Collier, the famous preacher, who in his
eighties could still hold the delighted attention of his
congregations:
"I know thoughtless folk who found the secret of his
power in what they called his 'naturalness.' 'Why, to
him it was all natural; he only needed to be himself.'
My friends, I knew him      well.... Do you think that
to be natural costs nothing? Why, just to tell the truth
is  consummate    art. Bluntness is     not truth-telling.
Bluntness is for those too lazy to tell the precise truth.... Read those letters of his early manhood... and
compare them with the ripened magic of his later
speech."
Those who confuse muddled thinking and muddy expression with
sincerity may learn again from that book of wisdom, Alice in Wonderland:
"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least-at least I mean what
I say-that's the same thing, you know."
"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "Why, you might
just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same as 'I eat what
I see'!"




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE


173


Slang. There are some who seem to have no forceful
way of expressing themselves save in slang. Slang is a
matter to be treated with common sense. We must admit
that its use is not a crime and that it is sometimes effective. Nevertheless, I    advise  the  young    speaker
strongly against any considerable indulgence in slang.
First, we must recognize that there are going to be many
times when slang will be unwise and inappropriate. Yet
we are such creatures of habit that, if we use it habitually, we shall with difficulty avoid slang when we stand
up to speak extemporaneously. And the effort to do so
will greatly restrain our freedom. We shall be at a loss
for words. Our sentences will frame themselves for our
customary slang, which will either pop out in spite of us,
or we shall have to hem and haw and start anew. If we
cannot leave off our slang altogether, let us at least make
a practice of leaving it out of our speech upon the platform; let slang have no part in our platform consciousness. At most, let us use slang only when we are sure
that no good English expression will do as well.
In the second place, we must recognize that the constant use of slang limits our vocabulary. The English
language has resources never dreamed of by the slangy
person. He would need several good English expressions to convey all the meanings and shades of meaning
which he covers with "'a peach," or " going some."   And
mind you, this use of a single term for many shades of
meaning indicates and encourages lack of discrimination
in thinking. In the third place, we must recognize that
what seems very effective to some may be very ineffective
and even repulsive to those of better taste and judgment. That one may get a laugh by an atrocious bit of
slang does not mean that it has served his real purpose.




174


PUBLIC SPEAKING


There are many atrocious ways of drawing a laugh from
an audience,-sometimes a laugh from the more vulgar
portion while the rest shiver. We should notice, of
course, that there is slang and slang; that some is almost
necessary in discussing certain themes in certain places,
and that in any case there is a wide difference between
such mild slang as "something doing" and such a senseless vulgarity as "feed your face." But one who indulges greatly in slang is not likely to have a fine taste
in the matter.
Work to do. The student at this stage may make
speeches in each of which he gives special thought to one
of the suggestions of this chapter. Especially profitable
will it be to select topics unpromising from the standpoint of interest, with a view to evoking as much interest
as possible. He will profit also by the study of the experience of others. For this purpose I advise at this
point the study of the so-called occasional addresses,
rather than speeches that have responded to personal or
national crises; for crises are likely to supply interest
regardless of the skill of the speaker.
For the purpose, Baker's Forms of Public Address will be found
as good as any single volume. Wood's After-Dinnecr Speeches is an
interesting collection. Reed's Modern Eloquence, in ten volumes,
contains speeches of all kinds in great number.
Conclusion. To lay down a few simple, arbitrary rules
for securing attention would seem very helpful, and
would better satisfy a certain type of mind than a discussion of principles; yet is it not manifestly a mistake
to be dogmatic about matters so dependent upon conditions? "It is better not to know so much than to know
so much that is n't so." My only hope is that the student of this chapter will become intelligent in regard to
its problems. I do not mean to say that one should use




ATTENTION OF THE AUDIENCE               175
all or any of the methods of this chapter in a given case;
but I am confident that the principles will be found helpful in most cases. Especially do I hope that they will aid
in the interpretation of individual experience.




CHAPTER VII


THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH
THE second purpose of a speaker, in our classification,
is to make clear, to explain. Exposition is not always
easily distinguished from other forms of discourse; but
it is sufficiently accurate to say that when the chief purpose of a speech is understanding, the speech is expository, though the means may include narration, description, and even argument.
Importance of exposition. There are good reasons why
the student of public speaking should give some attention to exposition, although to convince and to persuade
are more often his purposes. First, there are many
times in which understanding is his final aim. This is
particularly true in lectures, and is often true in business affairs. Secondly, exposition is often the basis of
speeches which aim    at conviction or persuasion. Most
disputes are due to different understandings of facts.
There can be no sound argument without clear exposition
as its foundation. Sometimes all one has to do to win an
argument, is to set forth lucidly the facts in the case.
It is said that judges would often stop Lincoln after his
statement of fact and before he began to argue, with
"Now we will hear the other side."    To convince a manager that he should adopt a certain machine may require only that you demonstrate its operation to him.
Thirdly, the student finds the exposition of subjects in
which he is interested quite as good as any other kind of
176




THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH


177


speech for helping him   to forget himself. There are
probably more students interested in subjects adapted to
exposition than in those adapted to argument; but all
kinds should be used in practice.
Speeches purely expository. In taking up the explanatory speech, I advise that the first attempt be pure exposition; that is, a speech in which understanding is the
final aim. If you choose to explain the Diesel engine,
stop with explanation and avoid all argument that it is
better than another type. If you choose to explain the
ethical doctrine of hedonism, do not attempt to prove it
right or wrong. Keep as far from advocacy as if you
were explaining the seasons on Mars. This does not
mean that you must be dull and cold. You should be
highly interested; but your dominant emotion should be
desire to make your hearers understand. There is a
reason back of this suggestion. If you are using your
explanation as an argument, you are likely to neglect
clearness and also to warp your exposition in your desire
to advocate. You should learn to make the most impartial explanations. Indeed, you should make an impartial explanation, even when you are to base argument
upon it. Authorities agree to the doctrine, which young
speakers find hard to accept and older ones to practise,
that the introductory and incidental explanations in debate should be without bias; not only because this is the
honest method, but also because it is most effective to
give an exposition which the other party must acknowledge fair.
Argumentative speeches expository in method. After
one has practised somewhat upon the purely expository
Sspeech, one may take up speeches in which exposition is
used as a method of convincing or persuading; for exampie, one may explain the commission form of government




178


PUBLIC SPEAKING


in such a way that its virtues become apparent. We can
see at once the temptation to distort the facts; but properly used this is as legitimate as any method of argument.
Methods of exposition. It is not my purpose to discuss
at length in this text the methods of exposition. The
essential element is clearness, to which we have already
given attention. First, one should analyze the topic or
process or problem to be explained, in order to determine
f    the elements that need attention, and to make understanding easier by the consideration of but one feature at
a time. Then there is need of clear definition of such
terms as are unfamiliar, or are used in special senses, or
terms of which the popular understanding is vague or
confused.1 A third means of explaining is by giving examples, as in the actual exhibition of articles or pictorial
representations of them, or by citing instances. Much
that has been said of illustration is applicable here. Of
great importance in exposition is the comparing and contrasting of what is to be explained with what is already
understood, and this suggests again the need of knowing
the information and the limitations of one's hearers.
The English game of football, says a student, stands between the American Association football and basketball.
Assuming that this is sound, and that his hearers know
the games mentioned, by indicating now the points of
likeness and of difference, he can give them an understanding of the English game. This is our standard
method: This unfamiliar game, form of government, belief, automobile is like this familiar game, etc., except-.
Clearly enough, the appeal to imagination is imrportant
in explaining things and processes not before the eyes.
The selection of details, the order of their presentation,
1 A good example of definition will be found in Baker's Principles
of Argumentation, pp. 24-3,. This is especially valuable as indicating the uses and the limitations of the dictionary.




THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH


179


the suppression of what is not pertinent and helpful,
unity, emphasis, coherence, point of view,-all these are
important in exposition.
For further study I suggest the chapter on Clearness in Wendell's English Composition, followed by what is said on exposition
and the examples in Gardiner's Forms of Prose Literature, Lamont's Specimens of Exposition, with its introduction, Genung's
1Working Principles of Rhetoric and Jeliffe's Handbook of Exposition. A more elementary work, Elements of English Composition
by Gardiner, Kittredge and Arnold, contains a simple treatment
of exposition with suggestive examples. Observe the means by
which the explanations are made interesting; and also the use of
narration and of charts. Any good work on argumentation will
furnish a treatment of exposition as an aid to argument.
Examples of exposition should be studied in addition to those
in the works referred to, which are for the most part not drawn
from speech literature. The lecture is the form best adapted to
our purpose. Find lectures that are pure exposition, and also
those that utilize exposition in arguments, such as Huxley's lectures on Evolution.
Pictures, charts and maps. I wish to make some
simple suggestions that are the product of experience in
my own classes; and first in regard to the use of charts
and the like. These are especially important in exposition, and some explanations are impossible without them.
A plan of battle, a machine, or a building, plainly enough
need graphic representation, if accuracy of understanding is sought. We find too that complicated statistics,
as of the increase of population or the increased cost of
living, are   better   understood    when   worked    out in
"curves."    Stereopticon pictures, and even moving pictures, are likely to have a large part in instruction in the
future.
In using any graphic representation, be sure to have it
large and distinct enough for all to see, else it may prove
only an annoyance. Superfluity of detail is a common
cause of indistinctness. A map with only necessary




180


PUBLIC SPEAKING


details and with sharp distinctions in colors, is better
adapted to public work than the most complete publication. It is unwise to embellish a diagram       with details
which are not pertinent. These are objectionable, not
only as decreasing the distinctness of essential details,
but as distracting attention and perhaps provoking curiosity as to where they come into the explanation.
Avoid complexity so far as you can. That is, if you
are explaining the steam engine to those not learned in its
workings, present a simple form of it, one which embodies
the principle but lacks elaboration; then if it is desired
to explain the elaborations, these may be sketched in or
presented in a series of charts.
President Schurman, in his lecture on The Balkan Wars, shows
a map of the Balkan countries before the first war of 1913 began;
another of the boundaries after this war, with the disputed territory indicated; and a third map of the countries after the second
war.
A speaker who has confidence in his handling of chalk
or crayon, may sometimes find it advantageous to develop his chart from the simplest outlines to its completed
form as he speaks. This gives well the idea of progress
and development; as for instance in describing an army's
campaign. A     speaker who     attempts drawing on the
platform  should know precisely what he is going to do,
what details he is to use and what scale is needed. Then
he should practise the drawing to make sure he can do it.
It is well, if the drawing presents any difficulty, to prepare paper with the whole or certain details and pivotal
points faintly indicated, or with the bare outlines boldly
marked.
There are certain advantages over drawing on the platform, in a series of prepared charts. First, the series
keeps a better means of comparison before the audience




THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH


181


at all stages of the speech. To attempt to indicate different stages with different colors or other means on one
chart, is usually   confusing. Secondly, the prepared
charts are likely to be better made. Thirdly, drawing
upon the platform may attract too much attention to itself as an act. Either very clumsy drawing or a display
of skill may be too interesting, even amusing. Fourthly,
drawing which requires much care may take the speaker's
attention unduly from his audience. These comments,
however, need deter no one from a few simple strokes.
Here, as in all, the speaker's business is to keep attention upon essentials.
One should resist the temptation to look at a chart
when not speaking of it. The young speaker especially
finds his chart a welcome refuge from the eyes of his
audiences; but also those not embarrassed find their
charts drawing them unduly. The audience is only too
ready to look at anything their attention is called to.
It is often best to keep charts out of sight until they are
needed, and to remove them from sight when their use is
finished, unless to do so distracts attention more than
their presence. A little preparatory ingenuity may well
be exercised. Even when referring to his chart, the
speaker should avoid as far as possible turning his back to
his audience. A glance at the chart is enough to give
him  his direction and he can keep his eyes upon his
hearers most of the time. Hie should avoid talking to
the blackboard; lest he become indistinct and lose touch
with his audience.
Do not stand between audience and chart when it is in
use. The speaker should stand to one side, facing the
front as nearly as is convenient, and using for pointing
the hand nearest the chart; that is, if he is at the right
of his chart he should use his left hand. It is best in




182


PUBLIC SPEAKING


most cases to have a pointer, as this helps in keeping out
of the line of vision.
Degree of clearness. Wendell1 defines clearness as
"the distinguishing quality of a style that cannot be misunderstood." This sets up an ideal, but a good ideal to
have in mind. Students of public speech are apt to take
as their standard a style that can be understood, throwing
upon their hearers rather than assuming themselves the
task of making their thoughts as clear as possible. They
rarely appreciate the difficulty of making one's thoughts
clear. Painful experience brings home the truth that
language is at best but a poor instrument, that it is indeed difficult to tell the truth, and that to convey fully an
idea above the grade of "It is now ten o'clock," is a
marvel. Words have different shades of meaning in different minds, and the prepossessions of one's hearers
may make confusion of the most careful statement.
Those who have an erroneous understanding of a matter
will often adapt a correct explanation to their own misconception, hearing what coincides and ignoring what
does not coincide with their expectations. It would be
illuminating for the average student to give a class directions for work and discover how many different understandings a class of twenty-five will gain. The only safe
standard is, be as clear as you can under the circumstances; and what you cannot make clear, do not attempt.
Consider the audience. But clearness is a relative
matter, and the question at once arises, Clear to whom?
Must one seek to be clear to the youngest or least intelligent person present; so clear that "the wayfaring man
though a fool need not err therein"? No, that might be
to bore the more intelligent; but on the other hand, one
cannot afford to leave any large portion of an audience in
1 English Composition, p. 194.




THE EXPOSITORY SPEECH


183


the dark. There is no rule to give; one must simply treat
the situation intelligently. But if he is simple and clear
and concrete in his method, uses simple, idiomatic English, and yet avoids all suggestion of children's talk, he
can usually satisfy most of the intelligences in any audience.
The public speaker should eschew all affectation of
profundity and high-sounding language; and be as simple as the nature of his subject and his purpose permit.
In particular, he should not indulge in that false profundity which is really only lack of clear analysis.
College students and clearness. My observation is that
students are to some extent unfitted for explanation before general audiences by their school training. They
are trained for many years in explaining in recitations,
reports and examinations, to teachers who understand
better than they themselves. In explaining to a teacher
the aim is not really to make clear, but to convince the
teacher that one understands. And the teacher, usually
unable to put himself in the position of one uninformed,
pressed for time, and pleased with some slight evidence
of understanding, rarely insists upon a full explanation.
As a result, the student does not come to feel the need for
clear analysis (an analysis has usually been given him),
of simplifying terms, of finding the best order, of repetition, illustration, helpful schemes, summaries, and all
that makes for clear exposition to those who do not understand in advance. When he addresses a general audience, he gives a few bare statements and wonders that
he is not understood.
Emotion and exposition. Gardiner 1 stresses the fact
that even in exposition, the coldest form of discourse, we
cannot disregard the feelings of our audience. By this
1 Forms of Prose Literature, pp. 50, 61.




184


PUBLIC SPEAKING


he means chiefly that we must make our exposition interesting. But our hearers may be more than indifferent; they may be prejudiced. They may be so accustomed to a certain way of thinking, or method, or
machine, that they positively object to hearing of any
other. Audiences may easily be found who would object
to the most impartial attempt to expound to them evolution, the peace propaganda, or socialism. It may be
necessary before explanation is attempted, to interest
such an audience, perhaps somewhat indirectly, in the
distasteful topic. In general, tact is needed. Tact may
be needed also to avoid boring or even offending the
better informed portion of an audience, while explaining
elementary facts to the less informed; and more in correcting the mistaken notions of those who think they
understand. A    speaker need not say bluntly that his
audience is ignorant; but may present the matter as if
reviewing or setting in order, or he may say that he will
state for the benefit of a few what many of the audience
are probably familiar with.




CHAPTER VIII


PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT
IT is convenient to use the word persuasion when we
come to treat of influencing conduct. The word is not
without its difficulties, since usage varies; yet there
seems to be no good substitute. A review of the authorities justifies us in accepting tentatively Whateley's 1
definition  of  the   word: "Persuasion, properly        socalled, i. e., the art of influencing the will."  To influence the will is identical with influencing conduct, and
includes inducing or checking single acts or affecting a
prolonged course of conduct; but, as we shall use the
term  persuasion, it is not limited to inducing physical
acts, but includes changing the mental attitude, as by
removing prejudice, bringing about a fair-minded attitude toward a person, a willingness to consider a proposition, or a desire to accept it. The term is broad enough
to include conviction, but it is convenient to use the latter
term to designate the process of "bringing any one to
recognize the truth of what he has not before accepted." 2
In the usage of many persuasion and conviction are synonyms, as
are also the verbs pc.rsuade and con rince; that is, persuasion is
used to cover the meanings ascribed to both above, though convriction
is limited to inducing belief. Thus, the New English Dictionary defines persuasion as "i he presenting of inducements or winning arguments, the addressing, of roasonings. appeals, entreaties to a jperson
to do or lelieve somaethling." IBut when the words are distinguished,
they are most often distinguislied as above: and, at least so far as
the verbs are concerned, there is some tendency to insist upon the
1 Elements of Rhetoric, p. 117.  2 New English Dictionary.
185




186


PUBLIC SPEAKING


distinction. The same dictionary defines persuade: "To induce to
believe something"; but adds that this use is "somewhat archaic."
It then gives the further definition: "To induce or win to an act
or a course of action; to draw the will of another to something by
inclining his judgment or desire to it; to prevail upon, or urge
successfully to do something."  The Century Dictionary says:
"To convince a person is to satisfy his understanding as to the truth
of a certain statement; to persuade him is, by derivation, to affect
his will by motives, but it has long been used also for convince.
There is a marked tendency now to confine persuade to its own distinctive meaning."  Fernald's Synonyms distinguishes thus: "To
persuade is to bring the will of another to a desired decision by some
influence exerted upon it short of compulsion; one may be convinced that the earth is round; he may be persuaded to travel around
it."  And the following is from Smith's Synonyms Discriminated:
"To persuade has much in common with convince; but conviction
is the result of the understanding, persuasion of the will.... We
are convinced of truth and facts. We are persuaded to act and behave.... We may be persuaded to act against conviction." In
dealing with words so lacking in precision, we can only fix upon
meanings for ourselves, preferably those supported by the best usage,
and then try to follow them consistently.
Those to whom the term persuasion means inducing to believe
usually distinguish it from conviction by saying that to persuade is
to secure belief by rather emotional methods, while to convince is
to use logic and reasoning. So The Standard Dictionary says persuade means "to induce to believe willingly." Here we have, probably, a hint of why the words convince and persuade have been confused: To induce a man to believe it is often necessary to make him
willing to consider the proposition at all, to remove prejudice and
induce a willingness to believe. Now this is a matter of emotional
attitude, and changing emotional attitude is included in the proper
work of persuasion. In this position I have the support of Baker's
Principles of Argumentation, in which it is said (p. 7): "Conviction aims only to produce agreement between writer and reader;
persuasion aims to prepare the way for the process of conviction
and to produce action as the result of conviction." 1
1 I am aware that a seemingly simple way to cut the Gordian knot
of these entwined meanings is to declare that inducing to believe
and to act are one and the same thing. I admit that we secure the
two ends by much the same processes, but that does not make them
identical. It seems to be chiefly a matter of how much meaning
one gives the term believe. If we say the only difference between
believing and acting is one of extension, still we must recognize that
difference. I cannot bring myself to this easy solution. The distinction seems to me a valuable one, and it certainly is imbedded
in the common sense of the race.




PERSUASION--INFLUENCING CONDUCT 187


There are those who feel that the word persuasion is tainted with
a suggestion of improper methods. This probably arises from the
erroneous belief that our emotions are necessarily unworthy. Emotions are important in persuasion, and they may be used improperly,
just as false facts and fallacious reasoning may be employed. At
any rate, please understand that in all our discussion persuasion
is free from any moral implication.
Belief and action. Nothing would seem to be a plainer
lesson of experience than that we mortals often leave
undone those things we know we ought to do and do
those things we know we ought not to do; yet this truth
is constantly ignored by speakers, and with bad results.
This truth is proverbial:    "The spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak"; Video meliora proboque; deteriora sequor.
Certain knowledge that lack of exercise is ruining one's
health does not necessarily drive one out of doors; yet
one does not for a moment believe that one's work or
pleasure is worth the cost. There must be, then, more
than intellectual acceptance of truth to secure action.
It may seem absurd to insist upon such a truism as that men do
not always act in accordance with judgment; but I write out of
memory of classroom struggles. When regarding a cold, barren,
tactless speech I have asked, "What elements of persuasion does
this contain?"  I have received the answer, "Does it not prove my
claim? What more is needed?"     Apparently I have appeared a
shocking cynic wheni I have suggested that men are not always governed by pure reason. What marvels we should be if we lived up,
as is assumed, to all we agree to in the words of our preachers!
But"The sermon now ended,
Each turned and descended.
The eels went on celing,
The pike went on stealing;
Much delighted were they,
But-preferred the old way."
Persuasion an everyday matter. Let us get clearly in
mind that we are not dealing with an artificial or unusual problem. When you induce a man to join your
party, or buy an automobile, or improve his habits, or go




188


PUBLIC SPEAKING


fishing with you, or pay his bills, or open his mind to the
possibility that the Germans, or the English, are wellmeaning men, you are persuading him. Persuasion is as
familiar as living, and you will recognize at once its
means, such as arguments, motives, suggestions, personal
influence, tact.
Importance of persuasion to the speaker. When Henry
Ward Beecher said:1      "I define oratory to be the art of
influencing conduct with truth sent home by all the resources of the living man,' hie was expressing the ancient
and true belief in regard to the peculiar and highest
purpose of public speech. Not all speech-making             is
oratory, but there can be little doubt that the chief purpose of public speaking is persuasion. It is in persuasion that the spoken word is superior to the written.
Speaking generally, the written word is more effectual
for making ideas clear; but when men are to be aroused
to act, to vote, to change a habit, to adopt a course of
conduct, to kindle with enthusiasm, then the speaker is
needed.
Let us glance at the more common forms of public discourse.
College lectures form an exceptional group; their end is usually instruction. But when a college professor delivers a lecture which has
as its end the cultivation of a taste for good literature, or a high
sense of professional honor, he is persuading. On Chautauqua and
lyceum platforms some lectures are for entertainment, some for instruction, but many are persuasive, as those by Bryan and by LaFollette.
In deliberative speeches, before legislatures, conventions, or on
the stump, wherever policies are to be decided by vote, persuasion
is prominent in the appeal to motive, the arousal of feeling and the
recognition of prejudice. In the pulpit persuasion is the dominant
note; exposition and argument are but means to the end of influencing conduct. All other kinds of speeches are loosely classed as Occasional. It is true that their end often seems to be mere entertainment; or the display of the speaker's powers, as in Webster's over1 Lecture entitled Oratory.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                          189
rated Bunker Hill addresses. But the more serious pulrpose of such
memorial addresses, addresses at celebrations and eulogies, is to
inspire the hearers to greater patriotism or nobler living. Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address is a model in miniature for all such orations.
The moral is not always pointed; the most persuasive speeches often
let the exhortation be implied.
Even at jovial banquets few speakers will be content merely to
"give a stunt"; there is usually a persuasive point. The fun is used
for a purpose beyond itself; though there are occasions when any
serious purpose is manifestly out of place. But most banquets at
which there is speaking, are not merely jovial. It was at the annual
dinner of the New England Society, in December, 187, that George
William Curtis delivered his speech on The Puritan Principle: Liberty under the Law, which, though it began humorously and blended
with the spirit of the occasion, yet, in the judgment of Edward
Everett Hale, turned the nation from civil war over the contested
presidential election of that year.
With regard to forensic addrssesses, it is well known that lawyers
indulge in more than logical discussion of the evidence; and even
before the highest court persuasion has its place. Webster's plea
before the Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College case is the stock
example. Gardiner's Forms of Prose Litcrature (pp. 79, 310) furnishes opportunity for an interesting study of Joseph Choate's argument against the Income Tax law of 1894, with reference to its
persuasion.
Hearers classified with reference to persuasion. First,
there are those who come already in agreement with the
speaker.    Of these there are some (a) eager to follow
his lead; as is the case with strong partizans listening to
a speaker of the same political party.      These the speaker
may consider among his assets, helpful by their sympathy and also by their influence in moving other elements in the audience.        (b) There may      be others in
agreement who are as yet indifferent.          Some of these
may be of the "small-pot-soon-hot" kind, who are also
soon cooled.    They may serve as a sort of kindling wood,
with their easy enthusiasm; but since they cannot be depended upon, they are the despair of earnest workers.
They are the "stony ground hearers" of the parable of




190


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the seed-sowing. The problem is to deepen their convictions and to make upon them an enduring impression.
There may be others in agreement but without keen interest, who are phlegmatic and difficult to arouse. They
lie heavily on the speaker's spirits; but may be better
worth effort than the class just referred to. They are
likely to stay by.
Secondly, we may have in our audience a neutral element. (a) There are likely to be some who may be won
by simply awakening their interest; or who may easily
be thrown into opposition by tactlessness. They require
little argument; and will be little affected by argument,
once in opposition. (b) The far more important division of the neutral group consists of those who listen
judicially. They will give a fair hearing; but they
will scrutinize every statement and argument, and will
resist every attempt to sweep them from their intellectual
moorings by emotional appeal. They have to be shown
that the proposition is sound and the motives sufficient.
Such men are likely to be of weight in the audience and
in the community, and are worth the winning. Here
we first come upon a class whose winning calls notably
for argument.
The third grand division consists of those in active
opposition. (a) One group of these is composed of the
unthinking, against the proposal because they do not understand it, or because it is new and runs counter to
their traditions, prejudices and habits. To their minds
the proposal is simply not to be thought of; and they
will refuse a genuine hearing unless by a tactful approach, explanations, or the presentation of some strong
motive, their attitude is changed.     (b) Most doughty
opponents of all are those who have considered the
proposition and decided against it. For them the mat



PERSUASION--INFLUENCING CONDUCT                     191
ter is settled, and they listen with resisting minds, hearing arguments for the proposal only to rebut them. But
since they are thinking men, if their minds can be opened
to genuine reconsideration, they may be won by cogent
argument. 2Most difficult of all, almost hopeless in fact,
are those who, whether thoughtful or not, see in your
proposal danger to their selfish interests, or those whom
pride, affections, or established beliefs hold on the other
side.
Such a classification might be much elaborated and varied; and
is. ol' course, rather artificial. The thinking man is not free from
prejudice, the prejudiced man may be a clear thinker once prejudice is allayed, the indifferent man may become an enthusiast, and
a man light-minded when approached in one way may be serious
approached, in another. Nevertheless, the classification helps us
in understanding our problem, especially in realizing the important
fact that "many men have many minds."
Our plan. To treat fully each of these groups would
require a volume; but by considering two of the problems suggested rather fully, we shall be able to understand the others. Roughly speaking, we shall in this
chapter deal chiefly with those hearers who are not so
nmuch! to be convinced that the speaker's proposal is
sound as aroused to interest and action; while in the next
clapter attention will be given chiefly to those who must
first be convinced.
The foundation principle of persuasion. We now need
a principle by means of which we can systematize the
suggestions for persuasion drawn from     common experience. Why do we will to do or not to do?          We turn
again to Professor James:1
"What holds attention       determines    action... It
seems as if we ought to look for the secret of an idea's
impulsiveness...in the urgency with which it is able
1 Briefer Course, p. 448.




192


PUBLIC SPEAKING


to compel attention and dominate in consciousness. Let
it once so dominate, let no other ideas succeed in displacing it, and whatever motor effects belong to it by nature
will inevitably occur.... In short, one does not see any
case in which the steadfast occupancy of consciousness
does not appear to be the prime condition of impulsive
power. It is still more obviously the prime condition of
inhibitive power. What checks our impulses is the mere
thinking of reasons to the contrary-it is their bare presence in the mind which gives the veto, and makes acts,
otherwise seductive, impossible to perform. If we could
only forget our scruples, our doubts, our fears, what exultant energy we should for a while display!"
1"Consent to the idea's undivided presence, this is
effort's sole achievement. Its only function is to get
this feeling of consent into the mind. And for this there
is but one way. The idea to be consented to must be
kept from   flickering and going out. It must be held
steadily before the mind until it fills the mind."'
2 "We thus find that we reach the heart of our inquiry
into volition when we ask by what process it is that the
thought of any given action comes to prevail stably in the
mind."
Support for this theory is abundant. Thus Angell says: 3 "Volition is nothing more or less than a matter of attention. When we
can keep our attention firmly fixed upon a line of conduct to the
exclusion of all competitors, our decision is already made." And
Titchener says: 4 "So far as I can see the term 'will' affords the
best general title for two great groups of psychological facts: t
facts of attention and the facts of action. There can, I thini, ie
no doubt that these two groups are intimately related, that action is'
simply a special case of attention."
"What holds attention determines action."       To do an
act, then, give it exclusive attention. To resist an im1- -   1-1  -   ý  __ - __.__-  -1.  -  -  _. I  -  -  ý   I __;  - -  d
pulse, keep your mind upon other ideas, reasons why
1 Briefer Course, p. 452.
2 Ident, p. 450.
3 Psychology, p. 307. Cf. Creighton, The Will, p. 26; Pillsbury,
Afttention, p. 1(;) and Essentials of Ps*ychology, pp. 301-4; Thorndike, Elements of Pstych(ologfy, pp. 279-201.
4 Feeling and Attention, p. 207.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                       193
you should not, ''inhibiting ideas"; or, better, because
easier, upon solme other line of conduct.     If I wish to
stay at work tlis afternoon, I must not let my mind
dwell on the ball game, but keep it steadily on the work
and the joy of getting it done.
We see this principle working out freely in the young child. He
reaches for the moon because the impulse to reach for it is not yet
associated with the uselessness of so doing. When the unwise
mother says to her child of three, "Don't scratch the piano with
that nail," Johnny, who had not thought of such a deed, now has his
mind filled with the image of a fine scratch in the varnish, and toddles
straight for the piano,-unless he has already had such experience
with his mother's don'ts that an inhibiting image of pain comes to
divide and dominate his attention.
We may draw illustrations from certain abnormal states: A
man may gradually become obsessed with the thought of committing
a crime. More and more lie finds it difficult to drive the idea from
his mind: less and less is he able to keep in mind the reasons why he
should not do the deed. He becomes a monomaniac and, unless
restrained, will commit the crime. In the hypnotic state whatever
action is suggested holds exclusive attention; no inhibiting idea of
absurdity comes to mind, and a suggestion is at once followed.
Action after deliberation. The principle set forth is
not applicable merely to those actions performed "just
because they occurred to us"; but equally to action after
deliberation. It is after a careful analysis of the "five
types of decision," that James arrives at the conclusions
quoted. Whether we weigh the pros and cons long and
carefully, or give a "snap " judgment, we must come to a
time when we push one set of ideas out of mind and give
full attention to the other and opposing set; when the
thought of one course of action, in Baldwin's words,
"swells and    fills consciousness."  The man of determined action does not let his attention fix itself again
upon the rejected possibility, lest he become a whiffler.
Having put his hand to the plow, he goes forward and
1 Hanldbook of Psycihology, p. 355.




194


PUBLIC SPEAKING


looks not back. He must not hang vacillating, like
Hamlet, between "to be or not to be," to do or not to do,
until
"... the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
We recall the sad fate of the classic donkey, that chancing to stop
precisely halfway between two cocks of hay, was unable to choose
between them and so starved to death. It seems to be the task of
the persuader to turn such a poor beast about till he squarely faces
one heap and say, "Go to it!" and if possible to put on blinders to
cut off the backward look.
The man of weak, unstable will seems to be one who cannot face
unpleasant facts and rally to his support the ideas of remote consequences. "Let 's not think of that," he says.'
As an aid to assimilating this thought, work out this problem:
What might be said to a company of timid recruits about to go under
fire?
Theory of persuasion. To persuade a man, then, seems
to be nothing more or less than to win his undivided
attention to the desired conduct, to make him       think of
that and stop thinking of other courses, or of any inhibiting ideas.2   At this stage we may venture a new definition of persuasion, one which would have been meaningless before, and which may not be entirely clear till we
are in the next chapter. Persuasion is the process of inducing others to give fair, favorable, or undivided attention to propositions.   We have now      the satisfaction of
knowing that all we have learned about interest and attention will serve us in solving this master problem of the
art of public speech.
1 Pillsbury, Attention, p. 163; James, Briefer Course, p. 451,
Talks to Teachers, 187.
2 "To produce a given act in any person thus commonly implies
the arousal of the mental state which has that act as its sequent,
and also the suppression of conflicting or competing mental states."
Thorndike. Elements of Psychology, p. 280.
Persuasion "is simply the act of holding the favorable attention
long enough for the stimulus to enter into effective combination with




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                        195
If some readers cannot accept this theory at once because of preconceptions, this fact need not trouble them in following the rest of
this discussion; for surely all must assent to the high importance in
persuasion of winning favorable attention. The theory, however,
rests upon the best of authorities, and I am not aware that any
authority qualifies it in any way that affects its practical application
to our work.
There is a conventional theory of persuasion, so interwoven with
the literature of this subject that we should note it briefly before
proceeding. This theory is based upon the conception, not now in
favor, that our minds are divided into three parts, intellect, emotion,
will. To persuade, we are told, one must satisfy, or overpower, the
intellect; then arouse the emotion, which in turn will move the will.
"We first know, then feel, then act," says a text on argumentation.
"Emotion is conditioned on apprehension, volition on emotion, action
on volition." This theory is artificial and leads to certain errors in
practice which we shall note further on; but still it may be well
enough harmonized with the theory we shall work with: To satisfy
the intellect is to bring to attention reasons for the desired conduct,
and to remove objections from attention; and arousal of emotion in
regard to an action is a sure way to win attention to it.
Emotion and persuasion. It is quite correct to insist
upon the importance of emotion in persuasion. As already said, ideas which arouse emotion hold attention.
And, as James says,1 "When any strong emotional state
whatever is upon us, the tendency is for no images but
such as are congruous with it to come up. If others by
i~hance offer themselves, they are instantly smothered
and crowded out. If we be joyous, we cannot keep
thinking of those uncertainties and risks of failure which
abound upon our path; if lugubrious, we cannot think of
new triumphs, travels, loves, and joys; nor if vengeful, of
our oppressor's community of nature with ourselves."
In persuasion, then, we wish to allay emotions that will
keep objections in mind, such as dislike for the means or
other effective processes in consciousness." IIollingworth, Advertising and Selling, p. 133.
1 Briefer Course, p. 451.




196


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the end, or desire for other ends; and we wish to awaken
such emotions as will win for the proposed action favorable attention.
But it is a mistake to speak, as is often done, of persuasion as altogether a matter of "appealing to emotion."   The phrase proves misleading. It is taken by
some to refer to pathos only, or to an arousal of the more
violent feelings; or at best as an appeal to some large
emotion, such as patriotism. Again, the word appeal is
misunderstood as meaning direct, fervid exhortation
only. It is true that persuasion is much concerned with
emotion. But it will be seen as we proceed that there
are means of persuasion which are not suggested by the
phrase, "appealing to emotion."      It would not suggest,
for example, winning an audience to a candid, sincere
state of mind, or the presentation of sober facts.
Motives. The most evident way in which we arouse
emotion to fix attention is by awakening desire for the
end sought; and an effective desire we call a motive.1
"Desire notoriously tends to maintain the idea of its
object or end at the focus of consciousness; our thought
keeps flying back to dwell on that which we strongly
desire, in spite of our best efforts to banish the idea of it
from our minds." 2
The relation of the word motire to both motion and emotion is
apparent enough. An emotion which moves to action is a motive,
though not all motives are einotions.3 There is no necessity for the
term motive in our discussion, but we will use it since it is so well
fixed in common speech.
Incitement, induce)nent, impise are among the proper synonyms
of motive; but we also use reason, though one's motike may be
highly unreasonable. The usage probably arises from the fact that
motives, or emotions, stand as the major premises in persuasive arguments; as,
1 Dewey, Psychiology, p. 300.
2 McDougall. Social Psyichloogy, p. 241.
3 Thorndike, Elements of Ps!chology, 1. 89).




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      197
You wish to gain rmonev,
This investment will bring you money;
Therefore, make the investment.
To enter upon any elaborate analysis of human motives
is unnecessary here. A very simple but suggestive classification of motives is that of Newcomer,1 who treats of
'persuasion (1) by appeal to personal interest, (2) by
appeal to social duty, and (3) by appeal to religious duty.
Phillips's classification of impelling motives 2 has already
been adapted to our treatment of interest: self-preservation, property, power, reputation, affections, sentiments
and tastes. Most of these terms are self-explanatory.
Under sentiments are placed honor, patriotism, and in
general the desire to do whatever is right, fair, and
noble. Tastes include love of music, of drama, and of
pleasures generally.3
Only very exceptional circumstances, if any, justify
appealing to unworthy motives, but any proper motive
which is operative with the audience, may be appealed to.
Some hard questions arise. Would you play upon a
man's avarice to save him       from   drunkenness?    His
hatred of a rival?   May one ever properly appeal to a
prejudice?   It is very difficult to decide what beliefs and
feelings are prejudices. Certainly some of our best sentiments are due to inheritance rather than to reason; as
our sense of honor. One may have a prejudice, an "unreasoning predilection," for the right course as well as
1 English Composition, p. 171.
2 Effective Speaking, p. 48.
3 An elaborate discussion of the motives and feelings which Aristotle considers of chief importance to the speaker, is found in his
Rhetoric: in Book I, v, an analysis of happiness,-good birth, goodly
and numerous offspring, wealth, good repute, honor, health, happy
old age, friendship, good fortune, virtue. In I, vi, an analysis of
the (ood and the Expedient: in I, vii, a comparison of goods: in
II, ii. the emotions, (1) anger and mildness, (2) love and hatred,
(3) fear and boldness. (4) compassion, envy and emulation, (5)
shame and shamelessness. (6) gratitude, (7) righteous indignation.




198


PUBLIC SPEAKING


for the wrong. You believe that a certain church or
sect is based upon superstition; perhaps you believe it an
evil institution. Would you hesitate to rally the adherents of that church to support a good cause by pointing
out that the interests of their church are involved?  Suppose you were dealing with a mob bent on murder; would
you play on their desire for plunder in another direction? This, like other questions of platform ethics, does
not differ essentially from the problems of our everyday
intercourse. Each case must be decided on its merits.
I do not mean to suggest any moral looseness in dealing
with these questions. They should be treated seriously;
but when we consider their complexity and how the
noblest motives have moved men to the foulest deeds, we
hesitate to be dogmatic.
Professor Baker has spoken wisely upon motives:'
"Choose the highest motive to which you think your
audience will respond. If a speaker feels it necessary to
appeal to motives not of the highest grades he should see
to it that before he closes he makes them    lead into
higher  motives."  Professor  Baker   illustrates with
Beecher's Speech at Liverpool, in which the orator during our Civil War was struggling with a very hostile
audience of Englishmen. He argued that if slavery
were abolished in the South, England would find a better
market there for her goods, but "he connected this appeal with the far higher motives of mere justice and the
good of humanity.... W.hat gives its significance to
[this] suggestion... is that few men are willing to admit that they have acted from motives considered low or
mean. Even if they suspect this to be the ease, they endeavor to convince themselves that it is not true. In an
audience each man knows those about him see what moves
him in the speaker's words and therefore he yields most
readily to a motive which he knows is generally com1 Principles of Argumentation, p. 321.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                   199
mended-religious feelings, charity, devotion to one's
country, etc.... Since, then, men yield more willingly
to motives generally commended, and since unanimity
of action is more easily gained when the highest motives
are addressed, this corollary to the suggestion last made
may be formulated: The larger the audience, the higher
the motives to which an appeal may be made."
The last sentence of the quotation suggests a correlative truth, one that should make us chary of sweeping,
dogmatic assertions,-that it is more difficult to appeal
to the higher emotions of a small than of a large audience. We all know the uneasy, half-shamed feeling
which men feel if lofty motives are attributed to them
when but few are together; and this feeling is especially strong when the members of the group are well
known to each other. It is a curious fact that we often
refuse to admit our best motives. There would be few
among those who have attended military training camps
this summer who would confess to a higher motive than
a desire for fun or physical fitness. And if brought to
a confession of patriotism, they would not use the word,
but gay shamefacedly, "Well, every fellow ought to be
ready to do his share."  Tact is more needed in appealing to the best motives of a small than of a large group.
Often tact is a matter of phraseology. It may consist in
avoiding words of sentiment. More acceptable at times
than, To do this is noble and generous, is it to use the
seemingly ruder form, Not to do this is mean and contemptible.
We are thinking now of audiences under ordinary circumstances. We should note that in times of stress and
excitement, an audience, large or small, will respond to
a broad appeal which ordinarily they might receive with
grins or blushes.




200


PUBLIC SPEAKING


While motives are frequently mixed, we need not
cynically attribute right actions to selfishness, ambition
or fear of public opinion. The average man really intends to do the right thing once his sense of responsibility
is aroused. Most of us have certain principles of conduct, duty, honesty, honor, courage and generosity, in
accordance with which we must live if we are to retain
our self-respect. Moreover, while we follow some lines
of conduct because they are easy, popular and profitable, we may, in more heroic mood, be attracted by the
hard, the dangerous, and the self-sacrificing course.
The New York Times 1 quotes "a shrewd public man in this city
[who] was, on one occasion, discussing the probable future of David
B. Hill, then seemingly in command of the politics of this state:
" 'Mr. Hill's success may be called self-limiting, and I think the
limit is approaching. His conception of politics has two serious
defects. lie appeals chiefly to the [self-]interest of his associates
and subordinates, and sooner or later he cannot satisfy them, for
there is not enough profit to go around. And he does not understand
the tremendous influence of a moral issue on public sentiment.' "
A story ex-President Taft tells of himself suggests the attitude of
the average man toward duty when plainly seen. He says 2 that
when Secretary of War Root asked him to go out as governor of the
Philippines, the proposal ran counter to both his tastes and his ambitions, and he refused. But when Mr. Root put it to him squarely
that he had had a series of pleasant government positions and that
now his country needed him for a more arduous duty, he yielded.
To restate: Do not fear to appeal to the best sentiments in your hearers. Assume they are better rather
than worse than they are. They may respond to lower
motives, but may also gladly rise to a higher plane.
Fairness. One of the appeals to which men are
ashamed not to respond, is that for fair play. Very few
will rest easy under'the imputation of unfairness. The
average man who is really convinced that denial of the
1 April 7. 1914.
2 In a speech at the commencement dinner of the alumni of Hamnr
ilton College in 1913.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING                CONDUCT         201
ballot results in injustice to women, will vote for women's
suffrage.   The appeal to the sense of fairness is of special
importance in handling hostile audiences. Beecher at
Liverpool, facing an audience partly composed of roughs
present for the express purpose of breaking up the meeting, exclaimed early in his speech, "All I ask is simply
fair play!"   Applause followed and for several minutes
the interruptions ceased.
A Scotch friend of mine went out to preach, some twenty years
ago, on one of Chicago's worst corners, which had four saloons and
was in the center of the district where lived the anarchists who threw
the fatal bomb at the Ilaymarket riot. The crowd, which believed
him sent by the lated capitalists, pushed him off the sidewalk, spit
up)on him and badgered him till preaching was impossible. "Is not
this America?" he shouted. "Shall I not have free speech?"  "Yes,"
they replied, "and so shall we!"  "But you give me no chance; give
me five minutes." The crowd voted that fair and listened.
Desire for approval and admiration. While I have emphasized self-respect, there is no doubt that men are
strongly drawn by the chance to impress their fellows
with their prowess or importance; and this shows itself
in large and in petty ways. Men will undertake great
enterprises, and undergo great hardships and sacrifices
for the sake of reputation and power. Some men will
be won to a cause for which in the beginning they care
nothing, by being given a chance to display their powers
in working for it. Others may be won from indifference
to active support by some small concession which increases their sense of self-importance, such as a seat on a
platform or appointment as usher. A badge will accomplish wonders. Others whom we feel less petty, will risk
their lives for little iron crosses. "You call these toys,"
Napoleon is reported to have said to one who ridiculed
the insignia of the Legion of Honor, "let me tell you that
men are ruled by toys!"     Pride in certain manifestations




202


PUBLIC SPEAKING


we call vanity, and again we speak of a "''decent respect
for the opinions of others"; but in any case we know
that we are much influenced by the desire for the approval and admiration of our fellows.
What would you say to a group of boys to deter them from climbing in perilous places? Can you make a better sign than "DangerKeep off"?
Rivalry. Very close to the preceding is the desire to
emulate, to equal or to surpass others. We desire property, power and reputation less for themselves than for
the relative position they give us. This desire to emulate, also, takes the most petty and the most noble forms,
from the desire to have a better front gate than one's
neighbors to the desire to have one's town cleaner than
a neighboring town, from competition in eating beefsteak to competition in acts of courage and sacrifice.
This motive is much relied upon by those who wish to
arouse either individuals or communities. Such and
such a town has a paid fire department, twenty miles of
paved streets, playgrounds: why cannot this town, with
its higher grade of citizens, do as well or better?  So and
so of your class has subscribed $1,000 to the alumni fund:
cannot you do as well? From our earliest days we are
seeking to do as some admired person does, or better than
some one we dislike or envy. Contrast must be made,
of course, with some person, institution or community
one's hearers wish to emulate or surpass, else one may
get an answer like that of a small boy to his mother when
she points out a model of decorum, "Who cares what that
sissy does?"'
Fear. We have emphasized the things men desire, and
this is ordinarily the better note to strike; but we must
not forget that men still live much under the dominion




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT 203


of fear. They are held back from the step we urge, not
alone by dislike for it, or opposing desires, or inertia;
but also by dread of unpleasant consequences, perhaps of
public disapproval of a departure from the accustomed
path. Fears must be driven from mind by a confident
presentation of the pleasure, profit, or honor of the course
urged. But when positive methods prove inadequate,
we may warn of the dangers of the wrong course, creating a fear great enough to dominate attention and oust
from mind the fear already existing.
A white feather stuck in his coat lapel drove many an Englishman
to enlist in 1914. The series of posters displayed by the British government in the first year of the war would repay study from the
standpoint of motives. Consider the motives touched by this one,
said to have been effective: the picture of a boy looking up to his
father and asking, "Father, what did you do in the Great War?"
Not always best to mention motives. It should not be
assumed that we should always be baldly urging or appealing to our audiences to do some act. Action may
follow as a matter of course upon knowledge or conviction. Tell a boy he is wanted to pitch a game of baseball, a charitable man that there is a suffering family in
the next block, or convince a conscientious man that a
certain course is right, and there is no need of dwelling
on motives. The mind of the one addressed supplies all
that is needed, and in many cases his response is without conscious emotion, being      an  habitual reaction.1
Often the speaker's task is only that of identification; he
shows that the proposed course is profitable, noble, fashioinalle, will win votes, give pleasure, and that is all that
is tneeded. If any argument at all is called for, it is in
-establishing the fact that the means will reach the end.
To dwell upon motives may at times be offensive,
1 Cf. James, Psychology, Vol. II, p. 536.




204


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Men who take pride in their good citizenship may not
relish being openly urged to do their duty to their city.
Few of us like to be preached at; many of the most
effectual sermons omit the exhortation. The preacher
simply makes vice ugly and virtue desirable; or he makes
plain the course which an honest, clean, generous man
would wish to follow; and when he has brought the truth
vividly into his hearer's consciousness, he leaves it to do
its work. And because most men wish to be honest, clean
and generous, they are likely to respond to the challenge.
At other times the most positive methods and baldest
appeals to emotion are in order, to turn men from strong
habits or fascinating leadership, or to overcome strong
hostile emotions. There are times, too, when the appeal
must be made, but less openly. Much depends upon the
character of the audience and the spirit of the occasion.
Much depends, also, upon the relation of the speaker to
his audience. A young man would hardly venture to
exhort an audience of Civil War veterans to patriotism.
If he exhorted at all, he would exhort the young men
present to emulate their elders, and in so doing he might
stimulate the veterans to live up to the reputation given
them.
When    familiar motives must be emphasized, care
should be taken to avoid implying moral delinquency on
the part of the audience, unless it be deliberately determined that severity is in order. Care should be taken
also to avoid boring by trite presentation of familiar
motives; especially if the motive dwelt upon be duty.
Often one's hearers have heard certain standard arguments and pleas till they slip off attention "like water
from a duck's back." Take, for example, the exhortation to political duty. A new setting is needed; new
facts and new illustrations. Pleas are often reinforced




PERSUASION--INFLUENCING CONDUCT                205
by stories of heroism from the past, and some of these
are badly overworked; yet some which gather about
themselves strong emotions can be told with great persuasive effect. Religious pleas are often founded upon
vivid recitals of the Exodus or of tlle Crucifixion.
Appealing for sympathy. We read that the ancients
would endure the most direct assaults upon their feelings.
Pleaders in court, might dramatically bare their scars;
and the youmng children of a defendant might be exhibited
with the open intent of winning sympathy. These
methods have not entirely lost vogue, but they can rarely
be used so openly with good effect. The modern man,
and especially the American and the Englishman, though
emotional enough, dislikes direct appeals to his feelings.
He may hang his head or he may jeer; but he is in all
cases likely to resist when he is conscious that an assault
upon his feelings is being made. Much depends, naturally, upon the situation, and much may be forgiven to a
speaker evidently sincere; but in most eases when one
feels the need of awakening sympathy he had best take
the less direct method; that is, depend upon the presentation of the case rather than upon pleas, either in words
or tones.
Sense of responsibility, It is often very difficult to
bring home to an audience the feeling that they are
personally responsible for the matter in hand. The
preacher who levels a sermon at the head of an erring
deacon is congratulated by that very deacon, who
chuckles "to think how Brothier Smith got scored this
morning."   The preacher is continually finding it necessary to say, "If the* coat its you, put it on."  The citizen who attacks a municipal abuse finds dozens to "sympathize" and say, "Yes, yes. w-hy does n't somebody attend to that?" for one to step forward and say, "I have




206


PUBLIC SPEAKING


come to help."     Very likely the priest and the Levite
who passed the injured man by, said, "Too bad! Somebody should care for him, and clean out those bandits
too; but my business in Jericho won't wait."        We can
readily see that the speaker's task is to get people to face
their obligation squarely, to give it attention when other
matters of business and pleasure are taking their minds.
He must make them       see that the public nuisance, the
grafting city administration, the violation of tenementhouse laws, the endangered honor of the university, are
the personal responsibility, not only of all of his hearers,
but of each of them; not something that "they" should
attend to, but something that unofficial John         Smith
should attend to.
The most obvious thing to do is to declare bluntly the
individual responsibility of each one present. But audiences are rather hardened to this; we are all told of innumerable imperative duties as men and citizens, as
members of this body and that. At least a new and interesting way of bringing home the responsibility is
needed, especially    when    one's hearers are     not yet
aroused over the situation.
Preachers, who. have to make the same appeals year after year,
are driven to invent expedients. The following, clipped from a
church announcement sheet, is interesting:
"How much shall I give to benevolences?-being a little argument with myself.
"I can refuse to give anything, thus saying 'Stop all Missionary
Effort: Stop all building of frontier Churches and Bible Schools;
Stop all Ministerial Education  Stop all aid given to aged ministers.' Or
"I can give les itan heretofore, saving  (ed(.ue the activities of
the Church as I have reduced my gifts.' Or "I can g2ive the same
amount as formerly, saying 'Stand still. Stai  where you are.
Make no advance. Undertake no new work.' Or
"I can increase my gifts 10. 20, 30, 507O/ and thus say to the
Church, 'Increase your activities by this much. Let us go up and
possess the land which God has given us.' What shall be my
answer?"




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      207
The following, taken from the press reports of an offhand address by President Wilson to the graduating class of the Naval Academy in 1910, is an attempt to impress once more a thought that was
no doubt very familiar to his hearers: 1
"Once in a while when youngsters here or at West Point have forgotten themselves and have done something that they ought not to
do and were about to be disciplined, perhaps severely, for it, I have
been appealed to by their friends to excuse them from the penalty:... 'You know college boys. You know what they are.
They are heedless youngsters, very often, and they ought not to be
held up to the same standards of responsibility that older men must
submit to.'
"And I have always replied, 'Yes, I know college boys; but while
these youngsters are college boys, they are something more. They
are officers of the Lnited States. They are not merely college boys.
If they were. I would look at derelictions of duty on their part in
another spirit; but any dereliction of duty on the part of a naval
officer of the United States may involve the fortunes of a nation
and( cannot be overlooked.'
"Do you not see thle difference? You cannot indulge yourselves
in weakness, gentlemen. You cannot forget your duty for a moment; because there might come a time when that weak spot in you
would affect you in the midst of a great engagement, and then the
whole history of tlie world might be changed by what you did not
do, or did wrong.... I congratulate you that you are going to
live your lives under the most stimulating compulsion that any man
can feel, the sense, not of private duty merely, but of public duty
also.... I wish you godspeed, and remind you that yours is the
honor of the United States."
An important way of awakening the sense of responsibility, which also enists pride, is to give one's hearers
something definite to do, whether that something be
really important work in a position of trust, or merely
signingo a petition, or standing up to be counted. Get
them   at least to commit themselves publicly to your
cause so that the public will expect action from      them.
Get as many as feasible serving on committees to do specific tasks and report upon them. Men of real efficiency
may be interested in a cause just by the chance to do
work well; they like to make things go. Other men may
be enlisted by being made to feel that they are needed,
that "doing their bit," as the English say, is of real
importance.
1 For entire speech see daily papers for June 2, 1916.




208


PUBLIC SPEAKING


In taking a broad view of persuasion, we may note that an
aroused sense of responsibiility may change a reckless radical into a
conservative, or may change a conservative into a progressive.
Macaulay declares that Whigs in office become Tories. Make your
hearers realize that they are personally responsible for the conduct
of the business in hand, and they may cease to shout for violent
action. Mr. George hit upon his famous plan for the "Junior Ilepublic" by discovering that he could secure the order he had failed to
command among his "fresh air" boys, by making the ring-leader in
disorder chief of police. On the other hand, the responsibility of
dealing with a situation may break down a man's conservatism, because it compels him to face conditions he has refused to acknowledge.
Compelling people to face the truth. It is important
to prevent people from      deceiving themselves with excuses. Professor James, in       discussing   attention  and
will,' puts stress upon the difficulty we often have in
keeping attention upon the right action, seeing clearly
that a duty is a duty and that an evil action is an evil
action. "What is hard," he says, "is facing an idea as
real."   The drift of attention is all away from the right
idea, and we must strain attention to it "until at last it
grows, so as to maintain itself before the mind with ease.
This strain of the attention is the fundamental act of
will." 2  It is sometimes the speaker's business to compel his audience to face unpleasant facts as real, and in
particular to prevent their putting them away by calling
them by other names.
"3 "How   many excuses does the drunkard find when
each new temptation comes! It is a new brand of liquor
which the interests of intellectual culture in such matters obliges him to test; moreover it is poured out and it
is a sin to waste it; also others are drinking and it would
be churlishness to refuse.    Or it is but to enable him to
sleep, or just to get through this job of work; or it is n't
1 Briefer Course  p. 451.
2 Idem, p. 452.
3 Idem, p. 453. Cf. Talks io Teachers, p. 1SS.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                        209
drinking, it is because he feels so cold; or it is Christmas
day; or it is a means of stimulating him to make a more
powerful resolution in favor of abstinence than any he
has hitherto made, or it is just this once, and once does n 't
count, etc., etc., ad libitum--it is, in fact, anything you
like except being a drunkard.       That is the conception
that will not stay before the poor soul's attention. But
if he once gets able to pick out that way of conceiving,.. if through thick and thin he holds to it that this is
being a drunkard and is nothing else, he is not likely to
remain one long.... Everywhere, then, the function
of the effort is the same: to keep affirming and adopting
a thought which if left to itself would slip away."
The part of the persuader in helping or compelling
others to accept and stick to the right conception, labeled with the right name, is plain enough.        ie should
not permit his hearers to call rudeness or destructiveness
fun, penuriousness caring       for one's own household,
prodigality generosity, dissipation being a good fellow,
indolence weariness or illness, snobbishness refinement,
lies excuses, bigotry religion, or to suffer from    the two
delusions from which an Oxford don says his little world
suffers,-having no opinions and         calling  it balanced
mind, and expressing no opinions and calling it moderation.
Dr. Wiley tells a story of a member of a certain Middle West
legislature who sought an appropriation of $100,000 for the protection of public health; but could secure only $5,000. One morning
he put upon the desk of each legislator before the opening of the session, a fable which ran something like this: A sick mother with a
baby is told by a physician that she has tuberculosis and that she
should seek a higher altitude. Lack of means prevents her going.
She applies to the government and is told that not a dollar is available to save the mother and her child from death. At the same time
a farmer observes that one of his hogs has cholera symptoms. He
sends a telegram, collect, to the government. An inspector comes
next day. treats the hog with serum and cures it. Moral: Be a hog!
The $100,000 appropriation was promptly granted. The legislators




210


PUBLIC SPEAKING


saw from this vivid presentation of the case that what they had variously called economy, common-sense, business is business, etc., was
really putting the hog above the child.
Faith. At times the most difficult part of persuading
those already convinced of the desirability of a course of
conduct, is to make them believe and feel that it is worth
while to try, and that success is possible. Other voices
may be saying, "What's the use?        Youcan't do it."
Faith exhibited by the speaker himself is an important
element in overcoming hopelessness; but there is room
for argument for the probability of success, for citing
examples of how others have succeeded, and for painting
the end as so desirable that it will seem worth a supreme
effort. Faith is also greatly increased by the realization that many are supporting the same cause. This
sense of strong support may be given by securing large
attendance at meetings, by many signers to petitions, by
the citation of authorities, and by organization.
Value of organizations. This suggests the fact that it
is sometimes worth while to win the support of existing
organizations, or even to form a new society to promote
your cause. An organization not only increases faith; it
provides the strength of united action. It may also give
greater prestige; and this prestige may win more adherents than the simple merit of the cause can command.
People like to join organizations, just to "belong"; and
especially they like to join organizations that promise to
become popular. Newspapers are more likely to report
the doings of organizations than of individuals; and publicity is necessary to most causes. The prestige of an
organization also affects opponents of your cause, and
makes them    hesitate to resist. Men who are maintaining nuisances, or otherwise acting in defiance of the pub



PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                211
lie good, may laugh at the attacks of individuals, but respect the power of an organized body.
But quite apart from the power and prestige of organizations, they do something to reduce the reluctance,
strong with most Americans, to make a fuss over evils
and inconveniences. It is true we have a deal of muckraking and agitating; but it is also true that the average
American will endure discourtesies, bad service, and
positive fraud and injustice, and tolerate evils of many
sorts, rather than take action. It is not merely that he
is absorbed in his own affairs: he has a fear of being
thought a busybody, of having it said that he is always
getting excited about something. Now, this reluctance
to take action against evils is much lessened when one can
act in an organization; as member, for example, of a
"Committee for the Suppression of Vice."   Then there
are scores of those who will pay annual dues, or report a
case of cruelty to animals, who would not take independent action; and so through an organization they make
it possible for others more interested or more courageous
to act.
These are facts proper for a speaker to take into account when he considers how to make his plea effective.
But it would, of course, be absurd to form organizations
in many instances; and it is always well to consider if
the case is one in which the benefit to be derived will
justify the attempt to add to the organizations of a community, usually altogether too numerous for the busy
people who are expected to support them.
Manner of presenting the proposal. It is plain enough
that in our effort to secure the most direct and exclusive
attention to a proposition, the method of presentation
is of high importance. We can make use, therefore, of




212


PUBLIC SPEAKING,


all that we have learned or can learn of clearness and
force, of all that makes for sustained attention. Variety,
unity, coherence and emphasis are never more important
than in persuasion. A few special applications of what
was said in Chapter VI are needed here.
Review   of accepted arguments. We are considering
persuasion in those cases in which our conclusions are
already assented to by our hearers. Even in such cases
it is often worth while to review the arguments for the
proposed action, and thus change a lightly held belief,
liable at any time to be routed, into a firm conviction. At another time we may find argument unwise;
for beliefs accepted from fathers and teachers, though
unreasoned, may be held with great tenacity, and the only
effect of argument may be to create a questioning state
of mind. If quick action is desired, the argumentative state of mind is undesirable. Some successful leaders never argue; only summon and command. Other
great leaders, like Lincoln, wish their followers to understand why they follow, and so to follow more intelligently.
If argument is used, it should be followed by discourse
of a more impulsive character. Also, care should be
taken not to bore your hearers by arguments in stale form
or to provoke resentment by arguing as if they were
unbelievers. The air of recalling and reviewing is better
than that of presenting something new.
Repetition. We are likely to do almost anything if we
are urged often enough, provided we are not driven into
hostility by tactless urging. Napoleon is said to have
declared, "that there is only one figure of rhetoric of
serious importance, namely, repetition."      Reiteration
keeps the idea of an action before the mind and makes it
stick there. The repetition may occur in the same speech,
or in successive speeches. Delenda est Carthago (Car



PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                    213
thage must be destroyed) thundered the old Roman Cato
in every speech he made for years, until the Roman
people took up the task. In these days he would have
supplemented his speeches with articles in the press, and
perhaps with electric signs. In political campaigns candidates go about repeating in every speech their keynotes;
such as, ' Turn the rascals out!"' or, " The tariff is a tax.'
"HIe kept us out of the war," had not a little to do
with the reilection of President Wilson in 1916. The
whole corps of party speakers may repeat the phrase;
and though opponents may ridicule it as a parrot cry, the
repetition counts. The candidate who is clever enough to
hit upon phrases which the papers will take up gains
greatly by their repetition. Advertisers also know the
value of multiplied repetition of standard phrases.
But repetition is not limited to the reiteration of set
phrases. The set phrase has the advantage that there is
no failure to identify the idea, as there may be with
varied phraseology; but varied statement relieves the
monotony. Monotony may also be relieved by giving the
stock phrases new settings. Examples from       advertisements will readily occur to all. Not only does the varied
setting relieve monotony, but also increases the probability that the idea will cling to mind, for the more
associations it is given the more likely they are to return
it to attention.
Amplification. The idea of an action should not be
repeated merely, but also developed. Says Genung:
"For purposes of persuasion thoughts should be presented  copiously. It is a case where repetition       of
thoughts in many aspects and phases, and body of amplification secured by detail and illustration, are of special service. For the hearer's mind has not merely to
1 Working Principles of Rhetoric, p. G53.




214


PUBLIC SPEAKING


catch the thought; he needs to be saturated with it, so
that he may carry it with him as an impulse and working consciousness."
Under Sustaining Attention in Chapter VI are given
detailed suggestions in regard to amplification. We may
note here the fact that the more frequently the idea of an
action and the reasons for it are brought to attention,
and the longer they are held before attention, the more
likely they are to stick in memory and accomplish their
purpose. But there must be vividness as well as frequency of presentation. We should not get the notion
that merely harping upon an idea is effective. Moreover,
elaboration should be given only to matters which deserve
it, and a speaker should be keen to detect when his audience has had enough. As an example of copious treatment by repetition and amplification, of an idea that
needed enforcement, we may take the following from
Burke's Conciliation with the Colonies:
"The question with me is, not whether you have a
right to render your people miserable, but whether it is
not your interest to make them happy. It is not what a
lawyer tells me I may do, but what humanity, reason and
justice tell me I ought to do. Is a politic act the worse
for being a generous one? Is no concession proper but
that which is made from your want of right to keep
what you grant?   Or does it lessen the grace or dignity
of relaxing in the exercise of an odious claim because you
have your evidence room full of titles, and your magazines stuffed with arms to enforce them? What signify
all those titles, and all those arms? Of what avail are
they, when the reason of the thing tells me that the assertion of my title is the loss of my suit, and that I could
do nothing but wound myself by the use of my own
weapons?
"Such is steadfastly my opinion of the absolute necessity of keeping up the concord of this empire by a unity




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                    215
of spirit, though in a diversity of operations, that if I
were sure the colonists had at their leaving this country,
sealed a regular compact of servitude, that they had
solemnly abjured all tile rights of citizens, that they had
made a vow to renounce all ideas of liberty for them and
their posterity to all generations; yet I should hold myself obliged to conform to the temper I found universally
prevalent in my own day, and to govern two millions of
men, impatient of servitude, on the principles of freedom. I am not determiining a point of law; I am restoring tranquillity; and the general character and situation
of a people must determine what sort of government is
fitted for them. That point nothing else can or ought to
determine."
Compare the speeches of Brutus and Antony, in Julius CcOsar, in
regard to repetition and amplification, and also concreteness.
Concrete and specific expression. It is of high importance to persuasion that abstractions should become
to the audience realities. Abstractions are cold, removed
from emotion, which belongs to things, experiences and
persons. Our presentation must come into the experience of our hearers and make our cause real, tangible and
personal to them. Says President Lowell:      "The mass
of mankind has more sympathy with the fortunes of an
individual than with the fate of principles."'  Our cause
must, also, to revert to Dewey's definitions of concrete,
be made familiar to our audience and be made to appear
practical.
Our presentation should be not only concrete, but also
specific. "Emotion," says Foster,2 "is concerned with
particulars rather than with generals."  We talk of love
for mankind, but our genuine feeling is for individuals.
You may draw money from        the habitually charitable
for the suffering children of a city; but you can draw
1 Public Opinion and Popular Governmcnt, p. 53.
2 Exposition and Argument, p. 146.




216                PUBLIC SPEAKING
much more if'you will describe one little tot suffering
in a tenement and show us the farm you wish to take
him  to.  The one case is more tangible, easier to focus
upon; it seems more possible for one unimportant person
to deal with it.    To urge me to do my political duties
is not nearly so effective as to urge me to go to the primaries next Tuesday night and work for Thomas Jones
for mayor. To ask a friend to visit you is less effective
than to ask him to come next Wednesday. Men do not
fight for rights, but for a right. An effective battle cry
names a specific goal: "On to Richmond!"             "On to
Paris!"
I cannot agree with Shurter, however, that "generalizations have
no persuasive value." 1 We must often regret that the "glittering
generality" has quite too much influence over shallow minds, over
those of the "little education" which has been called "a dangerous
thing," those who "think they think."  Innumerable fads, "new"
movements, pseudo-religions and philosophies, have their vogue
through the too ready acceptance of generalities, which have little
effect upon the clear thinking or upon the slow-moving uneducated
mind, which is slow to grasp generalizations. The best way to meet
these thin preachments is to demand a reduction of the generalities
to concrete, specific terms. It should be noted that the generalities
belong rather to the su)pposed philosophical bases of these movements
than to their practical teachings. These usually include tangible
lines of conduct, such as relaxation and deep breathing, or walking
barefoot in the dew.
As a rule, the specific statement is more persuasive
than the general, and this is especially true with those
people best worth winning. A generalization is most
effective when it is a striking summary of thought already
in mind. A short crystallizing statement may put the
thought in a form easy to fasten attention upon. "The
rich are growing richer and the poor poorer," owes its
force to its being a positive statement of a common belief.
1 Rhetoric of Oratory, p. 118.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      217
A sweeping political claim, such as Mr. Roosevelt made
before the National Progressive Convention in         1912,
"The Democratic and Republican organizations represent government of the needy many by professional
politicians in the interest of the rich few," will draw
great applause from an audience in thorough accord.
There is a boldness, a positiveness and an authoritativeness about such statements, which, given right conditions,
is effective; but their effectiveness is limited largely to
the uncritical, either the naturally uncritical or those uncritical because already won.
Whether one should come at once in a speech to the
specific aspects of his proposition, has to be decided in
the light of conditions. The more natural order seems to
be to state first the general ideas and purposes; but there
are times when the particular suggestion will be more
welcome than the general. People will listen more
readily to a particular scheme of social amelioration, such
as old age pensions, than to a general discussion of social
wrongs, which may sound socialistic. But if one were
basing his plea upon such familiar conceptions as justice
and humanity, some emphasis upon these might pave the
way for a somewhat radical proposal.
A speech by a young woman upon Feminism illustrated an aavantage and a disadvantage of a purely general treatment. By defending feminism in general terms only, she avoided raising the
objections sure to be awakened by specific statements of ways in
which some women wish 'to live their own lives"; but since her
audience had but vague ideas of feminism, she won assent to a
vague proposition only and really gained no ground. She had made
only a good beginning.
Imagination and persuasion. Among the sayings attributed to Napoleon is this:     "Imagination rules the
world."    "The orator," says an Eastern proverb, "is one
who can change ears into eyes."    We are already familiar




218


PUBLIC SPEAKING


with the hold of imagery upon attention and its power
to stir emotions. If you wish to induce a muscular
student, who knows nothing of the sport, to join the football squad, take him to see a game. If you would check
a friend from dissipation, show him the results in human
form. But if you cannot bring them face to face with
the objective realities, then with word pictures you must
make these mental realities. The speaker who has power
to make his hearers live in the scenes he portrays can
move them almost at will.
Imagination can be appealed to in the use of illustrative matter. The great preacher Whitefield, whose
persuasive power was so great that he made Benjamin
Franklin throw all his money into a collection for a cause
he did not approve, once described a vessel in peril of a
storm so vividly, that when he cried out, "What shall we
do?" a sailor in the congregation leaped to his feet shouting, "For God's sake, cut the ropes!"
Emerson has emphasized the force of a tersely put
image: 1
"The orator must be, to a certain extent, a poet. We
are such imaginative creatures, that nothing so works on
the human mind, barbarous or civilized as a trope [figure of speech]. Condense some daily experience into a,
glowing symbol, and an audience is electrified.... It is
a wonderful aid to memory, which carries away the
image, and never loses it. A popular assembly, like the
House of Commons, or the French Chamber, or the
American Congress, is commanded by these two powers,
-first by a fact, then by skill of statement. Put the
argument into a concrete shape, into an image,-some
hard phrase, round and solid as a ball, which they can
see and handle and carry home with them,-and the
cause is half won."5
I Essay on Eloquence.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                        219
As illustrations we may take, "Remember the Alamo!" and President McKinley's question in regard to keeping the Philippines,
"Who shall haul down the flag?"  Mr. Roosevelt has been particularly happy in making phrases which stick to memory and exert an
influence; such as "muckraker" and "nature-fakir." Would not the
excellent cause called "conservation of natural resources," have won
stronger popular support had it been baptized with a less abstract
name? To what would you attribute the force of the phrases
"Safety first" and "the invisible government"? Is "preparedness"
a good term?
The Welsh statesman Lloyd-George has rare power with popular
audiences. In the following extract he gives a fine image to carry
home, by telling this story of an old Welsh preacher:
"IHe was conducting a funeral service over a poor fellow who
had had a very bad time through life without any fault of his own.
They could hardly find a space in the churchyard for his tomb. At
last they got enough to make a brickless grave amid towering monuments that pressed upon it, and the minister, standing above it,
said: 'Well, Davie, you have had a narrow time right through life
and you have a very narrow place in death: but never you mind. old
friend, I can see a day dawning for you when you will rise out of
your narrow bed and call out to all these big people, "Elbow room
for the poor." '"
Do not suppose that the power of imagery lies only in
magnificent figures and elaborate word-painting, such as
are found in the peroration of Webster's Reply to Hayne,
or in his reconstruction of the tragedy in his argument
in  the   Captain   Joseph    White   murder    case. Vivid
imagery may be found in the simplest speeches. The student in my class who urged the adoption of a new method
of handling traffic at city crossings had to make vivid to
us conditions as they are and as they would be under
the proposed system, and his success was in proportion
to the vividness of our imagery.
Exposition and persuasion.    To no means of persuasion
do I find myself referring oftener in practical teaching
than that of exposition; that is, bringing into the hearer's
imagination how the plan will work out. The proposed
action, or method, is in many instances, vague in the
hearer's mind. It is unfamiliar, remote, unreal; perhaps




220


PUBLIC SPEAKING


unpleasant, unprofitable, or dishonorable, because unusual. Perhaps he cannot conceive it at all; or lie conceives it imperfectly and imagines all sorts of obstacles.
The best answer to such objections is, Come and see.
Come and see the new and efficient method of handling
goods, of cleaning up a community, or of governing a city.
But usually the seeing must be through clear exposition
and word pictures. Vivid exposition is persuasive because it fixes attention, and because it makes the course
proposed seem   real and feasible; perhaps familiar and
well established, rather than strange and extraordinary.
Images of motion. Many authorities agree that "an
idea always has a motor consequence, however obscure.
Whenever a definite idea is formed, there is a ten(deney
toward action."'   No one will question the further statement that this tendency is "most plainly seen in those
ideas which suggest some particular movement.... A
motor idea, unless restrained, tends to go out immediately in definite action." 1
By the term images of motion I wish to indicate more than i.
usually understood by motor images, which refers to images corresponding to muscular effort. I am stirred by visual images of a football game, mental pictures of the players dashing about the field, and
by sound images of the sharp signals and the shouts of the crowd,
and by tactual images of the impact of bodies, as well as by the
"twisting, straining and writhing of every muscle, tendon and
joint."
Beyond a doubt, vivid images of men in action, of
busy teeming life, have persuasive force. The dramatic
recital of, How we won the race at Poughkeepsie, brings
the recruits thronging to the crew room. The impulse
to emulate and to imitate are working here, but these are
not awakened to the same degree by less vivid speech.
Making the hearer see himself. The most potent appeal
1 Halleck, Psychology and Psychic Culture, p. 317.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                       221
to iaginMation is that which makes your hearer see himself in certain situations or idoig certain actions. This
touiches the maindisiring of enthusiasm and ambition.     It
is also a means of restraiit, iienabling one to value a future
good above an immediate pleasure, or to realize a future
evil; or, again, mt may make one realize an anticipated
pleasure so intonsely that the future evil fades from view.
"Where there is n1o vision, the people cast off restraint.'' 1
"No, I cannot go fishinc_ with you," saIys your friend; "I have
this work to finish."  Il)t," you persist, 'jest think of the woods
Just think of pullin out those spealckled beauties! Remeinmber that
time. etc."  A farawxxay look comes into the enthusiast's eyes, and he
leaps to his feet witlh a "l'ork he hanged V-  In otherx words, "I will
not ive work attention." A boy persuding his friend to q(it the
woo(llile ind colie play ball, makes the fricnd see himself pitcluhig to
the -060io1s discomfiture of the rival gang. Fear of a fttler's xvath
minus t tai the form of a vivid woodshed experience to oust that pictcrI. The same boys, visioniag their futa,res in day dreams, buildimg castles in Spain, are roused to enthusiasm and aimbition as they
see thbmselves building bridges over cha1sms, piling up fortunes in
botsiness, riding at the head of their troops, pleading irresistibly in
the courts, or it may be, helping tlie unfortunate.
A city or a aation may ha\ve its vi'-ions too. The engineer who can
pat into the minds of the cit: fathers a vision of life in an improved tovn, may win a contract for the improvements: the leader
who can make a peopile see itself (siinant in the world, minay inspire
tMem to incredible sacrifices.
So the short and simple preseription is: Make your
hearers see themselves in the situation or doing the act
Vyou desire.  Translate dut.-ies into visions.   Make that
athletic team see itself capried off the field, or bringing
home the laurels of victory to lay at Alma Mater's feet.
Maike that prison audience see tl-hemselves living normal,
honest, respected lives.   Or, if you wish to cheek an
action or tendency, make the student who would cheat
undier tile honor systemn see himself ostracized.
1 Proverbs, 29:18, revised versicn.




222


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Such appeals to the imagination sometimes succeed because the
speaker omits either the pleasing or the displeasing features of a
situation. One pleading for declaration of war might win his cause
by making his hearers glimpse the glory of an heroic struggle: but
his opponent might chill their ardor by painting a picture of the
horrors of war. Such practices may raise an evident moral question.
We certainly feel it justifiable to fix the attention of men upon the
rewards rather than upon the hardships of a worthy enterprise, in
order that they may draw courage to endure; but this sort of exaggeration has its moral limits.
The superiority of expression which is specific, concrete
and imaginative, over abstract and general presentation
lies in its power to fix attention and cling to memory.
But we should not over-emphasize any one method of
presentation; any form of expression which does fix
attention and impress memory may be persuasive.
Suggestion. A new meaning for an old word has crept
into common speech, The new and technical meaning
of the word suggestion is plainly enough derived from its
older sense, as seen in the phrase, "Don't suggest it to
him," which carries the implication that if you do, he will
act upon the suggestion. We have heard much of the
evil of the exploitation of crime in the papers and in moving pictures because of their suggestion to the young. No
definition of suggestion satisfactory for our purpose has
been found, and authorities do not agree;         but it will
suffice to say that when we act upon a prompting external
to ourselves, and without deliberation, we act upon suggestion. The response is automatic.
A popular discussion of suggestion will be found in Scott's Influencing Men in Business. This book has the advantages of being
written for those untrained in psychology by one well versed in the
science, and also of being written from the standpoint of persuasion.
In this work 2 Professor Scott says that while the subject of sugges1 See Titchener's Textbook, p. 449, Scott's Psychology of Adccertising, p. 80 and McDougall, Social Psychology, p. 97.
2 P. 36.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      223
tion has been made ridiculous by writers who have presented it as
the open sesame to success, still "in moving and inspiring men, suggestion is to be considered in every way the equal of logical reasonin, adas such is to be made the subject of consideration foi
every man who is interested in influencing his fellow men."
"The working of suggestion,"' says Scott,t "is dependent upon the impulsive, dynamic nature of ideas.
We conceive of ideas as being nothing more than formal,
inert reasons and assume that to secure action we must
add to our ideas the activity of the will. As a matter of
fact,... ideas are the most live things in the universe.
They are dynamic and lead to action. This dynamic,
impulsive lnathre of ideas is expressed in the following
law~:
"Every idea of an action will result in that action
unless hindered by an impeding idea or physical impedimient.
" The dynamic nature of ideas is further shown by the
fact whic,:h is expressed in the following general law:
"ELccry idea, concept or conclusion which enters the
mind is hcid as true unless hindered by some contradictory idea."
The most significant feature of suggestion is that it
sccures assent directly, without reasons for beliefs or
motives for action. These may exist, but they are not
in mind. There is no deliberation and criticism, for no
opposing or inhibiting ideas are thought of. Full attention is given at once to the suggested idea. When I
accept an idea from command, fashion, tradition, instruction, convenrtion, example, or personal influence, or what
Ross sums uip 2 as "social pressure," without deliberation,
I am  governed by suggestion. If I consider thus: It
is a tradition in my family to belong to the- Republican
1 Inflencinig Men in Business, p. 37.
2 'Social Control, p. 148.




224


PUBLIC SPEAKING


party; I will therefore become a Republican; or, It is the
proper thing to wear a white tie with a dress coat; I will
obey the convention,-I am not acting under suggestion.
But if I do these things without considering the possibility of doing otherwise, then I act on suggestion.
You have noticed that all this is quite in line with our theory of
persuasion; and, indeed, the quotations from Scott seem but ai restatement of that theory. But suggestion is only one phas:,; e:suasion. Some of the means of persuasion we have already tdiscussed might be placed under suggestion, but not the presentation of
motives, or any means that involves argument and deliberation.
The term suggestion is not necessary to our treatment; but it already has a place in popular discussions and it furnishes a convenient
terminology for discussing certain phenomena, especially the conduct of crowds.
Methods of suggestio: i    Repetition and amplification
are important means of suggestion, when they do not
provoke critical consideration. Such repetition is well
illustrated by advertisements. It is said that the phrase,
"Just get the Delineator," repeated over and over again
in advertisements in periodicals and on bill boards, some
years ago, drove hundreds of men with no natural interest
in its contents, to buy the magazine. Imagery is another
potent means of suggestion, and figures of speech are
especially emphasized by Scott. Indeed, any striking
means of fixing attention may be used in suggestion.
Authority and suggestion. All writers upon suggestion
emphasize the force of authority and prestige. Ideas
presented to us- by one who commands our respect,
either in general or with reference to the matter in hand,
are often accepted without question. Their effect, which
is distinct from that of authorities presented in an argument to be weighed along with other evidence, is due to
the fact that no doubts arise to divide attention. When
a child accepts the statements of his father as absolute




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                   225
truth, we have an example of authority as suggestion.
A friend of mine who accepts any statement made by
Mr. Roosevelt as truth, acts on suggestion; and another
friend who rejects any statement by the same gentleman
acts on contra-suggestion. The soldier's unquestioning
obedience also illustrates suggestion.
A speaker can make use of authority by way of quotation from those greatly respected. Some can speak as
authorities themselves. A   speaker's authoritativeness
is increased by judicious advertising of his coming, and
by a degree of formality and dignity in the conduct of
the meeting. He should not scorn taking some pains to
secure announcements which, while they provoke interest in advance, do not suggest a cheap, sensational speech;
also to secure a proper place for speaking and suitable
arrangements for the conduct of his meeting.1
The impulse to imitate. The impulse to imitate, strongest in children, whose play is attempt after attempt to
repeat the actions of their elders, is also strong in adults,
though checked somewhat by judgment and habit. One
yawns and a whole company yawns. We often see one
who watches the movements of another with absorbed interest, unconsciously making imitative movements. It is
not often that a speaker can perform upon the platform
actions which he wishes his audience to imitate; though
he may at times, as when he subscribes liberally to the
cause for which he appeals. But he may be able to stir
the impulse to imitate by bringing vividly into imagination pictures of others doing what he wishes them to do,
as fighting on the battlefield, the gridiron, or in the political arena. The speaker who is himself an embodiment
of his cause, who is known to his hearers to have done
1 The authoritativeness of the speaker will be more fully discussed in the next chapter.




226


PUBLIC SPEAKING


with his might what he calls upon them to do, will
peculiarly prompt imitation. Soldiers distinguished for
gallant conduct are effective pleaders for enlistment in
England during the European war.
Social suggestion. Greater than the impulse to imitate
single acts is the tendency to yield to environment, custom, convention and common opinion. Our submission
to these forces is due not merely to conscious fear of what
our neighbors or Mrs. Grundy may say; but it it is largely
the result of "mass suggestion."  Certain ideas are suggested to us on every hand; they are constantly brought
to attention, and win by reiteration. Doubt, criticism
and deliberation in regard to them rarely get a chance.
1 "Everything we do reveals the pull on conduct exerted by social pressure. Our foods and drinks, our
dress and furniture, our religious emotions, our investments, and even our matrimonial choices confess the
sway   of fashion  and   vogue. Whatever is common
reaches us by way of example or advice or intimidation
from a hundred directions. In our most private choices
we are swerved from our orbit by the solar attractionor repulsion-of the conventional. In public opinion
there is something which is not praise or blame, and this
residuum is mass suggestion."  A man obeys this " social
imperative," not because he decides that it is wise to
obey, "but because he feels that he must."   Those who
do not obey are the "deliberate criminal and the moral
insurgent."
"People of narrow orbit-children, farmers' wives,
spinsters, peasants, fishermen, humble village folk, often
soldiers and sailors-are slaves to an imposed sense of
obligation. Prolonged exposure to a circle or group that
speaks always with the same decision, the same commands,
benumbs the will over whole areas of choice. On the
other hand, whatever breaks the clench of the environment or invigorates the will,-liberal education, discus1 Ross, Social Control, p. 148.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                       227
sion, travel, varied experience, contact with new types of
men, leadership, new ideas and wants, changes in general
opinion or intellectual progress,-these undermine the
tyranny of group suggestions... Old colleges, universities, monasteries, senates, academies, administrative
departments, army and navy, ancient families and quiet
neighborhoods become the haunt of traditions that cast a
spell over those who come within their reach."
The speaker who can make his audience feel the social
imperative pushing them in the direction he wishes them
to go, has a powerful weapon. This force will most often
be available to repress radical action, or to turn men
from courses deemed immoral by their communities. To
use this force in support of unconventional or radical
proposals, it is necessary to show that other and respected
communities are acting in accord with the course proposed.   Sometimes one can show       that the larger community of which the body addressed forms a part, has
adopted the proposal. There is much influence, also, in
the vague "they" who are doing so and so, or who are
no longer doing so and so. In bringing to bear the influence of other environments, we see again the part of
imagination.
We can appreciate the force of the above by reflecting upon the
change produced in our interests, opinions and morals by changing
from one environment to another widely differing, as from a country
village to a large city. Again, we see college students filled with
tremendous zeal for all the enterprises of student life and pledging
undying loyalty to Alma Mater; and we see many of these same men
going out to forget her entirely in a new environment, which influences them in the same way. Now, if a speaker has the power to
make them live again the old life, he can make them feel again the old
obligations.
Immediate action. Suggestion prompts to immediate
action; and this is one of its advantages over argument.
But this advantage suggests a corresponding disadvan



228


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tage. "Normal suggestibility requires immediate execution as one of its most indispensable conditions."      It
is wise, therefore, to provide some immediate outlet for
the impulse. Advertisers provide a coupon to tear off
and send at once, and make this as convenient as possible.
"Do it to-day," they urge. "Obey that impulse,''-right
away. Stamped and directed envelopes are sent out with
circulars. So speakers ask their hearers to do something
at once, to make a beginning by signing a card or a petition, to vote for a resolution already prepared, to stand
up, to join an organization, to subscribe at once though
payment be not convenient till later. They gain immediate assent in some form, if only vigorous applause for a
sentiment thrown out for the purpose of giving rein to
the awakened impulse, and of getting assent before there
is time for doubt.
Direct and indirect suggestion. In dealing with weak
persons the direct command is often most effective; but
a weak person who suspects that he is being treated as
weak, may resist with great stubbornness. The direct
suggestion is in order when one is in authority over those
addressed; yet it is noticeable that men of great authority
use it less than those of little. While there are times
when the speaker should speak with authority, either his
own or that of the power he represents; yet direct command or suggestion must be used with circumspection,
lest it arouse hostility. One may say at times, "Why
not do so and so,"' or, "Let 's do so and so," or, "'I suggest, " or, "So and so suggests."
Indirect suggestion iJ most effective when our hearers
arrive at the desired conclusion before it is fully expressed, and the expression comes as a confirmation of a
conclusion they have seemed to arrive at unaided. If an
1 Sidis, The Psychology of Suggestion, p. SS.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      229
acquaintance manages to get you interested in his needs
so that the thought of lending him money comes to you,
he is more likely to get help than if he asked you outright. It is often best for the speaker to ask, "VWhat
shall we do?" provided he has insured the right answer
by suggestion.
A book agent employs direct suggestion when he leans toward one
with blank and pencil, saying, "Sign here." We have to admit the
trick is effective. Even if we resist it, we feel its pull. But when
we realize the trick we resent it to the undoing of the agent, so far
as that sale is concerned.
Contra-suggestion. We can employ also contra-suggestion, of which McDougall says:
"By this word it is usual to denote the mode of action
of one individual on another which results in the second
accepting, in the absence of adequate logical grounds,
the contrary of the proposition asserted or implied by the
agent. There are persons with whom this result is very
liable to be produced by an attempt to exert suggestive
influence, or even by the most ordinary or (asmual utterance. One remarks to such a person.... 'I think you
ought to take a holiday,' and, though he had himself contemplated this course, he replies, 'No, I don't need one,'
and becomes immovably fixed in that opinion."
Do we not all feel the force of contra-suggestion when
we see a sign, "Hands off," or "Keep off the grass."
While a reasonably confident and positive manner is
certainly better than a weak and fawning manner, it is
plain that positiveness can easily be overdone, and that
indirect suggestion is often needed.
Mark Antony's speech in Julius C(esar is a famous illustration of
both indirect and contra-suggestion. Another illustration of contrasuggestion is found in lago's words to Othello, after subtly leading
the latter to believe Desdemona untrue, "Let her live." Lovers
1 Social Psychology, p. 101.




230


PUBLIC SPEAKING


of "Uncle Remus" will be glad to identify contra-suggestion in the
method of Brer Rabbit's escape after his capture by Brer Fox and
his Tar Baby-" 'Do please, Brer Fox, don't fling me in dat brierpatch,' sezee." And consider how Tom Sawyer got his fence whitewashed.
Royce 1 speaks of social opposition, or the desire to contrast one's self with one's fellows in behavior, opinion, or
power. This desire for distinction, in small ways as well
as in large, balances the tendency to imitate and conform.
It is, as it seems to me, too little considered by writers
on suggestion.
Increasing suggestibility. By suggestibility is meant
our degree of susceptibility to suggestion. Not only do
individuals differ greatly in this respect, since they differ
in their tendency to scrutinize and deliberate, but also
the same persons differ much under different circumstances which induce different moods. When more emotional we are more suggestible, for then we scan less whatever is congruous with our feeling. Individuals and communities aroused by party feeling, war lust, calamities,
or the fever of speculation, are little guided by judgment, but seize upon any suggestion congruous with their
mood and carry it into immediate execution.
Effect of numbers. Every speaker knows that it is
easier to move a large number than a small; he knows
that a few persons are more critical than a crowd. WThatever causes us to feel strongly our individuality, our
importance and responsibility as persons, works against
suggestion. "Intensity of personality is in inverse proportion to the number of aggregated men." 2        When a
proposal is put to one alone he feels he must exercise his
judgment; but when many are present, he feels less
keenly his responsibility. It is said that one reason cor1 Outlines of Psychology. p. 277.
2 Sidis, Psychology of Suggestion, p. 299.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                   231
porations do deeds which individual directors would
never do, lies in the decreased sense of responsibility.
The same reason may be given to explain the fact that
large legislative bodies are more radical than small
bodies, and also the fact that men in numbers will support measures that individually they would not have the
moral courage to support.
The psychological crowd. This term means more than
"a large number of people together. That is termed
"a heterogeneous crowd. A    thousand people who have
come together casually in a city park or square, are more
suggestible than a few; but if they have come together for
a common purpose, as to hear a socialist orator, they are
much more suggestible. And if they are feeling a common emotion, as hatred of capital or a sense of wrong,
they are highly suggestible. A group "fused" together
by some strong bond is called a psychological or homiogeneous crowd. In the following pages the single word
crowd will bear this meaning.
We see such crowds in a bleacher full of students cheering for
their team in opposition to another crowd across the field; in a
theater where all share enjoyment of the play, or in an audience
swayed by a common emotion.
Characteristics of men in crowds. Men think less
keenly in a psychological crowd, their minds being more
or less overcome by mass suggestion. They are, therefore, less critical and discriminating, more emotional and
responsive. They will respond to sentiments more noble
and more base than those which ordinarily control them.
They are credulous and accept exaggeration as wisdom.
With the decrease in the sense of personal responsibility,
there is a relaxing of habitual restraints, reserve and
caution. A crowd of men, usually polite, will hoot at
strangers, women, or authorities. Men usually reserved




232


PUBLIC SPEAKING


will slap each other on the back, shake hands with strangers, parade in lock-step, laugh, shout, sing with abandon.
Jokes are funnier, sorrows more grievous, sentiments
more uplifting. They have more courage, but also more
fear. A company of soldiers will stand fire longer than
one man, but once routed may fall into a panic such as
one man alone would never feel. Men in crowds are in
every way more primitive. They place high value on
symbols, regalia and watchwords. They are extremely
imaginative. "To know the art of impressing the imagination of crowds," says Le Bon,' "is to know the art of
governing them."
Besides the loosening of restraint and the increase of
emotional responsiveness in a crowd, there is the multiplication of suggestion. When an idea presented by a
speaker seems to be indorsed by all those about me, it is
suggested to me by all, and is forced upon my attention,
driving out my opposing thoughts. Were you never in
a meeting where the appeals of a fervid speaker were
reflected by the intent faces of those about you?   Did
you not feel the power of the united pull? There is a
feeling like that of slipping. If one is not to yield he
must resist; and the way to resist is to think hard of all
the objections to the belief or the course urged. At times
it is hard to recall these objections. Suppose you, a convinced pacifist, are in a crowd roused to enthusiasm by a
plea for recruits for a war to you unjustifiable. You
object to the plea, which is based upon nationalism and
race hatred. Your objections are in no way answered
by the speaker; but unless you make an effort you may
lose your hold on these objections and be swept from
your moorings. You fail to keep your attention on your
real beliefs; and it is conceivable that, in an extreme in1 The Crowd, p. 61.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      233
stance, you might come to yourself as a recruit. It would
be the task of an opposition speaker, manifestly, very
firmly and repeatedly to bring the objections back to
attention.
Sometimes we seem divided against ourselves, our feelings won,
but our minds resisting'. A story is told 1 of Wendell Phillips's oration before the Harvard Phi Ileta Kappa society, in which he made
a conservative and distinguished audience applaud, more than thirty
years ago, women's suffrage, Irish home rule, and Russian Nihilism.
One man was heard "applauding and stamping his feet with the utmost enthusiasm, exclaiming at the same time. 'The d--  old liar,
the d-   old liar!' " That was his way of keeping his attention on
his real beliefs.
Desirability of forming a crowd. I pass over for the
present the moral question involved and consider only
expediency. Plainly enough a crowd with its high degree
of suggestibility is more easily swayed than a calmly
deliberating body. But where deliberation is desired the
crowd state is clearly undesirable. It must be remembered, too, that while some who are carried away by
crowd feeling will remain won, many will recover their
judgment and revolt. The surer way is to win by sound
argument. On      the other hand, even     when the first
business is conviction, the time comes when the deliberative mood must give way and the audience be brought
into community of feeling; assuming that united action
is desired. There are times, too, when there is no time
for argument; when it is suggestion or nothing. And
there are some people with whom argument at any time
is impossible. At any rate, we wish to understand crowds
and their formation, if only to know how to combat the
efforts of an opponent to change an audience which we
wish to retain as a deliberative body, into a crowd, and
how to recover control when he has succeeded.
1 Atlantic Monthly, December, 1912, p. 773.




234


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Methods of forming a psychological crowd. There are
many audiences which it is practically impossible to
turn into a crowd, as when there are two opposing factions in a political convention,-unless, indeed, these
can be brought to compromise. Bodies whose business
is deliberation, and audiences largely made up of men
trained in argument, are not likely to yield except under
the most emotional circumstance.
We know that political conventions can be "stampeded." Andrew
D. White has of late refused to attend national political conventions
as a delegate, on the ground that they have lost their deliberative
character, having come under the sway of the great audiences permitted in the galleries; that is, of mass suggestion. There are also
in such conventions many delegates not trained to deliberate; there
is usually much excitement, and well understood methods are used to
bring about "stampedes."
We have already touched upon some of the means of
changing an ordinary gathering into a psychological
crowd, in our discussion of suggestion. The first favorable condition is to have a large number of people together. More important than actual numbers is having
the hall full, even crowded. Avoid having two hundred
people in a hall large enough for five hundred. If this is
not possible, bring those present together in a compact
body. Henry Ward Beecher said:
"People often say, 'Do you not think it is much more
inspiring to speak to a large audience than a small one?'
No, I say; I can speak just as well to twelve persons as to
a thousand, provided those twelve are crowded around
me and close together, so that they touch each other.
But even a thousand people, with four feet of space be1 Yale Lectures on Preaching, First Series, p. 73. That the belief that crowds are something other than mere aggregations of individuals and have individualities of their own, is not merely a
theory of the "new" psychology, will be found by reading some not
recent books by orators, such as Phillips Brooks's Lectures on,
Preaching, p. 183-188.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                      235
tween every two of them, would be just the same as an
empty room.... Crowd your audience together and
you will set them off with not half the effort."
A young lady who had been successful in arguing "votes for
women" in the streets of New York and in other places that would
try the courage of most, told me that the worst time she ever had was
before a very polite body of people seated around the sides of a
room, leaving the center open.
The reason given 1 for the greater ease of dealing with a compact
body is that there is a limitation of the voluntary movements upon
which our sense of individuality depends. It is also true that we
are more sensible of the suggestions of our neighbors when we touch
elbows. A man entering a hall to criticize proceedings and determined not to yield to what he hears, will instinctively keep on the
outskirts of the audience.
Other means are taken to decrease the sense of personality. Uniform costumes are provided. Members of
the audience are led to do things together, read a ritual,
sing or cheer together, stand up and sit down, laugh,
applaud, and vote together. Perhaps music is the greatest unifying force; but the essential is to induce all to
yield to a common leadership. A story is told of a popular evangelist who became so exasperated at a man who
would not obey the summons, "Now let us all join in singing hymn No. 312," that he hurled his hymn book at the
obdurate one.
The speaker touches upon sentiments and opinions held
in  common. Perhaps he has kept back some secret,
regarding the progress of the canvass, for example, or the
gift of a new stadium, with which to set the crowd cheering. Hie lets them laugh at jokes that appeal to all, and
maybe turns abruptly to pathos; and when the members
of an audience have applauded, laughed, and maybe
sighed a bit in common, much of the aloofness, reserve,
and hostility of men as individuals is gone, and with it
1 Sidis, Psychology of Suggestion, p. 299.




236


PUBLIC SPEAKING


their resisting power. Those around you seem like good
fellows, though at first they may not have seemed your
sort. Doing things together increases friendliness. It
is impossible to consider a man who looks as foolish in his
regalia as you do in yours, as an entire stranger. And
the speaker, who agrees with your pet opinions and seems
to have had the same human experiences, seems a good
fellow too. This spirit of friendliness is as important as
the lessening of individuality.
Anything which creates a strained expectancy increases
crowd feeling, as that great news is momentarily expected, or that the solution of an important problem will
soon be announced. A prolonged silence, provided it be
charged with strong anticipation, will increase the effect
of a following announcement. There should be no appearance of aimlessness in the proceedings, but an impressive regularity, at least until the time arrives for
some startling effect. Even an intense sort of monotony
is desirable. To change the regular order, or otherwise
to break the monotony, is a method of overcoming the
crowd tendency; or it may be a step toward forming a
crowd with different aims.
When an attempt is made to stampede a political convention for a
certain candidate, the regular order is broken in upon by, perhaps, a
woman in white leaning from the balcony, waving a flag and shouting
for her candidate. Then standards are seized, a procession is
formed, headed perhaps by the same woman and a band which plays
over and over again the same strains, some piece popular in tlhe convention, and with the paraders singing and shouting. In the midst
of the seeming confusion, there is regularity to the point of monotony; and the uproar is continued till success is assured, or exhaustion
brings an end. Absurd as these proceedings are in the midst of conventions which we are solemnly told are essential to republican
government, they sometimes succeed when "sprung" at the right
moment: usually when a convention is facing a deadlock and there
is great tension of feeling, with hopelessness on the part of many in
regard to nominating their favorite candidates.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                       237
Since witnessing what was widely reported as a stampede at the
Progressive State Convention in Syracuse in 1912, where "Suspender
Jack" is supposed to have swept the delegates off their feet, I am
convinced that many so-called stampedes are not such in fact. The
uproar in that case was the result of a belief that Mr. Oscar
Strauss was the only nominee for governor of New York who could
relieve the party of an embarrassing situation and give hope of success, and was a deliberate attempt to break down the resistance of
Mr. Strauss to being nominated. lie, if any one, was stampeded.
It was to be noticed, however, that after the convention had gone
through the form of a stampede, it was never again a deliberative body, and was impatient of argument and near the point of
breaking loose at all times until the adjournment late the same
evening.
A word of warning. Do not suppose, as I speak of
these extreme manifestations for the sake of illustrating
crowd spirit, and shall go on to speak of still more extreme manifestations, that a       psychological crowd     is
always in an uproar or doing extreme things. It may be
intensely quiet, showing no signs except to the observant
eye. Religious audiences, as often         as any, become
crowds; but they rarely become noisy, at least they
rarely exceed the customs of the particular sect. Moreover, audiences are but rarely completely fused into
crowds.
Mobs.   Crowds pass into mobs. Even the heterogeneous crowd is a potential mob. A startling event, as the
cry of fire, may cause a mob. Fixation of attention accompanied by the awakening of any intense feeling, such
as anger, fear, triumph or contempt, may change a company of people into a mob. The sight of a cruel act on
the street may cause the formation of a mob more cruel
Ihan the object of its wrath. A      group of school boys
may quickly turn to a mob at the opportunity to ridicule
one of its members. An audience which is not interested
may become a mob under the inspiration of a witticism




238


PUBLIC SPEAKING


from the gallery, and the speaker will be skilful who
regains control.
A mob is in an extremely suggestible state, approaching
that of hypnosis. "Social suggestibility," says Sidis,1
"is individual hypnotization written large." The individual is lost in the crowd, which may be said to have
an individuality of its own. The individual's sense of
propriety and of responsibility, his morality and his
judgment are gone. The mob's will is his will. He will
entertain the wildest ideas suggested to him, he will do
the most absurd, the most base, the most cruel, the most
noble of acts,-acts which on the morrow he views with
disgust, horror, or wonder.
No honest man will ever wish to form a mob; but he
may wish to know how to check an audience which
threatens to fall into the mob state, because it has
been wrought upon by another, or because it has met in
time of panic. Only a few       hints can be attempted
here.
A crowd or a mob demands a leader. Even a herd
of horses or steers will, when stampeded, select a leader.
In this demand lies an opportunity for an honest man
to lead for good, and of a demagogue to lead for evil.
The first attempt of the one whose audience shows signs of
running "away with him," is to make himself its leader.
To do this it may be necessary to seem to fall in with its
spirit and purpose, whatever they may be. Protest is
useless. When their confidence is gained, it may be possible to turn them in another direction, for a mob is very
fickle. At times a trick is justifiable. A   story is told
of an audience determined to hoot down a speaker. A
tall figure rose among them     and caught their attention for an instant. "Well, fellow citizens,' the man
1 Psychology of Suggestion, p. 327.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                    239
drawled, "I wouldn't keep still if I didn't want to."
The crowd applauded the sentiment and then listened for
more. "But if I were you, I should want to!" was the
unexpected conclusion. They laughed and then kept
still. Presumably this was a good-natured mob. If we
take the extreme case of a mob bent on a lynching, there
have been instances where leaders have led in the wrong
direction, and, seemingly much disappointed themselves,
have wearied the mob with their marchings and countermarchings.
The first and most difficult part of gaining leadership
of a mob is to get its attention. Some striking gesture
or pose may be necessary. A striking expression may be
interjected into some pause in the noise. It is of course
useless to attempt to argue with a mob, for it is incapable
of reasoning. There is no use of telling a mob that what
it wishes to do is wrong, for jeers or worse will be the
answer to opposition. The mob has perfect confidence
in the rectitude of its own intentions: it is going to free
the town of an incubus, to drive out a monster, to do
justice by a soulless corporation that is grinding the faces
of the poor; it is fighting for its homes, its children and
the honor of its women. Since the mob is highly primitive, it thinks in images only; hence a would-be leader
should address it in vivid imagery. It accepts as literal
truth the most extravagant exaggeration, and likes large
phrases and big, vague sentiments, put in the most absolute, unmodified form. The leader should talk much of
liberty, equality, fraternity, of honor, patriotism, and the
rights of man. lIe should explain nothing, but affirm
and repeat. The mob is much influenced by prestige, and
a man who enjoys high position in its eyes has a superior
chance to control it; but any one can make use of the
names of its heroes.




240


PUBLIC SPEAKING


A student tells me of how 800 students in his high school, seized
by a sudden fancy, refused to go to their work after luncheon and
proceeded to march around and around the school building with
cheers and songs. They refused to listen to the principal, who
begged them to return home at least; but when Murphy, athlete and
leadýr, jumped upon a box they listened; and when he shouted,
"The Orpheum opens in five minutes; let's go," they went.
There is a story told, with many non-essential variations, of how
General Garfield checked the formation of a mob in New York
during the Civil War. It was the night of Lincoln's assassination.
A great crowd had gathered in City Hall Park, which threatened
every moment to become a mob, likely to vent its wrath upon certain "copperhead" newspapers. General Garfield was asked to try
to quiet the crowd. Stepping out on a balcony, he stood with upraised hands in full sight of the crowd, which surged over to hear
his news. This was the news:
" 'Clouds and darkness are round about him:
Righteousness and judgment are the habitations of his throne.' 1
"Fellow citizens! God reigns and the government at Washington
still lives!"
The crowd dispersed and the danger was over. The familiar, sacred words, with their great image, caught the crowd, and held
them long enough to enable them to receive the assurance that a
greater than Lincoln was still in power, and that the government
did not fall even with the beloved President.
According to Le Bon 2 the mob is conservative. While
it seems to be tearing down, it is fighting against change,
for hereditary ideas and institutions. A student mob
would be found in revolt against the destruction of a
tradition. Since a mob cannot think, it cannot receive a
new idea. Appeal to a mob, then, in the name of the old,
the established. Appeal to any loyalty to institutions
members of the mob may possess,-to party, college,
city, country, or family.
The mob is vain and will accept unlimited flattery
as to its high character and purposes. Remember, too,
that a mob may be turned to good deeds as well as to
foul, if the better idea can be struck into its imagination.


1 Psalms, 97: 2.


2Thle 0-owd, P,. 39.




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING CONDUCT                   241
The mob is cowardly and may be put to flight by a cry
of "Fire,' or "Police"; but may be galvanized into heroism by the right leader. It admires courage. It must be
faced boldly; any sign of weakness, any attempt to beg
it to be good, will be derided. Napoleon, when but a
very young brigadier, cowed with a "whiff of grape
shot" the fierce mob that had ruled Paris.
Since the most striking characteristic of a mob is the
loss of individuality, try to restore this feeling to the natural leaders. Appeal, if it be possible, to their sense of
duty and personal dignity. Call upon them by name
to step forward and commit themselves in plain words.
If possible, get these men formed into a committee to
determine action.
But usually the mob demands immediate action. The
leader may be able to suggest another and more attractive
course, but one which will result in delay. This is the
easier because a mob is remarkable for credulity, and does
not distinguish between the possible and the impossible.
If the mob is bent on revenge, suggest a more terrible
revenge. By any means get delay; for in most cases the
mob feeling does not last long. "Sensations of hunger,
cold, and weariness become so insistent as to distract attention. "   To move an adjournment for dinner, or to
await the coming of a popular speaker, or for some other
attractive purpose, is a standard method of preventing
a convention from   escaping the control of its leaders.
Suggestion, crowds, and ethics. When we consider
the means of controlling men without convincing them
intellectually, we are impressed with the serious moral
responsibility involved; but we may wiell remember that
to influence others is a serious responsibility, whatever
the methods employed. Even when men are controlled
1 Ross, Social Psychology, p. 54.




242


PUBLIC SPEAKING


by logical argument there is the same possibility that the
weaker will be ruled by the stronger to their hurt; for
by assuming false premises and facts, one may be as
logical as Aristotle and as false as Beelzebub. We must
remember, too, as already stated, that there are times
when logical argument can have little to do with persuasion; as when conviction already exists but conduct
is not in accord for lack of sufficient impulse, or when men
are in conditions which incapacitate them for reasoning.
There are treatises that picture men as always acting
in the light of pure reason and from the highest motives.
If any student were so gullible as to accept such teachings, he would be but slightly equipped for moral conflict.
He must understand human nature. Persuasion is a
practical matter; and we must take men as they are;
and they are, in meetings and about their affairs, influenced by suggestion as well as by reason. I do not mean
to imply that ideals should not guide us in this practical
matter; but I do mean that facts must be faced. What
use a speaker may make of his power will depend upon
wihat kind of a man he is. The man who is unscrupulous
off the platform will be unscrupulous on the platform.
The honest speaker needs large knowledge of the springs
of human action, if only that he may checkmate the dishonest speakers who may oppose him. "Be ye therefore
wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. "
One cannot touch this subject of crowd control without
feeling the inadequacy of a brief treatment, or of any
treatment. One recognizes, too, the danger that a student may become fascinated by the subject of suggestion
and make too much of it; and the further danger ýhat a
little knowledge of it may produce an unwholesome disrespect for audiences. But this last danger is likely to be
offset by practical experience; for the young speaker who




PERSUASION-INFLUENCING                 CONDUCT        24,1
deals with the average American audience, believing that
he can manipulate them as he will and that they will not
see through his tricks and fallacies, is in line for some
highly beneficial shocks.
Those who wish to follow up the subject of suggestion and crowds
may do so in the works referred to in the preceding pages. It is to
be said of the works of Le Bon and Sidis that they are far too cynical in their view of human nature, and that their conclusions seem
to be based too much upon such times of excitement as that of the
French Revolution. All writers on suggestion, indeed, are likely to
overemphasize its importance and to overlook other important truths.
Ross's works are in popular vein, but should prove helpful. In his
preface to Social Psychology he emphasizes the truth that all theories
upon the subject are in an unsettled state. McDougall's Social
Psychology will be found as reliable as any, but he devotes little
space to suggestion and crowds. Many of the most authoritative
psychologists say little or nothing of these topics; first, perhaps,
because they are not dwelling on the social aspects of their science,
and, secondly, because they feel the topics are not ripe for strict
scientific statement. Scott's Influencing Men in Business has probably the best popular comparison of suggestion and argument. This
work and his books on advertising will be found useful and better
than his book on public speaking, though this is well worth reading.
Practical suggestions.    The student of this chapter
should be making persuasive speeches, taking up subjects
which permit of genuine attempts to influence conduct,
and which call less for convincing the audience of the
desirability of action than for moving to action. He will
profit, also, by studying persuasive speeches; and for our
present purpose, he should select speeches which have
overcome passive rather than active opposition. Both
in preparing and in studying persuasive speeches, the
student should give special attention to the situation to
be met, precisely what is to be overcome; and then to
the means. Experience shows that this suggestion needs
emphasis. A by no means unique instance was that of a
student preparing a speech in favor of national prohibi



244            PUBLIC SPEAKING
tion, without considering whether he would address those
who believed in prohibition, those who did not believe in
it, or those who believed prohibition a good thing but
impracticable.




CHAPTER IX


PERSUASION AND BELIEF
IN the preceding chapter we have kept in mind especially persuasion in those cases in which our hearers
offer only passive opposition. In this chapter we shall
give especial attention to cases in which there is more
active opposition, due to intelligent doubt, contrary conviction, opposing interests, or prejudice. It does not
seem wise to attempt any sharp distinction between the
problems considered in the preceding chapter and in
this; and it should be understood that the suggestions
of either chapter are, in great part, applicable to the
problems of the other.
Our primary study in this chapter is how to win belief, either as an end in itself, or as a preliminary to
action; and on investigation we find we are facing the
familiar problem of securing exclusive attention. "The
most compendious possible formula, perhaps,"         says
James,1 "would be that our belief and attention are the
same fact. For the moment, what we attend to is reality."  Again, James says 2 belief "resembles more than
anything what in the psychology of volition we know as
consent.... What characterizes both consent and belief is the cessation of theoretic agitation, through the
advent of an idea which is inwardly stable, and fills the
mind solidly to the exclusion of contradictory ideas."
To secure the desired state of attention we may have to
1 Psychology, Vol. II, p. 322.           2 Idem, p. 283.


~~-.


245




246


PUBLIC SPEAKING


argue away doubts, change convictions, and win from
prejudice the grace of a fair hearing.
Does not this statement of theory square with experience? Does not making up your mind after a struggle
seem like shutting your mental eyes to all conclusions
but one, or to the reasons for them, whether you do this
arbitrarily or because your judgment advises that this is
the better course?     Perhaps you have had a struggle
over which is the best college, or the best fraternity;
or whether the Germans or the Allies are in the right.
Once the question is settled, you may later wonder why
you were ever in doubt. One cause of this is, that after
the decision is made you refuse to give other possible decisions a square look, and that while you eagerly admit
new reasons to support your decision, you refuse to consider fairly reasons against it.     If you have "let the
worse appear the better reason," and remain at all openminded, the dishonored better reason may return to vex
you.   With the mentally honest an opinion is never in
stable equilibrium unless it is founded on sound reasoning; but with such questions as those instanced we rarely
give attention to the possibility of mistake.
It will prove suggestive, especially for advanced students, to coneider this doctrine further. We may notice that, in the words of
Bain, "We believe everything that comes into the mind unopposed";
or as Pillsbury says,' "Anything that enters the mind is normally
accepted as true at once."  Belief is passive; doubt is active. The
child believes all it is told; doubt comes as the result of experience.
If an opinion is suggested so that it arouses no opposition, it is
accepted. But if doubts do arise, or contrary opinions already
exist, then these must be driven from mind in order to win for
the doubted or rejected opinion exclusive attention. "I can find
in a moment of belief," says Pillsbury,2 "nothing but the stable
persistence of the idea or state that is believed."  To the end of
giving ideas "stable persistence" in the minds of others, all the
methods and means of argumentation should tend.
1 Psychology of Rcasoning, p. 31.            2 Idem, p. 57.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


247


Pillsbury lays great stress 1 upon the truth that belief depends
upon experience, and illustrates with the following, which both
bears upon the point under discussion and furnishes a good point
of view for the study of argumentation. (Italics are mine.)
"One may believe in socialism if one considers the evident disparity between the rewards of individuals who may be regarded as of
the same ability or as of the same degree of desert. One is firmly
opposed to socialism when men are regarded as essentially very
different in ability, and ability and desert are identified.... Just
so long as the two sets of experiecces fluctuate before the mind, one
will be in doubt as to which of the abstract principles is more desirable. When one persists, it is by that very fact believed...
And indivttirdTTs -in" Ibe predominantly individualistic or socialistic
as life as a whole has presented the advantages or the disadvantages
of the present indiviidualistic society.... We have a belief in one
theory or the other just so long as one set of experiences predominate in consciousness; doubt enters when there is rivalry between
two sets of experience."
2 "One can change the belief of any individual either by giving
him n~T ind different experiences, or by so presenting a statement
that it shall arouse a different set of experiences to pass upon the
statement. Both methods are applied in practical argumentation.
Clhe- elfectiveness of a plea depends upon the success with which
new groups of experiences can be aroused to give the attitude
desired. When the attitude is properly aroused belief follows as a
matter of course."
Persuasion and belief. We decided in the last chapter
to apply the term persuasion to the process of inducing
others to give fair, favorable, or exclusive attention to
propositions. We have just seen that belief is also a matter of attention. In seeking to give ''stable persistence"
to ideas in minds that have not before held them, or have
held opposing ideas, we try to change the attitude of those
minds to the end that there may be willingness to listen
at all, that there may be an open-minded reception of
our arguments, and a willingness, or even a desire, to believe; and we also employ logical arguments which furnish grounds for accepting the belief we urge, and which
serve to drive opposing arguments from the hearers'
minds, so weakening and discrediting them that if they
return they will be received with scant respect. No
hard and fast distinction should be understood here, only


1 Psychology of Reasoning, p. 38.


z Idem, p. 53.




248


PUBLIC SPEAKING


an emphasizing of the fact that there may be two phases
of one process. That the distinction is not strict is evident from the fact that sound argument is in itself an
important means of winning attention. It is possible, as
we noted in the preceding chapter, to cover the whole
process of producing conviction with the term persuasion;
but it is both correct and convenient to limit its meaning, as applied to this process, to the winning of attention and acceptance for the arguments which reason presents.
The importance of logical argument. I shall not in this
text attempt a systematic treatment of argument in the
stricter sense; but shall leave that to the many excellent
works on logic and argumentation. Such topics as the
rules of evidence, fallacies, the analysis and briefing of
arguments, will receive only incidental attention, while I
shall give space chiefly to the adaptation of arguments to
audiences, a matter which is of the very essence of
persuasion.
Yet while I prefer not to give here a necessarily brief
and inferior treatment of logical argument, but to emphasize the means of gaining a hearing for one's logic and
facts, I do not wish even to suggest that sound logic may
be ignored, or that the phases of the subject here discussed are in any way inconsistent with logic. Rather I
would impress upon all students of public speech the importance of sound logical argument, based upon facts and
the most rigorous analysis. This there should be although the circumstances of a speech do not admit of
detailed statement of its logical basis. In the first place,
a speaker owes a high duty to himself and to his audience
to determine and to speak the truth as best he can. He
can never tell how far his most casual word may reach.
In the second place, expediency coincides with duty. In




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


249


most assemblies the stronger minds control; in all communities, in the long run, they formulate opinions and determine action. And these stronger thinkers resent an
attempt to control them    against their judgment.     They
will not often cease questioning and balancing arguments,
and yield their undivided attention, until the demands of
reason have been satisfied. If a triumph is gained in
defiance of reason, reason will reassert itself. We shall
see that emotion has much to do with determining what
are good reasons; but sound reasoning cannot be safely
igPored.
I spoke of Wendell Phillips's triumph in making a conservative,
/ cultured audience applaud Nihilism. His triumph, however, was
more amusing than lasting. A few hours later his hearers were
indignant at what they considered a trick. On the evening of the
same day, "Charles Eliot made a forcible and eloquent five-minute
speech at the dinner, vigorously rejecting Phillips's doctrine and
exposing the essential fallacy of his discourse."
There is likely to be some one at hand to expose the
man who attempts to befog reason; if not another speaker
on the same occasion, or on a later occasion, it may be
a newspaper writer, or some hard-headed man on the
street or in the club, who will expose the bad argument
next day. Opponents will seize upon every weak link in
one's logic, or whatever can be made to seem           weak.
Doubters will persistently demand "Why?" and "What
is the evidence?"     Argument, to be surely       effectite,
should be at once persuasive and sound.
I urge upon every student of public speaking, as an important
foundation for our work, the thorough study of the analysis of
propositions, the briefing of arguments, the methods of detecting and
exposing fallacies, and( the laws of evidence. Such studies will he
of great assistance in all branches of composition; and, indeed, in
most branches of learning. I am not now speaking of college dehating, though this intellectual sport, properly conducted, can be,made a valuable training for the combats of courts and conventions.




250


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Emotion in argument. Having said so much on the
importance of sound logic, I now call your attention to the
part of emotion in argument. I do not mean in befogged,
illogical argument, but in clear, logical argument. Let
us notice, first, that in dealing with those practical issues
that directly affect human conduct, the very basis of
argument is emotion;' or as we noted in the preceding
chapter, the major premise of such an argument is the
expression of an emotion. If we argue that the square
of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum
of the squares of the other two sides, we have pure reasoning, free from emotion; but when we take up the proposition that Congress should pass the immigration bill,
involving an illiteracy test, over the President's veto, we
are constantly dealing with emotions. We must assume
first the emotion of patriotism, or that all desire the good
of the country. As we proceed we find ourselves meeting with emotions involved in the interests of labor and
of corporations, with self-interest and the love of justice,
with race prejudices and loyalties, with the sentiment
that America should remain the home of the oppressed,
with pity for those who have had no opportunity for education, and with a reluctance on the part of many to
pass a measure over President Wilson's veto. If we
looked beneath the surface of newspaper discussion, we
might find certain religious feelings playing an active
part in the settlement of this issue. The fact that some
of these feelings ought not to influence our judgment of
the question, and the fact that none of them should be
permitted to put us in such a state that we cannot reason justly, do not change the facts that an argument on
the issue impinges upon emotion at every point, that some
of these emotions are necessary to a proper solution, that
they are, in fact, excellent reasons, and that any one or




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


251


several of them, good and bad, may be dominating the
minds of your hearers as you address them. The question selected is far from an extreme instance, as you will
see if you think for a moment of such questions as intercollegiate athletics, modern dancing, woman's suffrage,
and blame for the European war.
In the second place, we notice with regard to the
influence of emotion on argument, the strong tendency
of men to believe what they wish to believe.'      "Will
and belief are undoubtedly common products of the same
deeper lying forces. Whatever appeals to us strongly
enough to tempt us to desire to believe, by the very same
appeal compels belief."   Experience declares, "A man
convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." 2
Almost as famous is the saying attributed to a Scotchman,
"I am quite open to conviction, Sandy, but I should like
to see the man who can convince me."    This tendency to
believe what we wish to believe is encouraged by the fact
that, with reference to questions at all debatable,.there are
reasons, usually good reasons, in support of either alternative. One arrives at a decision by weighing the
opposing arguments. Now, if he wishes to arrive at a
certain conclusion, the arguments for it seem weighty
and those in opposition very light. lie is likely to refuse
credence to witnesses and authorities against the desired conclusion. IHe may even refuse to listen to oppos,
ing arguments; or he may listen in an attempt to be fair,
but with a subconscious determination to discredit what
he hears, saying all the while, That is not true; That is
not important; or, That is insufficient. In other words,
he refuses fair attention.
1 Pillsbury, Psychologyi of Reasoning, p. 54.
2 Cf. Csar, (Gallic War, Book III, Ch. 18: Fere libenter
hlomincs, quod volunt, crcdunt.




252


PUBLIC SPEAKING


No doubt you are a highly reasonable person; still if you were
to learn that your deceased uncle had cut you off from an expected
legacy, you might find it easy to believe the old man non comjpos
mentis when he executed his will. Learning later that he had added
a codicil in your favor, you might find no difficulty in believing that
at the approach of death his mind cleared. We expect to-day to find
men of German parentage pro-German in their opinions about the
war, and men of English parentage pro-English. We say, 'Their
sympathies are naturally that way."  We may give many logical
reasons for our positions, but how many are there among us who
take pride in our trained minds, who determined our attitude toward
this war by impartial reasoning?
I do not wish to be understood as asserting that a man will or can
believe whatever he wishes to believe. Evidence may be too strongly
against desire. We say at times we are afraid to believe this or
that, or that a certain belief is too good to be true. However, when
a man does not follow his desire to believe, the reason will usually
be that another emotion intervenes; his thinking is guided by a
strong love of truth, or he is held back by a fear of the consequences
of a mistake. So he resists the tempting belief by holding attention upon the reasons against it.1
In practical speaking instances of the effect of desire
upon judgment are common enough. We find only too
many instances of juries led by their sympathies to ignore
the plain purport of the evidence. It is my belief that in
these cases the jurors rarely consciously violate their
oaths, but that their desires control them       in selecting
and rejecting evidence.
I sat as a spectator, with a slight bias toward the prosecution,
through the trial of a young woman for the killing of her husband.
The case for the defense was the bad character of the victim
(worked into the evidence in spite of the rules), and "emotional
insanity," testified to by several sisters, a weeping mother and a
pathetic old father, who, one all the time hoped, would make out a
good case, in spite of the fact that they were palpably straining the
truth. The summing up of the astute attorney for the defense presented briefly an argument which, had it been based upon established
facts, would have justified an acquittal, and a long address to the
sympathies of the jury, closing with, "Give her back to her mother."
The jury, apparently an intelligent body of men, rendered a verdict
1 Cf. Camille Bos, Psychologic de la Croyance, p. 81.




PERSUASION        AND    BELIEF              253
of not guilty, in spite of damning testimony which they must have
refused to remember. And I felt that no jury, though it were drawn
from the district attorney's office itself, would have rendered a verdict of murder in the first degree, so strongly would they have wished
to believe in the "brain storm."
If there is any place where all save pure logical argument would
seem to be out of place, it is before the Supreme Court of the United
States; yet even there argument contains more than law, facts and
logic, and lawyers take into consideration the tendencies, the feelings, even the prejudices, of the justices. When Webster argued
the Dartmouth College Case, at a time when the Court contained
such men as Marshall and Story, he was swept at the end into an
undoubtedly sincere outburst of feeling for his college:
"Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak; it is in
your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary
horizon of our country. You may put it out. But, if you do so,
you must carry through youur work! You must extinguish, one
after another, all those greater lights of science, which for more
than a century, have thrown their radi:ance over our land!
"It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet there are those
who love it.
"Sir, I know not how others may feel [glancing at the opposing
attorneys,] but for myself, when I see my Alma Mater surrounded,
like Cwesar in the Senate house, by those who are reiterating stab
after stab, I would not, for this right hand, have her turn to me
and say, Et tu quoquc, mi fili! And thou too, my son!"
An eyewitness wrote:
"The court-room during those two or three minutes presented an
extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice Marshall with his tall gaunt
figure, bent over to catch even the slightest whisper, the deep
furrows of his cheeks expanded witli emotion, and his eyes suffused
with tears; Mr. Justice Washington at his side,... leaning far
forward witl an eager troubled look; and tie remainder of the
court at the two extremities, pressing., as it were, toward a single
point, while the audience below were wrapping themselves around
in closer folds beneath the bench to catch each look and every
feature of the speaker's face."
The court did not pronounce its decision until after the summer
recess; but it is believed that the strong desire to protect the college,
crea:ted in its members, led the court to render a decision which was
bad law, and which has been used to serve the ends of corporate
injustice ever since. It is a legal proverb that "IHard cases make bad
laws," which is only a way of saying that the sympathies of courts
lead them to unsound decisions.
I have not cited these instances to justify them; but
because I wish to represent human nature as it is, and because I wish to impress the truth that while attempts




254


PUBLIC SPEAKING


at befogging judgment by means of emotion are not justifiable, we cannot ignore our hearers' emotional attitude,
and that if it be against us we can make little headway with the soundest logic. But frequently I am told
by my students, "Men ought not to be influenced in
their thinking by their emotions and prejudices."     No
one is stricter with other people's thinking than your
sophomore. He himself is open-minded in regard to
those subjects in which he has a purely intellectual
interest; but hear him argue on "activities," woman's
suffrage, or religion! At any rate, the question is not
how men should think, but how they do think. These
are the words of a practical idealist, Woodrow Wilson:1
"As I look back upon the past of the South, it seems to
me to contain that best of dynamic forces, the force of
emotion. We talk a great deal about being governed by
mind, by intellect, by intelligence, in this boastful day of
ours; but as a matter of fact, I don't believe that one
man out of a thousand is governed by his mind.
" Men, no matter what their training, are governed by
their passions, and the most we can hope to accomplish
is to keep the handsome passions in the majority."
After all, are we not much too scornful of emotions?
It is true that men are often governed by unjustified
emotions; but it is also true that they are often led astray
by false logic. There are more men who feel truly than
there are who reason justly. Even Huxley, who held
up the ideal of a mind which is a "cold logic engine,"
wished men to have strong emotions, though well controlled. So eminent a scientist as Baldwin has written: 2
"Neither will logic satisfy our moral or esthetic demands, for the logically true is often immoral and hid1 From a speech to the New York Southern Society in 1910.
found in Wood's After-Dinner Spceches, p. 46.
2 Elements of Psychology, p. 262.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


255


eous. It is well, therefore, to write large the truth that
logical consistency is not the whole of reality, and that
the revolt of the heart against fact is often as legitimate
a measure of the true in this shifting universe as is the
cold denial given by rational conviction to the vagaries
of casual feeling."
In the third place, 'we may notice that emotions not
properly belonging to the argument itself, affect deeisions. These may arise from the occasion. The audience may be, enthusiastic or bored, good natured or angry.
iAg:in, emotions may arise from the relation of speaker
and audiencie. They may feel great respect for him, or be
leased by his manner, his friendliness and good humor;
or they may dislike him and feel resentment or suspicion,
and these feelings affect the influence of his argument.
Not over-serupulous lawyers for the defense in criminal cases insinuate that the prosecution has been unfair, and that the prosecuting attorney is trying to win reputation by "railroading" innocent
"and friendless young men to prison. And, although the trick is
old, the prosecuting attorney, knowing that he cannot safely ignore
th: prejudi(; crea'ted in the minds of the jury, labors to convince
th(' of his fairness and to destroy the sympathy created for the
defendant.
Whn1 the defendant's attorney in the famous Captain Joseph
Wh-bite murtder c'se sought to prejudice the jury by insinuating that
Webs),ter h:.d been engaged by the State to hurry them against the
]aiv and ieyond the evidence, Webster made it his first business in
sutmmig up to remove the prejudice created. lie commented first on
iis lack of experience as a prosecutor, and proceeded:
"I hope I have too much regard for justice and too much respect
for my oi n character, to attempt either; and were I to make such
an atitempt I am sure that in this court nothing can be carried
against the law, nnd that gentlemen, intelligent and just as you
are, are not, by any power, to lie hurried beyond the evidence.... Against the prisoner at the bar, as an individual. I cannot
have the slightest prejudice. I would not do him the slightest
injury or injustice. But I do not affect to be indifferent to the
discovery 'nd the punishment of this deep guilt."
Webster then proceeded to that terrible picture of the cowardly
stabbing of a gentle old man in his sleep, removing any disposition
in the jury to let pity obscure duty; and continued with an intro



PUBLIC SPEAKING


duction that fills thirteen pages, preparing the jury emotionally for
a fair consideration of his argument, before he took up the evidence.
One studying this speech will find many places in which he showed
consciousness of the danger from sympathy and prejudice; for instance, in the careful way in which he intimated to the jury the
probability that the defendant's old father was untrustworthy in his
testimony, and again in his solemn exhortation to the jury at the
close.
This speech will repay study. It will be found in full in MecEwan's Essentials of Argumentation, with an outline, a history of
the case, and also many helpful comments, scattered through the
text. Study the whole speech, not merely introduction and conclusion.
Prejudices such as Webster faced, and those which may
arise when one discusses a race question, sectional or
sectarian questions, women's suffrage, or fraternities, are
fairly tangible; but others are more elusive. President
Lowell 1 mentions not only religious intolerance and racial
antipathy, but also, "the horror of the man of an unfamiliar form   of worship, the instinctive dislike of the
man who speaks a different tongue or pronounces his
words in a strange way, ' as feelings which must be taken
into account in dealing with a popular opinion. The mere
fact that a man comes from a different environment, from
city or country, that he is wealthy, that he uses "big"
words, that he is a college professor, may affect his influence either favorably or unfavorably. The fact that
prejudice is politely concealed makes it no less real.
Some of the ladies in an audience may think a young
speaker, "such a dear boy," but feel that his opinions
are therefore inconsequential: others may be sure he
thinks himself "mighty smart."      Do not doubt that the
fate of many a speech is determined before it is begun.
To summarize: In practical argument we cannot ig1 Public Opinion and Popular Government, p. 36.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


257


nore the part of emotion in determining belief. We must
consider what mainner of men we are addressing, what
feelings move them, how opposition aen be abated and
a   mood   of   friendliness.and   candor   established.
And, further, what we wish men to believe it is wise
fi'st to make them willing, or make them wish, to belie v.e.
The approach. It is evident that in our efforts to win
past opposition to open-minded attention, much will depend upon first impressions. It was Cicero who said that
the purpose of an introduction is reddere auditores benevolos, attentos, dociles, whieh has been well translated, "to
render the hearers well-disposed toward the speaker, attentive toward his speech, and open to conviction."
Genung lays much stress 1 on the "speaker's alliance with
his audience,'" a phrase worth remembering. This relationship is much affected by the characteristics of the
speaker, his tact, fairness, courage, sincerity, etc.,-matters which will be treated further on. We proceed here
to other matters important to winning a fair hearing for
a proposition.
Avoid a belligerent attitude. If a speaker hopes to
gain the sympathy of his audience, he should not start
a fight with them   by assuming that he and they are
necessarily in disagreement. A humorous writer makes
a character say, "Miother, you made your first grand mistake in running Votes-for-Women as a controversy. It
never was. It is not now. I don't know a man in my set
who understands yet what the arguments against women's
suffrage are. But you people labeled it a battle and we
are just filling in the mob cues."  There is a point in this
exaggeration. Not long ago I heard presented so belligerently one of my strongest convictions,-that "first
1 Practical lhctoric, p. 149.




258


PUBLIC SPEAKING


in the orator is the man, "-that I felt strongly moved to
contradict, to accept the part of opposition the speaker
seemed to assign to all his hearers.
Belligerency is particularly unpersuasive, as well as
usually unjust, when it takes the form of bitter and unrestrained denunciation.
Here is a speech on War, which starts with the most uncompromising denunciation. War has absolutely no justification. The
general tone of the speech indicates that he who differs is a fool or
a monster. The speech is as unreasoning as war itself. No attempt is made to lead step by step the man who has no clearly
formed opinion. The unfairness and exaggeration of this speech
fairly force one into opposition. Here is another speech urging
municipal ownership of street railways. The would-be orator leaps
at once into the fiercest denunciation of capital and corporations;
and with slight argument urges us to rise in our wrathful manhood
and resist the tyranny of five-cent fares.
Least tactful of all are opprobrious epithets applied to
the persons and institutions one is opposing; as when
Garrison called the Constitution "a covenant with death
and an agreement with Hell."       A suffrage agitator recently referred to "our mossgrown Constitution"; but
when an auditor rose to protest, she promptly retracted
the term and declared she meant no disrespect! Abusive
terms, especially when applied to persons, turn sympathy
from the speaker. Even that savagely extravagant denouncer, Wendell Phillips, once checked Charles Remond,
who had declared that "George Washington was a villain."   " Charles," said Phillips, "''the epithet is not felicitous."   Benjamin Lundy, another uncompromising foe
of slavery, held that "the language of cutting retort and
severe rebuke, is seldom convincing, and it is wholly out
of place in persuasive speech."
There is a time for denunciation, but that time is not
when you are asking your audience to consider fairly
a proposal not yet accepted. When one is addressing




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


259


those in agreement, for the purpose of arousing them, denunciation may win a quick success, though unlimited
denunciation is rarely just. But its effect upon those in
opposition is manifestly unfortunate, and it is likely to
cause neutrals to sympathize with those denounced. A
campaign of abuse is rarely successful in politics.
Argument is the most usual, and certainly the most
tangible, method of changing belief. When objections
are certainly in your hearers' mind, the best way usually
is to recognize them and answer them directly and boldly,
though not belligerently. Nevertheless, conceal it as
much as one can, there is still in argument an attempt to
overcome that provokes resistance. In candid minds
this is largely offset by their loyalty to truth. But it is
quickened by the attitude we call "argumentative," especially if there is a touch of triumph in it. We dislike
one who relentlessly proves us wrong and himself altogether right. Miss Ida Tarbell somewhere uses a suggestive phrase in speaking of the Canadian leader, Macdonald: "IHe is a convincing speaker whom one does
not resent."
This tendency to resist argument is of course stronger
in minds not candid, either in general or with reference
to a particular argument. With such it is often justifiable to avoid the direct onslaught and make a flank attack.
Sometimes we may avoid reference to controverted points
and dwell upon propositions less likely to stir opposition,
but which involve the desired conclusion. One might
make headway with women more strongly than thoughtfully opposed to women's suffrage, by avoiding all reference to the ballot and discussing laws which, in certain
states, discriminate against women. Assuming that a
good case can be made out and resentment awakened, one
might find the anti-suffragists themselves demanding the




260


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ballot as a means of forcing reform. We may sometimes
merely suggest the desired conclusion, hoping that it will
stick in memory and sometime get candid consideration.
Sometimes we may assume assent rather than argue for
it. This method counts upon inertia; a man who would
not positively assent, may fail actively to reject.
Better than to argue sometimes is just to describe the
conditions to which your proposal relates. The influence
of Uncle Tom's Cabin surpassed that of many arguments,
put as arguments. Pages' Red Rock served to open the
eyes of Northern readers to the Southern attitude toward
the freedman. The most effective peace speech I ever
heard was in form only a description of the fighting in
Belgium.
If those who since the beginning of the Great War have been
trying to argue American opinion into a more favorable state toward
Germany, could put forward a champion who, without a touch of
the rancorous argumentativeness which characterizes such papers
as The Fatherland, could make us realize Germany and the Germans,
not the men of "blood and iron," but the simple, homely, likable
Germans, could make us realize that they are just "folks." not
merely efficient destructive machines, they could win a hearing for
their genuine arguments.
Common ground. Not only should we avoid awakening hostility; we should seek an alliance with our audience by   getting on    common    ground with them. In
Chapter VI we considered ithe advantage of finding a common ground of interest, and leading on from this, in accordance with the principle of derived interest. This is
persuasive, as are nearly all the means of winning attention.
SWe like a person who shares our interests. When two
persons are interested in the same sport, study or business, each is likely to assume that the other is a proper
sort of person, wise in his general outlook.  Consider how




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


261


casual acquaintances, perhaps on a railway journey, are
drawn together by discovering that they have the same
enthusiasms, have gone through the same experiences,
even the same ailments, come from the same town, sprung
from the same race, have gone to the same college, or that
both are Republicans or Presbyterians. Bonds as strong
and as slight as these draw men together into societies
holding conventions and dinners. Business men think
it worth while to spend a little time in getting on easy
terms with a stranger with whom they hope to do business, by talking of common interests. So the skilful
speaker may break the ice by referring to common interests, if possible those which will form a natural introduction to his theme.
There is also a common ground of feeling to be considered. While in most cases the straightest way into a
subject is the best way, at times it is advisable to spend
a few minutes in bringing the audience into a desired
mood. Finding common interests helps in this. The
awakening of old memories may serve, or emphasis upon
common likes and dislikes and associations. Stories are
much used, humorous and dramatic. Hostility cannot
survive the sharing of a common emotion, and especially
is it blown away by a gale of laughter. In using any
device it is well to consider: (1) Is it needed?  (2) Am I
giving too much time to it? (3) Can I make my story, or
whatever is used, serve also the purpose of opening my
subject; or can I make the proper materials of my
speech, as the statement of conditions to be treated, serve
to induce the right mood?
To create sympathy is the sovereign remedy for genuine hostility.
Suppose a defender of Austria-Hungary is striving to convince a
hostile audience that that nation was right in its ultimatum to Servia.
He knows his audience will not listen patiently at first to his argu



262


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ments based on the assassination of the crown prince and Servian
plotting in general. lie therefore reminds us in some detail of how
the blowing up of the Maine incensed us against Spain. lie asks
us to consider the effect of having a country on our border trying
constantly to stir up one section of the United States against another, or inciting the members of one race to revolt. In evefy way
he tries to get us "to put ourselves in the other fellow's place."
There is also a common ground of belief. To find this
is one of the best established means of persuasion. In the
first place, better feeling results from the discovery by the
audience that they have more in common with the speaker
than was supposed, and that he is not so radical or so
conservative as they had thought. This discovery pre-pares the way for the belief that his present proposal
is not impossible.    There is also an enjoyment in harmony of views, and it is a wrench to stop agreeing with
a man with whom one has gone some way in harmony.
Give an audience something it will indorse as common
sense, and once the heads are nodding in assent, they are
likely to go on nodding. The assenting mood continues,
as by easy stages the speaker leads from the common
ground to the desired position.
Of Wendell Phillips's Phi Beta Kappa oration, Barrett Wendll
says: 1
"A good many went to hear him with much curiosity as to what
he might say, and apprehension that they might have to disapprove
it by silence at moments which to less balanced minds might seem
to call for applause. In the earlier parts of his oration they found
themselves agreeably surprised: he said no hing to which they
were unprepared to assent, and what he said he said beautifully.
They listened with relief and satisfaction. When the moment for
applause came, they cordially applauded. So the oration went on
with increasing interest on the part of the audience. Finally
when some fresh moment for applause came, they applauded as a
matter of course."
"While the common ground may be used in a somewhat
sly way, do not suppose it is, of itself, illegitimate. If
to avoid prejudice and to bring about harmony of feeling
1 English Composition, p. 243.




PERSUASION AND BE-LIEF


263


so that fair-mindedness shall prevail, is right, then this
method is right. Usually people actually differ much less
than they suppose. Unless they proceed to find out
what they agree upon, they may continue to differ quite
unnecessarily and develop a small divergence of views
into a bitter combat. Some one has said that there never
was a war that could not have been settled by two
honest men come together for frank discussion.
When Pat went to Mike and said, "Let 's talk over our differences," the wiser Mike replied, "No, let's talk over our agreements."
Mike's method was likely to lead to a settlement; Pat's to a fight.
A speaker addressing a meeting of his own political
party, seeking to win them to his views on a party problem, has no difficulty in finding common ground in the
general beliefs and policies of the party. When he addresses those of other party affiliations, he still should
have no difficulty; for, after all, fair-minded men of all
parties agree in most respects. All wish, at least in a
general way, prosperity, justice for all men and defense
of the national honor. Political parties differ more as to
method than as to principles. All wish to control the
trusts, for example, but how?     Very absurd in speeches
designed to win votes from other parties, are assertions
that an opposing party wishes to ruin the country, like
the reiterated assertion that the Cleveland Democracy
wished to sacrifice the country to the interests of England.
Mr. Job Hedges, Republican candidate for Governor of New
York in 1912, made a much more successful campaign than seemed
possible under the circumst ances. His aim was to win hack the
Progressives to the lepublican fold. IHe refrained from denunciation of the new party, such as was common in that year, and with
the utmost good humor dwelt much upon what Republicans and
Progressives have in com.mon.
In no field is controversy likely to be more bitter than in the
religious, yet nowhere is there better opportunity for getting on




264


PUBLIC SPEAKING


common ground. A Methodist addressing Methodists, though his
audience contains representatives of all the dozens of sects under
that general name, has a wide field of common interests, aims and
doctrines to select from. No matter how far he may be from his
brethren on the point at issue, he knows that they agree on a general system of doctrine and church polity, and that he can appeal
confidently to John Wesley as an accepted authority. If he addresses an audience composed of representatives of all Protestant
churches, he still knows his ground, by what common aims, beliefs
and history they are bound together, and that most will respect the
name of Luther. If he seeks to win both Catholic and Protestant,
he still has the advantage of a large common ground and he can
depend upon a common allegiance to one Founder. And likewise
Jew and Gentile have a common foundation in the Old Testament.
Finding common ground is helpful, not only in securing
harmony between speaker and audience, but also, as the
preceding example suggests, in securing harmony among
the factions of the audience itself. There are times when
the common ground is too evident to need development;
yet even when evident there may be wisdom in dwelling
upon it, as when Webster in his Reply to Hayne, knowing
that sectional feeling in his audience and in the country
was running high, paused to say, "Let me recur to pleasing recollections; let me indulge in refreshing remembrances of the past," and went on to remind his audience
of the Revolutionary days when Massachusetts and South
Carolina fought shoulder to shoulder. In any case it is
wise for the speaker to think out the boundaries of the
common ground in order that he may make no false assumptions.
The usefulness of the common ground is not limited,
though i is most conspicuous, to cases where antagonism
exists. Beecher has put the case well.1     IIe tells how as
a boy he never hit anything with his gun until his father
showed him how to take careful aim. When he became a


1 Yale Lectures on Preaching, p. 11.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


265


preacher he failed for two years to get results with his
sermons. Then he reviewed all the sermons of the
apostles:
"And I studied the sermons until I got this idea:
That the apostles were accustomed first to feel for a
"ground on which the people and they stood together; a
common ground where they could meet. Then they
heaped up a large number of the particulars of knowledoge that belonged to everybody; and when they got that
knowledge, which everybody would admit, placed in a
proper form before their minds, then they brought it to
bear upon them with all their excited heart and feeling.
That was the first definite idea of taking aim that I had
in my mind.
" 'Now,' said I, 'I will make a sermon so.'... First
I sketched out the things we all know.... And in that
way I went on with my 'You all knows,' until I had
about forty of them. When I got through with that, I
turned round and brought it to bear upon them with all
my might; and there were seventeen men awakened under
that sermon. I never felt so triumphant in my life. I
cried all the way home. I said to myself: 'Now I
know how to preach.' "
Explanations. In order to delimit the common ground
and determine how much is agreed upon and also what are
the real points at issue, it is often necessary to clear the
ground by certain explanations. The audience may be
opposed simply because they do not understand. Again,
the speaker's proposal may      have been   purposely
misrepresented; as when it was asserted by opponents
of Mr. Roosevelt in     1912 that his plan    for the
"review of judicial decisions" involved the determining of litigation between individuals by the public.
Racial or religious prejudice may have been awakened.
A political boss attacked for corruption may have appealed to some hoary sectional animosity, or proclaimed




266


PUBLIC SPEAKING


that popular government and the Constitution are in
peril.
To clear the ground there is no better way, in many
cases, than to state the origin and history of the question,
thus showing why it has come before us and just what
its implications are. The proposition that the United
States has no right to let American ships pass through
its own Panama Canal free of charge, may seem to be
very absurd; but if a speaker who wishes to argue the
affirmative of that proposition, puts before his hearers
the history of the question, the series of treaties by which
we acquired the right to build the canal at all, the absurdity will disappear, and the audience will probably
meet the speaker on the common ground of our obligation to abide by our treaties. Then the issue becomes
one of the construction of treaties, which can be calmly
discussed.
Lincoln had unusual ability in arriving at a clear understanding
with his audience, and this seems to have sprung from his habit of
mind and method of preparation.
An intimate friend of Lincoln says that his mind "ran back behind facts, principles, and all things, to their origin, and first
cause.... Before he could form an idea of anything, before he
would express his opinion on a subject, he must know its origin and
history in substance and quality, in magnitude and gravity."  We
can see this trait of Lincoln's working out, at once remorselessly
and gleefully, in the introduction to his famous Cooper Institute
speech:.. In his speech last Autumn at Columbus, Ohio, Senator
Douglas said:
"'Our fathers, when they framed the government under which
we live, understood this question just as well, and even better, than
we do now.'
"I fully indorse this, and adopt it as a text for this discourse.
I so adopt it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed startingpoint for a discussion between the Republicans and that wing of
the Democracy headed by Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the
inquiry: What was the understanding those fathers had of the
question mentioned?
"What is the frame of government under which we live? The
answer must be, 'The Constitution of the United States.'..




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


267


"Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution? I suppose the 'thirty-nine' who signed the original instrument may be
fairly called our fathers who framed that part of the present
government....
"What is the question which, according to the text, those fathers
understood 'just as well, and even better, than we do now'? It is
this: Does the proper division of local from Federal authority,
or anything in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government
to control as to slavery in our Federal territories?
"Upon this, Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans the negative. Tiis affirmative and denial form an issue.
Let us now inquire whether the 'thirty-nine,' or any of them, ever
acted on this question; and if they did. how they acted upon ithow they expressed that better understanding."
Mr. Lincoln then shows by the votes of a majority of the "thirtynine," in Congress and in other public positions, that they acted
in a way to indicate that they understood the Constitution as the
Republicans, not as Douglas, interpreted it.
As an example of a speaker laboring to set himself right before
an audience to whom his attitude has been misrepresented, see the
introduction to Lincoln's first speech in his debate with Douglas at
Alton. Douglas had taken advantage of the fact that the audience
was largely pro-slnvery in its sympathies, to present Lincoln as
an advocate of the complete political and social equality of negroes
with the whites.
Definition of terms.  It is common experience that arguments often turn on misunderstandings; that when each
party to an argument learns what the real contention of
the other is, often the argument is over. If, instead of
starting an argument with a man who denounces religion
and churches, you quietly draw him       out, you will find
in nine cases out of ten that he is objecting to certain
practices of certain churches, or to the actions of certain
hypocritical church members, and as a matter of fact believes in religion and churches too. But even if definition of terms does not remove the issues, or even reduce
their number, it at least enables us to know what they
are. You will notice how Lincoln's definition of "our
fathers," just quoted, changes Douglas's statement from
a safely vague assertion to a dangerously specific proposition.




268


PUBLIC SPEAKING


In defining terms the dictionary is useful, but by no means allsufficient, as is illustrated by Professor Baker with the proposition,
"Should American colleges substitute a more open style of play for
the present close formation?" Definition is a problem which belongs rather in the works upon exposition. A helpful discussion
will be found in Baker's Principles of Arguomentation, pp. 20-12.
From the standpoint of persuasion, the main point is that there
should be a common understanding for the sake of avoiding needless
contention. It may be added that it is unwise for a speaker to try
to fix in the minds of his audience an unusual meaning for familiar
terms, unless this is necessary; for their preconceptions are apt to
rule: and further, that one of the best ways of clearing up the
meanings of terms is by stating the origin and history of the question.
Concessions. In the early days of the European war,
when the Germans were sweeping the French back towards Paris, I heard an argument on the comparative
merits of the French and Germans as fighters. The argument promised to grow heated; but when it was discovered that one party was talking of generalship and the
other of the fighting qualities of private soldiers, the argument, and not the arguers, "blew up."'      This was partly
a matter of definition, but also involved mutual concessions. Perhaps the most unpopular man I know is one
who never concedes anything in an argument. To the
simplest claim, he demurs; to an assertion of the most
evident fact, he retorts, "That is your opinion."        No
means of finding common ground, removing distrust and
establishing good feeling, is more important than making
concessions. Concessions provoke concessions. If you
will be generous in admitting that I am in part right, I
shall be ashamed to deal otherwise with you. If you are
going to take your stand against woman's suffrage on the
ground that the majority of women do not desire the
ballot, do not antagonize your hearers by refusing to
admit that women are capable of voting. The advocates
of woman's suffrage are most effective when they admit




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


269


that woman's place is in the home, and argue that
she needs the ballot to protect her home. What one
cannot conscientiously admit, lie may ignore, or admit
"for the sake of argument"; or he may say of it, "I
will not contest that."
By conceding, one escapes the discredit of a refutation
of unjustifiable claims. If you concede woman's capacity
for intelligent voting, you escape a vigorous onslaught
which might dI    srediti s it you with some audiences, and
also distract attention from your main argument.
In his defense of Father Damien, Stevenson says:
"Daienl has been too much depicted with a conventional halo.
I.  It is the least defect of such a method of portraiture that it
m:akes the path easy for the devil's advocate, and leaves for the
nmisuse of the slandfrer a considerable field of truth. For the truth
that is suppressed by friends is the readiest weapon of the enemy."
The real issues. When the common ground is well
marked out, definitions and explanations made, concession carried as far as is wise, and immaterial matter
eliminated, then the real matter in dispute, if there is
anything left, should be evident; and it should then be
possible to discuss this with good feeling. To make the
issue or issues the more evident, it is well usually, in any
but the simplest argument, to state carefully what the
speaker maintains and what he understands the opposition to maintain.
All this preliminary work should be done with manifest
fairness. If you have given an untrue history, distorting
or omitting important points, if your definitions are
warped, or your proposal or the issues are not fairly set
forth, you will be exposed to the charge of trickery,
and will deserve the discredit of exposure. Even the man
who will concede     lothing, who is plainly bigoted and
prejudiced, will make a better impression than one who
under pretense of fairness attempts to deceive his audi



270


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ence. The best opinion is that, even on the ground of
expediency, when one is striving to win over the unconvinced, even honest partizanship should be excluded
from the introduction of an argument. Much emphasis
has been placed by Lincoln's contemporaries upon the extreme fairness with which he would state the facts and
present the issues of a law suit, frequently alarming his
client by the way in which we would "give away his
case."
Any good text on argumentation will give a more complete and
technical treatment of methods of analysis of questions for the purpose of finding issues, a problem treated here only from the standpoint of persuasion. The second chapter in Baker's Principles of
Argumentation and the second chapter in Foster's Argumentation
and Debating are recommended.
Order of argument. A speaker will usually have at his
command several arguments, all sound and legitimate,
but some stronger than others. The order in which these
should be placed may be determined by the demands of
logic or intelligibility; but not infrequently the arrangement is adjustable. In such a case, so far as pure reason
is concerned, each argument will have its full force regardless of position; but from the standpoint of persuasion, of adaptation to a given audience, order may be important. Frequently the order of climax is best; it usually is if the audience is not strongly in opposition. But
with a prejudiced audience it may be necessary to present
the strongest possiile argument first, in order to get any
hearing at all. After a breadI in the vills o prejudice
has been made by the artillery, the infantry can pass
through. To begin with the weaker argument may give
the impression that the whole case is weak. On the other
hand, anticlimax is to be avoided. Baker suggests that
it is sometimes best to place the weaker arguments in the




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


271


middle of a speech. It may be suggested further that
when the strongest argument has been used first, one may
return to it at the end, or summarize all in the order of
climax. One should not, of course, use ar(uments that
are absolutely weak, even though sound; that is, weak to
the degree that they weaken the case in the mitnds of the
audience or give an opponent an opportunity for telling
refutation.
Whether one should begin with general principles and
_proceed to arguments based upon particular facts, and
whether one should state in the beginning what he intends
to prove, are typical problems of persuasive argument,
to be solved largely with reference to the attitude of the
audience. Are the principles likely to be rejected if
presented at once? Is the proposal too startling or too
antagonistic? If the audience is not likely to be thrown
into opposition there are advantages in setting forth
at once what one proposes to establish and upon what
principles one rests; for this enables the audience to see
the bearing of each argument as it is brought forward.
But where hostility might be awakened by this method,
there is an advantage in beginning with a narrative or
description of conditions, or whatever will create a mood
more favorable to the proposal. One who has to propose
a measure rather socialistic in nature as a remedy for
some social malady, might dwell first on the malady itself
with a view to creating a strong desire for some remedy.
Ile might then eliminate other proposed remedies, leaving the one he believes in. If one wishes to secure subscriptions from  hard-headed business men for a plan
to provide cheap homes for the poor, he might well begin
with a demonstration of the sound business aspect of the
scheme, showing that it will pay five per cent. on the
money invested, before pressing home his plea.




272


PUBLIC SPEAKING


If you wish to bring a rigidly orthodox congregation to tolerate
the "higher criticism" of the Bible, do not begin with that term,
which has to th-em a sinister sound. Begin, on comnon ground,
with the gre,: value of the Bible, its place in history and religion;
tell how ime(n,ive jtheir lives to its study, emphasize the fact that
all truth aboi t such a book is important, the natural desire to know
how and thi ugh what agencies the Bible has come to us; and
awaken cunoi:;ity in some of the problems of authorship, taking up
first evidence which confirms some traditional belief. Without
knowing it, he icongregation becomes interested in the higher criticism and realizes that the studies which go by that hated name may
be reverent.
One must not dogmatize here; for "many men have
many minds,"' and also many feelings. Much depends
upon the audience and upon the authority and manner
of the speaker; and also upon his precise aims.
Wendell Phillips began his famous eulogy of Tousseint L'Ouverture by declaring. "I attempt the quixotic effort to conviince you
that the negro blood, instead of standing at the bottom of the list,
is entitled, if judged by its courage, its purpose, or its endurance,
to a place as near ours as any other blood known in history." We
may like the boldness of this; but I cannot agree with thfose who
think that was a good way to begin, if he really hoped to win assent
to his proposition that negro blood is the equal of the blood of the
French, Italian, Roman, or Greek. I do not believe that Phillips
expected any such triumph over race pride. le wanted to stir up
interest and set people thinking.
In choosing our opening argument we should remember
the tendency of men to believe what they wish to believe.
We may find it best sometimes to appeal firstto o tle
strongest possible motive, to set forth the benefits to be
derived from our plan before attempting to prove that
the benefits will follow, or that the plan is feasible. If
you convince a student audience that a proposed coaching
system will bring athletic supremacy, you will not have so
hard a time in convincing them that the money required
can be raised. You may present to a dissolute man the
happiness his reform would bring his family so vividly




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


273


that he will give eager ear to your argument that
reform for him is possible. Given the vision, creating desire, belief in possibility will follow.
Rate of progress. To proceed too rapidly with your
audience militates against both persuasion and conviction.
There must be time for attention to dwell upon the ideas.
In general, we may assume that country audiences think
less rapidly, though more surely, than audiences of equal
education, drawn from the rush of city streets, where
quick thinking is a necessity of existence. The city
audience is quick in its appreciation and applause; but
it may follow too readily, and not considering carefully
enough!, may receive but a shallow impression which is
quickly lost for another. With almost any audience it
is best to proceed slowly, present but one principal idea
and impress that deeply.
If your audience is made up of trained thinkers, accustomed to dealing with new ideas and to sustaining long
lines of thought, and especially if trained in the field of
your subject, progress may be more rapid. There is even
danger of tantalizing them with too slow progress. However, young speakers are far more likely to proceed too
fas-t than too slow; or, rather, they do not discriminate
clearly enough what may be passed rapidly because it is
familiar, accepted, easy of comprehension, or less important, from what should be dwelt upon because strange,
difficult, or of first-class importance.
Fixed opinions, principles and sentiments. We must
take into account those established principles of belief and
action which, springing from heredity, temperament and
early training rather than from     reason, men rarely
change. Such are our beliefs in regard to the position of
women, the rights of private property, our American conviction that for a city or a university to grow rapidly




274


PUBLIC SPEAKING


is a grand thing, our objection to "entangling alliances. '
The truth is somewhat overstated in the following ex--
cerpt from Le Bon.1
"It must not be supposed that merely because the
justness of an idea has been proved it can be productive
of effective action, even on cultivated minds.... Evidence, if it be very plain, may be accepted by an educated person, but the convert will be quickly brought
back by his unconscious self to his original conceptions.
See him again after the lapse of a few days and he will
put forward his old arguments in exactly the same terms.
He is in reality under the influence of anteri)ir ideas that
have become sentiments, and it is such ideas alone that
influence the recondite motives of our acts and utterances. It cannot be otherwise in the case of crowds
which are more under the influence of general ideas than
individuals.... A long time is necessary for ideas to
establish themselves in the minds of crowds, but just as
long a time is necessary for them to be eradicated."
A limitation is placed on the preceding by this from the
same work: 2
"The opinions and beliefs of crowds may be divided,
then, into two very distinct classes. On the one hand
we have great permanent beliefs, which endure for several centuries, and on which an entire civilization may
rest; [for example, feudalism].... In the second place,
there are the transitory, changing opinions,... as superficial, as a rule, as fashion, and as changeable..
It is easy to imbue the minds of crowds with a passing
opinion, but very difficult to implant therein a lasting
belief.... Even revolutions avail only when the belief
has almost entirely lost its sway over men's minds....
The beginning of a revolution is in reality the end of a
belief."


'The Crowd, p. 52).


2 Idem, p. 148.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


275


Frequently men do not know        why they hold these
permanent beliefs; indeed, they may hardly be conscious
that they do hold them, having never formulated but
merely assumed them. Sometimes they will not, sometimes they cannot reason about them. It is a mistake
to suppose that men necessarily hold most firmly their
reasoned beliefs. In the first place, the reasoner realizes
that another opinion is possible; while one who takes
his opinions from his environment and early teaching
holds them   as the only intelligent views. "Everybody
knows that," he says. In the second place, a reasoned
belief is rarely so imbedded in habit of thought and in
emotional association as the accepted belief, though it
may so grow into one's system     of thought that change
is well-nigh impossible. And this is true of educated men
as well as of others.
To a man trained in the older school of thought great must have
been the effort necessary fifty years ago to readjust his thinking to
the theory of evolution. And if to-day the doctrine of evolution
were to be overturned by convincing proofs, we should see many men
of scientific training protesting violently that the thing is unthinkable,-which for them would be literally true. They would make
over again the discredited arguments and declare they could not and
would not believe the new theory.
It is folly, evidently enough, to try to change a fixed
belief in a single speech; unless it has already been much
weakened. The Monroe Doctrine is an example of a
belief which it has been useless to question before the
American people until recent years; but to-day, before
many audiences, the doctrine is debatable. It would be
folly to think to change the belief of the average American audience in the republican form of government, or the
belief of Roman Catholics in the religious authority of the
Pope. It is particularly foolish to attempt to change




276


PUBLIC SPEAKING


quickly beliefs that are due largely to native tendencies.
In arguing such a question as direct primaries, for example, we need to consider whether the majority of our
audience are of aristocratic or of democratic tendencies.
The case is somewhat different when one addresses the
same people in a series of speeches covering a considerable
time, as does the preacher. But for the most part a
speaker must take the fixed opinions and sentiments of
his hearers as he finds them, and utilize them or ignore
them. If Boston feels, as Oliver Wendell Holmes tells
us, that, "Boston is the hub of the solar system. You
could not pry that out of a Boston man if you had the
tire of all creation straightened out for a crowbar, " why,
then, when you are talking to Boston, admit it or keep
off the subject. After all, men of widely differing premises can work together in harmony. Booker T. Washington and many of his white neighbors could agree on the
advisability of industrial education for negroes; but if
Mr. Washington had not thoroughly understood his white
friends and if he had emphasized the rights which he no
doubt believed were his, he could never have won their
support. If you are to argue for or against the Monroe
Doctrine with men who have the fixed opinion that our
international relations are to be determined on the basis
of pure self-interest, then there is no use in arguing the
good of South America; you should base your argument
upon the interests of the United States. Perhaps you
can reach your altruistic argument by showing that the
good of the United States demands the good of South
America.
Identifying beliefs. To convince or to persuade a man
is largely a matter of identifying the opinion or course of
action which you wish him to adopt with one or more of
his fixed opinions or customary courses of action. When




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


277


his mind is satisfied of the identity, then doubts vanish,
and his mind rests upon your proposal with equanimity.
Speaking of arriving at a reasoned decision after a struggle with the alternatives, James says: 1
" The conclusive reason for the decision in these cases
usually is the discovery that we can refer the case to a
class upon which we are accustomed to act unhesitatingly
in a certain stereotyped way. It may be said in general
that a great part of every deliberation consists in the
turning over of all the possible modes of conceiving of
the doing or not doing of the act in point. The moment
we hit upon a conception which lets us apply some principle of action which is a fixed and stable part of our
Ego, our state of doubt is at an end. Persons of authority, who have to make many decisions in a day, carry
with them a set of heads of classification, each bearing
its volitional consequence, and under these they seek as
far as possible to arrange each new emergency as it occurs. It is where the species is without precedent, to
which consequently no cut and dried maxim will apply,
that we feel at a loss, and are distressed at the indeterminateness of our task. As soon, however, as we see our
way to a familiar classification, we are at ease again.
In action as in reasoning, then, the great thing is the
quest of the right conception."
When a manager discharges an employee, his process may be like
this: Jones is careless in his work. I discharge men who are
careless; therefore, I will discharge Jones. That is. when Jones
comes under the classification, Careless men, the decision to discharge is almost automatic; unless Jones chances to come under some
other classification, such as men whose family would suffer, or men
whom the president favors.
Plainly, then, in    convincing   and   persuading, the
speaker should seek to show that the belief or action urged
is in accord with some conception or "principle of action
which is a fixed and stable part of our [hearer's] Ego";
1 Briefer Course, p. 430.




278                PUBLIC SPEAKING
or more nearly in accord with such a principle than is the
contrary course.    When one convinces a Democrat that
the measure urged is in line with Democratic practice,
or the opponents of militarism that military drill in the
universities is one means of making it safe to get on with
a small standing army, one is carrying out the suggestion
of the above paragraph. A syllogism is only a formal
way of putting an identification.
The following from Bain is directly in point and worth pondering: 1
"Persuasion implies that some course of conduct shall be so
described, or expressed, as to coincide, or be identified, with the
active impulses of the persons addressed, and thereby conmmand
their adoption of it by the force of their own natural dispositions.
A leader of banditti has to deal with a class of persons whose
ruling impulse is plunder; and it becomes his business to show
that any scheme of his proposing will lead to this end. A people
with an intense, overpowering patriotism, as the old Romans, can
be acted upon by proving that the interests of the country are at
stake. The fertile oratorical mind is one that can identify a case
in hand with a great number of the strongest beliefs of an audience; and more especially with those that seem, at first sight, to
have no connection with the point to be carried. The discovery of
identity in diversity is never more called for, than in attempts to
move men to adopt some unwonted course of proceeding. When
a new reform is introduced in the state, it is usually thought necessary (at least in England) to reconcile and identify it in many
ways with the venerated Constitution, or with prevniling maxims
and modes of feeling, with which it would seem at variance. To
be a persuasive speaker, it is necessary to have vividly present to
the view all the leading impulses and convictions of the persons
addressed, and to be ready to catch at every point of identity hetween these and the proposition suggested for their adoption. The
first named qualification grows out of the experience, and study of
character; the other is the natural force of Similarity, which has
often been exemplified in its highest range in oratorical minds. In
the speeches of Burke, we see it working with remarkable vigor.
Perhaps the most striking instance of this fertility of identification
for persuasive ends is exhibited in Milton's Defense of Unlicensed
Printing."
Questions to consider: What is the relation of the foregoing to
what was said in earlier chapters about novelty? What would you
say of the force of novelty in persuasion? What is the relation of
identification to the attention theory of persuasion?
It will be seen by the thoughtful that we are not so much putting
forward a new principle in discussing identification, as seeking the
1 Senses and Intellect, p. 542.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


279


advantage of another way of looking at what' we have discussed
under the head of common ground and the topics which follow.
Conservative or radical. Nothing is more important in
considering the tendencies of an audience with reference
to persuasion, than their relative conservatism and radicalism. Will they take kindly to new proposals, or stand
firmly for the "old landmarks"?
It will be convenient to discuss this topic from the standpoint of
one seeking to move his hearers from a conservative position. Any
intelligent student should be able to adapt this discussion to the
reverse process, and will find this an interesting study. Teachers
may find it advantageous to base quiz and examination questions
upon the means of checking movements that chance to be before
the country.
There is no intention of implying at any point that conservatism
is unwise; indeed, it is necessary that we should be controlled by
conservatives, and fortunate that they are usually in the majority.
It is also fortunate that there are others who would push on and
dare experiments. It is the speaker's business to know what kind
of people he is dealing with. He may be aided by certain general
considerations.
Conservatism   characteristic of the English-speaking
peoples. It is not the way of the so-called Anglo-Saxons
to change their institutions in a wholesale way. We are
told that in contrast the Latin peoples, having adopted
a belief, wish to work it out at once into a consistent
system. So Lavisse speaks1 of England as "a country
of slow continuous transformations, in which the present
is not separated from the past by visible lines of demarcation."   But in speaking of the French Revolution, he
says, that, "when owing to the faults of its kings, the
country detached itself from      royalty, it raised itself
at once to the idea of humanity."
The change in England from an almost absolute monarchy to one of the freest of governments has been
1 Political History of Europe, p. 141.




280


PUBLIC SPEAKING


brought about piecemeal and by a series of compromises.
Very rarely do we Americans change our Constitution.
We wait for the slow process of judicial construction.
And when we do change we like to think we are only
followinog in the path marked out by the fathers. We
assume that the founders of our government, who lacked
national experience, who dealt with a situation vastly
different from our own, and who ascribed little enough
wisdom to each other, yet somehow had a marvelous foresight for the problems of to-day. In the Cooper Union
speech Lincoln did not question the declaration that the
fathers understood the slavery question better than the
men of the '50's, but showed that the fathers agreed with
the Republicans rather than with the Douglas Democrats.
A speaker must reckon with the strongly conservative
tendency of our people. He must not expect to win favor
for revolutionary change; and must be content in most
cases with the half loaf. They will prefer to tinker up
the old rather than to adopt a completely new system.
And this was just as true in the year 1912, when nearly
every man asserted that he was progressive and some
trembled because of the revolutionary changes they saw
rushing upon us, as at any time. The young speaker,
full of enthusiasm for new cures and reforms, will do
well to note this tendency to make haste slowly; for it
furnishes a mighty fulcrum for his opponent. Just a
sneer at youthful radicalism may defeat him.
The enthusiast who disregards human nature or thinks it easily
set on fire for new causes or new methods, may consider the following from a speech by Liberty Hyde Bailey, delivered while he was
Iirector of the New York State College of Agriculture, and he
should remember that the attitude ascribed to the farmer is that
of the majority of our solid followers of routine; that is, of the majority of men:




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


281


"The farmer comes in contact with things that do not change
very easily. I once asked a farmer why he did not blast out a rock.
lie said, 'It has always been there.' After a two-days' institute
in a school house, I was interested to know how the farmers felt
about it, whether they were confused by the multitude of matters
presented. I chanced to overhear two men speaking. One said,
'Well. Henry, what do you think of it?' and Henry replied, 'Let
'em go it; they can't hurt me none.' "
Some forces against change. We have to reckon on
certain influences in opposition to change. Those whose
incomes may suffer will oppose.'      Resistance may be expected, also, from those who represent institutions affected by the change, whether these are railways, colleges, or churches, unless the change be asked for by
themselves. Institutions almost invariably grow conservative: even a socialist party obeys the tendency.
Those who exercise authority, from emperors and senates
to athletic councils and committees of college faculties,
favor change only in the direction of placing more power
in their own hands. Desiring efficiency, and perhaps unconsciously desiring power, they dislike all change in the
direction  of democracy. Moreover, there is a strong
tendency to resist changes that affect one's routine and
habits; for change compels one to take thought. A
manufacturer of much experience with workingmen tells
me that they will resist changes of method which actually lighten their labor and increase their safety.
In the powerful speech made by Elihu Root in the New York Constitutional Convention, on August 30, 1915, in favor of the "short
ballot," he dwelt upon the many evidences of popular demand for
the measure, in spite of which certin office holders were sure the
people were opposed. He continued:
"My friend. Mr. lranckett, sees nothing wrong about [the government of the State]. lie lias been fifteen years in the Senate.
Why should he seo anything wrong? My friend, Mr. Greene, is
comfortably settled in the Excise Department, and lie sees nothing
"There never was a refornm in administration in this world which
1 See, below. the quotation from Bryce, under "Respect for Audiences- "




282


PUBLIC SPEAKING


did not have to make its way against the strong feeling of good,
honest men, concerned in existing methods of administration, and
who saw nothing wrong. It is no impeachment of a man's honesty, his integrity, that he thinks the methods that he is familiar
with and in which he is engaged, are all right. But you cannot
make any improvement in this world without overriding the satisfaction'that men have in things as they are, and of which they are
a contented and successful part."
Crowds are conservative. We here take the term
crowds broadly, not limiting it merely to bodies of people
together at one spot, but including homogeneous communities, states, or peoples. This is the sense in which
Le Bon uses the word. We are prepared by what he
says of the slowness of crowds in receiving new ideas,
for this statement.'
"It is difficult to understand history, and popular
revolutions in particular, if one does not take into account the profoundly conservative instincts of crowds.
They may be desirous, it is true, of changing the names
of their institutions,... but the essence of these institutions is too much the expression of the hereditary needs
of the race for them not invariably to abide by it."
Such groups as student bodies are conservative. There
is a "vast inertia" in the mass of men who make up the
electorate of a state. They must always be behind the
thinkers of the age. A leader, we have been told by
George William    Curtis, "must not be too far ahead of
his age; but up with his age and ahead of it only just so
far as to be able to lead its march."  It is a truism, well
expressed in Lowell's Present Crisis, that humanity has
often crucified and burned those too far in the lead, and
then has built monuments to them when the race has
caught up.
But we should not overlook the fact that the masses
do move forward, and that it may be splendidly worth
1 The Crowd, p. 42.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


283


while to take a position far in advance; or, dropping the
figure, to work for changes that may be expected only
in the distant future. The fact that the mass of men
change but slowly makes prolonged agitation necessary.
Wendell Phillips spoke out of experience when he said
in his Phi Beta Kappa address:
"As Emerson says, 'What the tender and poetic youth
dreams to-day, and conjures up in inarticulate speech,
is to-morrow the vociferated result of public opinion,
and the day after is the charter of nations.' Lieber said,
in 1870, 'Bismarck proclaims to-day in the Diet the very
principles for which we were hunted and exiled fifty years
ago.' Submit to risk your daily bread, expect social
ostracism, count on a mob now and then, 'be in earnest,
don't equivocate, don't excuse, don't retreat a single
inch,' and you will finally be heard. No matter how
long and weary the waiting, at last," 'Ever the truth comes uppermost,
And ever is justice done.
For humanity sweeps onward:
Where to-day the martyr stands,
On the morrow crouches Judas
With the silver in his hands.' "
Not all attempts at reform arouse mob violence, but all
do provoke some degree of resistance and resentment.
The main point for us here is that a very great degree of
change cannot be hoped for at once, that radical change
demands a campaign, which may require months and may
run into many years. After the campaign for civil service reform had been on for twenty years, a stump speaker
could safely refer to it as "snivel service reform."
Woman's suffrage was an organized movement in the first
half of the last century, and prohibition in the seventies;
yet until within five years in most parts of the country
they have been freely ridiculed. Many a reform must
wait for a new generation to arise.




284


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Further considerations in judging conservatism. The
speaker may well ask himself, Is this audience accustomed to considering new ideas, and therefore less distrustful of them, simply because they are new?      Are my
hearers property owners, with established businesses, and
therefore interested in preserving the status qao?         Is
my audience composed of elderly people, who have lived
long enough to see many panaceas fail, and have, therefore, grown weary of new proposals?       It would be rash,
however, to suppose that all old men are conservative and
all young men radical. A young conservative is fierceer
in his fighting for the old way than an old eonservative,
who is less alarmed about the probability of chainge.
But no doubt, in general, age increases hesitancy to t:ke
up new ideas and ways, and decreases ability to do so.
An economist of reputation, about forty years of age, tells me that
as a student he was strongly conservative, but finds himself rowing
more radical every year. lHe declares that economists as a group
are radical. He quotes a distinguished economist past middle life
who declares he is growing radical year by year, but finds historia2nsstill more radical. These men, students of the past as well I';i of ti
present, realize that history is not static, but a process of chan.,e
and evolution. They are not like a freshman who, finding a custoin.
established last year, in vogue in his college, thinks it a hoary tradition. They realize well that the impossibilities of fifty years ago are
the commonplaces of to-day, and they are not unduly awed by the
wisdom of the past. Their minds are therefore open to proposed
improvements, though they demand good evidence. One such manu
has described himself as a "conservative radical."  Lawyers and
ecclesiastics, on the contrary, trained to accept the authority of the
past, are likely to be conservative. The principles illustrated in tlis
paragraph should prove suggestive to the speaker in "sizing up" a
situation.
The newer parts of the country may be expected, in
general, to be less influenced by conventional ideas, customs and precedenits. In New England and in the South
are more of those influential families whose pride is in




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


285


the past and who hold that the fact that things have been
so is an excellent reason why they should remain so.
A magazine story describes a mental state that cannot safely be
ignored in many (quiet old towns, where the innovator will be
calmly pushed aside: Miss Winifred Atwood's bird bath, an artistic
antique bit of Florentine marble, stands on the edge of the new golf
links, and in danger. t 1ut
"before the golf club was started there was no need of a fence between their house and that portion rented from them. Afterward
no fence was erected, because there had never been a fence therewhich is always an unanswerable argument in our town."
And it will be found just as unanswerable in opposition to fences
proposed against moral or other dangers in that town.
But one must not reckon too much on sectional characteristies, except with reference to particular questions.
While the West seems to be particularly friendly to political innovations, it is far more orthodox in religion
than New England. Much depends in any section, also,
upon the quality of its leadership. New Jersey under
the leadership of Governor Wilson seemed a very different State from the New Jersey of two years before.
Conservative or radical concerning the particular proposition?  Men may be conservative toward some propositions and liberal toward others. Is your audience well
accustomed to hearing discussions of municipal reform,
or w'ill your plan for a stringent building code seem     a
startling innovation?   Are commission government and
short ballots quite foreign to their experience, or are
thlese systems in force in neighboring communities?    Are
you to address a body of reformers, or a body composed
of those inclined to think the effect of a measure upon
profits more important than its effect upon tenement
dwellers?  Are you arguing' for strict enforcement of
liquor laws before a body whose creed is, "Business is
business," and are fearful that a "dry" town means a
falling off in trade?   Is the body before whom you are




286


PUBLIC SPEAKING


urging a county tuberculosis hospital composed chiefly
of tax-payers? If so, what motive is stronger with them
than low taxes? Are you discussing a labor problem
before socialists or men who, like most business men and
farmers, resent interference with the individual's conduct
of his own affairs?  Are you discussing the Indian question before Eastern people who are impressed with the
wrongs of the "noble red man," or before Western people who incline to the view that "the only good Indian is
a dead Indian"? Are you trying to secure acceptance
for the results of modern Biblical criticism from an audience hostile to the "higher criticism," or from one that
likes to think itself advanced?
Overcoming conservatism. Since men are often repelled by new ideas simply because they are new, and
may even have a fear of unfamiliar courses,' we do well
to emphasize the familiar rather than the unfamiliar aspect of our proposal. It should be described in familiar
terms, illustrated with familiar experiences, identified
with familiar actions and ideas, and supported by familiar authorities and proverbs. Stress should be laid upon
the common ground. Since men are much under the influence of names, conventions and forms of institutions,
we should not ask for changes in these beyond what is
necessary. Augustus changed the government of Rome
into a monarchy, but preserved so far as possible the
forms of the old Republic. The same officials and official
bodies remained, but with different powers. So long as
the Senate met and styles in togas were unchanged, there
were many unable to see how the liberties of Rome were
passing. Very important, also, in overcoming reluctance to change, is giving one's hearers a vivid imaginative conception of the methods and situation one proposes
1 Cf. McDougall, Social Psychology, p. 54.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


287


to bring about; for this aids in removing the feeling of
up-familiarity.,  We have already noted the truth that we should not
expect men to chlange their opinions rapidly. We must
give time and opportunity to grow accustomed to a new
proposition, for the natural distrust to wear away and
for the ideas to be assimilated. Benjamin Franklin, a
master molder of public opinion, used to begin, not by
calling a meeting of the citizens of Philadelphia and asking them te accept his proposal at once, but by accustoming the public mind to his plans by prolonged newspaper
discussion  before calling his meeting. Making ideas
familiar by repetition is highly important to the art of
"publicity. "  Advertisers have a maxim, "Repetition
is reputation."   And, as Mr. Dooley says, "I '11 belave
anything' at all, if you '11 only tell it to me often
enough.''
It is sometimes wise to begin with mild suggestions and
gradually develop them; again, one may do better to set
forth the proposal in its most startling form, and then,
when excited opposition has grown up, to relieve anxiety
by showing various modifications and limitations which
make the proposal less radical than it seemed. One
might guess that Mr. Roosevelt is not a stranger to this
method. It is a good way of winning attention; but it
may   cause misunderstanding      and  misrepresentations,
which, when emphasized by opponents, are hard to eradicate from the popular mind. The method may also gain
for one the reputation of being "unsafe."
Which is the better salesmanship: To advertise a car for $950,
and then add extras bringing the price for a well fitted car tp to
$1200: or to fix the price at $1400 and then show how this might be
cut down to $1200 by omitting certain features? Which is the better politics: To demand a sweeping tariff reduction and accept
a moderate measure; or to ask for a little and work for more when




288


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the public is accustomed to the idea; or to demand precisely what
you want and stand by the demand?
The power of facts. We should never forget, in this
connection or any other, the power of plain facts. One
hard fact, so presented that it is seen to be important,
may outweigh all logic and all rhetoric. The facts should
be so presented that they do not unnecessarily antagoLiL.
by convicting the audience of ignorance. The fact: m:,y
show that the situation upon which the audience has
based its opinion has radically changed; as when one, in
arguing for restriction of immigration, shows that the
character of our immigration has changed. Or a new
statement of familiar facts may, by its imposing array,
break down opposition. So the advocate of "votes for
women" places before her opposing sisters instance after
instance of the unfairness of man-made laws.
Speakers are tempted to present doubtful facts, or
facts which only the most partizan mind can accept; as
when a prohibition speaker attempts to declare precisely how many children have died and how many men
have become criminals because of strong drink. Such
statements may    deceive the uncritical, but not the
thoughtful. The power of facts to overcome doubt, opposition and conservatism rests upon their acceptance as
beyond question.
Precedent. The conservatives are much influenced by
the fact that the same thing, or nearly the same thing,
has been done before, that what may have seemed a
radical change is after all proved by experience. To
most Americans the proposition that our courts should
be deprived of the power to declare legislation unconstitutional is startling; but at least a hearing can be won
by pointing out that in most of the countries of the
world, this power is not given to the courts. Where you




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


289


will find one to welcome a plan because it is untried, and
therefore an attractive venture, you will find twenty, and
those twenty of the influential, "safe and sane," members of the audience, who are uneasy and inattentive until
they learn that the method has been in successful operation in some community. The character of that community counts for much. If it is similar to our own, as
another American state of equal rank, the precedent will
be effective. The average man is much less influenced
by the fact that New Zealand has an old age pension
system than that England and Germany have such systems. Prestige counts. The thoughtful man will also demand that colitions in any community cited as a precedent be similar to those in his own conmmunity, as affecting the matter in hand.
It is most effective to show that we ourselves have been
doing all the time practically what is proposed, or did
so at one time. The advocates of the "popular review
of judicial decisions," tried to relieve the burden of radical change by arguing that this is only another way
of amendinig cojistitutions. Socialistic propaganda is
mulch aided, and the term    socialism  is gradually being relieved of its opprobrium, as we come to realize
that our schools, post-offices and hospitals are socialistic.
Municipal owne'rship of street railways is not so shocking~ when we consider our city-owned water and lighting
systems; and we view government regulation of corporate industries with less alarm as we think of the work
of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Precedent may be connected with the motive of emulation, when we recite how another person, town or country is in advance of us. A suffrage advocate declares:
"We are behind Norway, Sweden, Austria, China, Iceland. In fact, women in every other country of the




290


PUBLIC SPEAKING


globe have more political power than do those of our
own Empire State." One feels that this is a very important statement, very humiliating, if true.
This reminds us that citing precedent is a method of
argument much open to rebuttal, not only on the ground
of failure to show similarity of conditions, but of failure
to state true facts. Even the honest speaker is peculiarly tempted to misstate facts in such sweeping generalizations as that just quoted. The dishonest speaker finds
precedent an effective means of deception. Just as promoters of dubious companies tell glowing stories of the
great profits of similar companies and of gold mines
right beside the promoters' properties; so one arguing for a minimum wage law cites the examples of Australia and England. But an opponent points out that
industrial conditions in those countries make the precedents invalid, or that the law advocated differs materially
from those cited. It is worth the while of any speaker to
study the methods of refuting the fallacies arising from
precedent and analogy, and these will be found well
treated in texts on argumentation.
Precedent, prestige and authority may operate as suggestions
which influence us without deliberation on our part. I am speaking of them here as they are consciously taken into account; e.g.,
Germany, a country which has carried governmental efficiency to a
high point, has adopted old age pensions; therefore the system is
worthy consideration.
The sudden growth of prohibition sentiment in the last five years
would make an interesting study in persuasion. I believe it would
be found that these elements have been important: First, the impression made upon children in the schools by the teaching of the
evils of alcohol,-children who are now coming into power; second,
the establishing of certain scientific facts in regard to drink; and
third, action on the part of great corporations with regard to the
habits of their employees, and the measures of European governments since the war began. With every gain in "dry" territory in
the United States, also, the average man, who not long ago laughed




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


291


at the movement and perhaps drinks a bit himself, grows more impressed and more ready to give the matter serious attention. That
is, we have to consider the element of time, of facts, and of prestige.
Authority. In our conservative phase, we are much
relieved by learning that a given proposal has the indorsement of those whom we respect as authorities.
Who is there among us who does not accept some book or
some man, father, teacher, preacher or specialist, as authority almost beyond question, if not upon all subjects,
at least upon some?      Most of our opinions are based
upon little else than authority, though we may have forgotten what authority. Men will have authority in one
form  or another.    Those of scientific habit of thought
are less under the influence of authority than others;
but no man can "prove all things."        Many things we
must accept from those whose business it is to know.
Many of our facts we must receive and give out on
authority. We should       be  chary   of accepting    mere
opinions, but must in practice accept them at times; and
we often have to accept conclusions which are compounded of observed facts and skilful deduction, as
when a statistician works out from census statistics conclusions concerning the divorce problem.
The use of authorities is more a matter of persuasion than of
logic; and since authorities are rarely well used by young speakers,
I shall treat the topic at some length. Those who wish to pursue
the psychological phase of this subject will find discussions in M\cDougall's Social P.sychoologyi and Ross's work of the same title.
(See their indexes under Prestige.) They treat the subject, however, as a matter of suggestion.
Persuasive use of authorities. The primary requisite
is, of course, that your authority be accepted as such by
your audience. There is some effect from the quotation
of even an unknown man's opinion. At least one other
man has believed as the speaker believes. If the opinion




292


PUBLIC SPEAKING


comes with a touch of literary style, its value is increased.
It is told that DeWitt Talmage, whose sermons were
printed weekly in papers throughout the country for
many years, directed his assistants to look up each week
two or three pat literary quotations to enforce the central
thought of his sermon. We have an habitual deference
toward quoted authorities, especially when they are cited
from print. I once knew a woman who believed all she
read in newspapers. Few more intelligent people completely outgrow the superstitious awe of book covers. To
be of full effect, however, and to withstand the attacks of
opponents, your authorities should meet certain tests,
though it will be clear that not every authority used need
meet all the tests that follow. Too many speakers
simply hurl a name or quotation at an audience, regardless of value or of pertinence.
1. Is your authority known to the audience? In a
debate on woman's suffrage both sides quoted repeatedly
from this and that person regarding Colorado's experience; but as the persons named were unknown to us, the
quotations were of little effect. Paraphrasing the old
couplet, If your authority be not authority to me, what
care I how authoritative he be? The names of Edison
and Burbank will go further with general audiences than
those of many greater scientists.
2. Is your authority known to the audience as authority on the question under argument? The opinions of
some men will be of weight upon almost any problem.
The unthinking will accept them without question; while
the thoughtful will hold that men of such poise, wisdom
and impartiality will not be likely to utter an opinion
except upon good ground. Yet we must recognize that
while a justice of the Supreme Court of the United




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


293


States is a weighty authority upon a question of law,
upon an economic, social, or political question his judgment is not necessarily of importance.
3. What is the emotional attitude of your audience
toward your authority?  The fact that a man is of a certain school of thought, or party, or church may create
prejudice against him. In spite of his wonderful opportunities for observation, there are audiences who would
accept Mr. Roosevelt as authority on scarcely any question.
4. Does your authority, though lacking popular reputation, hold a position which gives him authority in the
public mind? Walter F. Willeox needs no introduction
to some audiences as a statistician of great ability and
rare impartiality; other audiences would accept him
when told that he was chief statistician of the Twelfth
Census. Some would be favorably impressed when told
that he is Professor of Statistics in Cornell University;
while others would reject his authority on the ground
that all professors are mere theorists.
5. Has your authority had exceptional advantages
for learning the truth?  In the debate above referred to,
some weight was attached to statements by the governors
of states in which woman's suffrage has been tried. Is
the physician called as an insanity expert one who has
had exceptional experience, as in an insane asylum?
The fact that a man is a lawyer, an engineer, an agriculturist, does not make him authority on all the problems of his profession. What special advantages has he
had? If you wish to quote an authority on Chinese affairs, it is worth while to state the facts which give him
authority; e.g., "President Goodnoiw    of Johns Iopkins University, who h1 s b!en le:al advi-er to iresident




294


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Yuan Shi-Kai, "-a position which marks him as a man
of recognized judgment and of exceptional opportunities
for observation.
There are some things the man on the field can know
better than any student of the event; but it does not
follow that the soldier who fought at Gettysburg, or even
the commander of a brigade, can write a more accurate
description than a historian born since the event. It
is well recognized that no man can write an authoritative
history of his own times; he can only furnish the raw material which later historians can use in forming unbiased
judgments. Still this is not true in the popular mind,
and one should hesitate to quote, let us say, a recent historian against General Lee. If this be necessary, one
should explain the historian's advantages.
6. Is your authority speaking an unbiased judgment
If he speaks as a partizan, an advocate, or from selfinterest or prejudice, we discount his utterance; for we
assume that, though he may be capable and honest, he
cannot "see straight," even on a matter of pure fact.
Evidence for the side he favors looks very important to
him, and evidence against his side seems unworthy attention. Do not quote, therefore, the opinion of a shipbuilder on shipping subsidies, or that of either the president of a temperance union or the owner of a brewery on
prohibition.1
When feasible, quote the words of men known as impartial investigators. Often one can draw from government documents and other standard reports, such as the
Report of the Industrial Comnmission, census reports, or
the Statesman's Yearbook. These works will generally
be accepted as to facts, not necessarily as to opinions.
There are other works that have general acceptance, such
1 Cf. Foster, Argumentation and Debating, p. G4.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


295


as Bryce's American     Commonwealth, which will be
taken, not as final, but as weighty authority, containing
the observations of a well-informed, fair-minded, keen
and sympathetic foreign observer.
The nature of the question at issue is important.
Any reputable scientist or historian will be accepted as to
established facts, but not necessarily as to disputed facts
and opinions. Woodrow Wilson has written of Macaulay
as an historian:'
"Macaulay the Whig, subtly turning narrative into
argument, and making history the vindication of a party.
The mighty narrative is a great engine of proof. It is
not told for its own sake. It is evidence summed up in
order to justify a judgment. We detect the tone of the
advocate, and though if we are just we must deem him
honest, we cannot deem him safe."
Very effective at times is a statement from one who
naturally inclines to the opposition. Mr. Roosevelt began an article in 1912: "The Chicago Evening Post and
the Indianapolis Star were originally Taft papers.
They believed that the voters ought to choose Mr. Taft
over me in the primaries."    He then proceeded to tell
how these papers charged dishonesty against the Republican National Committee in securing his defeat in the
Republican national convention of that year. The presumption was that these papers had made these charges
only upon strong evidence. Reform of court procedure
would not be much advanced by citing in its favor men
who are continually finding fault, in a radical spirit, with
whatever is; but when such well-known conservative
lawyers as Ex-President Taft, Elihu Root and Alton B.
Parker unite in denouncing the present procedure, we
feel that there must be great justification.
1 Mere Literature and Other Essays, p. 168,




296


PUBLIC SPEAKING


7. lHas the authority been given credence by opponents? This is not meant to imply that any authority
used by an opponent must thereafter be accepted by
them; but if they have put much stress upon an authority, they at least have difficulty in rejecting him,
when cited by others. In the Cooper Union speech
Lincoln made good use of Douglas's authority.
8. When and where did your authority express himself? At what period of his life? Before or after investigation and experience? Woodrow Wilson the governor of New Jersey begged leave to withdraw the opinion of Woodrow Wilson the Princeton scholar, upon direct
primaries. Was the scientist you quote expressing a deliberate judgment, or giving reijn to his fancy, or speaking facetiously, as Dr. Osier spoke when he caused so
much mistaken agitation by declaring that men should
be chloroformed at sixty? Was the statement made in
a political campaign, or after the dust had settled?  In
the midst of conflict, or with historical perspective?
Usually the deliberately made statement has the greater
weight; but in some instances greater significance attaches to statements made before time for forgetfulness
or deliberate falsification has elapsed.
9. In what manner did the alleged authority express
lhimself? In a speech?   If so, formal or informal?   In
a newspaper article or interview? In a carefully edited
review?   Or in a serious volume? Book covers do not
change lies into truth, or fallacies into logic; but we are
certainly the more impressed by a statement the more
careful its preparation and the more permanent its form.
10. " 'Is too great reliance placed on one authority?
Writers and speakers seldom address a group of people
1 Foster's Argumentation and Debating, p. 67.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


297


who are willing to accept the testimony of any oniie man
as final.... iThe concurrent testinimony of two or more
authorities to the same essentials, where there has been
apparently no opportunity or motive for previous agreement, strengthens the probability of truth.... An examiple may be taken from an address by Dr. Dudley A.
Sargent before the New England Association of Colleges
and Preparatory Schools:
"'Criiminals, dullards, the feeble-mcinded, and the Insane as a
cliss are coiidelably  elow the avena-e normal indivildual in
plysiqueli, as shown Lby heiht and weig ht.. Ini the year 1S8903,
)Dr. Willjinm T. Poter examied somw thirty thousanl children who
werel in thlie public schools of St. Loluis. Ie found thliat, among
pupils of tile saie ae, the av raae Lheight and weiht of those who
were of tiie MIimer gradles was greater than that of those who were
inn t: Ilow o rades'. rThis uneouncuement called forth consideraule cruiticismn at the tinme.... It miny be of interest, therefore,
to uoth, th t Dr. Porter's conclusions have since becen confirmeld by
ohe  iseirvationm intide by Dr. llasimtings in Omaha, Nebraska, PIr.
HyeI ii( Cambi-iidge, I)r. Christopher in Chicago, and by D)r. Leharzi.
il l. Ietorsburg', RLussii. In the face of such a body of concurrent statistics from different parts of this country and Eurolpe. no
oMW (in doubt for a moment the natural relationship between a
vigorous brain and a vigorous bouly.' 1
A scientist supports hiis statements with a long list of
autthorities, quoted at length.   The reader may skip all
hle (ioes not care to reaid. B1ut in public speechli, while all
I have quoted from President Foster      is sound, we must
beware of boring our hearers who cannot so readily escape.   You will notice that audiences rarely listen well
to long extracts, unless the reading is very good indeed.
Choose out the best of your possible authorities, and make
yomr quotations as brief and as much to the point as is
practicable, having due regard for the other requirements
for the good use of authorities.
11. Is your use of authority explicit?      In the first
place, it is usually well to state who your authority is and
where the statement used is to l)e foundl, unless this is obviously unnecessary, as in the case of familiar quota



298


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tions from Shakespeare or the Bible. Foster 1 properly
condemns such phrases as these:
Statistics gathered with great care showMany proper men agreeCompetent authorities sayWe could give hundreds of cases to show"It is a bare assertion to say that the number of establishments maintaining the ten-hour day is increasing.
To say that you have the statement on 'good authority'
is no better. To say that you depend for authority on
the words of Carroll D. Wright is one step in advance.
Still the reference is not sufficiently definite. It would
be better to say: 'Carroll D. Wright, formerly United
States Commissioner of Labor, says, in the introduction
to his annual report for 1904, that the number of establishments maintaining the ten-hour day is increasing.' "
In the second place, it is better practice to quote
the words of your authority, when this is feasible, than
to give a paraphrase. Paraphrases give opportunity for
some of the worst trickery of debaters, in the way of
garbling and distorting the statements of authorities. It
is frequently profitable to demand or to look up the originals of an opponent's paraphrases. Whoever paraphrases the statements of others, under circumstances in
which he may be tempted to distort, lays himself open to
the suspicion of thoughtful men. Even the most honest
of debaters will color such restatements with their own
prejudices. There are, of course, times when strictness
is unnecessary; but at best the paraphraser makes himself the authority, and he should be confident that he
will be accepted in that role.
You will note in the quotation from Dr. Sargent above, that the
speaker in citing the findings of Ir. Porter does not give his words,
or state where they may be found; and that in giving supporting
1 Argumentation and Debating, p. 59.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


299


testimony of other investigators he merely declares their findings
were in harmony with Dr. Porter's. Dr. Sargent is speaking before
a body little likely to question his statements of fact. The point
under discussion is definite and not liable to be colored by prejudice. Furthermore, there may have been those present or among
the probable readers of the paper on its publication, who would
challenge any misstatement. There are times when a statement
made in public acquires a certain validity from the fact that its
author would hardly risk the exposure of misstatements. Nevertheless, I believe that, even in this case, more explicit reference to
the authorities would have been wise.
In some college debates upon "the popular review of judicial decisions," speakers persistently rattled off lists of cases which they
declared illustrated how the courts refuse, or are unable, under the
"due process clause" of the Constitution, to do justice to working.
men. No statements of the facts of the cases, and not even cita.
tions from the opinions, were made. Such use of authority should
influence only the simplest; and its effect should certainly be destroyed for all by a simple challenge.
Let me here register a protest against the practice of young debaters of waving aloft a letter and shouting, "I hold in my hand
a letter from the IIonorable Silas Bunk, Member of Congress from
Bunkum, and he says the tariff is a tax!"  Not the least of the
objections to this practice is the nuisance these debaters commit
in deluging men of prominence with requests for opinions on all
sorts of questions. They frequently ask for matter that would cost
days of preparation. They usually get the vaguest of replies, of
extremely little value.
This same sort of a debater often holds up a ponderous tome,
makes a loose statement in regard to its contents, and then stalks
across and slams it down on the table of his opponents with a challenge to refute his statements,-a little task which would require
some hours of reading. In a recent debate the members of one team
simply carried great books under their arms, without opening them
or making a single definite reference to their contents. This would
seem to be carrying the game of "bluff" to its logical extreme.
12. Are you citing authority to support what needs
support?    The fact that one has a good citation should
not lead him    to use it where no support is needed, or
where there is ample support of a stronger sort.
The above are the more important considerations which
affect the use of authorities,    If one says that it is im



300


PUBLIC SPEAKING


possible to support the use of authorities with such care
as is indicated, the answer is that the degree of care
depends upon the circumstances of each case; but that
in no case is there any use of citing authorities in such a
way that they will not be accepted. But frequently,
after all, an authority may be cited effectually in a very
simple way. When you say, " General Grant states in his
Memoirs at page 503-" you have said all that can be
said; not that Grant is always final authority, but that
nothing further would add weight to your citation.
Attacking authorities. We should not be unduly awed
by authorities when they are cited against us. There
are some which before some audiences it is useless to attack. Before most audiences the authority of the Bible
is final; but Scripture has often been answered with
Scripture. Very often we can show that a quotation
taken from unimpeachable authority does not mean,
taken with its context or under the circumstances of its
utterance, what it has been made to mean; or we may be
able to show that the one quoted later changed his mind.
If one is sure of his ground, he may attempt to refute
the opinion of almost any authority. This one should
do modestly, but without apology, setting forth facts
and arguments which do overcome the great man's opinion. After all, authorities are rarely infallible, and the
most firmly held opinions of the greatest thinkers are
toppled over. The science and philosophy of yesterday
are the exploded theories of to-day, and the superstitions
of to-morrow. Darwin no longer has the last word on
evolution. One should not let himself be clubbed into
"submission with great names. If Shakespeare is hurled
at him, he may point out that Shakespeare spoke in many
characters, and that it is impossible, in most cases, to
determine what the playwright really believed. If the




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


301


great name be Washington, one may express his respect
for the Father of his Country, and yet apply certain
tests; as, Did Washington, in uttering the words quoted,
have in mind just such a situation as we face? One may
venture, with care, to ask why Washington should be
assumed to have had a wisdom equal to guiding us in all
respects to-day, a wisdom he would not have claimed for
a moment. Why should it be thought that Monroe, or
John Quincy Adams, should guide us in dealing with
Mexico?
We must, however, take cognizance of the danger from
laying ourselves open to the sneer, "IHe thinks he knows
more than Washington!"        In one short speech the task
of overcoming a great name may be too difficult to attempt. Frequently it is best to ignore an authority which
has great influence, rather than to emphasize its importance by futile attack. Prove your case otherwise; or
hurl greater authority, or a large number of good authorities, at your opponent's position.
There are not many who would venture so far as did Webster, in
the following incident, which illustrates the importance of the reputation of the speaker who defies authority: 1
"In the celebrated Smith Will trial, his antagonist, Mr. Choate,
quoted a decision of Lord Chancellor Camden. In his reply, WVebster argued against its validity as though it were a proposition laid
down by Mr. Choate. 'But it is not mine, it is Lord Camden's,'
was the instant retort. Webster paused for half a minute, and then,
with his eye fixed on the presiding judge, he replied: 'Lord Camden was a great judge: he is respected by every American, for he
was on our side in the Revolution; but, may it please your honor,
I differ from Lord Camden.' There was hardly a lawyer in the
United States who could have made such a statement without exposing himself to ridicule: but it did not seem at all ridiculous, when
the 'I' stood for Ianiel Webster."
The following from Lincoln, in discussing the Dred Scott DcciSion by the Supreme Court, is at once an instance of a bold facing
of an imposing authority, and, as Foster points out. a statement of
how such an authority may be tested. If memory serves, both
1 Whipple, Webstcr as a Master of English Style.




"302               PUBLIC SPEAKING
Bryan and Roosevelt have used this passage to support them in
questioning decisions of this court.
"Judicial decisions are of greater or less authority as precedents
according to circumstances. That this should be so accords both
with common sense and the customary understanding of the legal
profession.
"If this important decision had been made by the unanimous concurrence of the judges, and without any apparent partizan bias,
and in accordance with legal public expectation and with the steady
practice of the departments throughout our history, and had been
in no part based on assumed historical facts, which are not really
true; or, if wanting in some of these, it had been before the court
more than once and had there been affirmed and reaffirmed through
a course of years, it might then be, perhaps would be. factious, nay
even revolutionary, not to acquiesce in it as a precedent.
"But when, as is true, we find it wanting in all these claims to
the public confidence, it is not factious, it is not even disrespect ful,
to treat it as not having yet quite established a settled doctrine
for the country."
Lincoln, of course, substantiated and amplified the assertions of
this compact passage. This necessity of opposing a decision of the
Supreme Court was a serious burden upon Lincoln, throughout his
debates with Douglas, and again and again he defends himself. In
his debate at Quincy he says:
"We do not propose that when Dred Scott has been decided to
be a slave by the court, we, as a moh, will decide him to be free.... We propose so res.isting as to have the decision reversed if
we can, and a new judicial rule established upon this subject."
At Galesburgh, he cites authorities that Douglas is bound to respect as a Democrat:
"Jefferson said that 'Judges are as honest as other men, and
not more so.' And he said, substantially, 'that whenever a free
people should give up in absolute submission to any department of
government, retaining for themselves no appeal from it, their liberties were gone.' "
At Ottawa Lincoln not only cited famous Democrats, but made
Douglas himself furnish a precedent:
"This man sticks to a decision... not because he says it is
right in itself... but because it has been decided by the court:
and... a decision of the court is to him a 'Thus saith the Lord.'.It is nothing that I point out to him that his great prototype,
General Jackson, did not believe in the binding force of decisions.
It is nothing that Jefferson did not so believe.... I will tell him,
though, that he now clainis to stand on the Cincminnti platform,
which affirms that Congress cannot charter a national bank, in the
teeth of that old standing decision that Congress can charter a
bank. And I remind him of another piece of history on the question of respect for judicial decisions, and it is a piece of Illinois history, belonging to a timie when a large party to which Judue Douglas belonged were displeased with a decision of the Supreme Court
of Illinois.... I know that Judge Douglas will not deny that he




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


was then in favor of overslaughing that decision by the mode of
adding five new judges, so as to vote down the four old ones. Not
only so, but it ended in the Judge's sitting down on the very bench
as one of the five new judges to break down the four old ones. It
was in this way precisely that lie got his title of judge. Now, when
the Judge tells me that men appointed conditionally to sit as memhers of a court will have to be catechized beforehand upon some
subject, I say, 'You know, Judge, you have tried it!'"
Intercollegiate debaters have an overworked trick of quoting as
authority the president or other prominent faculty member of the
institution their opponents represent, with an air which seems to
say, "You cannot go back on that!" The shallow trick was neatly
exposed by a Pennsylvania debater in a contest with a Cornell
team. The Cornell debaters had quoted with gusto several times
Dean William Draper Lewis of the College of Law in the University of Pennsylvania, in favor of the popular review of judicial
decisions. The Pennsylvania leader finally replied: "We have
great respect for Dean Lewis and for his opinions on questions of
law; but we do not feel bound to accept his authority as final on
any question whatever. 'If this be treason, make the most of it!' "
When confronted with authorities not very imposing
in the eyes of your audience, the case is less difficult.
They may be ignored at times. The problem is to judge
whether they have made impression enough to be worth
your time, or the risk of giving them importance through
an attack. The methods of attack in general should be
apparent enough from the questions above.
If some man is put forward as authority who is not
well known and whose claim to be an authority is not well
supported, the simple question, Who is this Smith?
may suffice to destroy the effect of his statements; or
one may proceed at once to show how little grounds there
are for making Smith an authority. Unless you know
his pretensions are flimsy, however, you run the risk of
an effective rejoinder in his support, and your question
will have emphasized his importance.
The question of prejudice should be especially noticed.
The intimation that an authority is biased is so destructive to his influence, that the charge is often made with.




304


PUBLIC SPEAKING


out good reason. But the fact that the charge of bias is
made unscrupulously should not deter us in a clear case
from questioning an authority on this ground. If Macaulay were quoted on a question of English history, a question disputed by Whigs and Tories, it would be fair to
use the statement quoted above from President Wilson in
regard to Macaulay 's Whig bias. On partizan questions
any politician's statements are open to attack.
What means of overcoming authority have been used in the following:
"A letter from 'IH. L.' in your columns on April 20 quotes a statement from a few English physicians as to the benefits of alcoholic
liquors both as medicine and as beverage. This statement is said
by IH. L. to have appeared, in the Lancet 'recently.' The fact is it
appeared in the Lancet some years ago. It was )prepared by an
agent of the liquor traffic in England and signed by only sixteen
physicians out of the thousands of physicians of that country.
Upon investigation it was found that about half of the signers
were men who owned brewery or distillery stock. That such a
statement was deemed necessary was due to the outspoken utterances against alcoholic liquors of such men as Sir Frederick Troves,
surgeon to the King: Sir Thomas Barlow, physician to the King:
Sir Victor Horsley. England's greatest neurological surgeon  Sir
A. Pearce Gould of the Middlesex Hospital, Sir James Barr. dean of
the Medical School of Liverpool University; Prof. Sims Woodhead
of Cambridge University Medical School, and others of like standing."
Authoritativeness of the speaker. Not only will citations from others have an influence in securing fairminded attention from an audience, but also the attitude,
reputation and characteristics of the speaker himself.
He, after all, is usually the principal authority for the
occasion. Nothing helps a speaker more than the feeling
upon the part of his hearers that he is sound and trustworthy.
We like to know, first, that our speaker is well fitted
to treat his subject, that he knows what he is talking
about. We are especially pleased if his investigation
and his experiences give him special fitness. We like to
hear an engineer who has had a part in building the




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


305


Panama Canal tell of its construction. At times it is
desirable that the audience be told of a speaker's special
fitness. The speaker may do this himself, with entire
frankness and without either boasting or self-depreciation. Sometimes the facts may be brought out indirectly,
as in the narrative portion of an address, where a single
pronoun may suffice to let the audience know the speaker
witnessed the events he describes; as, "Our party was
stationed at this point."' Frequently a discreet chairman
will make the statement which, without puffery, adds to
the speaker's prestige.
In most cases the fact that one comes forward to speak should
be sufficient announcement of his preparation. Happy is the
speaker who has established a reputation for fulfilling the just expectations of his audience in this reslect. Student speakers in a
class in public speaking usually need no announcement. There are,
however, instances in which such speakers do well to let their hearers
know of their special opportunities for information. A student
speaking on labor problems may p)roperly refer to his experiences as
laborer, foreman, or employer. Or, one speaking on a Southern
question would gain in authority by such an allusion as, "Down in
my home state of Alabama."
Extravagance of statement. In the second place, a
speaker is much assisted by a reputation for sound judgment. This reputation is gained by emotional poise,
good logic and wise conclusions. Such a reputation is
weakened by the habit of rash and exaggerated statement. "That terrible sanity of the average man is
always watching you," says Barrett Wendell.'         If you
recklessly overstate your claims, all your statements will
be mistrusted. Habitual exaggeration on your part will
lead to habitual discounting by your hearers. Claims
that "votes for women"' will cure all the ills of the body
politic have hurt rather than helped the suffrage propaganda.
1 English Composition, p. 271.




806


PUBLIC SPEAKING


I have rarely heard a speech on either side of this subject which
did not drive me into opposition by its extravagance. "When we
women get the ballot, we shall make impossible all these dreadful
inequalities of wages," says one. "When women go to the polls
homes will become a thing of the past," says an opponent. And
the unexcitable citizen, rejecting all this exaggeration and losing
sight of the importance of the problem, says, "Dear, dear! is n't it
awful? Let 'em vote if they are sure they want to. Well, how 's
business?"
The effect of exaggeration in argument was well illustrated when
a student in a speech on Sulzer's Impeachment, in the fall of 1913,
lauded the former governor of New York to the skies and described
his enemies as monsters of iniquity. A classmate asked to comment on the speech, said, "It was a good speech, but I was not in
the least convinced." Was it, then, a good speech?
Condemnation of smoking before boys (whose fathers may be
smokers) in terms which put it on a par with drunkenness, is not
effective. Teachers who treat bad usage in English as if it were
a sin, drive pupils to despise all care in expression. Reasonableness of attitude may not produce talk that sounds so strong, but it
accomplishes more than exaggeration.
Extravagance of statement repels especially the constitutionally conservative, increasing their natural suspicion
of new proposals. It also repels the trained thinkers,
who are accustomed to looking carefully to the support
of assertions. The exaggerator thus loses many of those
in the neutral division of his audience. Upon those
mildly in opposition the effect of exaggeration is often
to drive them into more active opposition. Do not
present your plan or remedy, before thinking people, in
terms that sound like the advertisement of a patent medicine, guaranteed to cure absolutely every ill that flesh
is heir to. The weary old world is unable to believe in
such panaceas.
Exaggerated statements are specially open to misunderstanding. Statements that may have been accepted as justifiable in the heat of debate, appear in a
different light in the morning paper, or when quoted on




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


S07


the street. Misunderstood and misquoted, they may
travel far and win for their author the reputation of being unsafe. And once he becomes known as an extremist,
a man not to be trusted, while he may draw crowds and
win applause, he will not find open to him the ears of
the earnest seekers after truth, the honest, moderate progressive who brings things to pass. No doubt the agitator
has his place in our scheme of society, beating on the
tom-toms and calling attention to wrongs; but the
Lincolns, not the Phillipses, in the end win the masses
of men and carry through reforms.
The exaggerator plays into the hands of his opponents.
First, because he makes it so easy for them to discredit
him, by proving the untrustworthiness of his statements.
Falsuts in uno, falsus in omnibus, is a proverb audiences
are quick to accept. Authorities can be used effectively
against the exaggerator. The gentleman says that the
cruel justice of the white man has left but few Indians
in his native land; but So and So, the well known authority, in such and such a place, declares that there are
more Indians in America to-day than in the days of
Columbus. In the second place, the exaggerator makes
wilful misrepresentation very easy.
That the danger of misrepresentation, wilful or otherwise, to
which I have several times referred, is real, will be questioned by
no one who has passed through any war of words. A review of the
Lincoln-Douglas Debates will show how even a man so careful in
his statements as Lincoln was constantly misrepresented by the
wily Douglas. I have referred already to the debate at Alton.
Mrs. Phillip Snowdon, the eloquent English advocate of women's
suffrage, told in a speech of reading in the same Scottish paper of a
man who for stealing two overcoats in order to get food for his
children was given a sentence of six months, and of another man
who for criminally assaulting a little girl was fined five shillings.
Before proceeding to her criticisms on man-made and man-administered law, she spoke very deliberately to this effect: "Now, mind
you, it is wrong to steal overcoats. Every public speaker present




308


PUBLIC SPEAKING


will sympathize with me when I say I do not wish to be represented
as saying anything to the contrary. It is wrong to steal overcoats."
It is not possible, of course, to emphasize both sides of
a truth at once, and overemphasis in vigorous statements
is almost inevitable. Indeed, the preceding paragraphs,
taken alone, exaggerate the evils of exaggeration. We
have already noted that exaggeration has its place in
handling crowds and mobs. Positiveness is an element
in authoritativeness. If a speaker is not sure of his
ground, his hearers are little likely to accept his statements or conclusions. The world listens to the man who
knows; it    does   not  follow   doubting leaders. The
speaker, therefore, should limit his statements with as few
qualifying clauses as is consistent with truth. The way
to gain the force of positiveness, however, is not to make
reckless assertions, but to make sure of one's ground.
Few of us would care to say with Alexander H. Stephens,
"I am never wrong on a subject I have investigated";
but we should by investigation and by consulting authorities, so far as possible obey the injunction, "Be sure you
are right, and then go ahead." We should obey both
parts, too; that is, having made sure, we should go ahead
with conviction and confidence.
Hyperbole, that is, exaggeration understood as such, is
effective for arousing one's adherents, who need no arguments as to the correctness of the speaker's position, but
do need enthusiasm. When the German Emperor proclaims that Germany will fight while a single German
soldier has breath in his body, we understand that he is
speaking the language of strong emotion, and is inciting
his people to great sacrifices.
A painful degree of accuracy is not demanded of a public speaker.
$1,897,689 may be spoken of as $2,000,000, or as millions, unless
accuracy is important. Honesty, in public as in private speech,




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


309


depends upon the understanding of one's hearers. When Wendell
Phillips shouted to an angry audience as he turned to the reporters,
"Howl on; I speak to thirty millions here!" nobody took him up
on the ground that he could not possibly reach the entire population
through the papers. Again, inaccurate words may express essential
truth better than accurate words. When a speaker says that the
assssination of Lincoln plunged the country into profound grief
and shocked the civilized world, we do not understand him to mean
that all Americans wept and lost their appetites, and that the
business of the world halted; yet the words do convey truly enough
the effect of that calamity upon the calloused indifference of mankind.
"Hyperbole may assist precision, even when it falsifies fact.
Said John Randolph when seeking to provoke a duel with Henry
Clay, 'A hyperbole for meanness is an ellipsis for Clay.' Though
false to fact it was not so to the real meaning of the speaker." 1
As Genung says.2 "Hyperbole is a recognition of the fact that
while the observer may conceive an object vividly there is a shrinkage in the reader's apprehension of it. Its exaggeration does not
mislead it; it simply allows for the shrinkage."
But as the same writer points out, hyperbole easily runs into bombast, or makes its subject ludicrous. Listen to a student of mine,
speaking in dead earnest on the bribery of city officials by street
railway companies: "These examples should stir your cold American blood to white heat! Red hot flames of anger should issue from
your mouths as from fiery furnaces! If you are true Americans
you will do something!"
The strength of understatement. We are now           ready
to note, what young speakers are often slow to learn,
that understatement is sometimes more forceful and persuasive than overstatement. Perhaps no speaker ever
had more authority than Webster. After hearing one of
his short speeches a farmer said, "He did n't say much,
but every word weighed a pound."            One element in
this weightiness is explained      in  the following    from
Marsh: 3
"It was a maxim      of Webster's, that violence of language was indicative of feebleness of thought and want
of reasoning power, and it was his practice to under1 Phelps and Frink, Rhetoric, p. 82.
2 IWorking Principles of Rhetoric, p. 99.
3 Lectures on the English Language, p. 235.




810


PUBLIC SPEAKING


state rather than overstate the strength of his confidence
in the soundness of his own arguments, and the logical
necessity of his conclusions. He kept his auditor constantly in advance of him, by suggestion rather than by
strong asseveration, by a calm exposition of considerations which ought to excite feeling in the heart of both
speaker and hearer, not by an undignified and theatrical
exhibition of passion in himself."
Do not indulge much in the exclamatory style, which
is a besetting sin of some preachers. They deliver whole
sermons in which the "scare mark" (!) is the only appropriate punctuation. This produces the style described as the "feeble forcible." I should be sorry to
have my urging to make expression vivid take as urging
this strained form of statement; though the exclamation,
sparingly used, may be effective.
I heard a man who had recently seen something of the horrors of
the European war. He was evidently greatly moved by his experiences, and we responded to his earnestness and to the interest of
his theme; but the effect was much lessened by his constantly telling
us how greatly the scenes moved him rather than telling us in simple terms what moved him. Another speaker upon the same theme
impressed me much more. IHe had the skill to tell just what he
had seen. This he did very interestingly, without a single expression of horror; yet the final impression was a strong disgust for
modern warfare. Simple vividness was sufficient for facts that
could not be exaggerated.
The following from a speech by Lowell at a dinner given him
in London in 1888, is cited by Brander Matthews as "a most felicitous example of the value of adroit understatement." 1
"I have been told often enough to remember that my countrymen
are apt to think that they are always in the right-that they are
apt to look at their own side of the question only. Now, this characteristic conduces certainly to peace of mind and imperturbability
of judgment, whatever other merits it may have. [He paused a
moment, and then added:] I am sure I don't know where we got
it-do you?"
Wendell Phillips, that "infernal machine set to music," showed
in his oration on Toussaint L'Ouverture that he knew well the
value of restraint of expression in the midst of a speech which, as
1 Notes on Specch-Making, p. 70.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


311


a whole, must have impressed his hearers in 1861 as a marvel of
exaggeration. IHe no doubt realized that understatement is a most
valuable means of giving exaggeration plausibility. It is worth
while to quote a considerable passage as an example of good oral
style:
"Let us pause a moment and find something to measure him by.
You remember Macaulay says, comparing Cromwell with Napoleon,
that Cromwell showed the greater military genius, if we consider
that he never saw an army till he was forty; while Napoleon was
educated from a boy in the best militafy schools in Europe. Cromwell manufactured his own army; Napoleon at the age of twenty
seven was placed at the head of the best troops Europe ever saw.
They were both successful; but says Macaulay, with such disadvantages, the Englishman showed the greater genius. Whether you
allow the inference or not, you will at least grant that it is a fair
mode of measurement. Apply it to Toussaint. Cromwell never
saw an army till he was forty; this man never saw a soldier till
he was fifty. Cromwell manufactured his own army-out of what?
Englishmen,-the best blood in Europe. Out of the middle class
of Englishmen,-the best blood of the island. And with it he conquered what? Englihmnwn,-their equals. This man manufactured
his army out of what? Out of what you call the despicable race of
negroes, debased, demoralized by two hundred years of slavery, one
hundred thousand of them imported into the island within four
years, unable to speak a dialect intelligible even to each other. Yet
out of this mixed and, as you say. despicable mass, lie forged a
thunderbolt and hurled it at whliat? At the proudest blood in
Europe, the Spaniard, and sent him home conquered; at the most
warlike blood in Europe, the French, and put them under his feet;
at the pluckiest blood in Europe, the English, and they skulked
home to Jamaica. Now if Cromwell was a general, at least this
man was a soldier."
Had Phillips expressed the conclusion one is bracing himself
against,-that Toussaint was a greater general than Cromwell or
Napoleon,-one's judgment would reject the claim in spite of the
plausible argument; but hearing the mild assertion that Toussaint
vas a soldier, one is prompted to exclaim, by a sort of reaction,
"*'Nay, he was much more." We see here two reasons for the force
of understatement: a sense of relief that the claim is not greater,
and a prompting to assert more than one would accept from the
speaker.
Humor and authority. An important question arises
with regard to the influence of humor upon the speaker's
authority. It is very pleasing to acquire the reputation
of being amusing, but not so pleasant to find that people
refuse to take one seriously. It is said that Mark Twain
felt so keenly the limitations due to his reputation, that




312


PUBLIC SPEAKING


he first published his life of Joan of Are anonymously,
so that it would not be taken as a joke. There are comedians on the stage eating their hearts out because when
they attempt serious parts their public insists that they
are funny. There is a public man, famous as an afterdinner speaker, to whose attempts at serious argument
one's chief reaction is, "Hurry up and tell us another
story."  Your "funny man" rarely succeeds in politics.
Mr. Job Hedges, a serious and able gentleman, suffered
in his campaign for the governorship of New York in
1912 from the fact that in several earlier campaigns he
had served as the humorist to warm up audiences for
such serious speakers as Governor Hughes. Genung puts
the case of the "funny man" well:
"Men will consent to be amused by him; they will
come in crowds to laugh at his wit and drollery; but
when he attempts to exhort them earnestly they cannot
easily realize that he is not joking. They have measured
his character by a lightness of standard that he cannot
easily surmount. This is not said as against the use of
humor in public address; it merely refers to the use of
humor as the staple of the address. It should be known
that if one aspires to reputation as a funny man, he has
to pay for it by sacrificing something that he may afterwards wish he had cherished... In the college world,
too, men inevitably find their level. I have seen men
whose rising to speak on any topic before their classmates only produced a broad grin, the broader as the
speaker attempted to be more earnest. These men had
been too content to be class buffoons; and when they assumed the solemn role their classmates judged that their
specific gravity was too light to sustain such character,
and they would have none of it."
The bearing of these observations upon our problem
of commanding serious attention is evident enough. Yet
1 Practical Rhetoric, p. 451.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


we need not go to the extreme of Ex-Senator Beveridge
who seems to hold that humor should never be employed
in a speech of serious purpose.1 While we recognize its
dangers, in decreasing a speaker's authority and also
in distracting attention when improperly used, we have
also noted its value in bringing an audience into a desired mood, so that they may be willing to listen, and we
know well the power of well used humor in making a
point "stick."     A  moderate use of humor is not at all
inconsistent with a serious purpose. All depends upon
how it is used. As a rule, the students in my classes are
much too solemn, and a joke is so unusual that often when
one is attempted by a student speaker, his classmates
blink solemnly without recognizing it; for a joke, you
must know, is most appreciated when it is expected.
One hardly knows what to make of Senator Beveridge's statements that, "To find a joke in Webster would be an offense..
Lincoln's Gettysburg address, his first and second inaugurals, his
speech beginning the Douglas campaign and his Cooper Union address in New York are, perhaps, the only utterances of his that
will endure. Yet this greatest of story tellers since,Esop did not
adorn or deface one of these great deliverances with a story or any
form of humor."   It is true the reports of Webster's speeches are
annotated with "Cheers" and "Great applause," and that you will
look long for "Laughter," but you will find that. There is in a
speech of his at Rochester much ponderous jesting about the high
falls of the Genesee River. But turn to the speech generally called
Webster's greatest, and by some the greatest speech of all time,
the Reply to Hayne. No speech in our history has had a more serious occasion or purpose: yet it begins humorously, and contains
several humorous passages. These are grim jokes, to be sure, but
still they are plainly marked as jokes, and no doubt were intended
to relieve somewhat the unavoidable grimness of the situation.
One is glad to have stress laid on the fact that Lincoln's speeches
are serious and free from the clownishness sometimes attilbuted to
him. One will find many places in the debates with Douglas where
Lincoln has made humor effective for his argument, though no
places where he has yielded to the temptation to be funny for the
1 Reed's Modern Eloquence, Introduction to Vol. XII.




314


PUBLIC SPEAKING


sake of the laugh only. There are very few stories and those briefly
put. Of course, in his inaugurals and at Gettysburg humor would
have been as much out of place as in a psalm. But look at the
other speeches mentioned. One cannot doubt that Lincoln's audience was moved to laughter more than once during his Springfield
speech.
The Cooper Union speech has already been cited. Throughout
his very serious argument that the fathers were not Douglas Democrats there runs a vein of humor, a sort of unexpressed chuckle over
the dilemma into which he is placing his opponent. One will look
long to find a better example of wit employed to destroy a somewhat slippery fallacy, than this from the Cooper Union speech:
"But you will not abide the election of a Republican president!
In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and
then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon
us! That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and
mutters through his teeth. 'Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you,
and then you will be a murderer.' "
The authoritativeness of a speaker is affected also by his personal qualities, which will be treated below. These will be treated,
however, not only as affecting authoritativeness, but more broadly
as affecting directly persuasiveness. These and other qualities also
enter into moral character, but a few words may be said in general
uponMoral character and the speaker's influence. Many
writers upon the influence of speakers over audiences
have emphasized simple goodness. The old Roman
Quintilian, who taught oratory in the first century, said,
"An orator is a good man skilled in speaking." It is
readily seen that a man of notoriously bad life cannot be
an effective preacher of righteousness, though he plead
like an angel of light. Nor can the man who sets up
standards of morality widely differing from the prevailing standards, plead effectively for any cause, though it
may have little relation to his manner of living.
Nevertheless, we must take exception to Quintilian's
"good man," as certain successful orators come to mind;
or, indeed, to any sweeping statement of the sort. Honesty compels us to acknowledge that many men not good




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


315


have been very successful speakers, even orators. Much
seems to depend upon the particular vices charged. A
reputation for trickery, cruelty, or treachery to women 1
is usually destructive of popular influence; but the reputation for hard drinking and carelessness in regard to
debts which "the great Daniel Webster" bore (very unjustly in both respects, we are told), did not destroy an
influence which it is an inspiration to study, nor prevent
his words being read and pondered, almost as was the
Bible, beside thousands of Northern hearthstones. Better than Quintilian's saying, I like Emerson's words, "If
I should make the shortest list of the qualifications of the
orator, I should begin with manliness," and Beecher's
pithy dictum, "Let no sneak try to be an orator."  However much the orator lacks of goodness, he will rarely be
found weak. The orator is a leader, and weaklings do
not lead.
Personality. There is an element in the power of a
speaker, sometimes called "personal magnetism," sometimes "personality," which can be recognized rather
than directly cultivated. Why Alcibiades, Mirabeau,
Webster, Clay; or, in other fields, Mahomet, Napoleon,
Luther, Brigham Young, and Stonewall Jackson, exercised the fascination they did over men, has been explained in many ways.    (Read, if you like, the chapter
on Personality in Ross's Social Control.) No explanation will entirely satisfy. It is said that the art of fascinating audiences can be taught by mail. I will leave it
to mail courses, except as this strange power is compounded of the elements of character and methods which
we treat under other headings.
Make as much of a mystery of ''magnetism" as we
please, it probably consists only of an unusual combina1 Cf. Bryce, American Commonwealth, II, p. 217.




316


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tion of quite understandable characteristics. Great leaders have been men of imagination, able to stir the imagination of their followers. They have had an understanding of human nature and a sympathy which have
enabled them to adapt themselves to the view-points and
experiences of others, to touch the right motives and
arouse the right associations in their minds. They have
been men of strength and positiveness of character, knowing precisely what they wished to bring about, and very
determined to succeed.
Personal appearance is an element in personality.
Great stature is no doubt an advantage; but Webster,
"the godlike Daniel," who was often spoken of as a giant,
was of only moderate height, and Stephen A. Douglas,
a leader of rare influence, whether before the people or in
the Senate, was called "the Little Giant," and was less
than five feet in height. Since we cannot by taking
thought add to our stature, discussion of height is not of
importance, except as it gives opportunity to say to those
who lack height: Do not worry about the lack, and do
not try to increase your height by "standing on your
dignity"; in other words do not call attention to your
lack by a strut. Real dignity of bearing can, however,
be developed by slow degrees, by the development of courtesy and self-respect, supplemented by the physical training described elsewhere. In brief, let us try to be sincere, straightforward, self-controlled gentlemen on the
platform, and let personality take care of itself.
We may add a word from Emerson 1 which touches an
important matter to some extent within our control:
"Perhaps it is the lowest of the qualities of an orator,
but it is, on so many occasions, of chief importance,a certain robust and radiant physical health."
1 Essay on Eloquence.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


317


We should not be discouraged by the discovery that we are not
"great personalities." Of course some of us will never sway audiences at will, but we can make the most of such gifts as we have.
"The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong."
I. in common with every teacher, have seen sadly handicapped young
men surpass their more gifted classmates.
Fairness. Nothing more certainly induces a fair, openminded attitude on the part of an audience than fairness on the part of the speaker. We have already seen
the good effect of concessions in finding common ground.
Fairness should be shown both in the presentation of
one's own views and in discussing the views of an opponent. The persuader is an advocate. He is expected
to state his side as strongly as truth permits; but his
audience has a right to expect him to state facts truly
and to refrain from sophistry. To be an advocate does
not give one a right to be other than fair and honest.
To be fair is not only right, but profitable in the long
run. Juries trusted "Honest Abe" Lincoln. Contrast
the effect of that name with that of a name for shrewdness and pettifogging. To have one's tricks exposed is
to become discredited.
In order to be fair, first be reasonable. Look at the
case of the opposition, instead of shutting your mind to
it. Do not, like a schoolboy debater, claim everything
for your side; but recognize, at least tacitly, that there
is truth on the other side. Remember that we are considering the winning of those not yet in agreement.
Nothing marks more plainly the difference between the
mature and the immature debater than the intolerance
of the latter.
Courtesy. Any exhibition of boorishness upon the
platform will tend to decrease the sympathy of an audience for the speaker; while the speaker who is courteous
may say hard, stern things with impunity. Cutting, sar



818


PUBLIC SPEAKING


castic remarks may sometimes be justified, but they are
rarely persuasive. They chill good feeling. Bad temper
should not be mistaken for righteous indignation. Invective is for the rarest occasions. It would be a good
rule never to say on the platform anything derogatory
of an opponent which you would not say if you were
alone with him; but one should refrain from the personalities which  might be proper enough in      private.
Schoolboys in debate often offend good taste seriously by
aiming at each other remarks which pass as humor in
everyday intercourse, but which on the platform seem
mere insolence. Do not mistake a laugh cheaply won by
blackguardism for genuine approval.
Your audience especially deserves courtesy. It has
paid you a compliment in giving you its time. The
point needing most emphasis under this head is, that you
should not trespass upon the time of your hearers beyond the period allotted to you, either by those in charge
of the meeting, or by common understanding.
Courtesy does not demand cheap, insincere compliments to audience or community. A gracious compliment which is sincere and merited is welcome anywhere;
but no intelligent audience is likely to be won by the
strained flattery with which some speakers seek good
will. We may applaud perfunctorily, as in duty bound;
but applause accompanied by knowing looks and the
nudging of neighbors is not evidence of persuasive effect.
Respect for audiences. Courtesy should not be merely
assumed, but should rest upon fairness of spirit and also
genuine respect for one's audience. Some over-confident
young men need to consider this with care. The humblest audience deserves respect. However humble their
individual members, in the aggregate they constitute a
body to whom respect is due. Do not waste their time;




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


319


give them   a fair equivalent. The best way to show
courtesy and respect to an audience is to prepare well
and give them your best. Your audience may be slow;
it is likely to be if not made up of trained thinkers.
Any audience may be slower than a beginner thinks it
should be, for it has not thought through his subject in
most cases; but he should not mistake slowness for stupidity, or small schooling for ignorance.
It would be affectation to ignore the fact that some
audiences do not represent a high level of culture and
information; yet rarely indeed will an audience be found
which does not contain a goodly number of members
who have solid wisdom and keen ability to see through
fallacies, though they may not be able to express themselves. It is never safe to assume that all the members
of an audience are uninformed on any subject.
Being asked to speak in a small country church on my observations of New York's East Side during a residence of ten weeks in a
college settlement, I comforted myself with the thought that I at
least knew more of tenement life than any of my hearers. After
my talk I learned that two persons in the audience had actually
lived in the tenements, and that one lady had worked with immigrants both at Ellis Island and in a settlement. She said I was
quite well informed considering my limited opportunity for observation!
It is difficult to tell the truth about audiences in cold
print, without giving the essentially false impression
that they may be freely manipulated without respect to
their mental powers. It is true that men in general are
not thinkers, in the strict sense of the term, that they
may be controlled at times by suggestion and through
their emotions, and that they have strong prejudices.
It is true that at times they are controlled by demagogues, that they are subject to panics, and form mobs.
Still, though much under the influence of emotion, their




820


PUBLIC SPEAKING


emotions are often true guides; and though sometimes
controlled by prejudices and inherited opinions, these
are after all the results of the experience of the race and
not altogether bad standards of conduct. And it is
wholesome to reflect that very rarely has the speaker occasion to feel himself superior to his hearers. Nothing
could be better for the young speaker to fix in his reemory than the saying of that great popular leader, Lincoln, spoken out of rich experience: "I always assume
that my audience is in many things wiser than I am, and
I say the most sensible things I can to them. I never
found that they did not understand me." Edward
Everett Hale told a group of students that they should
remember that the least educated man in an audience
can conceive of a better speech than the speaker can
make. We might add that this least educated man, in
the great majority of cases, has heard better speeches
than the speaker can make.
Few could speak with more authority on this subject than James
Bryce. IHe says, in his chapter on the Nature of Public Opinion,1
that nineteen out of twenty persons do not think out for themselves
public questions. But he adds:
"It is not that these nineteen persons are incapable of appreciating good arguments, or unwilling to receive them. On the contrary, and this is especially true of the working classes, an aidience
is pleased when solid arguments are addressed to it..
". "The chief difference between the so-called upper, or
wealthier, and the humbler strata of society is, that the former are
less influenced by sentiment and possibly more influenced by notions,
often erroneous, of their own interest..
"The apparent paradox that where the humbler classes have differed in opinion from the higher, they have often been proved by
the event to have been right and their so-called betters wrong (a
fact sufficiently illustrated by the experience of many European
countries during the last half-century), may perhaps be explained
by considering that the historical and scientific data on which the
solution of a difficult political problem depends are really just as
little known to the wealthy as to the poor. Ordinary education,
1 American Conmmonwealth, II, p. 250. This work, especially the
second volume, is recommended to the student who wishes a cleareyed view of American opinion and feeling.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


321


even the sort of edlacation which is represented by a university degree, does not lit a me.n to handle these questions, and it sometimes
fills him with a vain cnnccit of his oVIwn comipetence which closes his
11ind1( to argiunent all(nd to the accuinulating evidence of facts. Education, oughIi1 no douiA, to enlighten a man;I but the educated classes,
speaking gelierally, ire tlre  piroiperty-holdinig classes and the possessionil of pIrope'rty dloes miore to make a mana timid than education
does to make him hopeful.   le is apt to underrate the power as
well as the worth of sentiment; hle over-values the restraints which
existing institutions impose, lie lhas a faint appreciation of the curative power of freedoim, alnd of the tendency which brings things
righjt when ne n have been left to their owin devices, and have learnt
Irm   failure Ihow to ittkin success. In the less-educated man a
celrtain simplicity and opentiess of mind g-o some way to complensate for thie laick of knowledge. lie is more alpt to be influenced
by the 9authlority of leaders; hut as, at least in England and Americ.1, he is genirally sillnrewd enough to tliscern between a great man
and a demagogue, this is more a (.gain than a loss."
There have beein few stronger speakers in America in recent
years, either in the Senate oi on the stump, than Senator Jonathan
P. l)olliver. lie declaredl  1 "tlhat whlioever wouldl deal with the modn'll American inIass-niweting mniust put into the prepailration of his
speech time and labor withliout stint or gru(lging.'"  Le said further:
"T1he stunmp has heeni the last field of oratory to submit to the exactions of toil and care and unremitting attention to details. This
Ijas beeln p lrIly the fault of the public, which has allowed itself to
be iiimposed iipon by patiently receiving all sorts and conditions of
sPeics.    'ihe schoolhouse and the newspapers have gone far to
estrice (vn tihe remote iraill iistricts to their 1natural 'iglits in these
ni tte s. Cli:riles.1anies Fox oince said that however huIimiible his
auiene hie always felt it was his dliity to do his best. That course
was a good tiing fll the audience and undoubtedly a goo thing for
the oratr, for iii nio art is it ever safe for a mlian to fall below the
best that is in him.iiii
"I'lit tiinw has comie in the United States when no community is
so 1reiote tli it it dues not 1deiiiind a highi order of public spIeakie...  Tc  stump sieaker of to-day has a good nimany conipetitor-, tnid it Iewl(ooves himi to bring his audience fresh knowledge,
or,t least the old. famliliar knmowledge dressed up so that its friends
w i I e glad to renew its apc- ianinta ciii..
"The democerac? v of' Enl'land aind Amierica is no fierce mob bewildered by the babble of tongues or the scribble of pens."
Do not, above all things, try to patronize or ''talk
down" to any audience.        Beware of the wheedling circ tniflexed tones which imply, '"Now, my dear good people, living far fromin the busy haunts of men, it must be a
real treat to have me coaie and enlighten your igno1 Saturday Ecciinig Post, May 25, 1901, p. 7.




322


PUBLIC SPEAKING


rance."  You did not, years ago, enjoy speeches such as
Mark Twain puts into the mouth of the Sunday School
superintendent in Tom Sawyer:
"Now, children, I want you all to sit just as straight
and pretty as you can and give me all your attention for
a minute or two. There-that is it. That is the way
good little boys and girls should do.... I want to tell
you how good it makes me feel to see so many bright
clean little faces assembled in a place like this, learning
to do right and be good...."
You should use words not unfamiliar, but this does
not require bad or childish English. The Bible is a
model of pure English, but its language is plain to
the simplest man. Professor Austin Phelps has well
said: 1
"The common people like to be addressed in sound
old English which has the centuries behind it. They
desire it to be plain, direct, strong, racy, but they never
as a body desire it to be low.... A rabble in the street
will often hoot if they are addressed in bad grammar.
Patrick Henry sought to win the favor of the backwoodsmen of Virginia by imitating their colloquial dialect, of
which his biographer gives the following specimen from
one of his speeches, 'All the larnin upon the yairth are
not to be compared with naiteral pairts.' But his hearers, backwoodsmen though they were, knew better than
that; and they knew that a statesman of the Old Dominion ought to speak good English. They were his severest
critics. The common people know good English when
they hear it; they understand it; men crave it who never
use it. In their unconscious criticism of a speaker, his
right to their heading depends on his ability to say something worth their hearing; and one of the first evidences
they look for of that ability is that he speaks better English than they do."
1 Phelps and Frink, Rhetoric, p. 17.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


323


And, mind you, respect for audiences must be felt.
Do not doubt that we reveal in our speeches many
things we would not, and perhaps are unconscious of,peevishness, egotism, weakness, contempt. The snob will
show himself in his speech as well as the hypocrite.
Modesty. We like a speaker who knows his own
mind and speaks with the note of strong conviction, but
we resent any touch of strut or bullying. "Franklin, in
criticizing one of the appeals of the American colonies
to the king for a redress of grievances, advised a more
manly style. Said he, 'Firmness carries weight: a strut
never does.' When we detect the 'strut' in discourse,
we are instinctively aroused to cavil' and criticize." 1
There are men who make excellent arguments, yet feeling, perhaps justly, their superiority as thinkers, they
let a note creep into their voices which says, "Now is n't
that clever?" and, "Haven't I shown you how foolish
you are?" and this awakens a rebellion in their hearers.
It is hard for such men to be "convincing speakers whom
one does not resent."'
Do not make a parade of knowledge. Usually an audience is glad to be informed, and is willing to acknowledge any advantages their speaker may possess over
them; but they are quick to resent any suggestion of
showing off. "He thinks he knows it all," is often
heard. The young college man, however modest, is likely
to be under suspicion in this respect.
Modesty does not require apologies for one's unworthiness to speak to one's audience, or upon the subject
chosen. There are times when apologies are due, perhaps, but occasion for them should be avoided when possible. Apologies for lack of preparation are especially
objectionable. If an audience forces one to speak with1 Phelps and Frink, Rhetoric, p. 195.




"024


PUBLIC SPEAKING


out opportunity for preparation, no apologies are due,
though one might wish to make an explanation in selfdefense. Apologies under other circumstances are often
equivalent to telling the audience that they have not
been considered worth effort. Worst of all, apology for
lack of preparation is often only a way of bragging: the
speaker seems to say, "See what I can do without half
trying; just imagine what I might do if I should really
try!"   Much of this apologizing comes from the foolish
desire to give the impression that one is speaking impromptu.
Never make an apology that is not sincere. A young
man called upon to address the veterans of the Civil
War, might sincerely wish to compare his inexperience
with their experience. It would not be an apology, but
a way of paying a compliment to his hearers. When
Robert Ingersoll began a lecture on Shakespeare by saying he felt like a man trying to bear up an enormous
globe which quite exceeded his grasp, it was only a way
of expressing his sense of the greatness of Shakespeare.
In general, one should not attempt a theme he is not
qualified to speak upon before the given audience. In
any case, having accepted the invitation, he should give
such time to preparation as he can, and then no apology
is needed.
There is a conflict of opinion between those who believe that a
speaker should speak with the utmost self-confidence and those
who hold for a more modest attitude. Senator Beveridge says very
positively: 1
"Not one immortal utterance can be produced which contains
such expressions as, 'I may be wrong,' or, 'In my humble judgment,' or, 'In my judgment.' The great speakers, in their highlest
moments, have always been so charged with aggressive convictions
that they announce their conclusions as ultimate truths. They
speak 'as one having authority,' and therefore, 'the common people
hear them gladly.' "
1 Reed's Modern Eloquence, Introduction to Vol. XII.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


However true this may be of "great speakers, in their highest
moments," one is not always delivering "immortal utterances."
Certainly Lincoln was a great leader, yet he often spoke with humility, calling himself "a humble man," and taking tile utmost pains
to explain his conclusions. IIe was always respectful of the opinions of others; and even when President, and when delivering his
addresses which Senator Beveridge says will live, he never spoke
in an aggressive ex-cathedra manner. Read the Gettysburg Address and the two inaugural addresses. IHe speaks with unassuming dignity, as the President, but as one who rather minimizes than
magnifies his authority. There is not the voice of command, but
that of a father to his elder children.
I will quote again from wise old Benjamin Franklin, who knew
how to manage men. IHe tells us in his Autobiography, that he as a
youth practised the Socratic method of argument, much to the discomfiture of others.
"I practised this method for some years, but gradually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence, never using when I advance anything that may possibly
be disputed, the words ccrtuinliy, undoubtedly...; but rather
say, I conceirc, or apprehend, a thing to be so and so: It appears to
me, or I should not think it so and so, for such and such reasons;
or I imagine it to be so; or If is so, if I am not 'mistaken. Tlis
habit. I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had.
occasion to inculcate my opinions and persuade men into measures
that I have been from time to time engaged in promoting.... I
wish well-meaning and sensible men would not lessen their power
of doing good by a positive assuming manner, that seldom fails to
disgust, tends to create opposition, aind to defeat most of those purposes for which speech was given us."
Following Franklin's policy, we should not attempt to lay dbwn
any positive rule on this matter. Much depends upon the situation.
In leading a great mass of men, who are more or less suggestible
and largely in harmony with the speaker, the positive assertion may
be best; but in winning over thinking men Franklin's way is usually
better. Much depends also upon the speaker. Most of us had
best leave the hurling of thunderbolts to the Luthers and Mirabeaus.
Modesty, like other personal characteristics, is a matter of delivery as well as of composition. I recall a
student who was "drilling"'    a speech on war. His manner implied strongly that his audience was very wrong
in their militaristic leanings and that he was, rather rebukingly, setting them     right. He admitted that this
was his feeling. But after several critics had objected,




326


PUBLIC SPEAKING


he was brought to see that he was a very young man,
talking to many presumably wiser in general; and that
it was more becoming to him to submit his ideas for our
consideration, vigorously and self-respectfully, but yet
modestly. He had a notable success; yet he did not
change a word of his speech.
Self-respect. If the circumflexed tones of condescension are objectionable, even less persuasive are the circumflexes of one who holds himself too cheaply. No
audience will give respectful attention to one who does
not respect himself. It will scorn the man who lacks the
courage of his own convictions, and who seems to be
begging his audience to tolerate him and his ideas. One
may be sure that such an attitude did not go with Franklin's modest phrases. No suggestion regarding modesty,
courtesy or tact, should be taken to mean that a speaker
should fawn upon his audience. An audience respects
manliness above all things, and has far more regard for
a good fighter than for a devotee of "soft soap."
Beecher, in his lecture on Oratory, speaks of throwing a
sop to the Cerberus of envy, prejudice and jealousy
which guards the gate to men's minds; but no one who
knows his career, and especially knows his speech in
Liverpool in 1863, which has become the standard example of a manful, yet tactful fight with a hostile audience, will think that he meant any unmanly fawning.
Self-respect demands, too, that although the speaker
must reveal himself frankly, he must not become unduly
familiar or sacrifice his personal dignity. I recall hearing a candidate who was running for the office of Secretary of State in California, making a stump speech in
his college town. Unfortunately his reputation lingered
and the audience begani calling for one of his old
"stunts."   He was reluctant, but finally gave us a song




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


327


and dance. The crowd enjoyed the act, but I doubt if a
single applauder felt that this was the man to be elected
to a high office.
I am glad to believe that there is no reason why one, from the
low standpoint of expediency, should sacrifice his self-respect and
dignity before the American electorate. A certain wealthy and
dandified young man in a New York state district became a candidate for Congress. lie put aside his fine raiment and went among
the farmers in a scare-crow costume. Outraged by this affront to
their intelligence, they "snowed him under" at the polls. By the
way, how should lie have dressed?
Good humor. Better than humor is good humor,
which enables us to meet all sorts of situations, however
strained or awkward, with a smile. Good humor is a foil
for the most dangerous attacks of an opponent, and is the
surest means of winning over a hostile audience. Good
humor, too, is consistent with dignity and seriousness of
purpose. Besides, though many of us can never succeed
as wits, we can all cultivate good humor. And it needs
cultivation, for geniality is rather generally lacking in
young speakers.
How much more effective than a tart tu quoque, or you 're another, was Lowell's whimsical way of reminding the British that
they had the quality they criticized in us. (See p. 310.)
The worst thing a speaker can do ordinarily is to show
anger. It is a favorite trick of debaters and advocates
to drive an opponent into a display of wrath. This not
only destroys his authority with the audience, but is
likely to cause him to make damaging, absurd or conflicting statements. There is great force in righteous indignation when a strong man, for a proper cause, boils over
with wrath; but do not have a low boiling point.
Interruptions from    the floor try the temper of the
stump speaker; but if he keeps good natured he can




328


PUBLIC SPEAKING


usually be sure of having the sympathy of the audience,
who will not demand a very high grade of answer. If he
loses his temper he will usually find himself in their bad
graces.
Lincoln in the debates with Douglas came, as was natural under
the long strain, to some pretty sharp encounters with his able and
audacious antagonist; but never was his good nature destroyed,
though he was sorely tried and we find him saying in the Ottawa
debate, "It is fortunate for me that I can keep as good-humored
as I do, when the judge acknowledges he has been trying to make
a question of veracity with me."  When he finds it necessary to
rebuke Douglas for misrepresenting his views on the proper position
of the negro, he does so in a way which is good-humored, but at the
same time makes the Judge understand that Lincoln is not all meekness: "Anything that argues me into his idea of perfect social
and political equality with the negro is but a specious and fantastic
arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a horse-chestnut
to be a chestnut horse."  When he is interrupted by a rowdy with
"Put on your specs," in allusion to his difficulty in reading, he
replies simply, "Yes, sir, I am obliged to do so; I am no longer
a young man."
Manifestly good humor is helpful in maintaining fairness, courtesy, and self-control.
Self-control. It is a truism that "To be a master of a
situation a man must first be master of himself."        We
instinctively turn for guidance to men of poise, who are
not only unruffled under provocation, but also calm in a
crisis; not, however, to the man who is cool from indifference, but to the man who under strong feeling yet
remains master of his powers. Such a man on the
platform will be able to speak with an authority never
granted to one whose control is easily destroyed. He
will also be able to think of the right thing to say when
it should be said, not next day; and to judge the mood
of his audience, whether assenting or resisting, and in
every way to adapt himself to the situation.
Sympathy. Whatever a speaker's purpose he needs




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


329


sympathy, in order that he may understand what his
hearers are interested in, what motives move them, what
beliefs and prejudices they have. Not only must the
speaker understand human nature, he should have a fellow feeling for those whom he addresses. And not only
should he have this feeling, but he should be able to manifest it, to seem a friendly man, interested in those he
addresses.
To be sympathetic, to put one's self in the other fellow's
place, one needs imagination. We recall, in this connection, that imagination must have material with which
to work; and this gives opportunity to emphasize again
the advantage of wide experience and wide knowledge
of many kinds of men.      And, having material, the
speaker in his preparation should definitely exercise
imagination upon it, in order to realize the situation and
the feelings of those to be addressed.
Tact. The speaker who is fair, reasonable, courteous
and modest, who has a sense of humor and maintains
good humor, and who, above all, is sympathetic, will probably have tact,-"the ability to do or say the right thing
at the right moment, or better, to avoid doing or saying
the wrong thing."   Tact seems to be a gift granted to
some and denied to others, but the worst blunderer should
be able to improve. The way to go about it is to study
other people and cultivate consideration for their feelings. One cannot be tactful by rule, and a manifest
effort to be tactful is not tactful. There must be a sympathetic understanding. Much of the preceding discussion of persuasion might be placed under the heading of
tact, but a few special suggestions may be helpful.
Sympathetic understanding is more than just being
kindly disposed toward others. We all know people as
inept as the Newfoundland puppy who shows his affec



330


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tion by planting his muddy paws on his master's dress
clothes.  Tact involves both    good feeling and understanding.
We all know people who call general attention to one's defects
and failures, who heap moral precepts upon us when we are merry
or angry; who try to soothe us as angry children when we think
we are filled with righteous indignation; who insist on rehearsing
their successes when we are sore over defeats; who put us in the
wrong without leaving an opening for our wounded pride to escape; who come fairly oozing pity for our ignorance and desire to
set us right, and proceed to tell us what we should be fools not to
know. Then there is the student who comes in to say, "Professor,
I have got to be excused to-day," or "I must pass this course"; or
to say that the work for which he was conditioned was unessential;
or that he is being "held up on a technicality"; or perhaps, very
kindly, "I find this paragraph of yours rather muddy."  Now, one
who does not realize that these things are tactless and that such
remarks make it hard for one with the best of intentions to keep
exclusive attention upon the matter in hand, who cannot feel, for
instance, the difference between the remark last quoted and, "I do
not understand this paragraph," should surely give much attention
to his tactfulness.
Be careful of convicting your audience of ignorance.
A student speaker began: "I believe many are ignorant
of what forestry really is, and I wish to tell you."    The
statement was correct but unnecessary, prompting the reaction: "Well, let's see if you know so much. "    Another
student speaking of the campus provoked the question,
"Don't you think we have seen the campus?"          He was
right in assuming that we had not really seen the campus,
with eyes open to its beauties; but a tactful speaker
would have reminded us of things half seen, rather than
told of them as new.    A young man talking to Civil War
veterans, would do well in presenting facts outside their
range of information, to ascribe them to his authority,
preferably one of their generation; or he may tell of
newly discovered evidence.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


331


I do not mean that a speaker need hesitate to give
information needed, and to do so in the most direct way,
in most cases; but he should avoid humiliating his hearers. Student speakers should give this matter some attention, for they do not always distinguish between
preparing a speech and preparing a report in economics,
in which they naturally wish to appear as wise as possible.
Do not put your audience hopelessly in the wrong.
You know the man who in an argument is crammed full
of facts and authorities, has an appalling memory, demolishes your every point with relentless logic, leaving
you not a leg to stand on and triumphantly forcing you
to yield,-but no, you refuse to surrender. You take
refuge in some side issue, you refuse to accept his
authorities or believe his statements; you turn to such
personalities as, "TWell, if you know so much," or, "Of
course we are all fools and knaves"; you do many things
you are ashamed of rather than acknowledge his triumph.
If he would generously acknowledge your correctness so
far as you are correct, and acknowledge the justice of
your viewpoints and feelings, you would promptly yield.
The speaker's business will sometimes be to prove
that the majority of his audience are in the wrong, but
he need not insist that they are altogether wrong. They
will not be on any debatable question, and many of their
errors are of no account anyway. Sometimes one may
ignore their errors and tacitly assume that they hold
correct views. In any case, one should not make his
attack more personal than is necessary, and foreclose
the whole case by treating all who differ as fools, bigots,
or knaves. "I am sorry for such a narrow-minded
person," said a young speaker, referring to any one who
held the opposite view.    I recall a speech upon the
" popular review of judicial decisions," which implied




332


PUBLIC SPEAKING


that all who favored the plan were rascals intent upon
wrecking the courts and our whole governmental system.
After I had convinced this speaker that the advocates of
the plan were patriotic men, he came back with a speech
which acknowledged that they might mean well, but
implied that they were very silly. As between being
called a fool or a knave most of us would prefer the latter
epithet. But epithets are not necessary; certainly not
for one's audience.
Consider the case of a young man, just out of college, addressing
elderly people and expressing contempt for their ideas and customs;
referring to the religious ideas to which they were trained as old
fogyism, and exhibiting pride in his own advanced ideas. "All
that is overthrown," he says; "Professor Conclusions has proved,
etc. Nobody believes that way now."  None but a boor would talk
that way, do you say? I have heard young men, ordinarily courteous, talking that way. No one is so illiberal toward the views of
others as your young liberal.
Must one pass over the errors of his hearers? Not at
all. Prove them wrong. Bring the facts and the arguments and prove their beliefs wrong. But don't triumph
over them too much; let them acknowledge they are
wrong. Don't "rub it in."
There is generous admission implied in this statement of a missionary to a Confucian, which makes the advice more palatable:
"You need the power of Christ to enable you to obey Confucius."
A hint may be taken from an article entitled, Cleaning up the
American City: How Mrs. Caroline Bartlett does it.1  Mrs. Bartlett went to Montgomery to make a "survey."  She did her work,
and then called a meeting, to which came city officials, dairymen,
bakers and others quick to resent criticisms, especially from an outsider. "Tactfully she put her compliments first,-the gratified citizens learned that their water supply was excellent, their sewer system and street cleaning work good, the refuse collection exceptional.
They beamed as they were congratulated upon the remarkably good
work done by their health officials.... Then they listened courageously while the speaker revealed the conditions in the bakeries,
some of the schoolhouses, and the city jail. There was great ex1 American Magazine, September, 1913.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


333


citement after Mrs. Bartlett left, but the officials and the women's
clubs went to work in accordance with her advice."
Do not unnecessarily stir up prejudices. A speaker
must often boldly face prejudices; but there is no good
reason for stirring these up unnecessarily, and especially
those not involved in the issue.
On the Saturday preceding the election of 1884, Dr. Burchard
made a speech for Blaine in New York City, in which he declared,
"Democracy stands for Rum, Romanism and Rebellion."    Within
an hour it was spread over the city, by means of chalk, placard
and newspaper, that a Republican speaker had attacked the Roman
Catholic Church. PBlaine, whose own wife was a Roman Catholic,
dared make no statement, fearing Protestant prejudice. Cleveland
carried New York State and with it the presidency, by only eleven
hundred votes, and many think Blaine's defeat was due to this unguarded sentence of his advocate.
No better speech for the study of tact will be found than Booker
T. Washington's address at the Atlanta Exposition. This will be
found, with the enthusiastic comments of Southern white men, in
Washington's Up from Slarery, which contains also many wise observations on speech-making, and especially on tactful adaptation
to the audience. The speech, with an account of the occasion and
its success, will also be found in Baker's Forms of Public Address.
See also in the same text, Phillips Brooks's speech on the Fourth
of July delivered in Westminster Abbey.
Do not put every suggestion on the plane of duty.
There is surely occasion for preaching, for exhortation to
duty; yet we do well to limit this so far as we can without
sacrificing definiteness of suggestion. One becomes indifferent to duties when he is told of them too constantly;
as here in this college world, that it is one's duty to support every conceivable activity, to cultivate the acquaintance of all sorts of men, to saturate one's self with music,
to read   good   books every     available fifteen  minutes,
to attend the special lectures, to live, in short, an impossibly strenuous life.    One wonders why duty is the
only motive appealed to, and why nothing is presented
as a pleasure or an advantage.




334


PUBLIC SPEAKING


A speaker wishing to secure support for the children's gardens
movement, began with our duty to the poor. Had he interested us
in the children and the work that has been accomplished, his plea
would have been more effective; we might have wished to help, or
even offered to help. A speaker, earnestly wishing to induce a group
of students to interest themselves in the lonesome, detached members
of the community, began with a vigorous denunciation of the general indifference. He improved his speech much by first setting before us the situation, winning our sympathy by specific examples.
We recognize that much depends upon the relation of
a speaker to his audience. In the case just mentioned, a
student speaking to students on student duty would be
less likely to provoke a resisting spirit than would a
member of the faculty. Sometimes a position of authority enables one to urge duty more acceptably; sometimes
less acceptably. We are more willing to take preaching
from a preacher than from one without special license to
urge duties upon us. We take it more kindly from the
old than from the young. A speaker accepted by an
audience as a friend or a trusted counselor can venture
to give advice that would be resented coming from
another. Yet the man of age and position is apt to speak
with deference. A well developed sense "of the general
fitness of things" is a great asset to the speaker.
Roosevelt's African and European Addresses furnishes a basis
for an interesting study of tact, especially the speech before the National University at Cairo and the address at the Guildhall in London, in both of which he attempts, with apparent success, to advise
other peoples how to manage their affairs.
It is folly to lay down precise rules. At times the most direct
announcement possible or the most direct exhortation is best. We
do not like manifest "beating about the bush."  If a student speaker
has as his purpose to raise money for an unfortunate fellow student,
which will be more effective with you: to announce his purpose at
once, or after describing the case? How will the occasion affect
the problem? Suppose the occasion to be the banquet of a society
to which the unfortunate does not belong? A class in public
speaking? A meeting of the class or college to which the unfortunate does belong?




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


335


Do not suppose that tact is necessary only when dealing with
the especially bigoted. A college faculty is nmde up of men with
more than average training in the open-minded consideration of
problems; yet tact is needed in faculty meetings. Of a certain
distinguished professor's speeches in faculty debates, a colleague
says: "We admired his diction, his logic, his splendid arrangement; and we had to admit that in his attacks upon certain student
activities he was to a great extent right. But he was so tactless
that he never won a vote. He spoke as in a vacuum. I have heard
X [naming a scientist] say, 'He was often right, but I never voted
with him.' " As a result of long contact with scientists and scholars, I testify that, outside of their special fields, they reason more
calmly, but only a little more calmly, than the "average man."
Tact calls for nice distinctions in the use of allusions
and words. We have already noted the effect of unfortunate illustrations. Tactlessness is often due to the blundering of one of limited vocabulary, or of one who does
not feel the difference between      expressions; as, for
example, between we ought, and you ought, we are wrong
and you are wrong, I have proved and I have tried to
prove to you. I must confess that, when sitting as a
debate judge, the expression, We shall prove absolutely
and We have proved to you beyond a doubt, make me
scrutinize the arguments with severity.
Sincerity. Nothing is so fatal to persuasion as the
suspicion that the speaker is insincere; while sincerity
on the part of the speaker prompts an open-minded,
sincere attitude on the part of his audience. "One has
only to examine the great speeches from       Demosthenes
to Webster to see how earnestly the orators in all parts
of their work impressed their sincerity on their audiences;
one has but to consider the wrecked careers among orators
to realize that sincerity is the chief essential of persuasion. Without it all else, in the long run, goes for
naught.'"    The commonness of the device, detestable
1 Baker, Principles of Argiumentation, p. 302.




33S6


PUBLIC SPEAKING


when dishonest, of charging hypocrisy against an opponent, especially a political opponent, proves the importance of a reputation for sincerity. If it be suspected
that a speaker is for sale, ready to use his persuasive
powers for any cause for a consideration, either money or
position, or that he is advocating a public measure for
the sake of his private interests, or that he is driven to
one side or the other by pique, as when a man changes his
party after failure to secure a nomination, at once his
influence wanes.
The best way to be believed sincere is to be sincere.
This we considered in the chapter on emotion. The best
way to resist unfair charges of insincerity is, by a course
of fair dealing with one's public, to build up such a reputation for sincerity as will of itself refute the charge.
It is not often best to discuss one's own sincerity unless
one has been attacked on that score; as had Demosthenes when he delivered his masterpiece, On the Crown,
and Webster in the Captain Joseph White case. One
may, if he feels it needed, set forth facts to prove his sincerity in any case, without specifically raising the issue.
A speaker should not permit himself to declare as his
belief what he does not believe. Apart from the question
of common honesty, he cannot afford to develop the
insincerity which is bound to show itself in the tones of
his voice and in a hundred subtle ways; just as it shows
in the tones and manner of one who for a considerable period has sold goods he does not believe in. I
have occasionally found among young men a belief that a
speaker has some peculiar license to misstate facts and to
advocate views he does not hold. This is a most dangerous doctrine, subversive of all integrity in public speech.
Nor is this the view of his audience. They will agree
with the fiery words of Demosthenes to iEschines:




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


(337


"What greater crime can an orator be charged with than
that his opinions and his language are not the same?
Such is found to be your character. And yet you open
your mouth and dare to look these men in the face."
A  "stump" speaker has no more license than others.
Certainly he lowers his moral dignity if he permits himself to be used as a mere mouthpiece.
This question of sincerity arises in school and college debating.
What is the position of a speaker assigned to the side he does not
believe in? In the first place, the audience does not understand
from the appearance of a speaker on one side of a school debate
that he necessarily believes in that side; rather that he is stating
as well as he can the arguments for that side. There is no deception. Is he then to be condemned, provided he refrains from the
conscious use of unsound arguments, misrepresentation of facts, and
from declaring personal beliefs which are not genuine? In the
second place, very rarely can such a student be said to have a conviction upon such questions as are debated. He thinks he believes
in the affirmative of the resolution, "A minimum wage should be
established by law in New York."  Put him on the negative and
in a week he will wonder how he ever believed in the affirmative.
Old or young, few of us have studied such questions enough to have
a right to a conviction upon them. Usually these questions are well
balanced; there are good arguments on both sides. Many a student
enters these debates with so little conviction that his choice of sides
depends upon the first article he chances upon. Or, with the resolution instanced, he feels that he is for helping workers generally,
but when he studies the subject he may be convinced that a minimum wage is not for the good of the workers. I have too often
changed these so-called convictions with three minutes of talk, to
take them seriously. In the third place, the debater who has looked
at but one side of a question is benefited, both as a debater and
as a thinker, by being compelled to consider with care the other
side. Until he has done this he has no right to a conviction. As
a result of considering both sides he may, after the debate is over,
arrive at a genuine belief. The method may not be ideal, but it
leads students into a study of problems so much more sincere than
the study of the average man, and of the average undergraduate,
that it must be advocated as a good. The very few who have real
convictions in advance can be accommodated. I should hesitate to
ask a student to speak against the side he genuinely believes in,
even in a school debate; for the temptations are strong. It must




338


PUBLIC SPEAKING


be admitted that student debaters are at times insincere in their
debating, just as they are elsewhere. But when Mr. Roosevelt condemns debating, of which he admits he has no direct knowledge,
as teaching insincerity, he ought, to be consistent, to stop encouraging young men to enter politics, where the temptation to accept and
to advocate all of a party platform is far greater and more insidious
than the temptations of debating. Is it not well that young men
should meet such temptations first under the direction of teachers
rather than of bosses?
Earnestness. Those who say that sincerity is the
chief essential of persuasion must include in the word
the idea of earnestness. The twoJ Yp       s--o-velap but do
not coincide. A man may be sincere in his indifference.
Earnestness involves seriousness and ardor. An audience will forgive a speaker almost any lack, if he is manifestly in earnest about his proposal. If he is not really
in earnest, there seems to be small reason why we should
trouble ourselves; if he seems to care very much there
is reason to suppose his cause worthy attention. Earnestness moves our emotions, thaws our indifference, and gives
us the faith which a leader must create. "No one can
give faith," says Matthew Arnold, "unless he has faith;
the persuaded persuade."
We like earnestness, even when we smile at its excesses.
Of course, desperate earnestness is not expected on all
possible proposals, upon the grading of a street as well
as upon the removal of a moral nuisance; but whenever
one attempts persuasion there is expected the degree of
earnestness befitting the subject. And an audience will
rarely complain that their speaker is too earnest about
his cause, though they may complain that he takes himself too seriously. Of course, we should not confuse
earnestness with mere noise and redness of face; and on
the other hand, we should not suppress earnestness for
fear of making a noise or of getting red in the face.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


339


A cynical habit is bad for a speaker. Sneering or flippant speech may amuse for a moment, but it quickly
chills an audience. It destroys the sincere, positive, earnest tone which rouses and warms. Often, too, he who
indulges in cynical speech permits himself to be unfair
and to sacrifice truth to smartness. Unfortunately,
many, especially in college communities, cultivate the
habit of cynical speech, a habit hard to break.
Persuasion is not trickery. There are those who feel
that consideration of the methods of persuasion is not
consistent with sincerity, and who especially complain
that when we talk of tactful ways of dealing with an
audience, we are following the example of the ancient
Sophists, who seem to have conceived of rhetoric as the
art of making the worse appear the better reason, of
making fallacy plausible, and of leading men against
their judgments. There is no doubt that many of the
suggestions of this and the preceding chapter, and indeed
the whole art of public speaking, may lend themselves
to unworthy ends. When Aristotle begins his Rhetoric
he recognizes that the art has been prostituted by Sophists
to the ends of falsehood and injustice, and makes a defense of his undertaking. I quote from Professor Jebb's
summary:
"Rhetoric is useful, first of all, because truth and justice are naturally stronger than their opposites. When
awards are not duly given, truth and justice must have
been worsted by their own fault.    [That is to say, because they have not been as well represented as falsehood and injustice.]  But what if it be urged that this
art may be abused? The objection, Aristotle answers,
applies to all good things, except virtue, and especially
to the most useful things. Men may abuse strength,
health, wealth, generalship."




340


PUBLIC SPEAKING


This is no academic question to be discussed in a
philosophic vacuum; it relates to one of the most practical
phases of human life, the influencing of men in their
everyday relations, large and small. We shall do well
to remind ourselves again that the ethical questions
which arise are essentially the same whether we are on
or off the platform. On or off, persuasion may be attempted by unfair or dishonest means, or for unworthy
ends. But no man is entitled to criticize a public
speaker for using persuasive skill, for adapting his plea
to the given audience, unless he himself is quite as ready
to refer to Jefferson Davis as a traitor in Mississippi
as in Massachusetts, to tell the man from whom he solicits
a subscription that he is a skinflint, to remind his middleaged hostess of her years, to introduce a speaker as an
unknown from whom the chairman knows not what to
expect, and in general refuses to use tact to oil the hinges
of everyday intercourse. However much we may condemn the insincerity of some social customs, we all recognize that in social intercourse a degree of tact is even a
virtue. In private persuasion, too, we all recognize that
to adapt our argument to the one addressed, is wise and
justifiable.
No clear line can be drawn between right and wrong
in the matter of persuasive methods. The honest man
will be on his guard, on the platform or off, and will
endeavor to keep a goodly distance on the right side of
such a wavering line as an enlightened conscience may
reveal. He will not wish to have or to deserve a reputation for trickiness. He will not seek to deceive his
audience concerning his convictions, or practise that half
suppression which amounts to deception.
But honesty does not demand that we speak all our
mind or tell all the truth all the time. Even the oath




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


341


to "tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth," is not held to mean that a witness must tell all
he knows regardless of its relevancy to the issue. Honesty does not require that we arouse a man's opposition
on all subjects when we wish to persuade him in regard
to one; that we antagonize his race pride when we only
want him to vote for a cleaner city. A young speaker
while discussing the relations of employers and employees, went out of his way to sneer at church members.
When criticized for giving unnecessary offense to many
just employers, he replied with a rebuking air, "I say
what I think!"     Had his theme been the shortcomings
of church members in regard to the labor problem, it
would have been quite a different matter. It is often a
speaker's duty to tell his audience unpalatable truth, and
then he should speak fearlessly. But even then, if he is
really eager to gain acceptance for his truth, he will not
be heedless of how he approaches his audience. The man
both honest and just will not fail to observe that, while
there are times for words like clubs or the "whip of small
cords," there are more times for kindlier methods. He
will never be willing to confuse honesty with discourtesy,
egotism, or bigotry. The man who combines honesty
with sympathetic understanding of others, and earnestness of conviction with tolerance, will be both sincere and
tactful.
To those troubled over this matter, and I am not sorry there are
such, I commend the speeches of Paul as reported in the Acts of the
Apostles. When one remembers the sternness with which he uttered rebukes, and remembers the sufferings, even unto death, which
he endured for his convictions, one will hardly accuse Paul of being
an insincere trickster. Yet he was one of the most persuasive of
speakers. The largest elements in his persuasion, no doubt, were
the faith, the convictions and the character of the man; but skill
was not lacking. The Authorized Version of the Bible makes Paul




84


PUBLIC SPEAKING


begin his address to the Athenians: 1 "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed
by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Certainly this would not have been
tactful before those Athenians, proud of their culture: but we
have better sense and better persuasion if we adopt the translation of the noted Biblical scholars, Conybeare and Ilowson: 2 "All
things which I behold bear witness to your carefulness in religion...  Whom, therefore, ye worship, though ye know Him not, Ilim
declare I unto you." A cutting criticism becomes an approach to
a common ground.
Paul goes on to speak of the God who "hath made of one blood
all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth,... that
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and
find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him
we live and move and have our being: as certain also of your own
poets have said, For we are also his offspring." The reference to
an Athenian altar, the reminder of the kinship of all races, the
quotation from their poet, and the unusually philosophic tone of
the speech as a whole, were all attempts to win a favorable hearing.
Read also Paul's speech before Agrippa. He came before Agrippa
as a prisoner to make his defense: "I think myself happy, King
Agrippa, because I am to answer for myself this day before thee
touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: especially
because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which
are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently."
Some one has pointed out that Paul paid Agrippa, one of the most
dissolute rulers of his time, almost the only honest compliment possible. It was Paul who said, "I am become all things to all men,
that I may by some means save some"; that is, he adapted himself
to his hearers. But he never compromised his message, never adulterated the truth, and never flinched from plain speaking.
Persuasion is good or bad as we make it. It is right
to persuade men if it is right to influence and lead them.
Who has spoken with more glowing approval of the power
of the orator than Emerson? I should not dare go so far:
" That which he wishes, that which eloquence ought
to reach, is, not a particular skill in telling a story, or
I Acts, 17: 22.
2 Life and Epistles of St. Paul, Vol. I, p. 445.




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


343


neatly summing up evidence, or arguing logically, or
dexterously addressing the prejudice of a company,but a taking sovereign possession of the audience. Him
we call an artist, who shall play on an assembly of men
as a master on the keys of a piano,-who, seeing the people furious, shall soften and compose them, shall draw
them, when he will, to laughter and to tears. Bring him
to his audience, and, be they who they may,-coarse or
refined, pleased or displeased, sulky or savage, with their
opinions in the keeping of a confessor, or with their opinions in their bank-safes,-he will have them pleased and
humored as he chooses; and they shall carry and execute
that which he bids them."'
Making the impression enduring. We should bring
together here certain ideas from the preceding discussion
of persuasion, which bear upon the problem of maintaining belief and affecting conduct in the future, after the
personal influence of the speaker and the impulse of the
occasion have faded. The speaker may wish to control
the action of his hearers at some time, days, months or
years after his speech; or he may wish to start them on a
course to be continued for a long period; as when he is
urging a student body to give steady support to athletics,
or when a preacher urges righteous living. In either
case the task is more difficult than when the action aimed
at is immediate. No sure solution of this problem is possible, but some suggestion can be made.
The problem is still that of attention. Pillsbury,1 after
stating that voluntary action is the result of attention,
says that the remote act is the same as the immediate,
"except that the movements are delayed to await an
appropriate immediate stimulus in another set of circumstances.... It is decided, for example, that if
sufficient money is available one university will be at1 Attention, p. 160.




S44


PUBLIC SPEAKING


tended, if not another will be chosen.... The decision acts at once to control and influence later attention."  That is, if you induce a man to-day to determine that if it rains next Friday night he will go fishing
with you Saturday morning, when the rain comes he
gives no attention to any other course than going fishing.
Sometimes, Pillsbury says, "the decision may even act
in advance to make attention at the moment practically
unnecessary." That could hardly be in so important a
matter as going to college; nor can we make sure that
when the moment for action comes, attention will not turn
to alternative actions; for example, we could not make
sure that the young man desirous of going to a certain
university, would give over all thoughts of it, even
though sufficient funds were not forthcoming. He might
yield to the temptation to go there anyhow. An adviser
who in July wishes to make sure that the young man will
follow the more prudent course in September, will endeavor to impress the reasons for that course upon the
young man's memory so that they will persist and will
surely recur at the moment of final decision.
Now we are told that impressions persist according
to their primacy, frequtency, recency     anid vividness.
Of primacy little is to be said, except that the adviser
will make it a point, if possible, to impress his views
before other views are fixed. Recency is the one element
that is lacking when we consider future action; but
the term suggests the desirability of renewing one's
advice near the time of final decision. Frequency we
have often emphasized in terms of repetition; and vividness in our discussions of imagery and concrete, specific
and pungent phraseology.
We see again, also, the importance of sound argument,




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


345


that will stand the test of later examination and hostile
attack. The farther we are looking into the future, the
less we can depend upon suggestion, personal influence,
or enthusiasm, and the more we must depend upon conviction. Particularly do we need to fix in the minds of
our hearers arguments that are clear, simple and readily
remembered. That adherent is not very firmly attached
to your cause who can only say when challenged, "Well,
I remember that when I heard the argument I was convinced, but I cannot remember it now"; or, "I do not
quite understand it now." Brutus's speech was good
while it lasted, but it was not of a character to stick in
mind; and Antony's more vivid speech drove it from
attention.
Again, the keener the interests with which a proposal
and the arguments for it are associated, the better they
will cling; and the larger the number of these interests
the more likely they are to be suggested again and again
to the hearer's mind. Motives should be enlisted which
are strong and also which are constant with those persuaded,-their everyday working motives and not merely
\ those that are awakened by special inspiration. The desired action should be thoroughly associated with customary modes of action and with fundamental beliefs, which
are themselves fixed and persistent.
Much reliance must be placed upon the "set" of mind
established, upon the mood of conviction. Arguments,
precedents and authorities can be used to create the feeling that the proposed course is sound, correct, respectable, safe, noble, whatever is desirable; while the alternative course and the arguments for it can be made to
appear unsound, unsafe, ignoble, associated with unworthy persons and despised courses,-in general, given




346


PUBLIC SPEAKING


a character which will cause them to be hustled out when
they presume again to present themselves at the antechamber of consciousness.
It will be seen from the preceding that the emotional
attitude established is of high importance. It is a mistake to suppose, what is often asserted or intimated, that
a conviction established by pure logical argument will
persist longer than one which is supported by emotion.
The strongest conviction rests upon both reason and emotion. Provided the emotional attitude toward a given
action or belief persists, reasons will usually be found to
support it, though the original reasons have faded from
memory.
In particular, the "wish to believe" should be given
enduring strength. If one can awaken a persistent desire, one may be confident that it will "tend to maintain
the idea of its object or end at the focus of consciousness."
Emotions fade, but "when the emotion has run its course, there is
often left a permanent residue... that may be designated as a
mood. This mood may be vague and uncertain,.. or definite and
clear. In the latter instance it may be termed an 'emotionalized
prejudice'; that is, a predisposition to act in certain characteristic
ways in the presence of an object around which center marked feeling values. Prejudices of this sort are easily found in politics,
morality and religion. When once formed they are extremely difficult to overcome." 2 It should be said that the writers of this
extract give no sinister meaning to the term prejudice. To them a
prejudice may be either good or bad. They add: "Not only may
a mood be the result of an emotionalized upheaval; it may become
the starting point of a new expression of the emotion."  Applying
this statement to our work, if one awakens a strong emotion in
his hearers, which results in a mood, that emotion will readily be
awakened again by the circumstances with which it has been associated.
1 See quotation from McDougall at p. 196.
2 Colvin and Bagley, Human Behavior, p. 84,




PERSUASION AND BELIEF


347


We have before noted the value of inducing one's hearers to commit themselves at once, when the principal
action desired is in the future, so enlisting on one's side
the force of inertia which keeps men moving in courses
once begun, reluctance to break with associations once
formed, and also the pride which makes us reluctant to
appear inconsistent.
Work to do. It is assumed, of course, that the student
of this chapter will take his opportunities to apply the
principles in persuasive speeches, particularly those which
seek to overcome active opposition. He may also profit
by studying speeches of the orators. For his present
purpose those speeches are best which have sprung from
historical crises. Eliot's Debates, containing the proceedings of the conventions that in the various states first
adopted the National Constitution; the debates of Webster and Hayne and Webster and Calhoun on the issue of
Nullification, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates, are well
adapted to the purpose. Speeches of to-day, concerning
matters great and small, will prove suggestive; but the
historic contests can be better grasped because of the work
which historians and literary men have put upon them.
The student should give much attention to the occasions
of the speeches studied, and give fair attention to both
sides. He should read with care the brilliant speech of
Hayne as well as the famous Reply; the arguments of
Douglas as well as those of Lincoln.
Perhaps the best single study will be found in Bouton's The Lincoln and Douglas Debates, which contains four complete debates of
the series, the Springfield and the Cooper Union speeches of Lincoln,
and a good introduction and notes. Harding's Select Orations Illustrating American History is an excellent work, though there is
too much abbreviation of speeches. Wlebster's Great Speeches contains a good selection of his works, and is especially valuable as including Whipple's essay on Webster as a Master of English Style,




348


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Webster's complete works fill many volumes, edited by Edward
Everett. But in studying his great debates go to Debates and Proceedings in Congress, or to Benton's abbreviation of the Congressional debates.
Conclusion. After all this discussion of persuasion,
I have to say that the subject is by no means exhausted.
It is as large as human nature. It is a subject that grows
upon one with experience. I have not tried to fix dogmatic rules for a subject of such complexity. My hope
is that the student will acquire such an interest that he
will continue the study, and such a grasp of principles
that he can make his study profitable. The study will by
no means be confined to books and speeches, but will force
itself upon the attention of one interested, in every relation of life. The principles given can be tested and
elaborated by your own experiences, in influencing others,
and in being influenced by others. You can study persuasion in your relations with those with whom you have
dealings,-with those in authority over you, with those
over whom you have authority, and with those with whom
you must coiperate. You can learn a lesson from         the
advertisement, the business letter, the gentleman who
solicits your subscription for a book or a charity, the
candidate who seeks your vote, the student leader who
would arouse "college spirit," as well as from       every
movement and every propagandist of the time.




CHAPTER X


SELECTING TIE SUBJECT
SELECTING the topic is sometimes the most difficult
part of making a speech. The speaker in court, in the
legislature or the convention, and, to a great extent, in
the pulpit, finds his theme prescribed for him. The
theme of the so-called occasional address, also, may be
dictated with more or less definiteness by the occasion;
as at a dedication or a celebration. But there are times
when the occasion permits such wide latitude that one
feels at a loss; and there are times when the demand is
simply for a speech, and the chairman of the committee
on arrangements says with the utmost generosity, "Oh,
just anything at all!"   The problems that arise from
such a situation, and some which are common to all occasions, call for consideration. The student in a speaking
class especially needs some suggestions.
Instead of mooning about with the vague question,
What in the world can I speak about? the seeker after
a bright idea should put to himself certain questions
which will define his possibilities.
1. Does the occasion suggest an appropriate theme?
Little needs to be said under this head except that we
should avoid violently wrenching an occasion or a theme
from its natural trend, or disappointing the expectations
of an audience. For example, if an audience has gathered to do honor to a man, they may resent, or at least
his friends may resent, your failure to render due honor
349




350


PUBLIC SPEAKING


to him. A Founder's Day celebration at which no
mention is made of the founder does not please his
descendants. The less personal the feeling of one's
hearers for the hero, the greater the liberty allowed in
theme and treatment. Washington's birthday has become merely a patriotic holiday; but we can hardly say
the same of Lincoln's birthday. Again, an audience may
come together because they wish to hear a certain theme
discussed, either because it is the theme of the hour, or
because they particularly wish to hear the speaker of the
occasion on that theme. One may have good reason for
refusing to meet the expectation of his audience, but it
is not lightly to be ignored.
If the first question must be answered in the negative,
one should then ask,
2. Is there an appropriate subject in which I am
interested, and in which I can interest my audience?
The student who cannot think of an interesting theme is
a common figure in classes in public speaking. If he will
go to his instructor in time, instead of taking Capital
Punishment at the last moment, there may be help for
him. It is usually unwise to assign a topic; for he is too
likely to accept it without real interest. " What are you
interested in?" inquires the instructor. The astonishing
answer often given, "Nothing," really means, nothing
that will do for a speech. The student's interests are so
near him often, that he cannot see them; or so familiar
that he assumes no one would care to hear of them.
"What are you studying?" is the next query. Perhaps economics is the student's present interest. There
are, of course, no end of topics for speeches in that field;
such as labor questions, socialism, or the single tax. All
are too large for short speeches, but they admit of subdivision. Political science suggests numerous topics;




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


851


such as the initiative, the recall, city managers, bossism,
and Tammany Hall.       Social science is even more fruitful
of good topics: the problems of philanthropy and social
welfare,-college settlements, playgrounds, junior republics, summer camps, prison reforms, eugenics, etc. History  presents many     themes which     can  be related to
present-day   problems, and     many    characters of high
interest. Literature, especially the drama and the novel;
the law, engineering, agriculture,-in fact, every field of
study offers something, if only one can recognize it.
One student gloomily told me that his specialty was Latin, and
no one could get a topic out of Latin. "But why are you studying
Latin in this age and place?" he was asked. "Are you not ridiculed by your friends who are so wise and practical about chemicals
and engines?''"  e made a speech which was at least as wise as the
average facu(lty debate on educational problems; and lie commanded
interest. To a desIpairing law student was told how a class had answered the question, "H-ow many prospective lawyers here?" with
"None; we are all honest!"  He was stirred to a speech on the
ethics of law.-a theme which usually arouses the interest of both
lawyers and laymen. Laymen like to hear, also, of certain law
problems tlhat arise in ordinary affairs, or are discussed in the papers, such as injunctions.
Unless a student, however, has done a considerable
amount of work in the field from      which he proposes to
draw a topic, there is little hope that he will have gotten
his bearings in it, found out who the authorities are,
what men have thought about it, what theories are exploded and what proved sound, will have assimilated the
matter and determined his beliefs, to such an extent that
lie can deal with it justly. IIe will do much better with
a topic from a study taken last year than from one quite
new to him. A student submitted socialism as a theme,
saying he was just beginning a course in the subject. It
was evident his ideas were of the vaguest, else he would
not have thought to present so large a topic in five




852


PUBLIC SPEAKING


minutes. It should be further observed, by one taking a
theme from   class work, that to give a mere resume of
lectures is not very profitable as training; since the search
for and arrangement of material is an important part of
our work, and public speaking is the expression of one's
own opinions; and also that such a procedure is not
honorable when an original speech has been called for.
My own classes usually begin with campus topics;
that is, subjects that are or ought to be discussed among
students. These have certain advantages: the speakers
have first-hand knowledge of these subjects; and they
and their hearers have keen interest in them. These
themes tend to keep the beginner from assuming strange
tones and poses, and help him to come into touch with his
audience. A student addressing students upon student
interests does not feel that the rituation is abnormal.
And it is a good thing for students to study the problems
of their campus life, upon which they often have prejudices rather than information and reasoned beliefs.
The vices of campus topics lie close to their virtues.
Too often students feel that no search for material and no
thinking is needed on these themes, and that it is not
worth while to treat them with care or present them with
dignity and effectiveness. They too rarely get at the
principles involved by thorough analysis. The difficulty
is plainly more in the treatment than in the topics. But
inasmuch as campus topics do not as a rule furnish much
development, it proves best to limit their use, once a
class is well launched, to those instances in which there
is reason to believe that thorough-going work will be
done; and on those terms we have some strong speeches.
Some of the best of our recent speeches at Cornell, winning orations in fact, have been upon such topics as College "Activities,"
and "What is College for?" Topics that have proved good in class




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


353


are: Should the University control boarding houses? To what
extent is the University responsible for the lives of its students?
The honor system  (in its various forms), Co-education, Professional coaches, Summer baseball, "Wet" banquets, Theory and
practice in professional courses, Should "bread-and-butter" courses
be given in the Arts College? The four-year residence requirement,
Working one's way through college. Any one of these, though
they may be treated very superficially, permits of high-class work, in
getting at the facts, in finding foundation principles, and in meeting the views and prejudices of the audience.
One speaker's vice which is peculiarly noticeable in
speeches on campus topics is that of "carrying coals to
Newcastle."    That is, the student speaker proceeds to
retail facts and ideas which are the commonest of table
talk, as if telling something new. But the fault is less
a matter of topic than of failure to work. A student
wished to speak on the seemingly threadbare topic, Our
need of dormitories. This question was put to him,
"Why don't we have dormitories?         All agree we need
them, and the University has funds that might be used."
He   began   an   investigation. University     publications
offered little; so he went to the treasurer, who gave him
the facts ascertained by a committee of the trustees. The
student came back convinced that the trustees would not
be justified in using the funds of the University for
dormitories, which would make but a small financial
return, and that we must wait for gifts. He made the
only speech of the many I have heard on the subject
that was worth making.
There are questions of immediate interest to students
which are not strictly campus topics. One of the best
speeches I have heard recently was on the proposition
that students should not do summer canvassing. Many
of the speaker's auditors had done canvassing and resented his strict res. The situation was very real and
somewhat exeing. Answers were forthcoming. The




354


PUBLIC SPEAKING


speaker had simply gotten hold of a common ethical problem as it related itself to the experience of his audience.
One on the hunt for a topic will do well to consider if
he has had any unique experiences, or has known any
interesting characters, or has lived in a place of peculiar
interest.
A student replied to my random questioning that his home was
in Cleveland. "What do you know of Tom Johnson?"      "Oh, I
know a lot about him; I am related to his family." "Interesting
man, was he not?"   "I should think so!" "Well, anybody who
knows Tom Johnson and what he did ought not to lack for subjects. By the way, how about your 'Golden Rule' chief of police?"
The student grinned. "Why, I never thought of those things.
Had no idea what to talk about. Got two or three subjects now."
He was never again at a loss.
Another student who had failed to find a good topic in a whole
term, threw himself on my mercy. All my probing came to naught.
He had had no special experiences. His home town was commonplace. As an afterthought he remarked that he had spent most of
his winters in Charleston, South Carolina. Now, what could be
more interesting to a Northern audience than the first-hand information he had about the life of that once belligerent city? He
knew old confederate majors and old plantation negroes; his family
from ante-bellum days had owned a plantation near the city, on
which could be studied many of the South's problems. He knew
the Northern point of view and the Southern: yet he did not want
to talk of the South or her problems, he said, because he did not
know enough about them! Ile would have tackled, on the slightest
encouragement, the currency bill or the revolution in China, but
he did not know enough of the South. His first reaction was.
when urged to speak of the South, "Where can I find material?"
In a way he was right; he did not know enough. But he was urged
to arrange first his own facts, impressions and opinions; and then
to read widely, including the work of men of many casts of opinion
about Southern problems. A large undertaking; but then he had a
fine opportunity to produce some splendid speeches. lie did not
need to do all at once; but could have begun on a course that would
have developed such a fund of material and ideas, that he would
never have been at loss for a popular theme in later years.
A conventional conception of public speaking sometimes causes one to overlook good subjects; such as those




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


355


pertaining to business, machinery, and in general to how
things are done. Business methods and business can be
made both interesting and profitable. Popular science
and machines and manufactures often offer good suggestions. The advantages and disadvantages of certain
types of engines, or of tires, are of interest in this motoring age. How to make automobile tires, Diesel engines,
the production of certified milk, have proved interesting
topics when handled by students who really knew whereof
they spoke.
Many students come to feel that in the long run they
are more benefitted by working upon the economic, political and social questions of the day, because they think
they learn more of permanent worth. Certainly it is
well that students should take more interest in the questions of the day than most of them do; but a judicious
mixture of subjects seems best.
The chief moral of these remarks is: Look about you
and look in yourself for topics. Get your eyes open for
them, and you will find more topics than opportunities for
speaking. There is a speech in almost any subject, if
you know how to get it out; though it may not be worth
while to get it out in every case.
The case is not hopeless even for one who can find no
suitable interest existing in his mind. If he will make up
his mind to do genuine work upon some subject which
he feels he ought to understand, he may gain benefit
from the study, as well as make a fairly good speech.
Let him go to the periodicals and look for suggestions;
but not to find an article that will furnish him all needed
material. He should use his wits upon the material,
utilizing the directions of Chapter IV.
Or one may take a notable book as his starting point.
The book will be worth reading for its own sake; and if.




356


PUBLIC SPEAKING


it serves, as it should, to cause its reader to do some
independent thinking, he will not only have something
to say, but a genuine desire to say it. Books written by
authorities, but in a semi-popular vein, are best for the
purpose. Many such are suggested to a student in his
various courses. One seeking suggestions in some special
field, as engineering, law, or       agriculture, may     ask
specialists in those subjects what are the notable books
that might prove stimulating.
A few books will be suggested here: Bryce's American Commonwealth, Lowell's Public Opinion and Popular Gorern)meat,
Lippmann's Preface to Politics, Fiske's American Political Ideals,
Belloc and Chesterton's The Party System, Roosevelt's A utobiography, McCall's Thomas Brackett Reed, Brande's Ferdinand Lassalle,
Thayer's Life and Times of Cavour, von Buelow's Imperial Germany, Dawson's Germany and the Germans. Birrell's Obiter Dicta,
Conklin's Heredity and Environment, Schreiner's Woman and Labor, George's The Intelligence of Women, Vallery-Radot's Life of
Pasteur, Essays in American History Dedicated to Frederick
Turner (Read first the essay on Kansas), Chesterton's Heretics,
Rice's College and the Future, Fitch's The College Course and
Preparation for Life, Eliot's The Training for an Effectire Life,
Fulton's College Life: Its Conditions and Problems. (See list of
"Reference Works" at the back of this book.)
Certain plays and novels, read thoughtfully, may provoke reactions that will serve as impulses to speak; for example: Ibsen's
Ghosts and his Enemy of the People, Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma, Galsworthy's Justice, Barker's The loysey Inheritance,
Butler's Erewhon, Meredith's Ecan Harrington and his Ordeal of
Richard Fererel, Wells' Mr. Brittinyg Sees It Through.
Mind you, this is a "last ditch" method of finding a
subject. The best topics will come out of the speaker's
experience,-in the broad sense of the term,-out of what
he has been doing, observing, reading, thinking, before
the search for a subject began.
This "working up" of a subject is, of course, not possible for one who puts his choice of a subject off till the
last moment. There must be time, not only for gathering




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


357


material, but also for assimilation. Ordinarily we cannot expect good results unless a speaker in choosing his
subject two weeks in advance (which is the minimum
time he should allow himself), has already a good deal
of knowledge and interest in regard to it.
3. What purpose do I wish to accomplish?    So far we
have assumed that the speaker has no purpose beyond
interesting; but generally he will wish to inform, convince
or persuade. As Genung has said,' the speaker chooses
an object rather than a subject; and then he chooses a
theme that will serve his object. A stump speaker, for
example, has as his object the winning of votes; but he
may choose any one of many topics to serve his purpose,the tariff, the woolen schedule, control of corporations,
which party has the worst bosses, or economy. Even
when a speaker's general theme is prescribed by the
occasion, he still may make the theme serve his own
purposes. Thus on Lincoln's birthday, one may honor
Lincoln's memory while using his authority to support
a policy, or to condemn the party he helped to found.
George William Curtis was able to grace with his oratory
all sorts of conventional occasions, such as dedications,
commencements and the banquets of societies, and at the
same time to preach most effectively a high type of
patriotism  and civic righteousness. Without a seriouspurpose occasional addresses are likely to be bombastic,
dreary or absurd affairs. The Gettysburg Address is
masterful in the way Lincoln makes his more evident
and his more serious purposes serve each other.
In considering purpose, the speaker may well ask himself if there is any object to be served by discussing the
topic under consideration before the prospective audience. Speeches in my classes which urge the need of
1 Practical Rhetoric, p. 238.




358


PUBLIC SPEAKING


a new gymnasium     and this and that change in administration, would be much more appropriate if they could
be addressed to the trustees or the faculty. But this is
fully as much a question of the adaptation of material
as of choice of topic.
A student offered this for his first speech: The student help
at the -   cafeteria should have a rebate on their meals. lie was
interested and oblivious of the fact that we had nothing to do with
the matter. His next offering was, Why our glee club is so successful. The speech turned out, as feared, only a glorification of a local institution,-a poor speech because there was nothing to accomplish.
4. Is the topic congruous with the mood of the occasion? This is also largely a matter of treatment, but
it is evident that some topics are too heavy or somber,
and some too light for certain occasions; and that an
attempt to adapt them would produce absurdity or worse.
5. Will my audience wish to hear this topic discussed
by me?    This has been sufficiently considered in Chapter VI.
6. Can the topic be properly treated in the allotted
time?   Most subjects can be treated briefly or at great
length; but some suffer greatly in a brief discussion.
Some topics require much preliminary explanation with a
given audience, and some depend for their force upon a
wealth of detail, as is the case with a speech intended to
impress the audience with the character of a person.
There may be times when it is important to cover a
whole broad topic in a speech; but usually it is best to
confine one's self to a subdivision which can be fairly
treated in the time allowed. Yet only with the greatest
difficulty can some be made to believe that it is better to
give a thorough treatment of one idea, make one point
"stick," than to give a cursory treatment of many points.
There is a natural desire to tell all one knows of an inter



SELECTING THE SUBJECT


359


esting subject, and a liking for completeness. If one has
proved an evil, he feels that he ought to set forth a
remedy. And there is a less worthy reason in the fact
that it is easier to give a superficial treatment of a large
topic, such as socialism, than a thoroughgoing treatment
of one phase. So we have many speeches in which many
points are touched but all left in confusion, many motives
are mentioned but none pressed home, and in which
neither evil nor remedy is established.
In trying to meet the very real difficulties imposed by
the limits of time, when one wishes to speak on a topic
which requires elaboration, one should consider the particular audience, and ask himself what it can be depended
upon to know, what its points of view are, and what it
believes. Perhaps the audience in a given case can be
depended upon to agree that the evil exists. Then after
a brief statement to put the subject definitely before them,
the speaker can proceed at once to the remedy. Perhaps
there is one argument which will draw others with it;
or one motive that is all sufficient.
7. Is the topic too difficult for oral presentation under
the circumstances? Subjects may be too intricate and
difficult for oral presentation, especially when there is
little time, or when the audience is not well informed.
Some philosophical and scientific questions are not available before general audiences; though much depends
upon the skill of the speaker, as is evidenced by Huxley's
lectures on Evolution. I may instance the following as
topics upon which speakers have failed because of inherent difficulties: The gyroscope compass, The fourth
dimension, Non-Euclidean geometry, The crawl stroke
in swimming.
Topics suggested. Now that we have some general
ideas on the choice of themes for speeches, we may profit




360


PUBLIC SPEAKING


by a list of topics, though such a list can be only suggestive. There is no intention that students shall confine
themselves to this list; nor is it expected that they will
find in many instances that the subjects as stated are
exactly suited to their use. In the first place, no two
minds work just alike and what one has found good may
not suit another; and in the second place, many of these
topics are much too broadly stated. They are put in
merely to suggest possible fields, and should be much
limited. The chief hope in giving this list is to make
the student react by thinking of some kindred topic
which is what he needs. The list will do more harm than
good if it is made a substitute for independent thinking.
The classification is very loose; and many of the topics
will fall in one or another class according to treatment.
Two final suggestions: Do not look for perfection in a
subject. Remember, a pretty good topic in time is better
than an ideal topic that is found too late for good preparation. And do not look rapidly over several pages of
topics, dwelling upon none. A student said to me the
other day:    "I have looked over two pages of your suggested topics and haven't found one I could talk on five
minutes."    Of course not; for he did not dwell upon any
long enough to get to thinking about it and to see what
its possibilities were. Find the group that seems most
promising, and then go over it slowly, making a little
analysis of any topic that seems at all promising. Less
looking and more thinking is needed.
CAMPUS TOPICS
The honor system: (One of these phases.) The moral question
involved. What is "cribbing"? The pure honor system. The
system with machinery for enforcement. Should students under
an honor system be required to report cheating? Should they be
required to place a pledge upon their examination papers? Should
there be one system for all the colleges of a university? Should




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


361


the honor system be extended to include compositions, reports, etc.?
Does the presence of a proctor in any way justify cheating? The
student's sense of honor. May a student ever conscientiously help
another during an examination?
The upperclassmen's right to rule. Faculty responsibility for
student conduct and its limits. Should the faculty ever censor
student publications? Does the faculty govern too much? Should
there be three days of vacation at Thanksgiving? Senior societies.
Student activities vs. studious activities.
Rise of intercollegiate athletics. Development of football. Why
is football the great student game? College life without intercollegiate athletics. Athletics and the development of sportsmanship.
Athletics at Oxford compared with athletics at --. Commercialization of sport. Professional coaches. Do athletics cost
too much? Should the university levy an athletic tax? Should
a varsity athlete receive college credit on easier terms than others?
Cheer leaders: How select them? How much leading should
they do? Ethics of cheering at games. Winning games from the
bleachers. Limits of proper support for a team. Let the better
team win. Should the coach direct the game? Inducing preparatory school "stars" to come to one's college.
Defense of the "grind."  Value of regularity in college routine.
Students and efficiency. Following the crowd in college. The
excuse habit. Should student competitions be limited and regulated? Does it pay to go through college if one must earn his way
by table waiting, caring for furnaces, etc.? How to earn one's way
through college. Should students vote in their college town?
Should a college town be "dry"? Large college or small? Should
students be "rushed" for fraternities in the first term? Student
responsibility for the college's reputation.
Is the main benefit of college learning to deal with men? Is it
the best place for that purpose? Is it worth while to "play at
business" in college? A liberal arts course for the business man.
A liberal 'arts course for professional men. What is a trained
mind? What is culture? What is education? Is law a cultural
subject? Engineering? The education of Oxford. Of the German university. The free elective system. Spencer's view of education. When should specializing begin? Should the A.B. degree
be given for a course which omits, for the most part, the humanities?
Should attendance be required of college students? Should a
student be compelled to do his college work? Should there be final
examinations? "Confessions of an Undergraduate."  (See in the
Outlook for July 28, 1915, an article with this title, and replies in
several later numbers.)  Are our standards too low? Is compul



362


PUBLIC SPEAKING


sory military drill in a university a good thing? The evils of free
tuition.
Advantages of a year's leave of absence from college during one's
course. Should a university be advertised? Are athletic teams
and glee clubs the best advertisements of a university? Should a
student who is "working his way through college" be passed on
easier terms than others? Should an instructor's pity for a student
have anything to do with his marks? A student's idea of a proper
excuse system. Individuality and a college education. Should the
state support higher education? Is there a good return on the investment?
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
The boss in politics. The sources of his power. Is he a necessary evil? How may the boss be eliminated? How Tammany
gets the votes. Literacy test for voters. The short ballot. The
recall. The initiative. The Governor's initiative. Commission
Government. Experience of Galveston (or any other city which
has tried commission government). Commission government for
large cities. City managers. Home rule for cities.
Independence in politics. Party spirit. Party loyalty. The
Mugwump movement. Civil service reform. Curtis, the independent. Cleveland and Civil service reform. "To the victor belongs
the spoils."  Mr. Bryan on the reward of party services. Is he
right? If so, how far? Is strict party loyalty the best road to
office? Influence of the independent voter. Think for yourself.
Public ownership of water plants, of lighting plants, of street
railways, of telephones. Inheritance tax. Single tax. A living
wage. Minimum wage laws. Syndicalism, or the I. W. W.
Immigration: A danger to our institutions. To labor? Should
we object to those immigrants who earn money and carry it away?
What kind of immigrants do we want? Distribution of immigrants.
How can we wisely restrict immigration? Japanese immigration.
Is California justified in her attitude?
The liquor problem. Effect of alcohol on the human system.
Effect on the skilled worker. Liquor and the English factory
worker. Temperance and teetotalism. Economics of the liquor
problem. Is prohibition right in principle? Can prohibition prohibit? The case of Maine. Of Kansas. Local option. State
prohibition. National  prohibition. State  dispensary   system.
Army canteen. Liquor and the war. How Sweden handles her
problem. The manufacturer's attitude. Sunday selling. Personal
liberty. Best attitude for young man toward liquor.




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


368


SOCIAL PROBLEMS
The habitually poor. Should we let the destitute die off? The
thrifty pauper. Giving to beggars. Organized charity. State
tramp  farms. Poor    houses. Children's  homes. Neighborhood
nurses. Playgrounds and swimming pools. Vacant lots for gar(lens. Child labor. Why children work in factories. Why should
not children work? Right of the state to limit labor of women and
children in their freedom of contract. Low wages and morality.
Welfare work of employers. Model villages. Profit sharing.
Criminals  and  vagrants. The   probation  system. Juvenile
courts. Honor system for convicts. "Welfare leagues" in prisons.
Stripes and the lock-step. Is the criminal 'esponsible for his
crime? Prison labor. Reformatories vs. prisons. Obligation of
society to provide healthful prisons. Prisons as schools of crime.
Insanity as a defense in criminal actions. Increase of homicide in
this country. Lynching.
The feminist movement: What is it? Effect on marriage. On
the home. "Women, once our superiors, now       our equals."
Women, in the industrial world. In education. As politicians.
"Taxation without representation." The right to vote. Does
woman need the ballot? Does woman wish the ballot? Women
and the liquor problem. Women as office-holders. Militancy.
Women's suffrage and social welfare.
TOPICS FOR EXPOSITION
How fishes swim. (Every one thinks he knows, but few do know.
Such a topic proves interesting.)  Circulation of the blood. What
is homeopathy? The germ    theory of disease. Serum  therapy.
The action of narcotics. Fertilization of flowers. Mendel's law.
Acquired characters. The weather map. How trenches are made.
Outposts. Supplying an army in the field. Range finding. The
American serve in tennis. What is religion? What is philosophy?
Science? What is Hedonism? Pessimism? What is hypnotism?
The origin of language. What is socialism? What is gambling?
What is a contract? Contributory negligence. Intoxication as a
defense. Conspiracy in restraint of trade. How the workingmen's
compensation law works. Water rights.
How   paper is made. Portland cement. Coke manufacture.
Hamburg's filtration system. Mine ventilation. Slides in the
Panama Canal. Building the Detroit River tunnel. Principle of
a four-cycle gas engine. The carburetter. The magneto. Making fertilizer from the air. Perpetual motion. Why the aeroplane
flies. How a phonograph works. How a horse is trained. How
the salt beds 2,000 feet under Ithaca were formed,




364s


PUBLIC SPEAKING


SUBJECTS FOR PERSUASION
Most of the topics suggested in this list may be treated persuasively. If you wish to urge your hearers to do something to
which they have no strong objections, take such a theme as, The
need of exercise, Read good books, Don't waste your time, Take
an active part in politics, Keep out of debt,
If you are to make a speech to exercise your skill in securing
conviction when strong beliefs and prejudices are involved, choose
such as these: Professional coaches should be abolished, The University should impose an athletic tax, Immigration should be
checked, National prohibition, Garrison deserves our gratitude,
There should be a censorship of moving pictures, Sunday tennis, A
larger navy, Gas-electric cars are best adapted to the -   line.
HISTORICAL
Origin of the Constitution. States rights and centralization.
(May be treated historically and also as related to present.) Why
the Union was formed. Problems confronting the constitutional
convention. Compromise in the Constitution. Development by interpretation. Comparison with the British constitution. Strict
construction. John Marshall. Hamilton. Jefferson.    Madison.
Responsibility of the President. Slavery in the Constitution. New
England and the war of 1812. Calhoun and nullification. Webster and the Union. Hayne's speech. Clay's work for harmony.
Compromise of 1820. Of 1850. The Kansas-Nebraska struggle.
Stephen A. Douglas. Alexander H. Stephens. Jefferson Davis.
John Brown. Garrison. Why the war came. What if war had
been avoided. Reconstruction. The United States and secret diplomacy. The acquisition of California as "land-grabbing."  England and the violation of neutrality.
Jefferson: The man. Early career. In the Continental Congress. In France. As Secretary of State. Jefferson and Adams.
Jefferson and Hamilton. As President. The Louisiana purchase.
The patron saint of democracy.
ETHICAL
"My Country, may she always be right; but-right or wrong-my
Country."  "My Country, right or wrong. If right, to keep her
right; if wrong, to set her right." Is the Golden Rule workable?
Is returning good for evil practicable? Is non-resistance feasible?
The philosophy of Omar's Rubaiyat. The view of life presented
in Ecclesiastes. Longfellow's Psalm of Life. Jacques in As You
Like It. Tennyson's Palace of Art. Browning's Rabbi Ben Ezra.




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


365


The epicurean. The active life and happiness. Education and
happiness. Aim in life. The ideal life. The Puritan. Puritan
and Quaker. Puritan and Cavalier. A typical Puritan. Puritan
and tolerance. Puritan as pictured by Hawthorne.
MISCELLANEOUS
Smoke prevention in cities should be compulsory. Should the
Chicago terminals be electrified? Use of the open caisson. Should
the course in civil engineering be made five years? Should engineers be required to take out licenses? Government control of
water powers. Motor fuel. Should engineering students be required to take English? Economics? Engineer as manager. Engineer and public affairs.
What is architecture? Architecture of Stanford University.
The Parthenon. The Pantheon. The Grand Central Station in
New York City. Its arrangement. Its style. Foundations of the
Woolworth building. Sewage disposal for the country home. Indirect lighting for the home. Thomas Jefferson as an architect.
Dealing with patrons. With contractors.
The lawyer in history. In Greece. In Rome. In England. In
foreign lands to-day. The law as a learned profession. As a business. As a stepping stone to other businesses. College trained or
office trained. Lawyer as citizen. As public man. As legislator.
As leader. Ethics of law practice. Defense of the guilty. Duty
to client. To the court. The shyster. The ambulance chaser.
Contingent fees. The criminal lawyer. The office lawyer. The
trial lawyer. The corporation lawyer. Psychology and legal evidence. Cross-examination. The law's delays. Necessity for technicalities. Excess of technicalities. How judges make law. A
great lawyer. A great case. McCulloch vs. Maryland. The Dartmouth College case. Allen vs. Flood. Gibbons vs. Ogden.
Origin of medicine. Hippocrates, father of medicine. Medicine
one hundred years ago. Harvey. Hahnemann. Osteopathy. Vivisection.
Journalism: Rise of. "Let me make the newspapers and I care
not who makes the religion or the laws." The press as an educator. Freedom of the press. Necessary limitations. Censorship of
the press. Political power of the press. The partisan newspaper.
Is the associated press a dangerous monopoly? Journalistic enterprise and yellow journalism. Stealing private papers. Attacks
on public men. Journalistic blackmail. Plea that the public demands sensationalism. The New York American as a newspaper
type. The New York Evening Post. Philadelphia North American. Kansas City Star. Horace Greeley. Charles A. Dana. E.
L. Godkin. W. R. Hearst. My ideal newspaper. Responsibility




366


PUBLIC SPEAKING


for advertising. For error. How much should we read the papers? The weekly reviews.
The theater. Drama in Athens. In Rome. The miracle plays.
The Chinese stage. In the days of Shakespeare. "Legitimate"
drama of to-day. Musical comedy. Effect of moving pictures on
theater business. Upon drama. The sex play. "Damaged Goods."
Shakespeare and Shaw. The college play. The endowed theater.
The theater in Germany. Joe Jefferson. Henry Irving. Charlotte Cushman.
Agitation and reform. Philosophy of reform. Of agitation. Of
conservatism. Of compromise. Lincoln and Garrison compared.
Methods of agitation.
Democracy. How much of it do we want. Yox popili, vox dci.
Democracy as an educator. Democracy and efficiency. And genius.
As a moral force.
Advertising. Attention and advertising. Advertising as persuasion. Repetition in advertising. Catch phrases. Waste in advertising. Does honest advertising pay?
Disregard for law. American tendency to tolerate abuses. The
futility and worth of institutions. Multiple personality. Modern
dancing. Novel reading. How to read books. "Seeing is believing."
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
The suggestions which follow are especially for teachers rather
than for students, but might help the latter also. They are the
product of experience with classes in extemporaneous speaking,
where a number of speakers are asked to treat the same general
topic. Many of the subjects above have been used in the same
way.
As a method of killing two birds with one stone, I ask each
speaker to prepare a lecture upon some part of a text on public
speaking; say Phillips's Effective Speaking. Not much originality
is expected, except in illustration. The text may be used to a
reasonable extent during the talk. Members of the class may ask
questions, and are held responsible for the content of the lectures
on examination.
A similar program can be worked out without reference to a particular work, with such topics as in troductions, conclusions, ethics
of borrowing, courtesy to opI)onents.
A character sketch. Each speaker is to present an actual character so that the character shall seem real and significant. The
chairman, a member of the class, may speak upon the significance
of biography. Directions to tle class are something like these:
Make your hearers acquainted with the personality you present,




SELECTING THE SUBJECT


867


Choose a person you know at first-hand, or of whom you have intimate knowledge. Let your character be one worth considering,
though not necessarily famous, and to you either admirable or the
opposite. Do not choose a familiar figure of the campus or of the
press, because there would be no real test of effectiveness. Consider which method will be most effective: a connected biography,
or selected incidents arranged about certain characteristics. Note
well that no abstract presentation of qualities can make a character
"convincing."
Variation of the preceding: Let each speaker present, A hero of
mine.
Each speaker is to make a speech upon some one characteristic of
Lincoln (or other well known character), using at least one incident
from his life as an illustration. The story is to be orderly, clear
and to the point. Details are to be chosen that give a definite impression, without superfluity and without barrenness. The story
must really illustrate, and not be dragged in.
Each speaker is to make a speech, on any subject he likes, in which
he uses a story, or other illustration, in such a way that it aids in
making the point. It must not be used for its own sake. If nothing else occurs to one, he may turn to 3Esop's fables.
(The purpose of the two preceding exercises is to encourage the
use of illustrations. Students rarely use them, and when told to,
think of nothing but stale banquet stories. Insist upon pith, point
and propriety. In order to impress certain points about story telling I often have an exercise with stories reproduced from such writers as Hawthorne. Poe, Kipling. This is always enjoyed and serves
to some extent to awaken the artistic sense.)
Each speaker on the program is to read the articles in the Nation
entitled, Observations in a Big University, Vol. 70. at pages G6 and
88, and speak on a topic suggested by them. (They have to do
with culture, democracy, commonness, table waiting, social life, etc.
Is the writer a snob, or is she right?)
Description of a phase of real life in a community well known to
the speaker, but not to the audience, if possible. Choose with care
means of making it real to us,-setting, anecdote, customs, sayings,
occupations, pleasures, anything that will serve to fix a definite picture in our minds, or make the life real to us. Do not try to convey merely the unique features.
Describe a scene to give a definite impression, as of its grandeur,
desolation, variety, etc.
Again, the aim may be simply to make the audience see the scene
as it is. Give special attention to point of view.
Religion: My point of view. It is understood that each will
speak frankly, but with entire courtesy towards those who differ.




368               PUBLIC SPEAKING
(I never submit this topic without securing the assent of all the
class to these conditions.)
One good reason for voting for (any candidate of general interest). (This program is for use just before election.)
The liquor problem. My solution.
What I get enthusiastic about.
Discussion by each member of one of the best articles that has recently aIppeared.
My favorite book. (Make your hearers want to read it.)
Read with care Dickinson's Letters of a Chinese Official, and be
prepared to speak upon any topic assigned from it. Have your
ideas in usable form. Attack or defend the book as you please.




CHAPTER XI


FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY
THE efficient use of the stores of material in a library
is an art worthy your attention; and an art so difficult
that its adequate treatment demands a volume written
by an expert. A few suggestions helpful to the average
reader can be offered here.
Finding the Books. Make a beginning on improving
the efficiency of your research, by going into the best
library within reach and browsing around. If the
library publishes a descriptive pamphlet, obtain a copy
to aid you. Acquaint yourself with the methods of
cataloguing. You will find that books are entered in
two ways: under the author's family name and under
the subject; and that only a few are entered under their
titles.
If one goes to a library to find the works of an author
whose name is known, the matter is comparatively simple.
Certain methods of cataloguing should, however, be noted.
The following is taken from the published suggestions
of the Cornell University Library:
"Books are entered under the author's family name,
unless an author has consistently used an assumed name.
A nobleman is entered under the title of nobility, and a
married woman under her last married name.
"English compound names are arranged under the last
part, e. g., Lane-Poole, under Poole; foreign names under
the first part, e. g., Pardo-Bazan under Pardo.
"Prefixes to English names, e. g., De Quincey, Van
369




870


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Buren, etc., form a part of the name and determine their
place in the alphabet; prefixes to French, Spanish and
Italian names when they are articles, e. g., LaFayette,
are a part of the name and determine the place in the
catalogue, but other prefixes like the preposition de, von,
van, etc., of foreign names except Russian, are disregarded in the alphabetical arrangement. Names beginning with M', Mc, St., Ste., are arranged as if spelled
Mac, Saint, Sainte. The German umlauts i, 6, ii, are
arranged as a, o, u."
By a little experimenting you can determine whether
or not your library follows the same methods. Do not
fail to experiment while you consider this chapter, and
translate the suggestions into working methods by
actually handling the catalogues, indexes and reference
books mentioned.
The greater difficulty arises when one goes to a library
to find works on a given subject, without knowledge of
the authors. A reference librarian tells me that the chief
cause of failure is the tendency to look in the catalogue
under the single word the searcher has in mind as representing his subject. A student once told me he could
find nothing of value on the subject of Criminology in
a library of more than 400,000 volumes. A half-hour
of searching by one who is certainly no expert revealed
more than could be read in a week. The student would
have been helped by the following suggestions:
If you do not find books under the subject heading you
have in mind, try other words of related meaning; for
example, if you do not find Reformatories try Prisons,
and keep trying until you find what you want, or exhaust
your vocabulary of words that might form the heading
for the desired books. You are likely to come soon upon
"a "see" reference. Thus the Library of Congress has
no works catalogued under the heading Penology, but




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                371
under that heading refers to Prisons, Punishments, Reformnatories. Turning to these headings, you will find
long lists of books directly upon these topics; and you
will find "see also" references to related topics. Look
for the cards bearing the "see also" references at the end
of the alphabetical list of works under a particular subject heading. For example, in the Cornell University
Library, the catalogue, after a long list of books under
Penology, has "see also" references to Criminal Law,
Prisons, Reformatories, Pardon, Punishment, Crime,
Capital punishment, Degeneration, Commutation       of,sentence, Detectives, Foundlings, Manslaughter, Insanity-Responsibility, Immoral literature, Trials-Criminal, Temperance, Women-Crime, Police Power, William Shakespeare-Criminal characters, Suicide.
You should notice that under a given subject heading
the general, unclassified works are placed first, alphabetized according to the authors' names, and that after
these are placed, in distinct alphabetical lists, books under
various subheads. Give a few minutes to observing the
use of the guide cards; that is, the cards that stand up
above the catalogue cards. It helps to note that author
and title headings on the catalogue cards are lettered in
black, while subject cards have headings in red. On
an author card, sometimes on the face, sometimes on the
back, you will usually find the subject under which the
book is classified, and this will aid you in looking up
other works on the same subject. Note that governments, states, cities, etc., and organizations which publish
reports and other works concerning their affairs, are
treated as authors of their publications. Some difficulty
may arise in finding the reports of a body which has in
its name the name of a political division. Do not look
for a report of the United States Steel Corporation in its




872


PUBLIC SPEAKING


alphabetical order under United States, but in a distinct
list after all the publications of the national government.
Much time can be saved in finding the literature on
a subject, if you can get hold of a bibliography of the
books and articles relating to it. The card catalogue
may reveal the existence of such a bibliography in your
library. Look for the catalogue cards describing bibliographies in the alphabetical position of the word
bibliography among the subheads of your subject. Get
the use for a half-hour of Kroeger's Guide to the Study
and Use of Reference Books. Or turn to the American
Library Annual, which publishes lists of bibliographies
on all sorts of subjects. A librarian can sometimes obtain for you a bibliography on a topic of large public
interest from the Library of Congress. Articles in
cyclopedias  frequently  include   bibliographies. The
Book Review Digest, an "evaluation of literature," gives
brief notices of the newest books.
The American Catalogue of Books, 1876 to date, The
English Catalogue of Books, 1801 to date, and the American book-trade publications, The United States Catalogue of Books in Print in 1912, continued by the
Cumulative Book Index, issued annually, and Publishers'
Weekly, the Peabody Institute Library Catalogue (including both books and periodicals), and the catalogue
of the Library of Congress (a card catalogue is found
in twenty-five of the largest libraries of the country),any or all of these may serve to inform you of the books
in existence on a given subject; and though the books
you want may not be in your library, still you may be
able to obtain them by purchase, by visiting a larger
library, or by loan through the good offices of the head
of your library.
The periodicals. As a guide to magazine articles we




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                  373
have Poole's Index to Periodical Literature. Read its
introduction to learn its system. Note in particular the
system of "see also" references. This covers the period
of 1882 to 1910. For later years we have the Reader's
Guide. It is published monthly and cumulated in yearly
volumes. It began in 1902, under the name of the Cumulative Index. There is also the Magazine Subject-Index
and Dramatic Index. It began in 1908. Its monthly
edition is the Bulletin of Bibliography and Dramatic
Index.
For finding articles in newspapers we may turn to the
yearly indexes published by the London Times and the
New York Times. These may be used for other papers
by taking the dates as clues. The indexes of such weekly
and monthly publications as review current events will
help in fixing the dates of newspaper items. The American Library Annual has an index to dates of importance
in each year, and the Information Quarterly is a digest
of current events that can be used with newspaper files.
You will probably find in your library the bound volumes
of several daily and weekly papers.
Legislation, investigations, reports, etc. The Public
Information Service is a bi-monthly index to investigations into state and municipal problems, court decisions
on constitutional questions, proceedings of international,
national, state and municipal organizations, civic and
social organizations, bar associations, and important
legislation. Turn to the card catalogue in a large library,
and look over the list of reports published by any state,
upon labor, taxation, insurance, education, etc. Look,
for example, under the heading "Wisconsin."      Hasse's
Index of Economic Material in the Documents of the
States of the United States is a valuable aid.
United States government publications. You will see




374


PUBLIC SPEAKING


by Kroeger's Guide that these are extremely numerous.
Among the more important are the Abstract of the
Census, the Statistical Abstract, dealing with population,
finance, commerce, products, immigration and education;
Catalogue of the Public Documents of the United States;
and the Congressional Record. There are index volumes
for finding speeches in the Record. The Record does not
include bills, which can sometimes be obtained from your
congressman. Those passed may be found by consulting
the Catalogue of Public Documents or in the United
States Statutes. To find the report of a department look
in the library catalogue under "United States" for the
name of the department. Many of these reports can be
obtained by sending a request to the proper department.
You should become familiar with some of the special
reports, as the Report of the United States Industrial
Commission.
One often wishes to gain information in regard to
particular facts rather than to find a book to read as a
whole upon his subject; and a vast number of works to
supply this need have been and are constantly being
compiled. One should not despair, before looking in
these, of finding out any fact that has interest for any
considerable number of persons. It will prove profitable
to look these compilations over, searching for information on any topics which come to mind.
The year books: The New International Year Book;
The American Year Book; The Statesman's Year Book,
trustworthy and especially valuable as giving the sources
for all kinds of statistics; the World Almanac; the
Tribune Almanac. You       should  own   one of these
almanacs.
For historical facts see: Harper's Book of Facts,
Hayden's Dictionary of Dates; Lamed's History for




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY               375
Ready Reference; Ploetz's Epitome of Ancient, Medieval
and Modern History. These are, of course, chiefly useful
for finding isolated facts, and are not to take the place
of more complete works.
For biographical facts: The Dictionary of National
Biography, the most comprehensive work of its kind, but
includes no living persons; Lippincott's Biographical
Dictionary, to the end of the nineteenth century; the
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, devoted
mainly to contemporaries, 1892-1901; Who's Who, an
English work; Who's Who in America; Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and
American Authors.
For literary facts: Granger's Index to Poetry and
Recitation, giving titles, authors and first lines; Peet's
Who's the Author? a brief account of novels, stories,
speeches, songs and general writing in America; Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, "giving the derivation,
source, or origin of common phrases, allusions and words
that have a tale to tell"; Brewer's Reader's Handbook
of famous names in fiction, allusions, references, proverbs,
plots, stories and poems; Bartlett's Familiar Quotations;
Dictionary of Quotations, by Harbottle and others, including quotations classical and modern, in English and
in foreign tongues.
If you are working on the selection, Who is to Blame,
in Chapter XIV, and wish to learn about Jeremy Diddler,
look in Brewer's Reader's Handbook, or in Webster's
New International Dictionary, in the lower division of
the page; but if you wish to learn about Dick Turpin or
Jonathan Wild, who were real characters, or about
Tweed, who is referred to under the name of Wild, look
in a biographical dictionary.
Finally, one of the most expeditious and satisfactory




376


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ways of finding material is to ask an expert in the subject
what the authoritative books are. If you ask at the right
time and in the right way, he will usually be glad to help
you. Make free use of the services of the reference
librarian: he is there to help you. But do not expect
him to do your work for you: be satisfied when he has
shown you how to help yourself.
What to read. Any book or article on your subject
may be worth reading; if not for its information and
arguments, at least for its viewpoints. But when there
is a great mass of material at hand, it is usually wise to
pick and choose. In any case, you will do well to read
the better works first. How shall you know which are
the better works? You may ask a specialist in the subject. From your searches through catalogues and indexes you will gain some impressions as to who are the
important writers on the subject. You can infer something of their standings by observing the character of
the publications which accept their articles. You can
observe which books are recommended, or noted as important, in the most bibliographies. From articles read
you can gain some idea of the names which are generally
respected. You can learn from title pages and from
Who's Who of the works produced and positions held by
your authors; or you may be able to find a more authoritative biography. You can judge from the date of publication whether the work represents the latest views,-a
matter of much more importance in some subjects than
in others. None of this evidence is conclusive, but any
of it may be helpful in determining whether a book is
authoritative and what discounts to make. When in
regard to such a remarkable history as that contained in
Prince's Dissociation of Personality, I ask a psychological
friend if it is to be taken at face value, and am told, "Yes,




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                 377
so far as facts go," I know how to read the book. Of
course, the final test of a book is the book itself; but the
less versed one is in a subject the more one needs aid in
selecting reading upon it. The tests for authorities, set
down in Chapter IX, may be reviewed and applied
here.
In any case, do not be satisfied with reading a careless
article, or with reading one article or book. Read enough
to gain a comprehensive view of your subject, and to
learn the various opinions held in regard to it.
How to read. In taking up a book, examine title page,
preface and introduction. These will enable you to
understand the book better, because you will know better
what the author has tried to do, the scope of the work,
its point of view and its limitations. You will be better
able to decide, too, whether it is an impartial statement
of facts, or a statement of facts manipulated to establish
a thesis. Look at the table of contents to get the plan
of the chapters; and look over the index, or the index
volume if you are dealing with a set of works. Time
spent in getting acquainted with a book will save time.
As for the actual reading, what better can be said than
was said long ago by Bacon? 1 "Read not to contradict
and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to
find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider."
Read, that is, open-mindedly, not with awe of the printed
page, not simply to find support for your own views,
ignoring or rejecting all that refute them, and not simply
to find pat quotations or something to fill up with; but
with mind alert for all the truth and with critical judgment. Read and think, and think more than you read.
Compare what you read with what you already have in
mind. Keep in mind as you read any special bias of the
1 Bacon's Essays, On Studies.




378


PUBLIC SPEAKING


writer; for example, in reading Mills or Ricardo on
economics, remember that they wrote as believers in the
doctrine of laissez faire.
Bacon continues: "Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts;
others are to be read but not curiously [carefully]; and
some few are to be read wholly, with diligence and attention." Ability to skim books wisely is needed by every
reader; but it seems that students to-day are sent through
so many books in haste, in the preparation of so many
ill-digested papers, that there is danger that they will
never gain the ability to master, or exhaust the possibilities of a page. The work with selections is a help to
thorough reading. "Beware of the man of one book,"
says a proverb, and like most proverbs this expresses a
great half truth. The man of one book is likely to be
narrow and to overlook the possibilities of the opposition;
but his complete mastery of one view of a subject makes
him a dangerous antagonist for the man of vague ideas
and information. The speaker should read rather widely
that he may know all sides of his question, and thus be
honest with himself and his audience, and also know what
to expect from the opposition; but he should "chew and
digest" some of the best works on his subject.
Taking notes. At times one may read just to soak
himself full of a subject, and wish few notes; but most
often he wastes time if he does not pin down what he
reads. The ideas which seem perfectly clear as he reads,
grow hazy and slip from memory; the facts which he is
sure he can remember or turn to when he needs them,
quite elude him. He may wish to use them a long time
after his reading.
Some may prefer to read a book through before taking




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                 379
notes; others to take notes as they read. A good method
is merely to jot down on a slip (Do not mark the book
unless it is your own!) the pages on which useful matter
is to be found, and then make complete notes after finishing the book. As for the manner of taking notes, the
following suggestions are offered, in addition to what was
said in Chapter IV:
1. Use cards of uniform size, the size you determine
is best for your card index.
2. Place on a card matter relating to one sub-topic only.
3. Quote from the original source, if possible.
4. Always make an exact reference to the source at the
time you make a note. You may wish to state this in
answer to a challenge, or to return to the book for verification or additions.
5. "Quote exactly, and use quotation marks."
6. "Indicate omissions by means of dots, thus...
7. "When you supply your own words inside a quotation, inclose them in brackets [thus]."
8. "Indicate at the top of each card the main subject
or issue to which the evidence relates, and the sub-topic."


PERSUASION                       THEORY
James, Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 452.
"We thus find that [Italics J's] we reach
the heart of our inquiry into volition when
we ask by what process... the thought of
any given action comes to prevail stably in
the mind."


SI am drawing freely here from Foster's Argumentation and Debate, p. 78.




380


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Do not imagine that these suggestions are intended
to make extra work. If I had followed for the past
twenty years the advice I am giving, I should have saved
myself much waste of time and labor.
As a final suggestion on reading: Do not suppose that
a speaker should depend entirely upon special reading
for a given speech. Phillips Brooks said to the Yale
divinity students:'
"One preacher depends for his sermon on special
reading. Each discourse is the result of work done in
the week in which it is written.... Another preacher
studies and thinks with far more industry, is always
gathering truth into his mind, but it is not gathered
with reference to the next sermon. It is truth for truth's
sake, and for that largeness and ripeness and fullness of
character which alone can make him a strong preacher.
Which is the better method?      The latter, beyond all
doubt. In the first place, the man of special preparation
is always crude; he is always tempted to take up some
half considered thought that strikes him in the hurry of
his reading, and adopt it suddenly, and set it before his
people, as if it were his true conviction. Many a minister's old sermons are scattered all over with ideas which
he never held, but which held him for a week."
This quotation bears, also, upon our next topic.
Originality. It is proper to follow a discussion of the
sources of material with some consideration of originality. The speaker upon the platform is understood to be
giving an original speech, unless a statement is made to
the contrary. What is the meaning of the term original
as here used? No very definite answer can be given;
but one can arrive at a working conception. Baker
speaks of "the reaction of an individual mind on the
1 Lectures on. Preaching, p. 157.




FINDING MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                381
material." 1 That may serve as a definition of originality. Essenwein puts the matter thus:2
"How does my mind work when it receives a new
truth?
"Does it enjoy the truth, and then give it out again
unaltered, exactly or substantially in the same words?
That is quotation, if credit is given to the author; otherwise it is literary theft.
"Does my mind feel stimulated, upon receiving truth,
to produce other thoughts, and yet utter the received
thought without change? That is expansion.
"Does my mind not only receive a stimulus from new
truth, but also assimilate it, transform, clarify, and
amplify it, so that in uttering that truth I utter it
stamped with my own image and superscription? That
is originality.
"...An original thought is a new birth,-the fruit
of a union of truth from without and of thought from
within."
Originality may consist in finding a new phase of a
subject, in working out a new analysis, or a new viewpoint; or in applying an old truth to a new situation.
Each age must adapt old knowledge, the product of
earlier ages' experience, to its new, or seemingly new,
circumstances, and restate it in terms of the new day.
"A thought is his who puts new youth in it," says
Lowell. Certainly we do not demiiad an absolutely new
thought; for, as has been said, one absolutely new thought
to a century is a high average. It is enough that an individual has really reacted to the old ideas. That is a
high degree of originality when one has come to a clear
realization of a truth as the result of experience, even
though the truth was in his first copybook. "The burnt
1 Forms of Public Discourse, p. xix.
2 How to Attract and Hold an Audience, p. 51.




882


PUBLIC SPEAKING


child " has an original idea when he first learns by experience that fire does burn. I recall a student who
came in with a great desire to write on Compensation, a
thought which had come to him          from   a certain  experience and which he supposed really new. It was
honestly original, though as old as the first thinker.
We admit a degree of originality, also, in one who
gives an old idea freshness of treatment and puts it in
a superior way.
1 "For we call a thing his in the long run,
Who utters it clearest and best."
Negatively, we may say that one who sits down to
make an abstract of an article or a chapter, taking out
topic sentences and changing a few words, is not doing
original work. Nor is he though he does not use a single
sentence from his author, so long as he adopts the
author's ideas and standpoint. To paraphrase may be a
very good exercise in speech training, but it is not meeting a requirement for an original speech. The case is
somewhat more hopeful when one reads two authorities,
compares them and writes a speech based upon both.
But we cannot establish any rule for originality based on
the number of works read. It is the thinking, assimilating and reacting that count. We may safely say that if
one will follow out the directions in Chapter IV, in regard to the stages of preparation, he will be fairly
original.
It would be hard to give a better description of original work,
when one must base his speech upon the material of others, than this
quoted from a student by Professor Baker: 2
"In working up both my forensics this year, I read a great deal.
My mind kept in a perfect boil all the time, and after each book
or article I seemed to have a different conformation of ideas. Ideas
1 Franciscus de Verulamio sic cogitlarit. Lowell's Works. Vol.
IV. p. 197.
2 Principles of Argumentation, p. 387.




FINDING      MATERIAL-ORIGINALITY                383
of my own that I had started out with were totally or almost entirely changed in the end. Nor had I apparently changed them for
those of any one else. They were not on the other hand original[?].
I am sure some one hlad thought of every one before. In fact. they
had flashed through my own mind in a vague way at different times
in my life...  I had taken the ideas of other men and molded
mine by them. My application was often very different from the
npplication of tlhe authors themselves, yet I had used them and
owed them something."
There is a moral aspect to this question of originality,
which seems to demand attention. One sometimes finds
astonishing views prevailing. A student took an oration,
transposed some sentences, struck out here and there a
clause, presented it as an original speech and defended
his action. I recall hearing a man of some distinction,
in an address to arouse martial spirit at the beginning of
the Spanish-American War, declaim eloquently, without
acknowledgment, large sections from      a speech by Wendell Phillips. A friend of mine holds in his hands proof
that a certain college president preached a baccalaureate
sermon taken largely from the printed sermons of another college president. Does not the moral sense of
mankind condemn such practices?        The natural anxiety
of the friends of the college president mentioned that the
proofs of his plagiarism shall not be made public, indicates that there is a moral obligation upon a speaker to
be original in some fair sense of the word.
On the low ground of expediency, plagiarism is inadvisable. There were at least two persons who heard the
speaker declaiming from Wendell Phillips who were able
to "give him away."      A visiting preacher in an Ithaca
pulpit assumed that no one read printed sermons; but
one little woman did, and she forced him to a humiliating confession.
I find no reason to suppose that the standard of originality is lower for speakers than for writers. We must,
of course, consider in a given case what is understood by




3881


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the audience: there may be times when a speaker is
understood to be but a mouthpiece. He has been sent
to represent another person or an institution. Again,
speakers under certain circumstances will be understood
to have used certain authorities.
A speaker should be quick to acknowledge his indebtedness, when acknowledgment is due. He will not lose
by so doing, but gain in the respect of his audience.
When acknowledgment is due cannot be laid down definitely; but the honest man will make sure he goes far
enough in this direction. One is not bound to give
credit for ideas taken from the great common stock, even
though he knows that a certain writer has expressed
them, unless he is borrowing that writer's form. For
example, I was told the other day that the suggestion
made in Chapter VII, in regard to tact in giving information the audience should possess, had been made by Poor
Richard. Possibly I got it from him; but I feel no obligation to give credit for such a commonplace, though I
might wish to cite so strong an authority as Benjamin
Franklin.
There is no use in trying to lay down rules about originality. The unscrupulous man will cheat any rules on
such a subject. The honest man will keep himself from
fraud when he realizes what honesty demands; and he
can best do it by thorough mastery of facts and genuine
thinking. I trust that no student who has studied this
text will ask, as did one who was criticized for merely
boiling down an editorial, "What more can one do?"




CHAPTER XII


EXTEMPORANEOUS OR WRITTEN-PLANS AND OUTLINES
SHALL the speech be written or extemporaneous? This
is a question which causes much argument, in which it
seems to be assumed that one way must be right on all
occasions and for all persons, and to be forgotten that the
question is, not written or extemporized, but good or
bad, and good or bad under the circumstances.
The question is not one to be answered categorically.
Much depends upon the speaker, the nature of the speech,
and the occasion. Each method of speaking has its
merits and defects, its uses and abuses. As regards the
conversational elements of delivery, these methods were
considered in Chapter II. I hold that the well equipped
speaker should be able to speak by every method, and
should practice all, especially as a learner.
The extemporaneous speech. By the term      extemporaneous we have come to describe, not a speech without
preparation (that we call impromptu), but a speech which
is not written out in full. This is the most popular
method, and sometimes it is the only method feasible.
Its peculiar merit is its greater adaptability to a situation.
There are times when, though the speaker can arm himself with facts and lines of argument for all probable
emergencies, he cannot tell in advance what will be
needed. There is, indeed, on almost any occasion, an
advantage in being able to adapt one's discourse to the
varying condition of one's auditors. The extempora385




886


PUBLIC SPEAKING


neous speaker can, also, profit more from the inspiration
of occasion and audience than can one who has written
his speech.
Beecher, who believed the extemporaneous method best
for most occasions, warned young speakers against "the
temptation to slovenliness in workmanship, to careless
and inaccurate statement, to repetition, to violation of
good taste."'1 The tendency to slovenliness is very
marked. The extemporizer is likely to seize the first
word that comes to mind, whetther it is just the right word
to express his meaning or not. He tends to use one word
instead of its synonyms, which would more exactly express shades of meaning. Then, feeling that he has not
exactly expressed his idea, he goes on repeating in many
words and becomes verbose. Often he sits down with the
consciousness that he has not said what he meant. Again,
he may quite forget to say what he wishes most to say.
Afterward he has the humiliation of remembering this, or
of learning from others that he has been misunderstood
because of careless statements or omissions.
Most troublesome to the extemporizer, perhaps, are
the rash, unconsidered, or silly ideas that pop into the
mind and out of the mouth. These may come to us in
our thinking at any time, but when we compose deliberately we weed them out. They may be no worse than
inane or a clog to the thought, or they may be damaging.
Wise and friendly reporters may leave them out; but the
mischief may be done. Opponents may snap them up
and publish them far and wide,-whether far and wide
refers to a village, a state, a nation, or the world. These
statements may be inspired by the occasion (for inspiration is of divers kinds), by the conduct of opponents
or the enthusiasm of friends. Strong statements made
1 Yale Lectures on Preaching, 1st Series, p. 216.




WRITTEN OR EXTEMPORANEOUS                 387
at night when one is surrounded by sympathetic friends,
perhaps "breathing out threatenings and slaughter"
against the opposition, and showering compliments upon
the speaker, sound very different when read from the
morning paper.
Presidents do not deliver extemporaneously their inaugural addresses. The public is watching too critically
for the smallest hints of policy. President Wilson has
probably dared more than any other president in the way
of extemporaneous address; but he is said to regret his
inability to memorize a speech. Men who occupy prominent positions protect themselves when making important speeches, by writing out their remarks and giving
copies to the press, and then reading from the manuscript, or speaking from memory. Not many of us will
be inaugurated as presidents, or even as governors; but
we shall have occasions when we wish to weigh our words,
and take no chance either of ill-considered statements or
of confusion or omissions. Or we may have to speak on
subjects too intricate to carry in memory. There are
times, then, when it is advisable to write one's speech,
even if one is able to extemporize well.
The written speech. The written speech permits a
care in regard to phraseology and a certainty of saying
precisely what one wishes to say, that are impossible to
one extemporizing. These advantages are so important
that speeches are written more often than is believed by
the inexperienced. On important occasions speakers will
always be likely to use the writing method, when it is
possible. The objections to it can be overcome in part
by careful preliminary study of the probable audience
and situation; by writing always with these in mind,
perhaps talking to this audience in imagination before
writing, and by training one's self on the lines indicated




388


PUBLIC SPEAKING


in Chapter II. In addition it may be said that whatever
one memorizes, he should memorize thoroughly. With
a speech poorly memorized, one has neither the freedom
of the extemporizer nor the sureness of the reader. His
mind is taken up with the anxious strain of remembering.
But with perfect memorization, he can, if he will hold
himself to his work, realize fully the import of his words
and come into close touch with his audience.
When one wishes to deliver a written speech, and lacks
time or ability for memorizing, or dares not trust to
memory, he must read his speech. Many college lecturers, who deliver several long lectures in a week, find
this the only practicable method. The objection to this
method can be overcome to a great extent by preparing
as suggested in the preceding paragraph, by gaining great
familiarity with the manuscript, and by making a determined attempt to keep in touch with the audience. The
reader is likely to proceed much too fast, and to do very
little thinking. He should speak Very slowly, and especially should pause deliberately while getting each new
statement in mind, and then deliver it as directly as
possible to his hearers.
Very often speakers combine the methods of committing to memory and of extemporizing. Certain passages
which are particularly difficult or important, as a candidate's statements of policy, or his pledges, are fixed in
memory; and also passages in which particularly good
expression is desired. The method decreases somewhat
one's freedom, for he must lead up to these passages,
and sometimes a poor effect is produced by the contrast
between them and the extemporaneous parts. There
may be lack of harmony in tone or in style.
"But," as Brander Matthews says,' "there is no deny1 Notes on Speech-Making, p. 32.




WRITTEN OR EXTEMPORANEOUS                 389
ing the popularity of this third method with the speakers
of the first rank, at whose hands its possibilities have
been adroitly improved. John Bright used to write out
certain parts of his more important speeches. So did
Mr. Gladstone. Daniel Webster, a far greater orator
than either of them, had stored his capacious memory
with arguments that might lie there for years ready for
his use. The Reply to Hayne was not written out before
delivery, either as a whole or in part, but it certainly
contained more than one mighty passage the wording of
which had been elaborately prepared against the longwaited occasion."
The political speaker, the agitator, or any one who carries on a long campaign of speaking, is likely to use this
mixed method; as one who travels with them finds to
his weariness. They usually say something new in each
speech, both to adapt themselves to the particular audience, and to furnish the papers something new to report;
but the bulk of their speech will be repeated time after
time. Or, they may have an adjustable speech, a sort
of handy set of parts, that can be fitted together in various ways, not all the pieces being used each time. Of
course, such speakers often do extemporize in a measure,
having talked through their subjects so many times and
ways that they are sure of finding a familiar trail wherever they go. And they often ramble and mix things up
sadly when they thus trust to luck.
When one proposes to use this method of linking memorized passages together with extemporized parts, he
should try to key his prepared passages to his probable
occasion. Then he should memorize them thoroughly, in
order that he may relieve himself from anxiety about his
ability to take them up when he pleases.
How reduce the defects of the extemporaneous speech.




390


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Since the extemporaneous speech has great advantages
on many occasions, we should consider with care how its
defects can be minimized. As one of the chief defects is
lack of discrimination in the use of words, the extemporaneous speaker should take much care in this regard.
He should not seize upon the first word that comes, but
should dare to wait for the right one. There are few
more effective speakers than Elihu Root. His words do
not come easily, though he has an abundant vocabulary;
but when they come they are right, and are far more impressive than glibness.
Again, the extemporaneous speaker should write much.
This is urged by those who believe most strongly in the
extemporaneous speech. Beecher told the Yale divinity
students that they should write about one-third of their
sermons. Dr. Lyman Abbott 1 emphasizes the " constant
use of the pen. No man ought to trust only to the voice
as a means of expression. If he does not write sermons,
he ought to write something else, and write with care,
with dictionary of synonyms before him, with careful
weighing and study of words and sentences, with careful
rewriting, elision of all repetitions, rewriting of sentences
in an endeavor to improve their form, their clearness,
their compactness, their rhythm and cadence."
For many years I conducted a class in extemporaneous speaking.
The students gained fluency and self-possession, but it was a constant effort to keep them from degenerating in language, from growSing slip-shod in choice of words, in orderliness and compactness.
At the same time I had a course in which all speeches were written
and re-written. The students in this class gained in knowledge of
principles, in arrangement, and in the use of words; but they lacked
interest, spontaneity and touch with audiences. Then I combined
the two courses and made a course much better than either. Each
kind of work tends to correct the faults of the other.
1 From a valuable "Open Letter," reprinted from the Outlook,
in the Appendix of Matthews' Notes on Public Speaking.




WRITTEN OR EXTEMPORANEOUS                       391
The student of speaking should take very seriously
this advice to write much. While I believe that he is
profited by delivering extemporaneous speeches from the
very beginning of his work, I find that he develops most
harmoniously when he makes speeches in many ways.
He should not be mislead by what some experienced
speaker does or seems to do; but should remember that he
is a learner. Dr. Abbott says, in the same "Open Letter" from which I have just quoted, that the best extemporaneous speaker requires "years of practice. Do not
expect to attain by any school method in a month or year
that which your elders have attained only by long exercise in the study and on the platform."
I know of no more ardent advocate of extemporaneous speaking
than Dr. Richard S. Storrs, an eminent preacher of the last century, who published a book entitled, Preaching Without Notes, in
which he tells of the experience which led him to his belief. During twenty-five years he tried every method of preaching. At first
he wrote all his sermons. Then he spoke from very full notes.
Then he read one sermon and preached one without notes on the
same Sunday. Finally he abandoned all aids in the pulpit. He
says (p. 37): "I wrote for many years, fully and carefully. I
now write only a brief outline of the discourse, covering usually
one or two sheets of common note-paper, and have no notes before
me in the pulpit-not a line, or a catch-word."  He became sure
that his last way was best.
But Dr. Storrs does not observe at all how important were those
twenty-five years of training in which he wrote fully and carefully,
and how gradually he approached the stage in which he was an
accomplished extemporizer. He tells us that for thirteen of those
years he wrote also as editor of a religious journal. IIe also
served exacting congregations. In all this he was training himself
in logical thinking and in orderly, clear-cut expression. He tells
us, too, that his first notable success without writing was a sermon
upon a subject upon which he had recently written. His experience is most suggestive; more suggestive, indeed, than he realized.
Besides writing, another method frequently used for
checking up one's self, is to have a stenographer take




592


PUBLIC SPEAKING


down one's speech verbatim and present it without any
of the kindly corrections which stenographers commonly
make. Such a report will show one his tendencies,
whether he is overusing certain expressions, or is growing verbose and slovenly.
But the most important suggestion for eliminating the
faults common in extemporaneous address is thorough
preparation. You will not find among the men who
advocate and have used best this form of address, those
who hold that it is a method of escaping labor, except the
mere labor of writing. Dr. Storrs followed his advocacy
of extemporaneous method with this:
"Never begin to preach without notes with any idea of
saving yourselves work by it. If you do you will fail;
and you will richly deserve to fail. Any suspicion of
this among your people will destroy your hold on them.
Your own minds will deteriorate; and your sermons will
lose, not finish only, but body and vigor."
After stating the essentials of a good extemporaneous
speech, Dr. Abbott says:
"The preparation of such an address will take quite as
much time as the preparation of a manuscript. It must
be more thoroughly prepared; the subject must be more
thoroughly thought out; the mind must be familiar with
it in all its aspects."
It is easy to see that this is true. The man who writes
may be able to conceal his ignorance, and throw false
bridges over the gaps in his facts and reasonings; but one
who attempts to follow a line of thought extemporaneously, or adapt his statements to the circumstances and
exigencies of an occasion, must have a clear line of
thought and a mastery of all facts that may be needed.
-  Importance of a plan. A plan is needed in order that




PLANS AND OUTLINES


393


the speaker may know what he is about and may make
sure that he is doing what he wishes to do. To make a
plan is to bring into order his knowledge of his situation,
to determine with precision what he will attempt, to take
stock of his means and to prepare for their most efficient
use. For the speaker who proposes to speak extemporaneously, a careful plan is necessary to prevent the
rambling, verboseness, and the failure to say what is intended, that we have just commented on. One who is to
write a speech needs the plan hardly less, for he too will
ramble if, instead of following a clearly marked out
path, he merely writes as one thing suggests another.
But the speaker must consider much more than what he
wishes to say. He must consider his audience, and how
he can adapt what he wishes to say to them, in order that
lie may inform, or convince, or persuade them. Every
problem that we have considered in the preceding chapters, in regard to the adaptation of speeches to hearers, is
a reason for planning. You will recall what Beecher
said of his ineffective preaching before he began deliberately to aim his sermons at his congregation. And Dr.
Abbott, Beecher's successor in Plymouth Church, has
this to say of the steps of special preparation:
"1. What is the object of this speech?  What end is it
to serve? What verdict is it to win? What result is
it to accomplish?   2. Central thought. What thought
lodged in the mind of an auditor will best accomplish the
desired result?  3. Analysis of this central thought into
three or four propositions, the enforcement and illustration of which will serve to fasten in the minds of the hearers, the central thought, and so to secure the desired result. 4. Some illustrations or concrete statements of
each one of these separate propositions."
1 From the "Open Letter" reprinted in Matthews' Notes on
Speech-Making, p. 90.




394


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The man who objects to making a plan for a speech
would object to making a plan for a house. It is true
that one might build a very delightful house without a
plan; but the chances are that he would waste much
money in buying his material, and in making the changes
necessitated by the fact that the chimney cut off the stairway and that the bath room could be reached only through
the kitchen. And when he was done he would be likely
to find that his work of genius had neither form nor
utility. It may be very delightful to start from one's
hotel in a strange city and walk to the station, with only
the general notion that it is "over that way."  One may
have a fine time watching the crowd and looking in at the
shop windows, he may meet an old friend; but at train
time he may be far from the station.
It may be delightful to hear an old man whose life has
been rich in experiences, ramble about as his memory
leads. He is sure to enjoy it; but unless he is an unusual
old man, his hearers will be bored. The analogies are
not complete; for in speech-making we must take account
of our hearers. They do not care to hear many of us
ramble; they wish us to accomplish something in a short
time and have done with it; and we must consider how
we can best carry out our purpose in the time allowed.
This should be too clear for argument for any one who
realizes that public speaking should be, not merely talking, but talking effectively; and, further, that most public speaking is ineffective.
Making the plan. The suggestions which will help
one in making a speech can be drawn from the preceding
chapters, especially from Chapters IV, VI, VIII, and IX.
The more important of these suggestions can be arranged
in a chart. To enumerate them all here would require
a review of the whole subject. It would be good practice




PLANS AND OUTLINES


395


to write out the answers to these questions with reference
to several speeches, until one forms a habit of proceeding
systematically.   (See p. 396 for chart.)
It is quite true, as some one may be reminding me, that I have
raised in this text many questions that a speaker should answer.
Recently a friend who was studying medicine showed me the list
of questions he had to answer with regard to his patients in the
hospital. "But how can you ever get through with that interminable list?" I demanded. "Oh," he replied, "with practice one
gets to do it very rapidly." So with practice the speaker becomes
able to diagnose his audience and occasion rapidly. And as not all
the questions on my friend's list were applicable to each case, so
not all of those raised here are applicable to each speech. But
as the progressive modern physician's diagnosis is extraordinarily
searching, so that of a speaker who wishes to improve should be.
There are too many speakers like a too common type of general
practitioner, who asks a question or two and passes out the stock
prescription.
The outline. All the work of preparation, as indicated
in various chapters, and especially in the discussion of the
three stages of preparation in Chapter IV, in the discussion of reading in Chapter XI, and in this Speaker's
Chart, should be crystallized in an outline, or sketch of
the speech in brief form, before the speaker writes it in
full, or delivers it extemporaneously. It is the outline
which, above all other devices, enables one to deliver a
speech which has due proportion, emphasis, unity and
coherence, to proceed in an orderly way to the goal, to
make sure of saying what one wishes to say, of supporting one's claims, and of finishing on time. The outline
is the best means of testing one's preparation. It should
reveal what the speaker proposes to do, and how each
part is related to the central aim. It reveals flaws in
arguments and defects in information, and indicates the
progress of the thought from beginning to end. It is in
the outline that the experimenting and         rearranging
should be done.




396


PUBLIC SPEAKING


SPEAKER'S CHART
1. What is my purpose?   (E.g. I wish to persuade my
hearers to vote, etc.)
2. What is the principal means to use in accomplishing
this purpose?  (E.g. an argument that we should have a
"tariff for revenue only.")
3. By what facts and ideas shall I support this means?
4. What are the characteristics of my probable audience?
5. Is my audience interested in this subject? From
what existing interest of theirs can I derive an interest in
the subject? Or, how can we get on a common ground
of interest?
6. What is the state of their information on this subject? What must I explain?
7. Are my ideas novel or familiar to my hearers? If
novel, how can I interpret them in terms of their experience? With what can I compare them? If familiar,
how can I give them freshness of treatment?
8. How can I give concreteness to my ideas? How
can I utilize the imagination of my audience? What
illustrations will be effective?
9. By what varied means of presentation can I keep my
chief idea before their minds until they are impressed?
10. Will a chart or a map be of service?
11. Do my hearers believe the conduct I urge is good;
or must they be convinced? Do they believe the means
I urge is good?
12. Why have they not followed the course urged?
Inertia? Habit? Other motives stronger than those




PLANS AND OUTLINES


397


that have been urged? What motives are stronger yet
with them?
13. Will they bear a straight out exhortation? May I
appeal directly to emotion; or must I stir it through the
imagination?
14. Will it be wise to reiterate accepted arguments
and known facts?
15. Can I utilize the force of suggestion, direct or indirect?
16. Can I bring them into unity of feeling?
17. Can I use their instinct for imitation?
18. If conviction is lacking, is this audience willing to
be convinced?
19. How can I make them willing to believe?
20. What fixed beliefs or prejudices stand in my way?
21. Can I identify my belief with their fixed beliefs?
22. Can I identify this conduct with their customary
modes of action?
23. Can I meet them on some common ground of belief?
24. Can I by explanations, eliminations of irrelevant
matter, or concessions, remove any of their objections?
25. Must I proceed in this case step by step, or can I
take advanced ground at once?
26. Has my audience much general information?
27. Is my audience slow of thought?
28. Is my audience conservative, or radical?
29. Can I use precedent effectively? Authorities?
30. Can I do anything to give this audience confidence
in me? Or to get on good terms with them?




398


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Objections to outlines considered. Certain objections
are so commonly made by students to the preparation of
outlines, that it is useless to ignore them. "It hampers
me and destroys ease," says one. Let us admit that an
outline may decrease freedom. In the first place, let us
remember we are learners; and learning new methods, no
matter how much better than the old, usually does for the
time decrease ease. The objection is simply the old objection to all kinds of training. Secondly, there are some
things better than ease and freedom. Orderly progress
of thought is better, clearness is better, unity is better;
and it is much better to sit down knowing that you have
said what you meant to say, not some ill-considered thing.
"We have far too many speeches which remind one of the
saying, "We don't know where we are going, but we are
on our way. "
Thirdly, do not let the outline hamper you unduly.
We sometimes read of the speaker, who, after an agony
of laborious preparation, goes upon the platform, throws
away his outline or his speech, and has a great impromptu
success. Such a man is just the one to make an impromptu success because of that very preparation which
he thinks, quite mistakenly, he has abandoned. It has
given him facts, cleared his mind, awakened his emotions
and fitted him  to receive that inspiration which helps
those who help themselves. If a speaker will make a
genuine preparation and a clear-cut outline, let him
abandon it on the platform; provided, he is sure that
under the circumstances he can do better. Generally it
is best to stick to what one has deliberately decided it is
wise to say. To abandon it is always a risk; but it is far
less of a risk for the man who has made definite preparation than for one who is trusting to luck. As for the one




PLANS AND OUTLINES


S99


who writes his speech, he should change his outline whenever he finds a surely better order.
And, finally as to ease, the best sort of ease is his who
in extemporizing knows that he has a clear line of thought
at his command; or who in writing can proceed straight
through to his conclusion, without cutting out and patchin g on, as the man who writes without an outline must
do, if hlie is not content with ramblings. It is the driver
with a sure knowledge of his route who can proceed with
ease and speed.
The objection that an outline destroys the beauty of
a speech, holds good only for outlines that are too obtrusive, because not properly covered. A skeleton, some
one has observed in this connection, is not a thing of
beauty, "but the human body would lack its beauty without this same ugly skeleton."    It would be as formless
as a jelly-fish. The outline should be sufficiently in evidence to help the hearer to grasp easily the parts and
their articulations. I quote from Phillips Brooks with
much pleasure, because he was a great-hearted man whose
preaching was remarkable for spontaneity and enthusiasm: 1
"In the desire to make a sermon seem free and spontaneous there is a prevalent dislike to giving it its necessary
formal structure and organism. The statement of the
subject, the division into heads, the recapitulation at the
end, all the scaffolding and anatomy of a sermon is out
of favor, and there are many good jests about it. I can
only say that I have come to fear it less and less. The
escape from it must be not negative but positive. The
true way to get rid of the bonyness of your sermon is not
by leaving out the skeleton, but by clothing it with flesh.
True liberty in writing comes by law, and the more thor1 Lectures on Preaching, p. 177.




400


PUBLIC SPEAKING


oughly the outlines of your work are laid out the more
freely your sermon will flow, like an unwasted stream between its well-built banks. I think that most congregations welcome, and are not offended by clear, precise
statements of the course which a sermon is going to pursue, carefully marked division of its thoughts, and above
all, by full recapitulation of its argument at the close.
*.. Leave to the ordinary Sunday-school address its unquestioned privilege of inconsequence and incoherence."
We must seek the happy mean. We do wish ease and
spontaneity and individuality; and we also want coherent
thought. As the quotation just above indicates, these
can readily be combined.
"But So and So does not make an outline. He told
me just before he spoke that he did not know what he was
going to say."  Chesterton tells somewhere of a gardener
who heard his master declaiming, out in the shrubbery,
"Mr. Speaker, had I for one moment thought of the possibility that you would c411 upon me this evening-"!
Chesterton adds, "It takes a long time to prepare an impromptu." But So and So is quite above deception?
Well, he may have meant that he had no written outline;
and he may be one of those clear-headed persons who
can analyze a subject thoroughly without paper. Perhaps he was suffering from nerves, and really felt that
he had lost all he had planned to say. Such attacks come
upon old speakers at times. Perhaps the situation was
such that he had to wait till he began, to decide upon one
of several lines of thought to use; and in that sense he
did not know what he would say. Perhaps what he said
was literally true, and perhaps also he was about to make
a failure. Remember, not all failures are set down as
such. The speaker gets through after a fashion, perhaps
"says good things, perhaps gets applause; yet does not ac



PLANS AND OUTLINES


401


complish his purpose. Perhaps, after all, he did not
know what he would say, and yet he did have a real
success. Then he was a man of exceptional ability as a
speaker, or had an unusual occasion, or unusual luck.
lie probably was a man of experience, and had been
thinking and speaking much on the subject, and he soon
hit a familiar trail. But why should a less experienced
speaker think that he should attempt all that the experienced speaker does? especially when he knows that most,
even of the experienced speakers, are ineffective much of
the time?
But if one really knows his subject thoroughly, it is
said, he does n't need an outline. That is a large "if";
but if one really knows his subject thoroughly and systematically he is in much better case than one of half
knowledge. If he simply has a lot of miscellaneous information about the subject, he is the most dangerous of
speakers to let loose without an outline. iHe will have
no sense of relations and values, and he will try to tell
all he knows in a rambling fashion. The man of real
mastery, it is true, will already have his ideas arranged
in systematic form. Still, as he must usually limit his
scope, he will need to select and arrange a scheme. Such
a man is just the one who is most likely to make a careful
outline.
Even the speaker who has wide knowledge and has
spoken much on his theme, often shows the need of an
outline. Take, for example, the ordinary agitator for
prohibition, women's suffrage, or socialism. He knows
that he can talk freely on any part of his general subject,
and he is likely to trust to luck. He knows that his
partizans will applaud anyhow. And he moves on too
rapidly from place to place really to gauge his effectiveness. I have in mind a speaker for socialism, a man of




402


PUBLIC SPEAKING


courage, intelligence, and more than average training in
speaking; yet in a two-hour address he talked all over
the subject of socialism, not sticking to any phase for
five minutes, and often not even through one sentence.
He reduced his subject to a state best compared to a ball
of yarn after a session with a kitten.
As for the objection that making an outline increases
labor, the answer is that this is not true for one who
wishes to do well. It saves labor, for it is easier to work
certain defects out of a speech in the outline form than in
any other. The objection is prompted by laziness, if one
is to be brutally honest about the matter. It springs
from the disinclination of the human animal to think.
It is easier, as is said, to write a speech than to make an
outline,-easier, that is, for a facile pen, or a glib tongue
to run off five hundred or a thousand words, letting the
associational process guide. But that is not thinking,
and not the process by which one proceeds to a clearly
conceived goal by wisely adapted means. It is easy to
talk all day and yet say nothing.
The analysis. Before one can make an outline of any
value, he must have, of course, an analysis of his subject.
This he should be making from the beginning of his thinking and reading on his topic. When a speech will not
come out right, or important points seem to have no place,
or an argument is inconclusive, or an explanation inadequate, the trouble is probably in the analysis. To analyze
a subject is to resolve it into its parts and to determine
their relations to the whole and to each other; or, in
terms of outlines, to determine what is the central idea,
what are the main-heads of the discussion, what are their
relations to the central idea and to each other, and what
are the subordinate and supporting ideas for each mainhead.




PLANS AND OUTLINES


403


As was pointed out in Chapter IV, this process is much
facilitated by jotting down each point on a separate card
and arranging and re-arranging these till those which
are most closely    related  are in  one group. Simple
schemes of analysis prove helpful. If you are dealing
with an evil, you can usually arrange your material by
this scheme: This is the evil; this is the remedy; it is the
best remedy; the objections to it are not sound. To illustrate: The evil is starvation wages for women and children in the textile factories; the remedy is a minimum
wage law; there is no other remedy so good; the objections are not sound. Or one may say, This is the situation we must deal with; the method I propose will produce such and such happy results; the opposite course
will produce bad results. Or in exposition, This is
the problem I have to explain (say a gas engine); these
are the elements which must be treated (ignition, stroke,
etc.); or, again, This is the story I have to tell; these are
the main episodes into which it is divided. These simple
devices are means of getting one's mental machinery
started, of getting past the "dead center," so to speak,
which sometimes holds one when he faces a mass of
material.
The different persons, or classes, or interests involved
may suggest an analysis. Suppose you have these notes:
Giving tips. Rapid growth in the United States. Patrons in hotels have to pay annoying fees. Employees
take little interest in work which brings no tips. Tipping
makes pay uncertain. Tipping decreases the self-respect
of employees. This matter given out in a class for rapid
outlining has produced some weird arrangements; yet
with the clue suggested it is very simple, as the following
outline will show:




404


PUBLIC SPEAKING


INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth of the custom of tipping in this country has
caused an agitation for its abolition.
Tipping should be abolished.
DISCUSSION
I. Tipping is bad for patrons; for
1. They have to pay annoying fees in order to get good
service.
II. Tipping is bad for employers; for
1. Employees take little interest in work which brings
no tips.
III. Tipping is bad for employees; for
1. It makes pay uncertain.
2. It decreases self-respect.
CONCLUSION
Since tipping is bad for patrons, for employers and for employees, it should be abolished.
This is not a convincing argument, for lack of sufficient
data and arguments; but in arrangement it is clear and
logical. Perhaps you can arrange it in a better way.
Try it.
Parts of the outline. First should stand the title.
This should be short, but significant. Even in the rare
case in which the speaker wishes to keep his audience in
the dark as to his real position, he should have a title
which, when read in the newspaper or announced by the
chairman, will direct thought in the desired direction.
Usually the title should announce the subject as plainly
as possible. If one does not wish to say he is to speak
for the abolition of the Monroe Doctrine, one may make
his title, Shall we abolish the Monroe Doctrine?    I speak
of the effect of the title upon the audience because this
is the one part of the outline given to it.
In the simplest outline the introduction should usually
have two parts; and first, the approach sentence. This
should contain a condensed statement of the idea relied




PLANS AND OUTLINES


405


upon to awaken preliminary interest, or to induce the
desired mood, or it may contain needed information,whatever the given situation demands. In some cases
subheadings may be desirable. The approach should not
be some inane, perfunctory thing, such as, "I wish to
make a few remarks on capital punishment"; but should
serve a definite purpose; and in the great majority of
cases it should bear a plain relation to the topic, and not
be a mere preliminary flourish.
Next in the introduction there should stand a subject
sentence. This should embody the central thought of
the speech, the proposition to be proved, the problem to
be explained, the thought to be amplified, etc. There
are times when the approach sentence and the subject
sentence may be one and the same, when the mere statement of the resolution or the problem awakens interest
and furnishes all needed information; but usually the introduction should have two parts.
It is assumed in the form I am describing, and in the
other forms suggested below, that the speaker will set
forth early in his discourse what he proposes to prove,
explain, or develop; and this is the normal procedure.
It helps the audience to understand the bearing of each
idea as it is brought forth, as is suggested in the excerpt,
above, from Phillips Brooks. As for the infrequent cases
in which one does not wish to state in advance what he
proposes to do, and even does not wish to state this at
all, I suggest that he still place the subject sentence in
the outline in its normal position, but inclosed in brackets
in order that he may make sure that it is clear to himself. A clear and definite subject sentence is of the
greatest importance to one making an outline; for every
other part should show a clear relation to this statement
of the central idea.




406


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The arrangement of the discussion, with main-heads
and subheads, can readily be grasped by study of the
outlines given. The main-heads should be such statements as, being themselves established, will establish the
contention set forth in the subject sentence, if one is
outlining an argument; or such as will, when explained
themselves, make clear the main problem; or, if one is
trying to impress an understood and accepted truth, the
main-heads should be statements of the ideas chosen to
impress it; and so on. The chief consideration is that
these main-heads should clearly state a major division of
the subject; and should reveal an unmistakable relation
to the subject sentence. And what is true of the mainheads in their relation to the subject sentence should
be true of the subheads in their relation to their mainheads. But since the major considerations in regard to
the discussion, as in regard to the outline as a whole,
are matters of clearness and coherence, I prefer to treat
them in detail under those headings.
The conclusion, whether it is to be a summary of argument or explanation, or is to draw a lesson, impress the
major thought by a vivid restatement or illustration,
make a plea for action, or do several of these things,
should be a genuine conclusion, a real outgrowth of the
speech, and so stated in the outline that it will be plainly,
not something tacked on, but an integral part of the organism.
Clearness of the outline. Let the standard of clearness
be, not clear merely to yourself, but clear to another who
might read your outline. Just as a way of putting the
idea, let us say, so clear that a reporter who does not hear
your speech could make a just summary of it from your
outline. First, an outline clear to one who reads it gives
your critic a good chance to help you. And, in certain




PLANS AND OUTLINES


407


respects, he can help you more by criticising your outline
than your completely written speech; for he can judge
more readily its unity, coherence, order and logic. Secondly, what you make clear to another is more surely
clear to yourself. We often find that what we thought
we had clearly in mind is far from clear when we attempt to express it. To the end of clearness and definiteness, write only complete sentences in your outline. In
the majority of cases, one who has made a catch-word
outline will fail to answer clearly questions as to his
meaning. The complete sentence, as is true of the whole
outline, does not insure clear thinking, but it does make
clear thinking more probable. If one will try to make
each statement as clear and specific as possible, his grasp
will surely grow. Do not write mere hints.
Coherence of the outline. The outline is particularly
valuable for securing coherence, and coherence should be
its major virtue. If one makes a clear analysis of his
subject, and then carries out the suggestions already
given with reference to making each part of an outline
show its relation to the other parts, and especially with
reference to making the main-heads of the discussion
show a clear relation to the subject sentence, and each
subheading show a clear relation to its main-head, one
will have a good start on a coherent outline. But several more specific suggestions can be made.
First, let us be sure we understand this expression, "a
clear relation."  The relations should be manifest, without any explanation. They should stand out in the most
evident way. If there is an unexpressed step between
subhead and main-head, which has to be supplied, the
outlining is not good. Look over the outline on military
training, below, with this thought in mind,   Again, each
statement should contain but a single idea; for if there




408


PUBLIC SPEAKING


are two in one main-head, then the relation of the subheads is no longer plain. Consider the effect of combining in the outline on tipping, two main-heads: Tipping is bad for both patrons and employees. In simple
cases no great confusion may be caused; but experience
proves that disregard of the two suggestions of this paragraph does usually cause confusion, and that the maker
of an outline in which relations are not plainly manifest
is usually himself confused.
Avoid omnibus headings, such as those in the outline,
below, on the "no-treat system." Since any argument
at all will go under them, they represent no gain in
analysis, clearness, orderliness, or coherence. They bear
no clear-cut reference to the central idea, and they contain no definite statement which one can say at a certain point has been established or developed.
The coherence of the outline is increased, that is, the
relation of its parts is more evident, when the headings
of equal rank can be expressed in similar terms and
constructions. For example, compare the main-heads of
the last form of the outline on the George Junior Republic with those in the earlier forms.
In seeking correct correlation and subordination, it is
important to note whether one is making statements in
addition to those already made, or in support of them,
-a matter much neglected in practice. A handy test of
correlation is to join the parts with the proper connective
words and phrases. If one finds that the true connective
between two statements is and, but, yet, or, also, again,
then the statements are coordinate, and stand in the
same relation to the subject sentence, or to some mainhead. One cannot be subordinate to the other. They
take the same order of numerals. If one finds that the
relation between two statements is expressed by for,




PLANS AND OUTLINES


409


since, because, then the clause governed by one of these
is evidence of the truth of the other and subordinate to
it. Or, if one is not arguing, he may find the relations
expressed by such subordinating phrases as in order that,
to enumerate, in that, to explain, to illustrate. It is
best to write in these connective words, because they encourage recognition of the true relations.
Note that it is the custom always to put a main-head
before its subheads; and since this is a well established
custom, and since it would be confusing to have some
paragraphs arranged one way and some the other, it is
best to follow the custom, although in speaking you may
follow the other order. So we may say that if you find
yourself introducing a statement in the discussion part of
your outline with hence, therefore, or other term implying
that the support precedes the statement, you may know
that your order is wrong. And if you have written your
outline in this form:
II. Employees take little interest in work which brings no tip,
therefore
1. Tipping is bad for employersthen you can see that the offense is not against form
merely; for this arrangement places the major statement in a subordinate position, where its relation to the
subject sentence is less evident.
The consistent use of a system of numerals is advisable, as making easier the recognition of relations. Indentations are another mechanical aid. These need not
be made so marked that the subheads are crowded to
the extreme right of the page, but should be sufficient
to catch the eye readily; and they should be regular.
How complete should the outline be? This question,
often asked by students, cannot be answered with a rule.
We may say that everything that has place in the speech




410


PUBLIC SPEAKING


should be covered by some statement in the outline; and,
conversely, that nothing should be put into the speech
which is not a development of some part of the outline.
For example, the little outline on tipping does not provide
for any discussion of whether or not employees actually
receive more or less money because of the tipping system;
but does provide for amplification and illustration of the
statement that tipping makes pay uncertain. How far
subdivision should be carried depends primarily upon
how far analysis is to be carried in the speech. If the
speaker on tipping is going to differentiate in his speech
distinct ways in which tipping makes pay uncertain,
then the outline should distinguish them by subheads
under III, 1.
How long the outline should be cannot be told dogmatically; but if a speaker will use words without waste,
he will be able to make a correct outline for a ten-minute
speech, in most cases, on one side of a sheet of paper
eight by ten inches in size. But one will need a great
deal of paper to make a complete outline, if he writes
such empty headings as those in the "no-treat system"
outline, below. Note that each of the benefits hinted
at in I, 1, 2, 3, of the outline on military training, below,
could have been expressed in ten words.
Summary. It will be convenient to have the principal
suggestions in regard to outlines brought together in the
form of test questions:
1. Does your approach sentence serve a valid and useful purpose?
2. Does your subject sentence clearly and justly express the central idea of the speech?
3. Do the main-heads of the discussion, when read together, constitute proof or a sufficient development of
this ceatral statement?




PLANS AND OUTLINES


411


4. Do they reveal, as clearly as is feasible, their relations to each other?
5. Are your main supporting statements actually in
major positions (main-heads)?
6. Do the subheads fully support the main-heads they
stand under?
7. Is each subhead truly subordinate to the main-head
it stands under?
8. Are correct subordinating words and phrases used
to express the relations?
9. Are the relations of part to part beyond doubt, and
so expressed as to be immediately evident?
10. Is your system of indentations and numerals consistent?
11. Are all statements as brief as is consistent with
clearness?
12. Does each express an idea, not merely hint at it?
13. Does each state a single point?
14. Does the outline as a whole cover all you wish to
present?
15. Does it reveal as complete an analysis as you intend to employ in your speech?
A speech made from an outline which will bear these
tests should measure up to the standard which Plato
puts into the mouth of Socrates in the Phaedrus:
"This I think you will allow, that every speech ought
to be put together like a living creature, with a body of
its own, lacking neither head nor foot, but having both a
middle and extremities in perfect keeping with one another and with the whole."
Suggestions further illustrated. I wish to illustrate
some of the foregoing suggestions with a simple outline.
As it first came to me from a student unskilled in speechmaking, it was of the Who-Which-What-Where order:




412


PUBLIC SPEAKING


THE GEORGE JUNIOR REPUBLIC
What it is.
Where it is.
How it is run.
This states nothing. It does not indicate any real
analysis; but rather the kind of work described by a
student who said of his outline, "Oh, I just put down a
few points that came into my head."        No introduction
or conclusion is indicated, and no point of view. The
maker of this outline knew extremely little of his subject,
and had no sense of values. He put the incidental point
of location on an equality with the character and the
management of the institution. What he would say
under these heads was very vague in his mind. After
some criticism and further study of the subject, the student brought in this:
I. The George Junior Republic, a significant institution. One
of the best philanthropic institutions of the age.
II. "Nothing without labor."
1. Vagrancy act.
2. Trades.
III. Form of government.
1. Like United States.
2. Legislature, judges, police, etc.
IV. Good qualities developed.
1. Equality.
2. Earnestness and honesty.
V. The Republic makes a lasting impression.
It is evident that the speaker is progressing; he has
more ideas and some definite impressions. But we do
not yet know what the leading thought is; nor are we
sure that he has any clear idea of his subject as a whole.
There is no consistent point of view, no unity; there is
a lack of statements; the correlation is imperfect, and the
main-heads show little relation. Under I, the subhead
is not clearly subordinate to its heading. Under II, we




PLANS AND OUTLINES


413


can guess at the relations. Under III, 2 seems properly
to be a subhead rather than a coordinate of 1.         Under
IV, equality is improperly classed as a quality. It is
not in the same category as earnestness and honesty.
No introduction or conclusion is marked as such; but
assuming that the first division is the introduction, it
does not show any clear relation to what follows.
Another trial produced the following:
INTRODUCTION
The George Junior Republic is not a charity institution.
DISCUSSION
I. "Nothing without labor."
(Subheads as before.)
I. Forms of government.
(Same as before.)
III. The Republic develops
1. Democracy.
2. Races and sexes.
CONCLUSION
Training at the Republic is training in citizenship.
The faults are still glaring enough; yet we do see some
progress toward a real conclusion.      Had the student labored on, his next stage might have been this:
TIIE GEORGE JUNIOR IIREPUBLIC
INTRODUCTION
A. The George Junior Republic is not a charity institution.
B. It is an institution for training in citizenship.
DIscussioN
I. The Republic trains for citizenship industrially; in that
1. Each citizen is impressed with the duty of self-support.
a. The motto and policy of the Republic is, "Nothing
without labor."
2. Each learns how to support himself.
a. Each must learn a trade.
II. The Republic trains for the civil duties of citizenship: in that
1. It is governed by laws made and executed by its citizens.




414


PUBLIC SPEAKING


2. Its forms of government are similar to those of the
greater Republic.
3. Citizens learn by experience the need of protection for
person and property.
4. They learn also the evils arising from inefficient or corrupt government.
CONCLUSION
Citizens of the Junior Republic are trained for citizenship by
actual experience.
Questions might be raised in regard to this outline;
but it has many virtues: It has, first, an introductory
sentence which constitutes an approach to the audience,
by matching on to their existing impressions in regard to
the subject; for those who know a little about the Republie (and the speech was planned for them) are likely to
suppose that it is a sort of charity boys' home. This
opening statement is not merely something to get started
with; but it helps to get rid of a false preconception, and
prepares the way for the right conception.         (Compare
the approach sentence of the outline, below, on military
training.) The outline has clearness, unity, coherence
and order. It has a definite subject sentence, and to this
each main-head is plainly related. They are also clearly
related to each other. Each subhead also is clearly related to its main-head. The conclusion is plainly the outgrowth of the discussion, and shows its relation to the
subject sentence.
A few more outlines are added for criticism as to
their good and bad features. They are printed substantially as they were handed in. In the first I have
omitted the student's subheads.
"INTRODUCTION
The "no-treat" system a former custom at Cornell.
Seems to have been forgotten.




PLANS AND OUTLINES


415


DisCUSSION
I. Some arguments in favor of not treating.
II. Important arguments generally overlooked.
CONCLUSION
Cornell should set an example to other colleges.
You will observe that there is no subject sentence, no
statement to prove, although this is evidently intended
as an argument. But if we supply the statement, The
"no-treat" system     should be made permanent at Cornell, then we see that the main-heads do not support the
assertion, do not reveal any analysis of the question,
and in fact are waste of space. As a matter of fact, the
arguments which stood under either one might as well
have stood under the other. They should have been related directly to the subject sentence. You will observe
further that the conclusion is rather a surprise than a
natural outgrowth.
VALUE OF UNIVEI:SAL MILITARY TRAINING IN HIGH SCHOOLS
INTRODUCTION
A. Universal military training would not make the United States
an aggressive nation.
B. This training would prepare the United States to resist aggression.
DISCUSSION
I. There are many benefits derived from this training.
1. Benefit derived by the student.
"2. Benefit derived by the school.
3. Benefit derived by the government.
II. Illustration of the folly of unpreparedness in the past.
1. Our lack of preparation in the Civil War.
III. Preparedness through   universal training best insurance
against war.
1. No nation will attack a well armed and prepared nation.
2. Age of universal peace has not been reached yet.




416


PUBLIC SPEAKING


CONCLUSION
The folly of the past by being unprepared is a lesson that we
must be prepared through universal training to-day.
OSBORNE'S PRISON REFORM PLAN
INTRODUCTION
A. Warden Osborne's plan appeals to the prisoner's sense of honor.
B. It is a good plan and should be continued.
DISCUSSION
I. It benefits the State; for
1. It increases the output of manufactured goods.
2. It reduces expenses; for
a. Fewer wardens are required.
b. It turns out men resolved not to return to prison.
II. It benefits the prisoner; for
1. It preserves his health.
2. It prepares him for life after he gets out.
CONCLUSION
Osborne's plan is a good one and should be continued.
Concrete examples of Osborne's work.
The form of outline illustrated above can usually be
followed in arranging simple speeches of all kinds; and
the forms suggested below do not differ from it in essentials. But certain elaborations, particularly of the introduction, are worth considering with reference to less
simple speeches.
The classical form. The classical form        of oration
grew out of the work of the rhetoricians who in ancient
Greece wrote speeches for pleaders in the courts. It is
naturally  best adapted to the argumentative speech.
It is said to have been formulated first by Corax, a Sicilian, about twenty-four hundred years ago; and it has,
with modifications, served as the standard for orators
down to our time. Andrew D. White, whose broad experience and recognized ability give weight to his opinion,
has often expressed the conviction that this classical




PLANS AND OUTLINES


417


form has so long held the field because it is the best possible form, just as the Corinthian pillar is the best possible pillar. In many trying emergencies, he says, this
plan has helped him in throwing his thoughts quickly into
order.
1  Corax... framed   four divisions: introduction,
narration, proof, and conclusion. Aristotle, a number of
years later, reaches practically the same result, although
his designation is slightly different; he also has four
divisions: exordium, exposition, proof, and peroration.
The first important deviation from this plan is made by
Cicero, who adds two new divisions, thus making in all
six: introduction, narration, proposition, proof, refutation, and conclusion."
I will briefly describe the five divisions which seem to
me worth emphasizing:
1. The exordium. This word, by its derivation, means
the beginning of weaving, the laying of the warp; and
it suggests that from the very first words of a speech
we should be carrying out a plan. It is a better word
than introduction, when one is separating the beginning
of a speech into parts, for the introduction includes, in
modern terminology, all down to discussion. What the
exordium shall consist of it is useless to attempt to say,
except in the most general way. Whatever will help in
getting on good terms with your hearers, in getting them
interested, thinking on the right line, and listening with
fairness. It is, as Cicero tells us, the part to be prepared
last, after one knows well what he has to introduce.
Often it is lost in the next division.
2. The exposition. This term is better than narration,
for narration is only one way of explaining. This part
includes whatever is needed in the way of preliminary
1 Ringwalt, Modern American Oratory, p. 53.




418


PUBLIC SPEAKING


definition and explanation, the history and origin of the
question, etc.
3. The partition, I accept Ringwalt's suggestion of
substituting this term   for proposition, which is limited
to argument. By whatever name it is described, this
division includes the speaker's statement about what he
proposes to set forth,-what he proposes to do and does
not propose to do.
4. Discussion. This is a better term for general use
than proof, which also belongs to argument.
5. Peroration or conclusion. The term peroration is
now usually reserved for the most pretentious sort of
speech.
The classical form is certainly valuable to have in
mind, to be used on many occasions, perhaps on most;
though one may question if it is best for all speeches,
just as one may question if the Corinthian pillar is best
for all places. The classical form may seem too elaborate for some speeches; but it does contain, in the normal
order, the elements which are needed in most. And although in the speeches of to-day the divisions are often
not strongly marked, analysis will show usually that
they are present in speeches that are well ordered. Look
over, for example, the speeches of Phillips.
You will see that the classical form corresponds roughly to the
scheme of parts set down in modern works on debating, and followed to some extent in the discussion of the Approach to the
Audience in Chapter IX. It will be well to compare what is said
here with that discussion and also with the treatment of the subject in a good work on debating. Foster's Argumentation and Debating (Chapter X) is suggested. Though Foster's scheme is
rather rigid, the student of speaking will profit by following it
through strictly with at least three or four complete arguments.
Another form of outline. I will here lay out a speech
plan which combines many of the suggestions made in




PLANS AND OUTLINES


419


this and in other chapters. I use the term approach as
more suggestive than introduction.
THE APPROACH
A. Exordium.
B. Explanations.
C. Elimination of irrelevant matter.
D. Concessions.
E. Common ground.
F. Issues.
G. Partition or proposition.
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
You will understand that this is offered, not as something to be followed rigidly under all circumstances, but
as something to help you in your arrangement. Some
such form should be followed, unless you are sure in a
given case that you have something better. Not all of
these parts are needed in every speech, and several of
them may blend together. All down to E may, in some
speeches, be means of getting on common ground; but all
these parts should be taken into account in any speech
for belief or action.
The order may be changed much by the exigencies of
an occasion. In a legislative debate, for example, one
might wish to begin, without introduction, on a rebuttal
argument. At times there may be no divisions at all.
But this admission in regard to the exceptional speech,
is not available for the lazy speaker who wishes an excuse
for not recognizing the divisions which should be present
in his speech.




420


PUBLIC SPEAKING


If the speech is expository, there is not often need of so
much elaboration of the opening as in argumentative
speeches; though there is usually need for preliminary
explanations of the problem and what is to be attempted,
and there is often need of awakening interest, and sometimes of avoiding prejudice. Usually the approach will
not need more than these divisions: Common ground of
interest, Explanation and Partition.
Descriptive and narrative speeches do not differ greatly
from expository speeches in regard to outlines. Frequently the descriptive speech cannot be distinguished
from the expository except by purpose. Students sometimes think that a narrative speech cannot be outlined;
yet there are in a story more or less distinct episodes, as
in a play there are acts and scenes. No kind of speech
more needs orderly progress than the narrative. What
seems simple and natural in a well told story is probably the result of careful planning and experimentation.
Use of the outline. Note, first, since some have trouble
over this point, that an outline is not the same as a brief.
A brief, in common usage, is a complete analysis of the
arguments for or against a resolution; and may not
be the outline of a speech at all, or of a written
argument. Its purpose is to reveal to one preparing
for a debate what resources he has to draw from. IIe
might base many different speeches upon it, paying no
attention to its order and using but a small part of
its material in any one. The outline resembles the brief
somewhat in form and purpose; but the outline is the
plan of a particular speech, the road map which, with
certain limitations, is to be followed. And outlines are
for speeches of all kinds, not merely for the argumentative.
Certain limitations have already been noted in regard




PLANS AND OUTLINES


421


to following the outline. First, one may wish to suppress in his speech the statement of aim    embodied in
the introduction of his outline, not stating this in plain
terms until later in his speech, or even not at all. Secondly, one often wishes in his speech to place supporting statements before the idea supported; and sometimes
he may feel it unnecessary to state this at all. For example, if he gives one or more incidents which impress
strongly Lincoln's sagacity, he may not wish, either before or after the examples, to make the generalization of
his outline, "Lincoln was a sagacious man."     It is frequently best to let the audience draw its own inference,
and this is especially true when the inference is unpleasant; as, for example, "John Smith is a liar."
Thirdly, the speaker, in writing his speech from his
outline, or in extemporizing from it, should not feel
bound to follow it when he becomes convinced that he
can do better by making a departure. But he should
not without the best of reasons depart from his carefully
ordered and correlated plan. In general, there should
be an intelligent, not a blind, use of the outline.
If the speaker is to extemporize from his outline, he
should work over the thought until he is sure he can develop it clearly, adequately and impressively; until he
is sure that he has at command facts and illustrations
which he can put pithily, and, in particular, words and
phrases with which he can express the more difficult and
important parts. Especial attention should be given to
the transitions, for it is at a transition, ninety-nine times
out of a hundred, that the speaker who staggers or
breaks down, meets his difficulty.
Inexperienced speakers should practise their speeches
after the outline is made. Practice will clarify ideas,
bring to mind varied ways of expressing them, increase




422


PUBLIC SPEAKING


grasp and confidence, and, if one speaks to a vividly
imagined audience, tend to bring one into the speaking
frame of mind. Experienced speakers will find out what
methods are best for them; but experienced speakers will
not hesitate, when anxious to do well, to practise their
speeches.
Since speakers almost invariably underestimate the
time their speeches will require, they will do well to
practise with timepiece at hand.
One may take his outline to the platform and lay it
upon the desk; and this may be advisable for those of
treacherous memory upon important occasions. For the
student of speaking, and especially until he acquires a
good degree of directness, it is better to leave the outline behind. And it is safe to say that most audiences
like this way better. One who is to speak without his
outline before him, should fix it very firmly in mind.
This will be much easier if its headings are so expressed
as to make relations boldly evident.
In conclusion. Careful planning is as necessary to
the speaker as to one who would build a house or go on a
journey in an economical and efficient way. This whole
book proceeds on the assumption that one will accomplish a purpose best when he knows precisely what it is
and considers the best means to the end. Contrary
views are prompted, in most cases, by indolence, the native
disinclination to think, or by the mistaken notion that we
can under ordinary circumstances depend upon inspiration. There is something we call inspiration, but it
helps those who first help themselves. To trust to it is
usually to talk glibly but ineffectively. The best inspiration arises from the knowledge that one is thoroughly
prepared with facts and arguments, that these are clearly
thought out and arranged, and that they can be fittingly




PLANS AND OUTLINES                 423
expressed; and, further, that what one has to say is of
interest and importance to the audience. The young
speaker should not hope to do all that he observes veterans doing; though he should hope by training himself
to surpass many of those veterans. I have had no desire, however, to lay down rigid rules for the speaker;
nor have I endeavored to give you methods to take the
place of good subject-matter. All we teachers can hope
to do is to help you in becoming intelligent in regard to
speech-making.




CHAPTER XIII


FURTHER ANALYSIS OF MENTAL ACTION AS AFFECTING
DELIVERY
IN Chapter II we examined, in a somewhat general
way, the action of the speaker's mind during delivery.
It became evident that a high degree of attention is
called for; and in later chapters we considered what can
be done to build up ideas so that attention to them shall
be as easy as possible, even effortless. In this chapter
I wish to return to the subject of delivery. If one delivers speeches prepared in accordance with the suggestions of Chapters VI to XII, he will presumably come
to have the "keen sense of communication" set down in
Chapter II as one of the grand essentials of good delivery; but something remains to be said of the other, the
"full realization of the content of your words as you
utter them," and especially something more definite
with reference to the action of the mind in relating idea *
to idea.
To attend to an idea means that one holds it in the
focus of consciousness, excluding for the time the swarm
of other ideas and sensations that constantly bid for
attention. "We cannot attend at the same moment to
all the ideas that make up a consciousness; the 'grasp'
of attention is limited."   We can think clearly and
definitely one thing at a time. We cannot attend to all
the thought of even a short speech at once, or of the
1 Titebener, A Primcer of Psychology, p. 75.
424




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


425


ordinary paragra h, or of any but the shortest sentence.
We may hold in mind a summary of a speech; but the
summary is only the thought generalized, without its
definite, specific phases. If we are to have definite
thinking, we must also focus, or center, upon each successive detail.
But it does not follow that at a given instant we are
oblivious of all but the one idea, as an isolated thing.
Just as when one focuses his eyes upon a dot at the center of a circle, he is still aware of the white background
and of the fact that it is the center of a circle; so when
one fixes attention upon an idea he is still aware that it
is related to other ideas which form its background and
its margin.1   Moreover, having focused upon an idea,
the mind turns definitely to the relations of that idea
to other ideas.
James says 2 of the "stream     of consciousness," that
"like a bird's life, it seems to be an alternation of flights
and perchings.... The resting-places are usually occupied by sensorial images of some sort,..; the places of
flight are filled with thoughts of relations."  So we may
say that the speaker's mind should dwell definitely upon
successive ideas, and also maintain a sense of their relations.
Centering and phrasing. The term centering has been
used to indicate this focusing or prolonging of attention
upon an idea until it stands out in relief from other
ideas. By a phrase we mean a word or a group of words
containing such a part of the thought as the mind focuses upon, or what amounts to the same thing, containing a center of attention; and by phrasing we refer to
1 "Whenever our experience shows the pattern of vivid center and
dim background, of bright focus and obscure margin, then we have
attention before us." Titchener, A Beginner's Psychology, p. 02.
2 Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 160.




426


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the action of the voice in marking a phrase, whether by
pause, or by change of rate, pitch or tone color. The
term phrase is not to be confused with the grammarian's
use of the same word. It is convenient to treat centering and phrasing together; for, by definition, every
phrase embodies a thought center and there is a phrase
for every center. There should be no difficulty in keeping the terms distinct when we consider that centering is
a mental action and phrasing is a matter of words. To
avoid a common misunderstanding, note here that every
word of a sentence is a part, or the whole, of some phrase.
The physical manifestation of centering is emphasis,
whether this be shown in increased force, pause, inflection, or other manner. While true emphasis is of high
importance, we shall say little of it as such; for the term
too strongly suggests a mechanical application of force.
We shall do better to think and speak of the mental act
of centering; and we should make sure that our emphasis
springs from alert thinking and a keen realization
as we speak of the relative importance of ideas and of
their relations.
There may be place for the study of word emphasis; for example,
in working out a difficult passage in Shakespeare: but at.present
we should let it alone. We do not now need it, for we are learning
a better way. Besides it is a marvelously intricate subject. To
take some easy examples: "What is nature to him?"     Suppose
you decide to emphasize nature, or perhaps him. You may in either
case give quite a wrong meaning because you have failed to consider whether the question is sincere, or a sneer. I heard a speaker
say, "The minimum wage law will mitigate the evils of child labor,"
emphasizing the correct word, mitigate, but giving it an explosive
emphasis which indicated that he did not approve of such mitigation. So it is quite possible to emphasize the right word and give
the wrong meaning. It is possible, if one has great skill in determining the right words to emphasize, the right sort of emphasis to
give them, the right inflections, etc., to succeed in the delivery of
these and far more difficult sentences; but in order to do so one




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


427


must first gain such an understanding of them as, kept vigorously
in mind, will prompt thle true delivery without thought of emphasis
or inflection. Take another simple case: A speaker said, "Lincoln was snatched from obscurity," yielding to a tendency common,
when the mind is sluggish, to stress any strong word regardless of
sense. If it be said that tile speaker should have noted which is
the emphatic word, the answer is that rather he should have kept
his mind awake. And tilis case suggests another fact, that often
no one word bears all the stress. Surely not all rests here on
obscurity. Very wonderful schemes have been worked out to indicate the course of the voice in all cases, but these are so intricate
that few ever succeed in learning them; and, worst of all, these
mechanical devices get in the way of thinking. Please note, that
nowhere in this chapter are you asked to decide which word is emphatic; and please understand that nowhere is it intended to suggest mechanical as opposed to mental action.
Centering and phrasing are not fixed and unchanging;
but they vary as one's conception of a passage varies, as
the context varies, or as the speaker conceives the contefit
to be more or less familiar or difficult to his hearers.
Note how the centers shift in Emerson's sentence, "If I should
make the shortest list of the qualifications of an orator, I should
begin with manliness,'" a.cording to whether we assume that there
has been no preceding discussion, or that there has been a discussion about orators, or statesmen, or soldiers, or about the qualifications of orators, or lists of qualifications.
To study another illustration: "If ignorance and corruption
and intrigue control the primaries, and manage the conventions,
and dictate the nominations, the fault is in the honest and intelligent workshop and office, in the library and parlor, in the church
and the school."  Taking this sentence without context, each detail
may call for a modicum of attention and we shall have many centers. ignorance, corruption, and intrigue are by no means synonyms; each is a distinct cause of political ills. We may say that
each of these three words ends a phrase. If the thought is very
analytic, this would be right. If, however, we conceive that the
main point of the sentence is elsewhere, we shall probably throw
the three evils together as a thought unit, the collective cause of
political ills,-and end the phrase with intrigue. This will be better, for if we give attention to too many details, we shall get no
unified impression from the sentence. So too the successive stages
of candidate-making may be considered separately, making three




428


PUBLIC SPEAKING


phrases; or, less analytically, as but one whole, though this last
is hardly probable. If the fact of fault is the main thought of
the sentence, then a phrase will end with fault; but if that is taken
for granted and the chief point is thought to be whose fault, then
probably office, parlor, and chuirch will end the remaining phrases.
If the distinction between workshop and office is thought of distinctly they will form distinct centers; but if they are thought of
together as representative of business, there will be but one phrase.
The more analytic treatment would be extreme and would lead to
labored delivery.
Taking the sentence in its context, the case is much simpler.
(See, at the end of Chapter XIV, the selection Who is to Blame?)
We find that the whole sentence is a restatement, for purposes of
transition and increased definiteness, of what has been said or
implied in the preceding paragraph. On closer analysis we find
that, considering the context both before and after this sentence,
the especial purpose is to emphasize who is at fault. Since the
thought at this stage is familiar, our thought units can be larger,
and this is especially true of the less important parts. A mind
keenly alive to the relation of this sentence to the whole, will be
likely to take in all to intrigue at one "spurt" of attention; to note
in very rapid succession the three stages of the process of nomination; and to pass over the idea of fault, which is already clearly
in mind, letting it fall into the phrase with "workshop and office."
The phrases then will end with intrigue, meeting, convention, nonination, office, parlor, and school. As has been indicated, the duration of attention upon the phrases will vary with their importance,
and this means their importance at the moment.
While phrasing is often variable, this is not always
true. There are some expressions that will not bear
breaking. For example, The United States of America
could under only the most unusual conditions be conceived as two thought units. It is as much a unit, a
single name, as France. It would be as proper to separate in thought and delivery the two syllables of the
name Fuller, or the two parts of John Smith. The Constitution of the United States of America is likewise a
single name.
That phrasing and centering are variable should not
lead one to assume that they may be left to chance, habit,




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


429


rhythm, or the necessities of breathing. It is important
that the speaker think in the true units so that lie may
convey the true units to his audience. Confused centering means confused thinking on the part of the speaker,
which will cause confused expression and, therefore, confused understanding on the part of the hearer.
The youth who declaimed: "My name is Norval on the Grampian Hills,-my father feeds his flock a frugal swain," did not
mean to imply that his name was different in the Lowlands, and
had only his slovenly thinking to blame wlhen some of his puzzled
mates thought he said his father fed a flock of frugal swine. The
banquet orator who proposed the toast, "Womanwwithout her man
-would be a savage!" did not make a hit with the ladies in the
balcony; and there was a just grievance when a preacher in a fhing town changed the written request sent up by a good wife, A
man going to sea, his wife requests the prayers of the church,"
into, "A man going to see his wife-requests the prayers of the
church." The importance of thinking in the true units may be
seen in attempting to unravel this: "That that is isthal that is
not,is not."j $                      4. t "   I.
One may not often fall into as amusing results as some
of those mentioned above, but     wtering as absurd in fact
is common enough. And strangely enough, bad centering is nearly as common in delivering the speaker's own
matter as when interpreting another's. Whenever the
attention slips from content, and relations are forgotten,
the voice may run units together, or halt and break up
units, and so throw upon the hearer the burden of analysis or perplex him utterly. But when the mind alertly
notes each point, the voice will guide the hearer's attention aright and listening will be easy.
How much centering. We should center, not merely
upon the major ideas of a sentence or paragraph, but also
upon each detail which is necessary for a true grasp of
the thought, passing over those which serve their purpose while remaining in the "fringe of consciousness."




430


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Another way to put it is, that we should focus upon
each part of the thought we wish the minds of our hearers momentarily to dwell upon. How lolng attention will
dwell upon each part of the thought depends upon its
importance in the speaker's mind. The time may vary
from a hardly appreciable instant to several seconds.
This leads us to consider certain common        faults.
First, is the fault of centering too infrequently,-attempting to take and give the thought in too large units.
This is the fault of one whose mind skims over the surface, taking only a bird's-eye view. The result is that
neither speaker nor hearer is able to grasp the thought
definitely, or gain more than a general understanding.
But the more serious fault, akin to this, is failure to
center long enough and firmly enough upon each phrase.
The chief reason a beginner usually speaks too fast is
that he does not think enough as he gpes. This results
in vagueness of delivery and indistinctness of impression
upon the hearer. He may have understood clearly in
preparation; he may have a bare understanding as he
speaks; but he does not grasp the thought in its fullness.
His mind should receive a distinct impression from each
phrase. And more than that, the audience must have
time to think. There is need, therefore, for the deliberation which is characteristic of most experienced speakers. There is little good in just trying to go slow; the
effort often results in yet greater rapidity. The speaker
who talks too rapidly should impress upon himself the
importance of gainig distinct impressions, full realization of the content of his words, and of giving his audience time to think. He should fix firmly in mind the
truth that his audience cannot move as rapidly as he
can. They are not so familiar with his line of thought.
If they are to see the pictures suggested, compare his




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


431


statements with their experience, in a word, think back
to lim, they must have time. In particular he should
impress us upon his mind the truth that he fails unless he
provokes reaction in his hearers, and causes them to relate his words to their knowledge, beliefs and experience.
In brief, the too rapid speaker should think more, and
give his hearers time to think more.
It will be found very helpful for one practising delivery to insert words and phrases which, while they are
not necessary to an expression of the thought when delivery is adequate, will serve to accentuate,the relations
*both of idea to idea and of the ideas to the audience.
The use of such phrases sharpens thinking and causes
the speaker to take tiue enough. After practising with
these extra words inserted aloud, one may then practise
the same passage with them inserted mentally only. lie
may then practise the same passage without the effort
to think in particular words, but making sure that he
does realize fully the relations they accentuated. It will
be found that this practice will improve expression, not
only in respect to rate, but in many other ways.
We may illustrate the foregoing from the selection Who is to
Blame? Before Sentence 3, one may throw in, "Voting is necessary, but-"; and after the same sentence, "Doesn't your experience confirm that?"  Beginning with the Sentence 11, we make
the passage reald: "And within a few years, [I am not talking
theory, Ibut present-day facts], as t. result of this indifference to
the details of public duty, the most powerful politician in the
EmI)ire State of tle Union [in the state of the greatest wealth,
population, and political influence] was [a man who might justly
be called] Jonathan Wild the Great, the captain of a band of
plunderers. I know it is said [the cheap excuse is common] that
tle knaves have taken the honest man in a net, and have contrived
machinery which will inevitably grind only the grist of rascals.
The answer is [and it is a complete answer, fact against theory;
you cannot get away from it], that when honest men did once
what they ought to do always, the thieves were netted and their




432


PUBLIC SPEAKING


machine was broken. To say [as you do] that in this country the
rogues must rule, is [not only] to defy history [as I have just
shown you, but what is vastly more serious, it is] to despair of
the republlic. [Did you realize that?]" This method of practice
will be further illustrated below when we speak more specifically
of relations.
We must now consider faults of centering and phrasing which are quite the opposite of those discussed:
focusing too frequently and prolonging attention unduly upon minor ideas. It is of high importance to understand the significance of every word and phrase, but
not every idea should come into the focus of attention
during delivery. They serve their purpose while remain--
ing in the background, or in the fringe of consciousness.
Just as some things "go without saying," so some go
with saying, and without special attention. If attention
is directed to everything, then nothing stands out, and
unity of delivery will be lacking. The sentences will, as
it were, fall into bits. The audience will be wearied,
because each insignificant point will be forced upon its
attention, and because of lack of movement in the delivery. Take as an example: "About one-third-of our
country-was originally covered-with the most magnificent forests." One cannot really think "about onethird" alone. "About one-third of our country" is the
true unit. The rest is a single picture and can be readily
grasped at one instant.
As we have already seen in considering how the phrasing of a sentence may vary, the number of centers in a
sentence depends upon the context and the situation to
a great extent. The more analytic the mood and the
more difficult and unfamiliar the thought, the more numerous the centers.
The effect upon delivery of unduly prolonging attention upon ideas that do deserve direct notice, but are yet




FURTIHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


strictly subordinate, is much the same as focusing upon
ideas that should be left entirely in the background.
This is well illustrated by giving too much attention to
the three parts of "control the primary meeting, and
manage the convention, and dictate the nomination,'" in
Sentence 15 of the selection, Who is to Blame. If in
the sentence, "And Paul stretched forth his hand, and
began to defend himself,'' the first clause receives much
attention, it will seem a needless detail; but if it receives
a bare glance and is strictly subordinated to the second
clause, it will serve its purpose of adding a striking detail to the picture.
S There is also to be noted a sort of false centering which
occurs at such words as but, and, that, which, are, and
other connective and introductory words, which should
ordinarily blend with what follows. There are times
when attention should dwell upon the relations which
these words represent, but such times are rare. This
false centering is sometimes due to conventional reading
habits, or to an erroneous belief that we should "mind
our pauses,"' meaning the punctuation. But punctation
has nothing to do with delivery. A punctuation mark
may or may not coincide with the end of a phrase; as in,
" Oh, yes, I am young, I know; but youth, Sir, is not my
only crime."    False phrasing most often arises from
wandering attention or inability to think what comes
next. Instead of pausing till he has a grip on his next
clause, the speaker begins, "But-" and then, like the
parson in "The One-Hoss Shay," "stops perplexed at
what the-Moses-is coming next!"
It should be noted that phrases are not always followed by
pauses, being indicated, also, as already said, by other elements,
such as rate, pitch, and tone color; and pause for emphasis may
fall in the midst of a phrase. For example, in the first sentence




434


PUBLIC SPEAKING


of the second paragraph of the Curtis selection, the three phrases
"control the primaries and manage the conventions and dictate the
nominations," might well be given without pause. On the other
hand, in "Woman! without her, man would be a savage," a speaker
might pause before "a savage," although it is not a phrase. In
the second sentence of the selection referred to, there might be a
pause after "essentially" if the speaker's mind were strongly
caught by that thought; yet undoubtedly the words "of his political
duty" belong in the phrase with the preceding words, for as merely
echoing "public duty" they hold no meaning upon which the mind
should rest. It should be noted also from the last example, that
phrases do not necessarily end with important words.; On the whole, the fault of centering too little is more
common than of centering too much. What is needed
is complete understanding of each idea, large and small;
but with this must go an appreciation of the relative importance of each in the speech. This involves, as we
have seen, a keen realization of the relations of idea to
idea. With such a realization, one is in a fair way to
speak with correct emphasis, pitch, rate, tone color, and
in particular, with proper inflection.
Relations of ideas. Some are principal ideas, some
subordinate; some are related as cause and effect; some
are repetition or echo, some new thoughts; some are
contrasted with others, some are concessive rather than
in support of the main thought, and so on through all
possible relations of ideas to each other and to the central theme.
Distinguish   principal and   subordinate ideas. Much
poor work, showing itself peculiarly in bad centering and
consequent false emphasis, is due to failure to discriminate values. Attention should vary with degree of importance. This does not mean the absolute value of an
idea, but its value in its place with reference to the larger
thought one is expressing. The principle of this paragraph has already been illustrated with the sentence




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


435


beginning, "If ignorance, corruption, etc.," and will become clearer from what follows.
Echo and new idea. The word new here has no reference to novelty or originality, but refers to an idea that
has not appeared before in the particular discussion.
Echo is the recurrence of an idea already expressed.
The echo may or may not be in the same words as the
part referred to. It most frequently refers to the immediately preceding, but may refer to any preceding
part. If you will turn to the Curtis selection you will
note that vote in the second sentence echoes voting in the
first and political duty echoes public duty, and that very
heart echoes essentially in the same sentence. Every
sentence in this selection, after the first, contains one or
more echoes. They are especially numerous in the last
part of the last sentence. Almost any sentence in a
speech may be considered a link in a chain, reaching both
forward and backward. It is this interlinking which
gives firmness of structure, and where it is absent the
style is abrupt and liable to be disjointed. When the
echoes are not clearly distinguished, delivery will also
be disjointed and lacking in coherence. They have been
called the "connective tissue" of language.
A fine example of coherence through echo is found in Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address (see Index). Analyze for new idea and echo
the first four sentences. Note in particular how might live echoes
endure. Then turn to the last sentence of the speech and note the
echoes from the opening sentences, and see how the last phrase,
usually read with flat dullness,* is really charged with meaning by
the echo of endure by shall not perish. As an example of an important echo, take the words has failed at the end of the second
sentence of the second paragraph of the Curtis selection. Determine what they echo. This hard sentence, and indeed the whole
paragraph, is unintelligible unless this echo is clearly recognized.
There are in any composition numerous echoes, recognition of
which, although they may be less important than some of those




436


PUBLIC SPEAKING


referred to, is necessary for informing the voice with the true
meaning.
That the new idea must be recognized is too obvious
for illustration. In the majority of cases, it is the new
idea which for the moment is of chief importance; it is
the one now to be impressed. The echo, on the other
hand, is already in mind and is often given chiefly for
the purpose of keeping relations, clear. Nevertheless, it
may be, in a given case, the most important part of a
sentence, as in the case of repetition for emphasis.
In the sentence, "For prosperous labor, industry, and commerce,
three conditions are necessary: first, liberty; second, liberty; third,
liberty," the third liberty, though bearing the same meaning as the
first, is much more significant. The echoes, noted above, from the
Gettysburg Address, might live and shall not perish, are certainly
large with meaning.
A new idea is not necessarily important, though it
usually should have some attention. When Lincoln said,
"Now we are in a great civil war," etc., the fact of war
was too obvious to need much attention, though a "new
idea," but the new idea of testing free government was
a major point. So while this method of analysis is an
aid in our study, neither it nor any other method can
relieve us from the use of our brains.
The term echo is hardly adequate, though the one ordinarily used. Many a phrase which contains a back reference, is really an amplification, or a restatement with
so much added meaning and force that the feeling of
reference is not prominent, although present. To echoes
tihould be added restatements and amplifications. And
there are also instances of restatements where the back
reference is entirely lost. Echo or not echo is a question
of fact; that is, the question is not, might not a word or
clause refer back. but does it?.




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


437


Here, again, we may profitably refer to the practice of
putting in additional phrases. This practice is especially helpful in accentuating echoes, or contrasts, which
may be at once echoes and new ideas. For example,
many in speaking the words "absolute ignorance of the
candidates," in the seventh sentence of the Curtis selection, will fail to realize and indicate the fact that "candidates" echoes "whoever was nominated for office,"
and that "ignorance" expresses a sharp contrast with
"was known to his neighbors." So many ideas intervene that the relations are lost sight of. Now, if the
student will practise Sentence 7 this way,-"But in the
local elections of the great cities of to-day, elections that
control taxation and expenditure (instead of having thorough knowledge of the candidates), the mass of the voters
vote in absolute ignorance of the candidates, "-he will
be pretty sure to speak the final words in a way which
reveals both the contrast and the echo. But whether
words are inserted or not, it is essential that one speak
)with keen realization of relations, taking time to recognize them.
Is the thought forward looking?    Most of the thought
relations need no discussion here, but there is one other        o
that should be stressed because of its bearing upon a
common fault. The fault is that of dropping the inflection at nearly every pause, giving a sort of limping effect. Now, speaking generally, a downward inflection
is our instinctive way of indicating a degree of completeness in the thouight; while a                tion ihi
dic""                 "a^j ljookig_ýno" s for - rather than resting upon what is at the instant being said. To illustrate,
in speaking the sentence, "Patriotism, when it rises to
the heroic standard, is a positive love of country; and it
will do all and sacrifice all for its object," the voice




4388


PUBLIC SPEAKING


would naturally rise at any pause other than those at
country and object.     The fault referred to is evidently
that of one who fails to keep alert to the relations of his
ideas, and especially to the forward relations. To him
every stop is a terminal. The remedy seems to be to
practise much upon sentences which demand strongly the
look ahead; such as the following:
"On the banks of the Indus; in the fertile valleys of the
Euphrates; under the shadow of the mighty Pyramids and along
the borders of the Nile; in frigid Russia, and in sunny Greece;
under the soft skies of Italy and of Spain; along the slopes where
the grapes are gathered and the herds are pastured in beautiful
France; behind the dykes of Holland; over the plains and amid
the forests of Germany; far north in the Scandinavian retreats,
where muscle is trained by hardship, and storm nurtures the courage to do and dare; within the sea-girt isle, whose scepter of
authority has been wielded by an Alfred, by a William the Conqueror, by an Elizabeth, and by a Victoria+--rp i+, the Highlands
where Bruce and Wallace led their clans, ami, Burns sang songs as
enduring as Homer's, and Scott waved his wizard wand: in Ireland, where the echoes of the voice of O'Connell still linger in the
air. persuasive, potential, and the name of Robert Emmet stirs
like a bugle call; here in this broad land of America:-everywhere,
of whatever race or clime, man feels himself to be hindered,
cramped, thwarted, cruelly wronged, without liberty."
"The hills,
Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun; the vales
Stretching in pensive quietness between;
The venerable woods; rivers that move
In majesty; and the complaining brooks
That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,
Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste,Are but the solemn decorations all
Of the great tomb of man."
Sometimes the fault has grown into a habit so strong
that it will not yield to "mental treatment" alone; and
then the inflections should be drilled up arbitrarily, till
the ear grows to demand them.
What is said of the treatment of this fault may be applied




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


439


principle, to the treatment of any other delivery faults that persist
very long after good mental action on the platform has been
attained.
There is the correlative fault of rarely letting the voice
^fall, even at the end of sentences. Such delivery, an
approach to intoning, lacks positiveness and directness.
It is due to taking too cursory a view, failing to center
definitely enough. But it is sometimes an affectation.
It is common among stump speakers. The practice of
sustaining  all inflections, though   employed    by  somec
eminent speakers, and sometimes defended as a means\
of making the voice carry over great audiences, is, I
believe, rarely justified and it quickly establishes a bad
habit. It seems to be going out of vogue.
These suggestions are practicable. At this stage students have said, "How is it possible to attend to so
many things at once, especially when one is addressing
an audience?"    The question is natural, but rests upon
a misunderstanding. I do not mean that you should
be saying to yourself, This is the main idea, This is an
echo of such and such a passage. That would be but I
little better than to be saying, This word is emphatic,
and, I must pause here. But I do mean that you are to
be sensible of values and relations as you speak. The
better your preparation and grasp, the easier your task.
For a beginner to control his mind sufficiently may not
be easy, but for this control he must work and practise.
But after all, what is urged upon you must be practicable, for it is only what we do in a wide-awake conversation. We are striving only to reproduce and accentuate
upon the platform the mental activities of conversation.
Pause. The grand secret of success in carrying on all
the complex process is pause. The rapid turning of attention from the particular idea to its relations and to




440


PUBLIC SPEAKING


the audience, all becomes possible when we take time.
There is hardly a beginner who does not need this advice:
STrain yourself strictly to the habit of pausing until the
next thought and its relations are clearly grasped by
your mind, before giving it to your audience. And do
not forget that that requirement is not met by grasping
the bare intellectual content of your words. You must
recognize the full significance of the thought, and that
includes the emotional content also. Remember also that
while the speaker needs time to think what is to be said,
Sthe audience needs time to think of what has been said.
"Speech is silvern; silence is golden, " says the proverb,
and silence is never more golden than in the midst of
speech.
Do not fear your pauses will be too long. What may
seem to a beginner a long wait will really be very short.
When your mind is doing its proper work in your pauses,
they will not seem long. Do not fear that drawling will
result from  deliberate pausing. When it is not intentional, drawling is the sign of a listless, or of a too introspective state of mind, and not the expression of alert
thinking.
Do not confuse puse with hesitation. We pause to
think; we hesitate because we cannot think. Nothing
is more tiresome to an audience than a hesitating, halting
delivery. It seems to be due chiefly to beginning a
clause without a firm forward-looking grasp of it.
Hesitation is especially annoying when the gaps are filled with
urs and ihs. Grunting is no part of thinking. Heed the plea of
Oliver Wendell Holmes:
"And when you stick on conversations burrs,
Don't strew your pathway with those dreadful urs."
Pause gives opportunity for breathing, but a speaker
should never stop simply to breathe. That is to let




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


441


physical necessities tyrannize over mental processes. So
far as consciousness is concerned, pause should be only
an opportunity to think. Still, breathing is an important matter. A    well controlled, sufficient supply of
breath is necessary to a well supported tone and helps
to steady the nerves. A speaker should cultivate the
habit of utilizing nearly every pause to take breath. The
opportunities are always sufficient, without interfering
with the thought movement.
Summarizing will be found very helpful; first, because
to make a good summary one must have the clearest understanding; and, secondly, because if you put into your
summary just the right turn of the thought, the real
point of view and the true emphasis, and fix this in
your mind before you rise to speak, it will aid you
greatly in giving to each part its due importance and in
relating each to the whole. A summary is like a bird'seye view: by omitting details it makes clearer the relations of parts. Analysis is-niecessary in order to distinguish relations, but after analysis must come synthesis.
The practice of summarizing will help in gaining qualities of delivery not at all common: coherence and structural emphasis; which will in turn give the hearer unity
of impression. I use the term structural emphasis because emphasis is too commonly thought of as concerned
with the sentence only. Many speakers who deliver individual sentences well, fail in giving due value to each
part as related to the whole. Summarize your speech,
then, as a whole, and summarize each paragraph. Make
these as brief and clear-cut as you can, in order that they
may be easily carried in mind. If a short speech cannot be summarized in one rather brief sentence, look
upon that fact as a danger signial: there is probably a
Jack of unity or of elearniess in your thought.




442


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The thought chain. Another excellent practice for
training the thinking of a young speaker is, when once
the details of a speech have been worked out, to go, silently at first, over the thought chain or thought movement, time after time, until he has worn such a groove
in his mind that he can, without reference to notes and
without mental wandering, proceed through his entire.
speech step by step, individualizing each point and seeing
each in its proper relations. A practical aid is mentally
to throw into the transitions such phrases as, to be sure,
granted, for example, to take up another point, so triue
is this, as was said before, or such additions as have been
suggested above. These accentuate the relations, and
hence prompt more definite expression. They also aid
the memory, for trouble in remembering is due usually
to weak transition.
Monotony of delivery is a fault so common that it is
I worth while to point out here that monotony is due
fundamentally to failure in discrimination,-to drifting;
and that it can hardly exist where the true value and
character of each idea is recognized and relations are
clearly discerned; provided there be emotional as well
as intellectual discrimination.
How to work. The methods set forth in this chapter
can be most advantageously practised by the beginner
with a written speech or a selection. But they are, in
part, quite as applicable to an extemporaneous speech;
that is a speech prepared and outlined, but not fixed in
phraseology. Let there be the most complete understanding of each detail and of the relation of idea to
idea, and then let there be speaking, with deliberate, complete thinking. Do not try to "make a speech," but only
to command the thought and to express it; first as to




FURTHER STUDY OF DELIVERY


4z3


one person (to an actual person if you have a patient
friend), and then to a larger and larger number.
Do not use these methods mechanically. Since the
teachings of this chapter can be easily translated into
mechanical methods, it may be best to restate the difference between such methods and the methods intended.
Take the matter of emphasis as typical: One working
by the mechanical method decides that a given word is
emphatic; say, to-night in the sentence, "Are you going
down town to-night?"   lie then consciously stresses that
word. It is an act not very unlike that of the pianist in
pressing a pedal; the more practised he is, of course, the
less attention the act requires. One working by our
method, holds in mind the meaning he wishes to convey,
and trusts the conception to prompt the right emphasis,
as in conversation. If he finds difficulty in securing the
right expression, he accentuates his thinking, perhaps
saying to himself," The question is between to-night and
to-morrow night."   Ie seeks right expression from concentrated attention rather than by consciously applied
stress. And if on rare occasions he finds the mechanical
method helpful, he looks upon it rather as a last resort
than as sound practice; for the mechanical method inserts a process, unknown to normal expression, between
the mental action and the voice.
The elements of expression. To       make expression
clearer and stronger, accentuate mental processes which
Sare the natural cause of expression. Proper pausing and
Sphrasing will spring from recognition of the successive
thought units; and the length of pause and rate of utterance will be regulated by the relative values which the
mind assigns to each step. From centering will spring
\ emphasis, which will be due emphasis, if the relation of




444              PUBLIC SPEAKING
part to part is clearly in mind. Recognition of relations
will prompt true inflections.
Change of pitch arises from     discrimination of ideas
and values; climax from a sense of the development of
the thought and feeling; and change of tone color from
change of attitude, as from the explanatory to the argumentative mood. Where these elements of expression
exist, monotony is impossible. It should be understood
that this analysis is but a rough one; the various elements
may combine in countless ways. Expression is too complex a matter for brief analysis; if, indeed, complete
analysis be possible.




CHAPTER XIV


THE STUDY AND DELIVERY OF SELECTIONS
THE practice of delivering selections, usually called
declamations, from  the works of others, is an ancient
method of learning to speak in public; and while too
much attention has at times been paid to it, the practice,
nevertheless, is valuable. I believe it best for the student
to begin his work with original speeches, since with his
own ideas, put in his own words and said in his own way,
he is less likely to feel that he is making an exhibition
and more likely to catch the idea that public speaking is
real communication. Let him begin very close to actual
conversation and then build up his delivery to meet the
demands of the platform.
Value of the practice. But as soon as the beginner has
realized in a measure the nature of public delivery, there
are certain benefits which he can secure from work on
selections. In the first place, most beginners are accustomed to express but a limited range of ideas, and often
they are unwilling to express these freely. Given a good
selection, they will often speak with more confidence and
freedom, even with more earnestness, than with their own
matter; provided, there is thorough assimilation. Secondly, beginners, before they learn how to work effectively, frequently have, or think they have, extremely
little to say; and this little they are unable to put into
language that will "speak."    In short, they may fail to
prepare speeches that permit good delivery. A good
445




446


PUBLIC SPEAKING


selection furnishes a speech that will speak; and from it
the student may catch something of the spirit and style
of good speeches. He receives the influence of good
style in the best way, not from conscious imitation, but
by coming to feel it through intimate acquaintance.
Again, the ability to master and deliver effectively the
words of another is in itself worth while. A speaker frequently wishes to read a passage or to quote it from memory. At such times the audience rarely listens well; but
good reading should be as direct in tone and as easy to
listen to as other delivery. We take up selections for the
sake of their effect upon public speaking; but the improvement in oral reading is a valuable "by-product."
Professor Corson has told us that oral reading is one of
the best methods of studying literature,' and also that it
has great cultural value. Oral interpretation has cultural value because it is no child's play really to master a
good piece of literature, but a work worthy the best powers of any student I have yet met. In these days of lectures and reports there is rather little training in close
interpretation and little ability to reproduce faithfully
the contents of a printed page. Many a student, introduced to the work of this chapter, has at first revolted
and later greatly valued a training which has helped him
in all his reading, silent as well as oral. Many educators
value, also, the training in memorizing, holding that today there is too little memorizing as formerly there was
too much. Finally the instructor in speaking values
this work because it gives him the best opportunity for
effectual drill. It is true that many of the benefits of
work   with  selections can   be obtained    with  original
speeches alone, but my experience is that, after the course
is well started, the best method is to alternate the two
1 Voice and Spiritual Education.




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


447


"kinds of speeches, so that each kind of work may supplement the other. There are well-known evils which may
arise in work on selections, which I shall try to guard
against in the following suggestions.
Character of the work proposed. I substitute the word
selection for declamation because the work here proposed
departs considerably from the usual practice of declamation. I do not advise a student early in his course to
take up    impersonation,-to speak      as Regulus to the
Carthaginians or as Webster in the Senate, for fear this
practice might encourage the tendency to be unreal. I
do not wish him to think of himself even as an interpreter. That is reading and we are working at speaking.
I wish the student, even while interpreting, to speak,
strictly in his own person, ideas which he has made his
own and which he heartily believes in, to his actual audience.
It is true that it does a young man good to "get out of himself"
and speak as Clay or Phillips; it enlarges his outlook and develops his imagination. But these benefits may be sought in oral
reading and amateur acting; though much acting cannot be advised, lest the speaker become unable to keep the actor off thl
platform. The speaker who has first been an actor often has a
hard time in gaining the power to speak as himself. On the other
hand, some speakers benefit by throwing themselves into a part
in a play, finding a new freedom.
It is true that public speakers at times impersonate, or even
become actors for a moment; as in "taking off" a person or in!iutting a situation vividly before their hearers. They may say,
Let us go back to the days of the Revolution and imagine, etc.;
but always they maintain an understanding with their audience.
That is something very different from the performance of the fifteen-year-old boy who strides forward and begins without warning: "Ye call me Chief, and ye do well to call him Chief who
for twelve long years has met upon the arena every.shape of
man or beast the broad empire could furnish."    Too great indulgence in that sort of thing, and in La Cigarette, Lasca, How
the poor old blind wind-broken horse won the race, and the Deathbed of Benedict Arnold (Tr-r-aitor!), which seem to hohl the




448


PUBLIC SPEAKING


boards in school "rhetoricals," goes far to establish the bad habits
which students bring to college. While a moderate use of these
kinds of selections may be beneficial, they do not develop a conception of genuine public speaking; and students who have been
trained upon them are more helpless than those who never faced
an audience, when asked to make a simple speech and carry out
the suggestions of Chapter II. If "Curfew    m-u-s-t not ring
t-o-n-i-g-h-t," at least let us not call the agony of prevention,
public speaking.
After a student has had several months of training in
which to find himself, some impersonation in his public
speaking course may prove beneficial. But let us not
confuse reading, acting and impersonating with public
speaking. It is the speaker's business to speak as himself; let him learn by speaking as himself. And after all,
he can cultivate imagination by speaking of ancient Rome
from the standpoint of to-day, without thinking he is
Cicero in the Forum; and he can broaden his experience
by treating of our Civil War as related to the present,
and by reaching out from our little college world to the
stirring events of the time. Even a high school student
may well take notice that General Weyler is no longer
butchering the innocent Cubans and that a Chinese exclusion act was passed many years ago.
It is not only those selections which manifestly call for
make-believe on the part of the speaker, that I would put
under the ban for our purpose; but also those which because of their point of view are essentially unfitted to a
given speaker. Such a speech is Grady's The New South,
for a Northern student. It is distinctly the speech of a
Southern man. Then there are many which, while still
as true as ever, are quite out of touch with the present.
This same New South speech is out of date even for a
Southern student; for it belongs to the days before the
Spanish War when sectionalism still troubled us. There




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


are in the books of selections many good speeches about
"Imperialism," a burning issue in 1900, but now forgotten. Many speeches about peace and arbitration sound
strange since the European war began. On the other
hand, many selections from speeches first delivered many
years ago are as appropriate as ever; as, for example,
those at the end of this chapter.
Only the limitations of the public speaker. Under
the conditions here laid down, the student of public
speaking will still have liberties enough. He may do
anything which any genuine speaker may. Hie may discuss any topic known among men, so long as he keeps
his feet on the platform and remembers who he is and
where he is.
Finding good selections. In spite of the limitations,
the supply of appropriate selections is inexhaustible.
While some old favorites are ruled out, others, with or
without modification, are as good as ever. A few allusions can be removed, a new illustration used, a passage
peculiarly personal to the author can be cut out or quoted,
here and there a passage rewritten; and by a variety of
devices, without affecting the essential qualities of the
selection, it may be used without pretense. That eloquent bit from Ingersoll, At Napoleon's Tomb, has been
built over successfully in several ways in my classes. Of
course, if the alterations have to be very extensive, it is
evident that the selection in question is not the one to be
used. By means of such changes many good selections
can be made which would otherwise hardly be thought of.
There is a fine passage in Jerome's Three Men in a Boat,
about lumber on the voyage of life. By composing a few
words of explanation about the story which suggests the
passage and changing a bit the beginning, we have an
excellent selection.




450


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Some seem horrified by such tampering with printed
words; but there is not much sacred literature that is
likely to be used, and most students have too much awe
of books. It is really excellent training in speech-writing to make a good selection, cutting out here, remodeling
there, and producing a clear, unified, strong speech. It
is rather rarely that we find a selection of just the right
length without some cutting. The Curtis selection is
composed of paragraphs 6 and 7 of a long speech, with
the excision of a bit from the end of the first of the two,
in order to remove some allusions of no point to-day.
Where to find good material is an ever present question. There are many books of declamations, and if the
student will look upon these as containing a few        good
selections and some good raw material, and overlook a
good deal of trash, he can make them       useful. Most of
them are compiled with other purposes than ours. They
are filled with "readings" for elocutionists. And it
must be said that many of the editors show more regard
for sound than for sense. There are, however, several
useful compilations.
Among the best of these books for our purpose are Shurter's
American Oratory of To-day, Shurter's Modern American Speaker,
The Hamilton Declamation Quarterly, Frink's New      Century
Speaker, and Blackstone's Best American Orations. Some excellent selections, brief and fresh, are to be found in Lewis's American
Speech, Chapter IX.
Many of the best selections delivered in our classes are
found by students in their general reading. Such essayists as Stevenson, Ruskin and Carlyle, such speakers as
Curtis, Phillips and Watterson, the current magazines
of the better class, and many other less promising sources
are drawn upon. The more popular works of scientists
and scholars occasionally furnish good material. For




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


451


example, a good selection on Habit has been made from
James's Talks to Teachers. If one has his eyes open and
knows the characteristics of a good selection, he will find
material every day.
Much time is lost because the student begins his hunt
with nothing in mind but a "piece to speak."    He turns
over a hundred, not really getting the full impression of
any, and finally selects one that will "do."  Look for a
particular theme, or a selection by a particular author, or
at least for a particular kind of selection, and when you
find one at all promising give it careful attention. Seek
a good selection, but do not look for perfection. A
pretty good selection well assimilated is better than the
best one found too late for thorough preparation.
Qualities of a good selection. In the first place, the
student should look for something he firmly believes in.
Too many look for something that "sounds good," regardless of content. Phillip's Toussaint L'Ouverture is
remarkably good speaking English; but no one, unless he
actually believes them, can afford to deliver its astonishing claims. That would develop insincerity. The
speaker should not be contented with not disbelieving in
his selection; he should feel the same responsibility for
its sentiments as if he had written it. Let him find a
selection which represents his views at least in the main;
and then modify it till it fits exactly.
Given a selection you believe in, the next question is:
Is it interesting?  Does it interest you? Will it interest
your audience?    Next, will it "speak"?   Has it a style
of such clearness, concreteness, movement and climax
that it is adapted to public delivery? Many a splendid
piece of literature is not adapted to delivery. Its sentences may be too involved; its thought too subtle or too
abstract, or it may leave too much to be inferred. Deliv



452


PUBLIC SPEAKING


ery may do much to supply the lacks, and it may be good
practice at times to speak, for example, a selection cut
from Emerson's essay on Self-Reliance, and do your best
to make it clear and impressive. You do not necessarily
wish a selection easy for your hearers; make as great a
demand upon their attention as you can successfully.
But it is essential that you feel they are following you.
Avoid mere eloquent bits, as perorations, which may
have been great in their context, but which detached are
mere generalities. These often come after long discussions which made them highly significant to the original
audiences; but alone they are almost meaningless. Be
sure your selection in itself says some definite thing, in
such terms that it will strike home. There are many
examples to prove that a selection can, in the space of five
hundred words, put an idea clearly, concretely and specifically.
See that your selection has coherence and unity.
There are many in the declamation books which lack these
qualities. There is one from a speech by Grady, entitled
The Danger of Centralized Government, which has one
paragraph on this theme and the rest on centralized
wealth, without suggestion of connection between the two
topics. If we are to treat selections as merely so many
eloquent words, their use is certainly a wretched practice.
You should seek a selection which is better than you
can yourself produce; one which you would wish to have
written. It should contain a clear, strong thought, the
expression of which will draw out your best powers. The
selection should be couched in good language also. You
cannot afford to become so intimate as you should with
your selection, to make it a part of your own thoughtstuff, unless it is thoroughly worthy, though it need not
be a masterpiece. And your study will give it a most




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


453


severe test. In the process of analysis, assimilation and
drill, every muddy thought, every weak joint, every extraneous idea, every inconsistency, will be detected.
After a student has really found himself as a speaker,
and in the process has found out his faults, it is often
advisable to choose, not the selection which he can speak
best, but one which will best serve to counteract some
fault. Sometimes a very conversational selection will
help a speaker who tends to be too oratorical. Sometimes
one whose delivery is jerky is improved by a selection of
unusual rhythm and smoothness. Again, a speaker of
too great reserve is brought out by a selection which contains a dramatic story.
Methods of preparation. If the study and delivery of
selections is to be profitable, the work must be thoroughly
done by a sound method. There are few worse practices
than the mere memorizing of words to "spout" with little
regard for meaning. It is about as bad as the production
of undigested stuff in "cribbed," miscalled "original,"
speeches.
The average person, reading over such a selection as
Who Is to Blame, thinks he understands. Perhaps he
does well enough for ordinary purposes; but mastery
sufficient for adequate expression is quite another matter.
And very often he confesses after longer study that his
first understanding was quite shallow and erroneous.
Nor is it enough to have a bare understanding, to know
the meaning of every word, every sentence and every
paragraph. There should be the most thorough study
and analysis; but yet more important is the assimilation
which comes from relating the contents of the selection to
one's own thought and experience. One may deliver a
selection very correctly, and yet it may seem very empty,
unless he assimilates its thought and emotion. The stu



454


PUBLIC SPEAKING


dent should draw out from his own experience, direct and
indirect, many associations, illustrations, comparisons,
and make many applications of the suggestions of the
selections to familiar situations. By these means dead
words may become living thought. That imagination
will have a great part in this process will be readily understood by those familiar with Cahapters III and IV.
The foundations for a sound method have been laid in
those chapters and in Chapter XIII. I shall now gather
up the suggestions applicable to the study of selections
into a scheme of study. It should be noted, however,
that many matters which should come up for consideration in the study of a given selection, cannot be indicated
in a general scheme, and also that each student will be
able, once started, to work out other methods for himself.
The use of such a scheme is a great advance over the
usual haphazard study, for it makes study systematic and
fruitful and it keeps attention upon a selection long
enough to secure some degree of assimilation.
There is no order necessarily best. Many processes
will be carried on at once. The thought back of the arrangement below is that once having gained a general
idea of the whole, we should then master the smaller details, which are necessary to fully understanding the
larger parts. And further, the more analytical work is
put first, so that the more constructive work of the latter
part may remove a too analytical mood before the worker
reaches the stage of delivery.
SCHEME FOR THE STUDY OF A SELECTION
When this scheme is used as the basis for a written report, make references to your selection clear by giving
line numbers, or otherwise.
1 This scheme is a free adaptation of Professor D. C. Lee's leaf



THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


455


1. Read the selection silently until the main outlines
are distinct in your mind. Try to concentrate your attention so that you can read through with no foreign
ideas intruding. Do not read aloud at all, and do not
speak the selection until you have mastered it.
2. Make sure you know the meaning of each word as
here used, the significance of each name and allusion.
(Do not make guesses; look up all words you are not sure
of and include your findings in your report.)
3. Indicate the parts which are echoes, restatements
or amplifications of preceding parts, and what they echo,
etc.
4. What contrasts do you find.
5. Indicate the new idea or ideas in each sentence.
6. What is the chief idea in each sentence.
7. Give the last word of each phrase.
8. Note definitely the connection of sentence with
sentence. Supply ellipses. Where can you make the
meaning or the attitude clearer by adding such expressions as even, for example, in spite of, granting, etc.?
9. Be sure you realize the feeling of each part; that is,
whether it is explanatory, concessive, ironical, exclamatory, triumphant, etc,
10. Where are the principal climaxes?
11. Summarize each paragraph in one crisp sentence.
Use your own words. If the paragraphing does not seem
right to you, change.
12. State clearly the transitions in thought from paragraph to paragraph.
13. Summarize the whole selection in a single sentence
as brief and simple as possible.
14. Make an outline of the selection, being careful to
let, Howz to Study a Declamation, which was based upon Kirby's
Public Speaking and Reading.




456


PUBLIC SPEAKING


make the relations of principal and subordinate ideas
clear.
15. Work out the thought movement, or thought
chain, in your own words. The statement should make
clear the relation of paragraph to paragraph, sentence to
sentence, contain each link of the thought and preserve
the feeling and attitude of each part.
16. By means of what associations, illustrations, examples, comparisons, drawn from experience, observation
and study, do you add meaning, reality and interest to
this selection?
17. Exercise the   imagination   upon   the  selection.
Describe the principal images which aid you in making
the thought more intense, life-like and objective.
18. What is the dominant feeling, or the mood, of the
selection?
19. Take time to assimilate the selection. Dwell upon
it, not listlessly, but with vigorous attention, until the
thoughts grow clear and definite, the images vivid, and
the feeling genuine.
20. MEMORIZING. Do not memorize the words before
the content has been mastered. To memorize first is to
put words before thought. When the above work has
been carefully done, then go silently through the thought
movement; then, still silently, clothe these thoughts with
the author's words. Then say the words aloud. Hold
the thought clearly and vigorously in mind and try to
express. Let the thought prompt the delivery. Do not
at this stage think of making a speech; speak as to a
single person. Gradually build up and strengthen to fit
the needs of the platform, retaining all the time the essential conversational conditions: 1. Thinking at the
moment of delivery; 2. The sense of direct communication.




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


457


21. Practice much,-always with wide-awake mind.
Force your delivery to expressiveness by repeated trials,
accentuating your consciousness of the meaning and entering' more and more into the spirit of the selection.
If you do not find the process of memorizing easy, it
will probably be because the work of interpretation and
assimilation has not been sufficiently well done. Professor James has said that "The art of remembering is the
art of thinking; and when we wish to fix a new thing [in
memory], our conscious effort should not be so much to
impress and retain it as to connect it with something else
already there. The connecting is the thinking."           Of
course, in fixing the precise words, a definite effort to impress and retain may be necessary; although surprisingly
little effort is needed for this when assimilation is thorough.
If you have trouble in making your delivery expressive,
the cause, again, is probably lack of assimilation. Go
through the plan of study more carefully and the result
will be better. Make the thought your thought, the
words your words.
Explanations and Illustrations. The numerals below correspond
to those of the scheme of study. The illustrations are from Who's
to Blame?
2. Unfortunately there is need of emphasis upon the truth that
no intelligent man should permit himself to speak words he does
not understand. Even common expressions, such as public duty,
will bear consideration. What does poolroom mean, as used in
the Curtis selection? Infidels? Intrigue? Books of literary and
historical references, biographical dictionaries and cyclopedias, such
as are found in every library, will quickly clear up many obscure
matters (See Chapter XI). A good dictionary should, of course, be
found in every student's room. It should lie explained here that
Jonathan Wild stands for William M. Tweed; but both Wild and
Tweed should )e looked up. What kind of men were Turpin and
Diddler, and wlhat do their names here signify?
3. This question can be answered conveniently in this manner:




458


PUBLIC SPEAKING


In line 2, vote          echoes         voting, line 2.
3, political duty   "            public duty, 1. 1.
6, very heart       "            essentially, 1. 3.
Sentence 6,             amplifies         sentence 5.
All the echoes, etc., which have any appreciable effect upon delivery, should be put down, however formidable the array.
5 and G. These may be conveniently answered in parallel columns. Use any way which reveals your understanding without
waste of words. Use now the words of the text, and now translate.
7. The last word is given simply as an economical way of answering.
S. The expressions supplied are not to be spoken, unless they
seem to improve the composition. The student will recall that this
and most of the other questions are explained in Chapters III and
XIII. In the Curtis selection imagine the questions and other responses a man who thinks himself a good citizen might make, as,
for example, after the third sentence, "What should I do?" In
speaking of the Pharisee, one gets the flavor of the allusion by
thinking, "You remember the one in the parable of the two men
who went up into the temple to pray."  (See Luke 18:10.)  I do
not mean that this necessarily takes the form of words as one
speaks, but that something like it must lie in the "fringe of consciousness," if one is to catch the right turn; for, notice, this is a
particular Pharisee. At the end of Sentence 9 may be thought,
"two grand rascals," or, "no choice at all."  The difficulties of 10
are lessened by thinking, "what an absurdity!" and "Think of it,
Diddler a reformer!"  Sentence 14 is like this to me: "To say
that in this country the rogues must rule [as you have said]
is to defy history [as I have just shown you] and [what is vastly
more important to a genuine American] to despair of the Republic.
[Don't you see what your defense amounts to?]"  By holding in
mind these unexpressed ideas one gets their effect in his voice.
11. Be sure you catch the essential rather than some incidental
idea, and give the true point of view. Make your summaries crisp
enough to carry easily in mind. Do not put here what belongs in
Question 15.
12. This question is a severe test of understanding. Do not
catch at some trivial link. In the Curtis selection, what question
is raised in the first paragraph that is answered in the second?
13. In this selection the summary should turn on the question of
Whose fault.
15. One preparing a selection should go over the thought, expressing it very fully, several times. He should use his own words




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


459


to make sure he is getting at the content, not merely the author's
words.
1( and 17. We may illustrate further here what has been explained in Chapters III and IV. The work of 16 and 17 is of the
highest importance to assimilation. After gaining an understanding of the meaning of the words before you, you may proceed by a
process not altogether unlike that you would have gone through
had you written the selection yourself. The Curtis selection treats
of political duty and political corruption. Our author refers to
concrete instances and these form associations for the ideas; but
you are not limited to these. You have gone through political
campaigns. First-hand knowledge is best. Then you have heard
and read of politics local, state and national; you have knowledge of conditions in various cities, New York, Philadelphia, San
Francisco; certain leaders and bosses are familiar from pictures and
cartoons; you know something of various reform movements, direct nominations, short ballots, commission form of city government, municipal leagues, and the like. All this you bring out of
memory, or as much as has any bearing on your selection, and by
means of it you begin to assimilate your speech.
Very likely your knowledge is limited and vague. You can continue your work by reading and by conversation with those who
have more information and experience. As your selection refers to
the Tweed rigime in New York City, you will look that up especially.
Some of the possible sources are the report prepared by Samuel
J. Tilden, Myers's History of Tanimmany Hall, the second volume of
Bryce's Ameriican Comtmonu, ealth, the files of the papers of the period (about 1872), say Harper's Weekly, then edited by George
William Curtis and illustrated with Nast's famous Tammany cartoons. Accounts of later struggles in New York and in other
ring-ruled cities will give a more present-day aspect to the subject.
Make your work specific. It is of little use to go over things in
the general way I have above. If the idea of direct nominations
is to be of service,- you must run it out far enough to see clearly
how it affects the problem of "shaping the alternative." A general
notion that there has been corruption in San Francisco will be of
but the slightest value.
The first sentence is very simple; but what does public duty mean
to you? Run this abstraction out into concrete details. To do so
here would take undue space; but I mean that this should be done
very specifically, taking account of the responsibilities that rest
upon a citizen of a republic, with special reference to the duty of
selecting officials. You can see citizens going about their duties,
rallying voters to the primaries, interviewing, writing letters, making speeches, forming clubs, or working in any other tangible ways.




460


PUBLIC SPEAKING


You see also certain sleek self-satisfied citizens who do nothing but
vote on election day. Plainly that is not enough; not even if they
take great pains to go and vote, as is the case with this man who
goes all the way from New York to Chicago, leaving important
business, just to vote. You may seem to see these men as real
persons, men who know, or as typical citizens. Let them be tall
or short, fat or lean, dressed so and so; that is, vividly conceived persons. You cannot see a smug look unless you see it on
a face. Make your citizen look like a real man.
You may seem to talk with them. To make the point clearer,
you draw an analogy from the religious field, in which the evils of
formalism are well recognized; and you choose a familiar figure,
the Pharisee of Luke xviii. Look this gentleman up, but do not
catch the wrong suggestion. For us it is formalism, not hypocrisy.
(In the last sentence of the selection we are more strongly impressed with the self-righteousness of the Pharisee.)  "But why
do you call us political Pharisees?" demand the indignant citizens.
"Don't you see-the 'doubtful alternative'?" you explain. "You
may have only a choice between two rascals, between John Doe,
the paid tool of the public service corporations, and Richard Roe,
the coarse grafter." "But what should we do?" ask the citizens.
"Help choose the candidates, go to the primaries; nay, go to work
before the primaries, each doing something to secure at least one
good candidate."  And so on. This is only a hint of what may be
done. It is not an attempt to say just what should come into your
mind. Each mind will differ from all others.
The scene about the polls is peculiarly open to the work of
imagination. It is a little drama; and most students fail to "get
into" this part, because they do not go beyond matter-of-fact.
Let us stand and watch near the polling place in a corrupt district. Banners bearing the party slogans are stretched across the
street. Dodgers are thrust into our hands and we read, "Vote for
Diddler and Reform!"   A worker eagerly whispers to us, "Vote
for good old honest Dick! He is none of your sniveling reformers; he won't interfere with the boys." Up an alley we see a
worker bargaining for votes at two dollars apiece; while down the
street comes a dive-keeper with a drove of drunken loafers he has
kept in his back room all night,-all out to vote for Diddler and
reform. Our friend, the honest and respectable citizen, steps from
his carriage on his way down town, intent on doing his full political duty. He seems a bit shocked at the sights and the men who
greet him,-"plug uglies" with flashy clothes, tall hats, glass diamonds and long black cigars. Still, it is what he is used to; he has
always left the "dirty work" of politics to "the boys." As he takes
his ballot with a somewhat gingerly air, we hurl at him, "Don't
forget your indifference is to blame for this shocking choice!" And




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


461


we quote mockingly, "Vote for 'Turpin and honesty I' or, if you prefer, try 'Diddler and reform!' "
The rest of the speech may be worked out as a trial, with an indictment, a plea, analysis of the evidence and final condemnation.
Of course, this must not be pressed too far; but it helps to bring
out the thought movement. The last sentence is a good example of
how imagination may help. Students usually rattle this off without discrimination of parts, and either indifferently or with mere
loudness. Let the student put himself in the place of one who is
out working to defeat the renomination of a grafting alderman.
lie goes to a friend to ask his help. But he finds his friend sitting before a cheerful fire reading, blissfully unconscious that there
is anything to be done. Even when told, he is indifferent. "Why
so excited?" he asks. "Sit down and have a chat." Our worker
urges and his friend is driven to excuses. lie wraps his snobbish
respectability about him and says it is no work for a gentleman.
Pressed further, he begins to believe in his own excuses and, degenerating still further in his citizenship, he says, "I half believe
this government is only the rule of a mob anyhow." Then quite
convinced, he adds, "Between you and me, I hope we shall soon be
rid of it; what we want is a vigorous despot." A man of earnest
purpose who found himself confronted by such a citizen would
surely wish to kick him; and that feeling is what the speaker
needs.
Use these, and any other means, of thinking and feeling
yourself into the selection; and you will find that what
you may have thought you fully understood at first reading, will become vastly more significant. It may come to
mean as much to you as to its author; indeed, it may
mean more to you. He has furnished you with a suggestive form of words; what their content shall be depends
largely upon you, though you should not, of course, distort them from their normal meaning.
I append here three selections which have been very
severely tested in the class room. They present a considerable variety of style and of problems. A student who
m-asters the delivery of these should be equal to anything.
HTe will certainly find that he has grown. But remember
that the mere declaiming of them      without assimilation
will do harm.




462


PUBLIC SPEAKING


WHO IS TO BLAME?
From The Public Duty of Educated Men,
By George William Curtis
1  I. 1. Public duty in this country is not discharged,
2 as is often supposed, by voting. 2. A man may vote
3 regularly, and still fail essentially of his political
4 duty, as the Pharisee who gave tithes of all that he
5 possessed, and fasted three times in the week, yet
6 lacked the very heart of religion. 3. When an Amer7 ican citizen is content with voting merely, he con8 sents to accept what is often a doubtful alternative.
9 4. His first duty is to help shape the alternative. 5.
10 This, which was formerly less necessary, is now in11 dispensable. 6. In a rural community such as this
12 country was a hundred years ago, whoever was nomi13 nated for office was known to his neighbors, and the
14 consciousness of that knowledge was a conservative
15 influence in determining nominations. 7. But in the
16 local elections of the great cities of to-day, elections
17 that control taxation and expenditure, the mass of
18 the voters vote in absolute ignorance of the candi19 dates. 8. The citizen who supposes that he does all
20 his duty when he votes, places a. premium upon po21 litical knavery. 9. Thieves welcome him to the polls
22 and offer him a choice, which he has done nothing
23 to prevent, between Jeremy Diddler and Dick Tur24 pin. 10. The party cries, for which he is responsi25 ble, are "Turpin and Honesty!" "Diddler and Re26 form!"    11. And within a few years, as a result of
27 this indifference to the details of public duty, the most
28 powerful politician in the Empire State of the Union
29 was Jonathan Wild the Great, the captain of a band
30 of plunderers. 12. I know it is said that the knaves
31 have taken the honest men in a net, and have con32 trived machinery which will inevitably grind only
33 the grist of rascals. 13. The answer is, that when
34 honest men did once what they ought to do always,
35 the thieves were netted     and their machine was
36 broken. 14. To say that in this country the rogues




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


463


37 must rule, is to defy history and to despair of the
38 republic.
39    II. 15. If ignorance and corruption and intrigue
40 control the primary meeting, and manage the conven41 tion, and dictate the nomination, the fault is in the
42 honest and intelligent workshop and office, in the
43 library and the parlor, in the church and the school.
44 16. When they are as constant and faithful to their
45 political rights as the slums and the grogshops, the
46 pool-rooms and the kennels; when the educated, in47 dustrious, temperate, thrifty citizens are as zealous
48 and prompt and unfailing in political activity as the
49 ignorant and venal and mischievous, or when it is
50 plain that they cannot be roused to their duty, then,
51 but not until then-if ignorance and corruption al52 ways carry the day-there can be no honest question
53 that the republic has failed. 17. But let us not be
54 deceived. 18. While good men sit at home, not know55 ing that there is anything to be done, nor caring to
56 know; cultivating a feeling that politics are tiresome
57 and dirty, and politicians, vulgar bullies and bravoes;
58 half persuaded that a republic is the contemptible
59 rule of a mob, and secretly longing for a splendid and
60 vigorous despotism-then remember, it is not a gov61 ernment mastered by ignorance, it is a government
62 betrayed by intelligence; it is not the victory of the
63 slums, it is the surrender of the schools; it is not
64 that bad men are brave, but that good men are infi65 dels and cowards.
A LIBERAL EDUCATION 1
From Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews, by Thomas Huxley
1  I. 1. Suppose it were perfectly certain that the life
2 and fortune of every one of us would, one day or
3 other, depend upon his winning or losing a game at
4 chess. 2. Don't you think we should all consider it
1 This selection as a whole is not unified. It is best used as
two selections. The first three paragraphs form one unit and
the remaining two another.




464


PUBLIC SPEAKING


5 a primary duty to learn at least the names and the
6 moves of the pieces; to have a notion of a gambit,
7 and a keen eye for all the means of giving and get8 ting out of a check? 3. Do you not think we should
9 look with a disapprobation amounting to scorn, upon
10 a father who allowed his son, or the state which al11 lowed its members, to grow up without knowing a
12 pawn from a knight?
13   II. 4. Yet it is a very plain and elementary truth,
14 that the life, that the fortune, and the happiness of
15 every one of us, and, more or less, of those who are
16 connected with us, do depend upon our knowing
17 something of the rules of a game infinitely more diffi18 cult and complicated than chess. 5. It is a game
19 which has been played for untold ages, every man
20 and woman of us being one of the two players in a
21 game of his or her own. 6. The chess-board is the
22 world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe,
23 the rules of the game are what we call the laws of
24 Nature. 7. The player on the other side is hidden
25 from us. 8. We know that his play is always fair,
26 just and patient. 9. But also we know, to our cost,
27 that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the small28 est allowance for ignorance. 10. To the man who
29 plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort
30 of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows
31 delight in strength. 11. And one who plays ill is
32 checkmated-without haste, but without remorse.
33   III. 12. Well, what I mean by Education is learn34 ing the rules of this mighty game. 13. In other
35 words, education is the instruction of the intellect in
36 the laws of Nature, under which name I include not
37 merely things and their forces, but men and their
38 ways; and the fashioning of the affections and of the
39 will into an earnest and loving desire to move in har40 mony with those laws.
41   IV. 14. That man, I think, has a liberal educa42 tion, who has been so trained in his youth that his
43 body is the ready servant of his will, and does with
44 ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism,




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS


465


45 it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic
46 engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in
47 smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to
48 be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gos49 samers as well as forge the anchors of the mind;
50 whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great
51 and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of
52 her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full
53 of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to
54 come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a ten55 der conscience; who has learned to love all beauty,
56 whether of nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and
57 to respect others as himself.
58   V. 15. Such an one, and no other, I conceive, has
59 had a liberal education; for he is, as completely as a
60 man can be, in harmony with Nature. 16. He will
61 make the best of her, and she of him. 17. They will
62 get on together rarely; she as his ever beneficent
63 mother; he as her mouthpiece, her conscious self, her
64 minister and interpreter.
AWAIT THE ISSUE
Adapted from Carlyle's Past and Present
1   I. In this God's-world, with its wild, whirling ed2 dies and mad, foam oceans, where men and nations
3 perish as if without law, and judgment for an unjust
4 thing is sternly delayed, dost thou think that there is
5 therefore no justice? It is what the fool hath said in
6 his heart. It is what the wise, in all times, were wise
7 because they denied and knew forever not to be. I
8 tell thee there is nothing else but justice. One strong
9 thing I find here below: the just thing, the true thing.
10   II. My friend, if thou hadst all the artillery of
11 Woolwich trundling at thy back in support of an un12 just thing, and infinite bonfires visibly waiting ahead
13 of thee to blaze centuries long for the victory on be14 half of it, I would advise thee to call halt, to fling
15 down thy baton and say, "In heaven's name, no!"
16   III. Thy "success"? Poor devil, what will thy




466


PUBLIC SPEAKING


17 success amount to? If the thing is unjust, thou hast
18 not succeeded; no, not though bonfires blazed from
19 north to south, and bells rang, and editors wrote lead20 ing articles, and the just things lay trampled out of
21 sight,-to all mortal eyes an abolished and annihilated
22 thing.
23    IV. For it is the right and noble alone that will
24 have victory in this struggle; the rest is wholly an
25 obstruction, a postponement, a fearful imperilment,
26 of the victory. Towards an eternal center of right
27 and nobleness, and of that only, is all confusion tend28 ing. We already know whither it is all tending; what
29 will have victory, what will have none! The heaviest
30 will reach the center. The heaviest has its deflec31 tions; its obstructions; nay, at times its resiliences, its
32 reboundings, whereupon some blockhead shall be
33 heard jubilating, "See, your heaviest ascends!" but
34 at all moments it is moving centerward, fast as is
35 convenient for it; sinking, sinking; and, by laws
36 older than the world, old as the Maker's first plan of
37 the world, it has to arrive there.
38   V. Await the issue. In all battles, if you await
39 the issue, each fighter has prospered according to his
40 right. His right and his might, at the close of the
41 account, were one and the same. He has fought with
42 all his might, and in exact proportion to all his right he
43 has prevailed. His very death is no victory over him.
44 He dies indeed; but his work lives, very truly lives.
45   VI. An heroic Wallace, quartered on the scaf46 fold, cannot hinder that his Scotland become, one
47 day, a part of England; but he does hinder that it
48 become, on tyrannous terms, a part of it; commands
49 still, as with a god's voice, from his old Valhalla and
50 Temple of the brave, that there be a just, real union
51 as of brother and brother, not a false and merely
52 semblant one as of slave and master. If the union
53 with England be in fact one of Scotland's chief
54 blessings, we thank Wallace withal that it was not
55 the chief curse...
56   VII. Fight on, thou brave, true heart; and falter




THE STUDY OF SELECTIONS                   467
57 not, through dark fortune and through bright. The
58 cause thou fightest for, so far as it is true, no further,
59 yet precisely so far, is very sure of victory. The
60 falsehood alone of it will be conquered, will be abol61 ished, as it ought to be; but the truth of it is part
62 of Nature's own laws, coiperates with the world's
63 eternal tendencies, and cannot be conquered.




CHAPTER XV


GESTURE
THE term gesture is broad enough to cover every action
and posture expressive of thought or feeling. It suggests
action and we usually think of gesture as movement,
especially of hands and arms; but good usage will justify
the above statement. We cannot, furthermore, limit ourselves to actions which are "intended to express an idea
or a passion"; for we are concerned with all expression,
whether intentional or not.
But taking gesture in the more usual sense of action
intended to express ideas and feelings, Why should the
speaker gesture?
Gesture is an    important means of expression. A
speaker who is full of his subject and has a great deal to
express will feel the need of every means of expressing
himself. Any man who eagerly desires to communicate
his ideas and feelings, knows the inadequacy of language.
This is not to imply that gesture is the resource only of
those exceedingly serious over a great message. Any one
eager to convey an impression, though it be of the lightest nature, feels the need of action.
We find, too, that although its range is more limited,
gesture is often a quicker, plainer and stronger means of
expression than spoken 'words, for its a    eal is to -th.e
eye. A motion toward the door, a shrug, a lifted eyebrow,-what words can equal these gestures?       Gesture,
within its limitations, is an unmistakable language, and
468




GESTURE


469


is understood by men of all races and tongues. Even
a dog understands some gestures. Gesture is our most
rntintigiaJlanguage; at least it goes back to the beginning of all communication when the race, still lacking
articulate speech, could express only through the tones of
inarticulate sounds and through movements. And because it is so deeply imbedded in our primitive reactions,
all men express themselves by gesture and all men understand gesture.
Gesture is particularly adapted to the expression of
feeling. The degree of the speaker's earnestness, his attitude toward the idea presented, whether he accounts
it trivial or important, acceptable or objectionable, pleasing or disgusting, uplifting or debasing, whether he is
eager or conservative, mocking or serious,-all these and
many other attitudes and feelings the speaker reveals by
posture, action and facial expression. Gesture is used
also, but less frequently, to express cold fact and ideas
apart from   feeling; as, that the statue was so high, or
that there are two opposing principles. Its use for this
purpose is obviously limited. In narration and description action is much used; but usually in these there is a
strong emotional coloring. Words have developed along
with ideas, and gcnerally speaking, are the clearest expression of them. Emotions are more primitive than
ideas. Primitive man had little to express besides his
likes and his di~sikes, his joy and his sorrow, his fear and
his triumph.
Darwin and others have traced the origin of our familiar gestures, in many instances, to "serviceable associated habits" developed by our early ancestors. Thus, 1 "the snarl or sneer, the
one-sided uncovering of the upper teeth, is accounted for by Darwin
as a survival from the time when our ancestors had large canines,
and unfleshe them  (as dogs do now) for attack."  Very likely
1 James, Brie/fr Course, p. 388.




470


PUBLIC SPEAKING


some of the attempted explanations of particular actions are farfetched; but the general thought is suggestive. We can readily
understand how among the natural indications of aggressive determination are a jaw set and protruding and clenched fists.
1" Another principle... may be called the principle of reacting similarly to analogous-feeling stimuli.... As soon as
any experience arises which has an affinity with the feeling of
sweet, or sour, or bitter, the same movements are executed which
would result from the taste in point.... Disgust is an incipient... retching, limiting its expressions often to the grimace
of lips and nose; satisfaction goes with a sucking smile, or
tasting motion of the lips. The ordinary gesture of negationamong us, moving the head about its axis from side to sideis a reaction originally used by babies to keep disagreeables from
getting into their mouth, and may be observed in perfection in any
nursery."
2 "Primitive language was largely a gesture-language. Since
the spoken words gave only a partial account of the event described, they were eked out by movements of hand or feature.
And foremost among these movements were the movements that
correspond to the metaphor. The successful hunter actually
licked his lips, and seemed to suck a sweet morsel; the unsuccessful drew his lips sideways, as if he were trying to taste as little
as possible of his sour' draught.
"Now we begin to see where the argument is taking us. Certain processes in the emotion... sug,, At a metaphor, by simultaneous association; and the metap'ior brings a movement with
it. As language develops, the metaphor is lost: it is no longer
necessary. But the movement persists. When the emotion comes,
the movement comes with ic. The movement survives, partly because of its intrinsic fitness to communicate to others a knowledge of our emotion, and partly because gesture cannot change as
language can."
We have many gestures that exhibit the metaphorical
character; as, the wide-flung hands expressive of welcome
or liberality, the tossing motion expressive of carelessness,
the palm thrust forward expressive of repelling, the uplifted hand expressive, in various positions, of nobility,
aspiration, or reverence.
I have gone so far in considering the origin of expressive action, not only to show how broad and universal
is its appeal, but also to prepare the way for the second
and chief reason for gesturing; and that is--
The speaker needs gesture to free him frcm restraint
1 James, Psychology: Briefer Course, p. 38S.
2 Titchener, Primer of Psychology, p. 148.




GESTURE


471


and bring him into a normal condition on the platform.
More and more this reason impresses me as a teacher.
Students never find themselves as speakers, never escape
the bonds of restraint, never become really direct and
communicative, until they gesture. It is unnatural not
to gesture in any wide-awake discourse. Any real
speaker would be in distress if compelled to restrain
gesture. One might as well run a race with one's hands
tied. We begin to use gesture in earliest infancy. Children gesture a great deal. That they gesture less as
they grow   older is due in part to constant checking.
Their gestures knock over bric-a-brac, and "Don't!" is
heard from    morn till night. Habits of restraint are
formed. We learn that it is not best to express every
thought and feeling that comes. But we never cease to
use gesture; not even the more noticeable motions of
hands and arms. It is amusing to be told by students
that they do not gesture in conversation. Contradict
them and force them to strong assertion, and they never
fail to make a vigorous movement to enforce their denial.
One student repeated this gesture three times in succession, though consciously trying to restrain the action
and laughing at himself for his absurdity. Every man
makes innumerable movements, and these increase as he
warms up in his talk. And this brings us to a third
reason for gesturing.
We are bound to gesture whether we will or no; if not
well, then ill. If we are alive to our work, the impulse to action will be present and will show itself somehow; in uneasy twitchings, starts of the hands, restless
shifting of feet and position, or fumbling with clothing.
Repression will show itself in rigidity. All this may
itself be called gesture; for all appeals to the eyes of the
audience, and seems to cry aloud, "See how repressed,




472


PUBLIC SPEAKING


how nervous, how awkward I am!" It is much better
to give rein to the natural impulses and use the hands
to emphasize thought than to examine the edge of one's
coat or to hitch up one's trousers. True, the hands may
be stuck in one's pockets or held in leash at the back;
but these are not attitudes always becoming to young
speakers, to say nothing of the loss of expression and
freedom. Besides, hands and arms are only one part
of gesture.
STo suppress gesture is to suppress feeling. We have,
been assuming a speaker alive to his task, really trying
to express. But it is doubtful if a speaker can remain
in that condition long, if he repress gesture. Gripping
one's chair is a familiar device for keeping cool. As
we learned in Chapter V, repression of feeling is often
the death of feeling; gestural expression will heighten
or even produce the appropriate feeling. The following
is by a writer not committed to the James-Lange theory
of emotion:
1 "When Deerslayer caught the tomahawk hurled at
him, 'his hand was raised above and behind his own
head, and in the very attitude necessary to return the
attack. It    is  not   certain'-notice   the   sentence'whether the circumstance of finding himself in this
menacing posture and armed tempted the young man
to retaliate, or whether sudden resentment overcame his
forbearance and prudence.' Cooper has realized the undoubted fact that, given the attitude, the emotion might
come of itself."
Try this: Assert to a friend, real or imaginary, some simple
fact, just saying, This is a fact. Say it again with an emphatic
stroke of the hand. Say it again, with much abandon, banging
your desk vigorously with your filst.
1 Titchener, Primer, p.-146.




GESTURE


The impulse to gesture. From what has been said it
should be clear that gesture should spring from impulse,
and not be mere mechanical motions made by rule or
imitation. It should be real expression,--outward response to inner impulse. All ideas and all feelings are
motor. If we center our attention upon the ideas of our
speech and if we are in the spirit of what we are saying,
we shall have impulses to action. And if our attention
centers most strongly upon major points, our gesture
impulses will be strongest at those points; and the
anxious question of the beginner, "Where shall I gesture?" will be answered. Gesture being in its nature
emphatic, since it is an added means of expression, should
mark only ideas worthy of emphasis.
If we were perfectly normal beings, this might be almost enough to say on the subject. But we are not
normal. There is habitual restraint and repression.
We have habits of making a few, limited movements; and
we say others do not "feel natural."  We are restrained
by self-consciousness. We may be stiff and awkward off
the platform, and more so on the platform. Hence some
training becomes necessary, in order that the impulse to
gesture may have a fair chance; and later it may be desirable, after freedom has been gained, to somewhat
prune the natural action.
First stage of gesture training. Gesture training
should not be hurried, and the first stage should be
limited to gaining freedom   and responsiveness to the /
impulses. As a first step, just try to stop restraining
yourself. Don't stick your hands in your pockets or behind your back; for this has the effect of tying them
up. Let them hang freely at your sides. To be free requires that there be no nervous clutching, no doubling




PUBLIC SPEAKING


up, no fussing with clothing, no rigid holding at the sides.
The hands should swing as loosely as when you are walking. Then speak something of a vigorous character, extemporized or memorized, your own ideas or a bit from a
selection. Let yourself go; try hard to express the idea
to your imaginary audience. If you can get away from
self-consciousness, something will happen in the way of
gesture. This something may consist of very queer
motions. Never mind; encourage them, and go on talking in an exaggerated way. If nothing comes of it, lift
your hand up with a free movement from the shoulder
and speak a vigorous paragraph without taking it down.
It will be strange indeed if your hand does not do something. Do not try to make it do anything in particular.
Trust your muscles; they know more about gesture than
you do!
Poise. Gesture is often checked by the restrained
position in which one stands. It is important to stand
in good poise. To be poised is to stand easily erect,
without limpness or slouchiness and without waste of
muscular effort. The chin is neither thrust forward nor
drawn in, the chest is active, up, alive (whatever term
you please), the hips thrust neither forward nor backward, the weight borne directly over the hips and all
resting on the balls of the feet. The weight may be
borne on both feet or on either foot; but there must be no
sagging in either hip. The feet should not, ordinarily
be held together, or on a line, nor yet far apart. In this
position it is possible to transfer weight from one foot to
the other without effort; hence one is free to step or turn
easily in either direction, without "walking over one's
self."  And this freedom is of first-class importance to
good action.
Free body action. Gesture is much more than move



GESTURE


475


ments of hands and arms; the simplest gesture affects
the whole body, and one of the chief causes of awkwardness, stiffness and the "put-on" effect, is failure of the
body to yield so as to produce harmonious action. Moreover, if the body is not free to turn, if the feet are
fastened to the floor, the speaker as he turns to various
parts of his audience, will get into twisted attitudes,
which are not only awkward but give him a feeling of
restraint. There is a constant need of adjustment by
changing the position of the feet and shifting weight.
These movements are usually very slight and are unconscious when one is poised. They are only the natural
movements which belong to good bearing off the platform. Without them a speaker is likely to fall into the
swing of a torsion pendulum; or if he does not turn his
body at all, his head will move like an advertising automaton in a show window.
Another bad result of having one's feet metaphorically
bolted to the floor is that of facing most of the time in
one direction; owing to the fact that a turn without
foot adjustment puts a twist in the knee joints which
one unconsciously relieves by quickly turning back.
And as a speaker who stands stock still usually has a
favorite position for his feet, he is liable to acquire the
habit of looking at one side of his audience, with mere
glances at the rest.
Theest is a point of great importance to poise and
free action. One should feel it as the center of energy.
This gives a feeling of buoyancy and easy strength which
is most helpful to the gesture impulse. One is not likely
to feel like gesturing when in a sagging or awkward
position.
Certain exercises will be helpful in gaining the poise,
freedom and coirdinated action needed. These may be,




476


PUBLIC SPEAKING


and usually are, very silly movements in themselves;
but so are the exercises that musicians or athletes go
through in preparation, or the "setting-up" exercises of
military drill. But anything that is needed is not silly.
The exercises described below should be practised persistently; for it cannot be expected that a little practice
will overcome the habits of a life-time. Practise them
with the room    filled with fresh air, and they will be
found restful after hard study.
There should be no misunderstanding about these
exercises. They are not gestures and any practice upon
a "handy set" of motions as gestures would be vicious.
These exercises are simply to aid in gaining ease, freedom and responsiveness to impulse, and in breaking up
set habits, such as making one or two movements monotonously; and in making all natural motions seem natural.
A very great variety of movement is possible, and the
greatest possible variety of movement should be practised. The student can readily add to the exercises
here given, after these have been mastered.1
Work out the exercises as you read. They will not
then prove to be so complicated as they may at first appear. Go through them deliberately, with your mind on
what you are doing; and repeat each exercise several
times. Do the exercises twice a day for a long period.
EXERCISES FOR POISE
1. Sit in an armless chair of fair height, without
touching the back, with head erect, feet resting easily
but squarely on the floor, arms relaxed in the lap, and
1 The exercises in this chapter which are "set solid." and those
in the chapter on Voice Training, are by my colleague. Professor G. B. Muchmore. He wishes it stated that most of I tem
are drawn from his work at the School of Expression. Boston;
but that since he has set down blit a portion of those used in that
school, has added some, and has modified others as a result of
his college teaching, he does not wish by this acknowledgment to
make Dr. Curry responsible for this production.




GESTURE


477


the  chest espn-I)eId  bu    ot o strained.  (Expansion
slolild he in all dii reticIs; not merely forward with controtactio 1 t the b-c  ) I ove gently forward ando back
CIMt from 1  side 0to '- 7ofi the position is found in
Ný nicli tIe 1: 1!p  to Vemiii ereCt with the sli-ghtest
e iTfort. This inIy tfx kI repeetJed triads.
2. KIepei,  t1)   f hoelin  i of poise gained in Exercise 1,
stand easily ce    uith the heels toocther, letting the
toes find a coj`rtn I-I le posiý-tioll iti U11 die 1x eight well forward on thfe bl dts of the feet. IooLuO tile attention at
thie notch of tV( fterinun  and slowly rise on the toes, anad
at the same tLI1e lift Ithe aCrms to a lateral horizontal
position; sfastin until there is so5et1hing of the feeling
(f lightne;ss one iias when unp to the arm pits in water
then return sloa ly to the former piosition, keeping the
xveight NXell nader control. Do not push the hips forwNard or let the body rest back on the heels.
3. Take thle position described in Exercise 2 and
slowly move towardl the right until the weight is wholly
oit one foot and the other foot rests lightly on the floor.
Place the free foot as far as losile to tile left without
disturbiin  tlihe body or stiftenimnt tile leg, then slowly
move the body toward thle free foot until the weight is
vell over it, and it has become the supporting or
"strongi " foot. Place the free foot forward and slowly
move thie we)iIht forxvardl over it. Plfece the foot now
free to the side and move the v%-,ight over it; move the
foot iiow free back, and transfer the weiglit. The movement can now be made in aniy direction.
EXERCISES FOPI RELAXATITON
4. Whole body. Stand erect and let the head sink
fell% rand onm the chlest; then let thle shoulders droop, and
the arms lhang linmp. Now slowly fold tihe spine from
the top dowxnward, beim" sure that the bead leads at all
times. 1D)o not bieni the knees or strain the muscles of
the legs. Unfold the Ibody, beiiing sre that the  iovemelnt begins at the hips, that the head follows, and that
tle;rms- and shoulders come gradually into the normal
pos0 tiojii




478


PUBLIC SPEAKING


If these directions are followed, the head will be the
last part of the body to assume an erect position. Faults
to be avoided in the execution of this exercise are, in
folding, a hinge movement at the hips with a straight
back, and, in the unfolding movement, cramping the
neck and lifting the shoulders, thereby making it necessary to let them drop at the completion of the exercise.
5. Jaw. Standing or sitting erect, let the head drop
forward on the chest as if asleep; relax the jaw, tongue,
eyelids and facial muscles. Focus the attention at the
base of the neck behind, being sure that there is no unnecessary muscular exertion, and slowly lift the head to
a normal position,-the mouth at this point should be
open at least an inch,-then let the head back as far as
possible, then bring it forward to an erect position.
6. Neck. From the forward position of the head described in Exercise 5, slowly roll the head around, describing as large a circle as possible. Keep the face
forward; see that neck muscles not necessarily used are
relaxed; and that the pivotal point is at the base of the
neck. Repeat in the reverse direction.
7. Arms. a. Stand erect, with the weight forward,
arms lifted straight to the front, palms down. Let the
arms fall lifelessly to the side and swing as a result of
their own momentum.
b. Place the arms parallel above the head with the
palms in, and let them fall.
c. Extend the arms to a lateral horizontal position,
and let them fall lifelessly.
d. Place the arms as in c; let the fingers relax, then
the forearm, bending at the elbow, then the upper arm.
e. Reverse d, beginning by      lifting  the shoulders
slightly. Energize the muscles of the upper arm, with
the forearm pendent; energize the muscles of the forearm, then of the wrist, and lastly of the fingers.
8. Wrists. a. With the upper arms at the side, forearms lifted at right angles and palms down, shake the
forearms in such a way that the hands move freely at
the wrist joints.




GESTURE


479


b. Repeat with the palms up.
9. Fingers. Grasp the left hand with the right by
placing the thumb of the right hand in the palm of the
left and the fingers on the back; shake the left hand
until the fingers and thumb move limply at their base.
Reverse the hands and repeat.
10. Legs. a. Stand well poised on one foot on the edge
of a platform or a step and let the other foot hang over
the edge until it is felt as a dead weight; then lifting it
for:ward let it fall and swing with its own momentum.
Do not allow, the body to slump on the hip of the strong
side.
b. Stand on the floor with the weight on one foot and
lift the free foot forward with the lower leg dangling
from the knee, then let it drop; lift the leg to the side
and let it- drop; back, and let it drop; across the strong
leg in front, and let it drop.
EXERCISES FOR COORDINATION
11. a. Standing with the weight on one foot, place the
free foot at the side, and the arm of the same side across
the body till the finger tips touch the opposite shoulder;
tlhen simultaneously unfold the arm to a lateral horizontal position and cross the strong foot with the free foot.
Reverse 1nd repeat.
b. To Exercise a add a pivotal action of the head from
side to side in the direction that corresponds to the movement of the foot and in opposition to that of the arm.
12. Stand with the weight on one foot, arms lifted
and the tips of the fingers touching the chest. Step
firmly forward! and at the same time unfold the arms
to a lateral horizonal position. Carry this unfolding
movement out to the very tips of the fingers and see that
the body is well supported on the forward foot.
Repeat, starting with the weight on the other foot.
Repeat, unfolding the arms at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the horizontal.
13. a. Group the four fingers of the hand closely about
the thumb and slowly unfold the fingers, initiating the
A-'I




480


PUBLIC SPEAKING


movement at the center og the palm. See thiat all fingers are 1moving in opposition to the thumbl., coi tinuously
nid sainiiuteouily, iiJd autot ud di A.1stan es, until
the whole hand is completely e-pailed     D o not lay
the thiumb back in a plane w ith the pam
b. From  this expaiid{ $  cond tion, s5lOwVy (el(ose the
hand, this tine initiaiting t10e n(etio tt tI tip  of the
fingers, until they croup aZin aibou tdie hL   1mb ti
fiugers should not b1e stiiff or crimpiid at any timue.
14. a. Stand we'll erect, slilOhtl forvnard on the right
foot, stretch thile jriLgt iarm  o forwr  and md  criie with
the hand a figure eight lyi  on its side. Moive tilhe hand
in the direction indicated by the arrows in the accompanying cut. Let the movement be initiated largely at
the shoulder. Do not exag0 erate the sway of the body
too much, but let it respond easily to the movement of
the arm, the extent to which the body moves depending
mainly on the size of the figure described.
Repeat with the left arm; then with both arms; then
with the arms moving in opposition to each other. Make
the fivure now large and now small.
b. Repeat the figure with the arms extended laterally,
first with either arm, and then with both arms.
c. Repeat occasionally with the movement in opposition to the arrows.
15. a. Stand with the weight on the left foot and place
the right foot slightly forward in a relaxed condition;
focus the eyes on a definite point to the right, turn the
head till it faces in thie same direction; place the right
foot slightly behind thlie left and transfer the weig-ht
back on it, and at the same time relax the left, which
should be allowed to adjust itself. Do not lift it. The
eyes, head, b-ody and feet should now face directly
toward the point first selected.
b. With the weight on the right foot back, turn the




GESTURE


481


eyes to the right to a definite point, then the head; turn
the left heel out by pivoting on the ball of the foot, and
immediately follow this action by transferring the weight
to the left foot. Let the right foot adjust itself.
Repeat a and b alternately until a complete circle has
been made; then reverse.
c. With the weight on the left foot back, turn the eyes
to the right, and then the head, and step forward by
replacing the right foot.
d. With the weight on the right foot forward, look to
the left, turn the head, and step forward to the left.
Movement may now be made from any position in any
direction. These exercises should be practised until
great facility in moving in any direction is attained.
Second stage of gesture training. We will now assume
that the student of gesture has had his first experience
and to some degree gotten over his self-consciousness,
so that he can make a movement without stopping his
mental processes; that he has gained some poise and responsiveness. This may take him some weeks. We may
now proceed to more defihite work which would not
have been safe at first.
First, you may question yourself a bit: Do your
gecstures express something? Does your hand feel it is
talking to the audience? Does it seem to say, Note this
point in particular; or, This is of little account; or,
This is displeasing; or, This is fundamental; This is
noble, inspiring; Put this idea from you?     These and
many other things your action can say and you should
begin to feel it is speaking.
Try now to express shades of meaning. Say with your
hands: This is a fact. This is a fact, but I am indifferent to it. This is a fact; make what you can of it.
This is a fact and you must accept it. Work in all sorts
of moods and mental attitudes. You can easily gather a




482


PUBLIC SPEAKING


collection of varied sentences. Or you can find them in
numerous texts.
Turn to the selection, Who is to Blame (see end of
Chapter XIV. I assume that the selection has been
studied before this stage of gesture work is taken up).
Try to express the subtle difference between taking the
words "a man may vote regularly," as expressing a contempt for voting, or as asserting that even regular voting
is not enough. Try to express with your hand the idea
that your hearers are all familiar with the Pharisee story.
At line 14 try to express the underlying, Don't you see
how it works?   In lines 54-60 try to suggest, first the indifference, then the snobbish aloofness, then the positive,
but secret determination; and then in the lines which follow, drive home the sweeping denunciation. These are
but a few of the suggestions that might be made for this:
selection.
Keep on at the effort to express one idea or feeling till
you conquer it. Depend upon vivid conception, rather
than upon planning particular movements. Get before
a big mirror and learn from "the only honest man."
Do not be afraid of the sneer at the "looking-glass
orator."  What might be absurd in        an   experienced
speaker is not necessarily so in a beginner. Besides, I
am not asking you to practise the gestures of a speech
you are to deliver. At first your problem was to do
something, to throw off restraint. Now you must become acquainted with yourself and see what you are
doing. Self-consciousness is bad, but it is best to settle
some things once for all, rather than to carry indefinitely
an uneasy consciousness of awkwardness and mannerism.
All the time you should keep up practice for freedom of
action. This, with a developed feeling that you are talking through your gesture and a knowledge that your




GESTURE                       483
gestures are not noticeable as gestures, because of stiffness or weakness or superfluous movements, will soon
bring you out of self-consciousness. It is usually impossible to improve in any respect without an unpleasant
stage of self-consciousness.
Some rather fanciful gestures may be useful in training your muscles. Follow with eye and hand the flight
of a bird which darts about in a large auditorium and
at last escapes through an open window. Follow in the
same way the course of a troop of cavalry which is
charging over broken ground, now out of sight, now reappearing, and now dashing against the enemy. Count
fifty, letting every fifth numeral stand in your mind for
a distinct idea which you try to express by gesture.
Speak the whole of the first paragraph of Who is to
Blame, keeping at least one hand up all the time. This
is only an exercise, of course; such a direction for real
speaking would be indefensible. Still you should have
the paragraph thoroughly at command and speak it with
as much meaning as you can.
Third stage of gesture training. When one has reached
the stage where he feels that he is really expressing
through action, and only then, he may venture to seek
improvement by a somewhat closer examination of the
mechanism of gesture. Observe, first, that the hand,
when sustained in the air, need not be making motions
all the time, though it should not be limp. At the side
the hand should be free from all impulses; but when up
it should be ready for action. After the stroke of a
gesture the hand often remains at rest, holding attention
to the thought presented, until at the end of the pause
the next idea is taken up. This will be true generally
where the thought is positive or deliberative. But where
one does not wish to hold attention to the idea, as where




484


PUBLIC SPEAKING


it is waved aside as unimportant, there is no appreciable
rest. When the gesture is finished in any case, the hand
should drop or pass into the preparation for a new gesture without attracting further attention. To avoid
attracting attention to the way your hand comes down,
let it fall before or after a pause, not in the pause.
The way to get away from a finished gesture, is to
forget it; and the way to forget it is to think of the next
point. It helps the beginner to turn to another part of
the audience, as it is nearly always proper to do. A
slight turn, after the pause and just as you begin the next
phrase, will take your attention and the attention of your
audience off the gesture, and your hands will come down
without either stiffness or floppiness.
This suggests an answer to a question which beginners
often ask: How shall I respond to the natural impulse
at many points in a speech to step forward, and yet not
walk off the platform?. There is no real danger of stepping off; but it is not pleasant for the audience to see a
speaker leaning over or pacing back and forth on the very
edge. A man of good bearing can easily step back while
speaking, but he rarely has to give the matter attention.
Being free in his movements, his feet adjust themselves
under him as he turns from side to side. These movements may carry him forward or backward. The dropping back of one foot after the other may carry him back
a considerable distance in a single sentence, yet no one
notices. Ordinarily these adjustments are slight, and
the beginner must not suppose that he should be constantly moving about. Often the first freedom shows
itself in restless movements, which make the observer
want to cry out, "Stand still!"
But there are usually many places where a wide-awake
speaker will have a true impulse to move forward; as




GESTURE


485


where the thought is particularly positive and direct.
Such movements are themselves expressive gestures. At
times the speaker steps toward the right or the left side
of his audience; perhaps as he takes up a new point.
Such a movement may help a speaker to get away from
a completed climax, or a certain feeling or attitude, even
from a high pitch of voice. The change helps in getting
a new start, nearer the colloquial; and relieves both
speaker and audience from the tiresome effect produced
y one who stands stock-still.
Try these exercises: Stand facing left with right
arm extended to the left; turn to right letting the arm
turn with the body. Again, same position, swing arm
alone to right. Stand facing right with right arm extended right; turn to left leaving arm unmoved. Stand
facing left with both arms extended left; turn to right
leaving left arm unmoved and letting right arm swing
with body. Put in no strokes with hands at all, but let
them freely open. Note the large sweeping character of
these movements. Turn the last into a real gesture with
the words: "My friends, we must all face this problem
together."  Be sure to let your eyes sweep over the
whole of your imaginary audience.
Here are a few more questions by means of which you
can criticize yourself: Do your arms swing from the
shoulder? Are your elbows free from your sides? Does
every joint from shoulder to finger tip have a part in
your gesture? Do your finger tips describe curves,
rather than make angles or thrusts? Does your body
respond by moving now with, now from the hand? Do
you in moving forward, backward, or sideways with a
gesture, really respond from head to foot, rather than
tip and twist with your feet stuck to the floor? Does
your bodily response prevent straining of your arms




486


PUBLIC SPEAKING


backward? Do your arms swing freely into all ranges,
high and low? Do they at times swing high in preparation? Do they start soon enough to permit a free, full
motion? Do your gestures, generally, freely reveal the
opened palms? (Do not try to hold the fingers in any
position, and especially do not hold the thumb down.)
Do your hands sometimes take a prone position? Can
you straighten your arm and open your hand at the
finish of a gesture without a jerk or stab? Is the stroke
of. your gesture finished on the accented syllable of the
emphatic word? Do your gestures disappear without
flourish, doubling of the fist, or any other motion
which catches the eye?  Do you avoid stepping one foot
over the other as you move right or left, especially as
you leave the platform? All these questions you should
be able to answer in the affirmative.
Kinds of gesture. At the stage of work which we now
assume, we shall be aided by a rough classification of
gestures. It is made, however, not so much for its own
value as because it furnishes a convenient way of giving
certain suggestions and warnings. One should have attained a good deal of freedom in gesture before considering these; for in the early part of his work he should not
trouble himself about absurdities, but rather dare to be
absurd.
Locative gestures. First, we will notice gestures which
indicate place, with reference either to visible objects or
imagined objects. Sentences for illustration: This is
the picture I refer to. "On they went, charging up
that fearful path, eleven against seventy."
Suggestions: Avoid unnecessary pointing; as in saying, You and me. It is unnecessary to indicate the seat
of the emotions as in either heart or stomach every time
one refers to a feeling. Beware of unfortunate point



GESTURE


487


ing; as when one indicates that the good sheep in his
audience are on the right and the bad goats on the left,
or whirls upon the chairman as a dastardly villain. But
note that much depends upon where the speaker looks.
Since the audience follows the speaker's eyes more than
they do his hand, they are not likely to turn to an individual when the speaker says dramatically, "Thou art
the man!" unless he both points and looks at some unfortunate. Do not look fixedly at any point within easy
range of your hearer's eyes, unless you wish them to
look there also. They will not often turn, however, to
a point toward the back of the room. Do not look at a
blackboard, chart or picture unless you wish your audience to look there at that moment.
Do not look at a commonplace object, such as a white
wall, within easy range of their eyes, when you wish
them to imagine a scene. What they actually see checks
their imagination. "They bore their hero back to the
little village where he first saw the light, back to the little
cemetery on the hill, and they buried him there," declaimed a student; and he pointed with two hands and
looked at the floor. Ever since that hero has lain buried
in a hole cut through the dusty old matting in front of
that platform. You will observe that looking definitely
limits imagination. When one says, From north to
south, meaning merely great distance, and looks at a
certain point as north and another as south, one confines the distance within the room. There should be in
such a case an indefinite sweep of look and action, which
suggests, As far as you like. It is unnecessary in most
cases, unless one is in the locality referred to, to pay
strict attention to points of the compass; but having indicated the right as east, it should remain east to avoid
confusing the picture, as, for example, in describing a




488


PUBLIC SPEAKING


battle. Do not confuse the literal with the figurative.
One should not intimate that "the great heart of the
universe" is within his thorax.
In spite of all these "don'ts"' the locative gesture may
be helpful in pointing out literal objects and in tickling
the imagination of the audience when one is describing
scenes and actions. Many of the absurdities referred to
are due to trusting to mechanical plotting rather than
to a true imaginative conception. And the same remarks
may be applied to absurdities touched upon below.
Illustrative, or picturing gestures. We have these in
the simplest form when gestures 'accompany such sentences as, The cloud was this shape, He walked like this,
Throw down that bauble, IIe stretched forth his hand.
The illustrative gesture attempts to do for speech in a
limited way what an illustrator does for written words.
It may sometimes stimulate imagination far more, but
has obvious limitations. Illustrative gesture may also do
for language what the figure of speech does: it is at times
metaphorical, as when one speaks of a lofty ideal, or a
foundation principle.
Suggestions: Do not attempt the impossible. Sometimes dramatic gestural description is attempted that is
too complex, even when truly carried out. Sometimes
the fault is simply inadequacy, as when a preacher held
i up his own pudgy forefinger in saying, "the finger of
God."   Do not reduce the figurative to the literal. This
point is not easy to state, and has been overstated.
When it is said that we should never use "those gestures
which indicate a literal carrying out of the figurative
language," this might be understood as denying our
most primitive use of gesture, and as forbidding one to
make a wry face when one speaks of a "bitter pill," or
As a criticism on the Crow Indian who told me the




GESTURE


489


sermon we had listened to was a "high-up talk," with
hand held above his head. Perhaps it is sufficient to say,
keep always in mind the fact that a figurative statement
is figurative. Also, be careful with faded metaphors.
A  speaker extended his arm      when he mentioned "the
arm of a crane." I saw a debater, describing what he
considered the repeated encroachments of England upon
the Transvaal, move down the platform one step for each
encroachment.
The speaker should never forget that he is not an actor.
lie has not even a tin sword to draw, and no scabbard
to return it to; and to provide paraphernalia is rank
absurdity. When the great orator Burke, wishing to
defy his enemies in Parliament, drew from his bosom an          /
actual gauntlet and hurled it upon the floor, he was
laughed at as he deserved. Distinguish also the narrator
from the impersonator; that is, there is a difference betvcien  telling  about another's words and       deeds and
speaking in his person.
"A  prominent reader recites... Whittier's 'Maud Muller.'
When he comes to the lines:
'She stooped where the cool spring bubbled up,
An(d filled for him her small tin cup.
And blushed as she gave it, looking down
At her feet so bare, and her tattered gown,'
on the first line he stoops down until his knuckles almost touch the
floor; in the second line he(l dips at the water; then he stands up and
tries to blush as lie represents Maud Muller giving the water to the
Jud.ze on horseback; and lastly he makes a gesture and looks
down directing the attention of the audience to his own feet which
are not 'bare' and to the 'tattered gown' which is not there." 1
When speaking the actual words of another, impersonation in tone and action may be carried farther; as in
telling a story with a dialogue. Note also that when an
audience is aroused they will accept extremes at which
in  the beginning they might laugh. A          classmate of
1 Fulton and Trueblood, Pr(ctical Elocution, p. 338.




490


PUBLIC SPEAKING


mine "brought down the house" by accompanying the
opening words of his declamation, "Roll back the curtain
of history," with a magnificent, double-armed sweep.
We were watching him critically as he began; but later,
had he succeeded in arousing us, we might have accepted
his gesture without a thought. Some go as far as to
say, make no gesture in your opening words: you are too
self-conscious, and your audience is not yet interested in
your subject.
Suggestive gestures are frequently better for the public
speaker than those more fully illustrative. If Burke
had made a movement just suggesting the throwing
down of a gauntlet, the imagination of his hearers might
have formed a vivid image of the act, with no hint of
absurdity. As an over-elaborate stage setting may check
imagination, so elaborate gestures may also.
Manifestive gestures is another classification that has
been made. This is hardly a necessary classification,
but serves to emphasize the use of gestures to manifest
our feelings toward an object or idea; as when one tosses
off a proposal as of no account. These are suggestive
in character, but also partake of the nature of *
Emphatic gestures. These are the most serviceable
':tures of all for the speaker. They are the last to be
tho,1 ht of by one going mechanically to work to determint  his gestures, for they do not necessarily suggest
aiy picture at all. Often a beginner, with a false idea of
how to becin, says, "There are n't any gestures in that
pech,'"    tl -"s equivalent to sa ~   There is no fore
in it. All gtu    is e    a i in nature, but this term is
applied to te!,Jio gesture which simply says, What I
say is true. it 1,  > move in any direction and have
much variety. The principal suggestion to be made is to
avoid the habit of making the same movement all the




GESTURE


491


time or gesturing too constantly; for either of these
habits soon destroy all effect from   gesturing. Where
every idea is emphasized, nothing is emphasized. For
the rest, the general training advised should suffice.
Any speaker who is in earnest will make emphatic
gestures.
Conclusion. It is difficult to discuss gesture on paper
without making the matter seem mechanical. But if you
will follow out the course of training as laid down here,
persistently working at each stage without hurrying on
to the next, you should become able to gesture naturally and effectively, without the necessity of giving the
matter a thought, although it may always be best to
occasionally observe yourself as a safeguard against bad
habits. If you insist on working mechanically, you will
have a much poorer chance of arriving at easy effectiveness. If you refuse to work at all, you are likely to limit
much your powers of expression, or to do many awkward
and absurb things which detract from the force of your
speaking.
\
":2.




CHAPTER XVI


PLATFORM MANNERS
PLATFORM manners are to be learned chiefly by observation; but a few suggestions may relieve the embarrassment of beginners. We may say that a speaker should be
a simple, unpretentious gentleman on the platform; but
that hardly finishes the matter. To say that a man
who "has something to say which he very much wishes
to say," will conduct himself properly, is to utter a half
truth. The matter is of some importance, for every move
a speaker makes from the time he is first noticed by the
audience, may affect the success of his speech. Perhaps
people ought not to judge him by his appearance; but
many will, and decide that they do or do not like him,
or have confidence in him, before he speaks a word.
And he may be under temptation to carry off his
"nerves" with a swagger or a slouch, or to take on an
apologetic excuse-me-for-presuming air. To step forward, without attracting any attention to how he does it,
but with an air which impresses upon the audience, "I
have business with you," is to make a good start. Nothing will help so much in this as to be conscious of having
something to say worth saying, and to lose self-consciousness by thinking of the purpose of speaking. Add to
this, modesty, self-respect and respect for the audience,
and a speaker will probably bear himself well; provided
he is capable of good bearing off the platform.
A few "don'ts" are in order: Don't follow a big
492




PLATFORM MANNERS


493


curve in walking forward; and don't, on the other hand,
stride down the back of the platform and turn front with
a military swing. "A straight line is the shortest distance between two points." If open to you, follow this
line to a position well forward. If you can do so without twisting your neck, look at the audience as you come
forward. The position of the chairman, and perhaps
other persons on the platform, may interfere with carrying out these suggestions.
The chair is to be recognized with a "Mr. Chairman,"
or a bow, or both. Be deliberate over this recognition
and speak in a firm tone. It helps you in maintaining
self-possession, in finding your voice, and also in gaining
the "sense of communication."   The salutation may be
given from the s  eide ofthe platform, or one may walk to
the front and then turn to the chairman. The audience
too should be recognized. To say "Ladies and Gentlemen," is not only good form: it helps the speaker strike
the conversational note, provided he makes the salutation genuine. The objection some make to the use of
this salutation by a student speaker seems to me to
spring from a feeling that his speaking is necessarily unreal. It is, of course, good form merely to bow. But one
hesitates to use the word "bow," so suggestive is it of the
profound obeisances which, however appropriate for
actors and musicians, are certainly absurd for public
speakers. If the young speaker will always think of
his bow as a genuine salutation, such as he might give an
individual, for whom he has respect, he will not go far
wrong. He will almost certainly go right, if he has
gained good bearing.
There should be some form of leave taking, usually a
bow at the end. Do not suay    1   ank      "  I have
asked many intelligent people if they considered this




494


PUBLIC SPEAKING


expression a desirable convention, and they have invariably said, "No." Some good speakers may use it;
but it is used chiefly by those who feel the need of something to relieve the awkwardness of walking away, and
who object to the overdone, formal bows. Make your
bow a genuine good-by, and it will feel all right. "I
thank you" has already grown into a meaningless convention. If you have some special reason for thanking
your audience, do so in less abrupt terms.
Some young speakers are loath to recognize the audience in any
way; but they would not begin even a casual conversation with a
friend on the street without some salutation, nor leave off without
some form of farewell. It is certainly fitting for young speakers
to show respect for their audiences; old speakers are scrupulously
polite. One must, of course, adapt one's self to the occasion.
I wish to add a few more "don'ts": Do not address
every imaginable division of your audience; as, "Mr.
Chairman, Members of the Republican League of Jonesville, Citizens of Jonesville, Ladies and Gentlemen, and
others."   There may be special reason for distinguishing
some group present, but ordinarily not unless it is present
as a group. Do not address the "Honorable Judges"
at a debate, if they are scattered among the audience.
Do not take up time with repeated addresses to anybody,
unless you have some purpose to serve.
Don't hang over a desk or chair, like a tired horse
over a hitching post. Don't make a practice of leaning
against the desk, or of keeping your hands in your pockets, or of indulging in any other "free and easy" actions. The objection is not that these are necessarily
offensive, but that they are hardly becoming to young
speakers, and that they are ways of yielding to nervousness. It is better that a beginner should avoid them.
One who has gained poise and self-possession is not likely




PLATFORM MANNERS


495


to over-indulge in these forms of relief. As you turn to
leave the platform, don't cross your legs by stepping right
with the left foot first, or left with the right foot first.
Don't forget to be, in small as well as in large ways, ''a
gentleman conversing."
The larger matters of courtesy to opponents and to audience
have been considered in the chapters on Persuasion.
Duties of the chairman. A      few words may be permitted here concerning the manners of the chairman.
It is his primary duty, not to impress himself upon the
meeting, but to make it a success. He should not, unless
something in his relation to the situation gives him     a
special license, indulge in long talks himself; but should
limit himself to what will expedite business and help the
speakers to get into touch with the audience. He should
not attempt to forecast what a speaker is about to say
in a way in which will at all seem to dictate the course
that should be pursued, or that will detract from the
force of the speaker's remarks. The chairman does well
to consult with the speaker in regard to what might be
said to help.
The chairman should not feel bound to lavish extreme
compliments upon the speaker. These may be very embarrassing. I recall hearing a man who had borne an
honorable part as a brigadier general in the Civil War,
introduced in terms which implied that he was the equal
of Grant and Lee. It was difficult for the speaker to
avoid seeming either to accept this fulsome praise, or to
be ungracious to the presiding officer while rejecting it.
On the other hand, the chairman should be careful in
making facetious remarks at the expense of the speaker.
While much seems to be permitted at lively banquets,
and some toastmasters seem to think it their duty to




496              PUBLIC SPEAKING
embarrass the speakers, one often feels that the limits of
good taste are exceeded. At a banquet of students and
professors the student toastmaster cracked aged jokes at
the expense of certain dignified gentlemen in a way that
made one apprehensive when he arose to introduce the
last speaker; and one could feel the relief of the assemblage when he said only, "Gentlemen, the President of
the University." Certainly on any but the lightest
occasions, the chairman should help, not embarrass, the
speakers.




CHAPTER XVII


VOICE TRAINING
THERE should be little need of emphasizing the fact
that a good voice is of great value to the public speaker.
We know that a good voice is of value in all our interPourse; and the work suggested below is just as good for
the voice in conversation as in public speaking. But
especially to the public speaker a voice that is distinct,
pleasing, expressive and that will endure hard work, is
a great help and a great satisfaction.
The prejudice against voice training, which one sometimes meets
with, has been in part justified. The quack has been particularly
active in this field, making a pretentious show of knowledge that is
mostly false, and especially training to affectation. Nevertheless
voices can be improved; and there are to-day men and women competent for the work, both in their scientific knowledge of the vocal
organs and in their skill to teach. I have asked one of this number
to prepare the exercises given below, endeavoring to make them (1)
brief, (2) sufficient for ordinary needs, (3) inclusive of nothing
not fully approved by science and experience, (4) safe as possible
in the hands of those not highly skilled.
It is worthy of note that vocal training is beneficial to the health.
I know of no one who more enthusiastically advises this training
than Andrew D. White, who considers it one reason for the long
life he has enjoyed, now some fifty years longer than physicians
prophesied for him in his youth. On his eightieth birthday, in a
message to the students of Cornell University, he wrote among "A
Dozen Maxims" this:
"Practice inflating your lungs for five minutes, at least three
times a day, frequently aklding vocal exercises. This will be one of
the best safeguards against tuberculosis, and if you have anything
worth saying in public, your audience will hear you and be glad to
listen.... A firm, strong, pleasing voice is one of the best factors
of success, both in and after college. How many good thinkers I
have seen fail in securing attention because they were not heard!"
497




A A


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Qualities desired. First must stand fl;.inctjess. If
we are not heard we had better not speak. If we are not
heard with ease we waste the attention of our hearers.
Nothing is more likely to make an audience tired and
peevish than difficulty in hearing. "All I could hear was
'I,' 'I,' 'I,' " growled a man as we came out from a lecture. The speaker, who had given an interesting lecture
on a work for which he is famous, had not used unduly
his I's; but his weak voice and quick, nervous utterance
were inadequate in the great hall, and the grumbler had
been annoyed. To distinctness should be added deju.tih
of voice; but it is a mistake to suppose mere loudness will
give a voice carrying power. Many speakers and many
teachers exhaust themselves, ruin their voices and annoy
their hearers by shouting to be heard; and yet their
shouts fail where a quiet tone penetrates. There should
be more reliance upon deliberation and clear-cut utterance, with full vowels and well formed consonants. And
without a good tone to work with all else is difficult. A
teacher in whose judgment of this subject I have great
confidence, lays down these as essentials of the carrying
power of the voice: the right amount of breath, purity
of tone, free change of pitch between words, distinct articulation, vocal quantity, vocal quality and loudness.
We see that the matter is not at all simple; but we are
relieved by learning that, to a great extent, we may rely
for all these elements upon the general training of such
exercises as those below. These will tend to bring our
speech organs into a normal condition, give them greater
strength and freedom of action, and will also increase
control of the mechanism.
Do not, in seeking distinctness, practise strange motions of lips and tongue, for these will (unless undertaken under the direction of a skilled teacher), only in



VOICE TRAINING                     499
crease the rigidity of those organs. Rather seek for ease
and freedom by the general exercises. And do not practise abnormally hard combinations of sounds; certainly
not until you have gained a good deal of flexibility.
For eaiduragce rely entirely upon the general training
of such exercises as those below, which will give free normal action, and upon practice in speaking. The more
the voice is used, if well used, the stronger and more enduring it should become. RemSjsiven ess of voice should
also come from the training prescribed below. Nothing
is more trying to a speaker than to have his voice fail
to express what is in his mind and heart; and few sensations are more delightful than to feel and hear one's
voice responding fully and freely. To be responsive a
voice must be flexible and free in inflection and range;
and, further, it should have quality and rich and varied
tone colors, that it may express all of one's varied
thoughts and emotions. A voice may be too tight, too
limited, too hard and colorless to express more than
cold fact.
One warning is in order: If you admire the rich
baritone speaking voice and have but a light tenor, do
not try to change your voice to a baritone by talking in a
forced tone. You will only get a throaty, unmusical
voice, with permanent throat trouble as a probable addition. You must acceitt.the voic    ature gave you and
improve it. And you can improve your light voice by
increasing its quality, until it is as serviceable as a baritone. A high voice with much color and flexibility will
seem, to any but the keenest ears, much lower than it
actually is. After all, Webster's voice is described as a
tenor, and Lincoln's was even shrill at the beginning of
a speech, though more mnsical as he warmed to his
work.




500


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The teacher has far less trouble with those whose
voices are naturally high, than with the many who pitch
their voices too high for their natural range. Each person may be said to have a normal keynote, the note which
is easiest for him. From this his voice ranges up and
down, usually through several notes, and in animated discourse through more than an octave. And this free movement of the voice contributes much to its pleasantness and
its expressiveness. Now, it is a common fault to establish
an abnormally high keynote, from which the voice rises
bu7below-wthfc~'t raretl falls. Instead of running high
and low, it runs high and higher; thereby greatly decreasing its power of expression. This fault, which often
becomes a habit, seems to be due primarily to speaking in
a strained nervous state, in which there is failure to discriminate values and to come into touch with one's
audience. When one finds himself speaking in this way,
he should stop deliberately and seek to get into the conversational frame of mind. The teacher can often break
up this strained manner of speaking, by asking a question about subject-matter, and then calling the student's
attention to the difference beween his manner of answering and the manner in which he has been speaking.
The teachings of Chapter II and XIII are in point; and
practice on exercises 13 and 14, below, will prove beneficial.
Special defects, such as stammering, lisping and inability to produce certain sounds, may be helped and
even cured by the general training here outlined; but
usually the services of a skilled teacher are required. In
many cases stammering can be cured,-really cured, not
changed into a singsong; and in most cases relief is
possible.




VOICE TRAINING


501


The preceding should not be taken to imply that the skilled
teacher is not needed in every phase of voice training. In every
department of our work he is needed, but in no other department
is it so important that teacher and pupil come face to face as in
voice training. The best of exercises are easily perverted, and
much depends upon the trained ear. It is because of this fact and
because some successful teachers have failed to make themselves
clear when devoting a whole book to the subject, that no attempt is
made here at a brief systematic treatment. Nevertheless the matter is too important to pass over altogether; and users of this text
will find it convenient to have some exercises, at once standard and
as safe as possible, laid out.
For more detailed treatment of these topics, I refer especially to
Mind and Voice, by S. S. Curry, Ph.D., a very successful teacher
of voice, The Voice and Practical Phonology, by W. A. Aiken,
M.D., and Voice Production, by Wesley Mills, M.D. For the very
complex problems of enunciation and articulation we have the work
done on "Visible Speech" by Alex. Melville Bell, and set forth in
Sounds and their Relations. But as this book is very difficult, it
is better for most to turn to the popularization of his work in the
chapter on Molding Tone into Words, in Curry's Mind and Voice.
Sweet's Handbook of Phonetics is another difficult but valuable
work.
Expression   is voice    training. We     should    observe
that in a sense all vocal expression is voice       training.
Persistent practice in attempting to give f ill and adequate vocal interpretation to good literatu e, using selections of a wide range of feeling, will enrich the voice
and is one of the best and safest forms of vocal culture;
and, it may be added, of mental culture.
Practice must be persistent. All voice training is but
folly without regular, persistent, intelligent practice, and
the older one is the more practice he must have. If you
wish to improve your voice, make up your mind to practise fifteen minutes twice a day, as a minimum. You
will not miss the time, for you will find the exercises a
restful change. Do not practise, however, when you are
tired out; and never practise when your mind is not




PUBLIC SPEAKING


alert. If possible, practise where you will not fear being
overheard; for to practise vocal exercises with an effort
to keep them subdued may injure your voice. Freedom
is essential.
The exercises given in the chapter on Gesture are an
excellent preparation for voice training, and should be
used along with those that follow.
EXERCISES FOR BREATHING1
1. Lie on your back flat on the floor. Place one hand
well up on the chest and the other across the body just
below the breast bone. Without interfering with your
breathing, study its nature. What parts of the torso
move    Is the greater movement under the upper or the
lower hand?  Is your breathing regular or irregular; fast
or slow; deep or shallow? Repeat your study of breathing while standing erect.
2. Lying in the position given in Exercise 1, take a
slow deep breath and retain by maintaining a feeling of
expansion or slight resistance under the lower hand,
while the chest remains firm. Relax all the neck muscles,
and do not attempt to control the breath by closing the
throat. During the inhalation do not "push" with the
diaphragm, and do not let the central part of the torso
collapse during exhalation; but rather let the muscles
gradually relax.
Increase from day to day the depth of breathing. To
facilitate this, count mentally. For example, inhale during five counts, hold the breath for three counts, and release the breath during five counts. Do not lengthen the
"hold" to the point of discomfort. After you are accustomed to this exercise, take it while standing, and while
walking about the street.
3. a. While lying on the floor with the arms free at the
sides, take a full easy breath at the center of the body
and slowly exhale by making a slight noise between the
1 The exercises in this chapter have been arranged by G. B.
Muchmore. See footnote to p. 476.




VOICE TRAINING


503


tongue and the upper teeth,-more like a whistle than a
hiss. Make as little noise and use as little breath as is
possible, but above all keep the escape of breath regular.
b. Repeat the exercise, using the vowel ah instead of
the whistle.
4. Repeat the exercises given under 2, 3a and 3b while
standing on the toes, with the arms extending slightly
back of a lateral horizontal position. Keep the chest
well expanded.
EXPANSION OF THE TORSO WITH FREE BREATHING
5. a. Lie flat on the floor; place one hand well up on
the chest and the other under the body at the small of the
back. Separate the hands by muscular expansion of the
torso, but without interfering with the rhythm of the
breathing. Do not hold the breath during the act of
expanding.
b. With the torso thus expanded, repeat exercises 2,
3a and 3b.
6. Stand with the weight well forward on one foot,
with the other resting on the floor behind and slightly
supporting the body; and repeat exercises 5a and 5b.
INITIATION OF TONE
Use here 5 and 6 of the gesture exercises.
7. Stand erect with the weight well forward on one
foot, chest expanded; take an easy full breath and at the
same time allow the jaw to drop and the throat muscles
to relax. Then speak immediately and quickly, but not
loudly, the vowel ah without inflection.
Repeat several times, taking a new breath for each
tone, and being sure to release the surplus breath after
each tone.
Make several tones on one pitch in quick succession;
thus, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, etc. These should be repeated on
various pitches within easy range and with gradually
increased range and volume.




504


PUBLIC SPEAKING


SUPPORT OF TONE
8. Observing conditions described in exercise 7, sustain
with animation the vowel ah, stopping the tone the instant breath control is lost and tone quality deteriorates.
Repeat on various pitches within easy range, gradually increasing the range, intensity and duration of the
tones.
9. With good body and breathing conditions, count on
a sustained pitch and with a single breath for each group,
as follows: one; one-two; one-two-three; one-two-threefour, etc.
Be sure that there is a definite relaxation of the diaphragm and the associated breathing muscles, after each
group, and a definite but not strained, preparation for
the next group.
Repeat on various pitches and gradually increase the
number of counts in a single breath.
10. Observing good conditions, chant some rhythmical
poem, such as The Brook, or The Bells of Shandon.
(See selections 26 and 27 below.) Begin the first line of
each stanza on an easy pitch, and begin each successive
line one interval higher. Accentuate the correct phrasing and give a definite touch to each word, in order that
the thought may be brought out, and thus keep the chant
from drifting into a monotonous sing-song.
VOWELS 1
11. Repeat exercises 7 and 8, using all the vowel
sounds in the language.
CONSONANTS 1
12. Use various combinations of all the vowel and
consonant sounds in the language, thus: ah-la, ah-ta,
ah-ka, etc.; la-la, pa-pa, na-na, etc.; then rhythmically
thus, la, la-la-la, la-la-la, la, la; ka, ka-ka-ka, ka-ka-ka,
ka, ka, etc.
1 See Curry's Mind and Voice, Chapter VIII.




VOICE TRAINING


505


Use various pitches with frequent change of tempo
and volume. Precise and accurate movements of the
speech organs are necessary, so that the sounds may be
clear-cut and distinct.
RANGE AND FLEXIBILITY OF TONE
13. Sing the various vowels up and down the scale;
then skip about freely from pitch to pitch.
14. a. Count on a sustained pitch from one to ten,
being sure to release the surplus breath after each count
and to take a new breath for the next. Repeat with rising inflections on each count; with falling inflections;
with alternate rising and falling inflections.
b. Count in groups of five with a long falling inflection on one and the other four with shorter but definite
inflections, successively falling; with a short rising inflection on one, long falling inflection on two, and the
others as before, etc. Count in groups of five with a
long rising inflection on one and with successive rising
inflections on the others; with a short rising inflection
on one, long rising inflection on two, and the others as
before, etc.
c. Use some such simple sentence as the following (as
an exercise in voice training, not in reading): "I saw
George this morning." "Did you see George this morning?   Use as much range and flexibility of voice as you
A /5                                   1       /5
S\/3                4      /4     /4
\saw               \,eo,8i                   /this
</George
\George            Xthis               /see
\this               \morn-       /you
\morning           Xi        /-i d




506


PUBLIC SPEAKING


have under your control, and change the focus of attention in successive repetitions to each word of the sentences. Put meaning into your speaking.
On the preceding page is a diagram of exercises 14a,
14b and 14c.
APPLICATION OF EXERCISES TO SPEECH
The reading and speaking of selections, such as are
here given, should go hand in hand with all voice exercises. The selections should be practised, not carelessly,
but with due consideration of the principles laid down
in preceding chapters on attention, imagination and
emotion.
1. What ho, my jovial mates! come on     we 'll frolic it
Like fairies frisking in the merry moonshine!
-Scott.
2. A song, oh a song for the merry May!
The cows in the meadow, the lambs at play,
A chorus of birds in the maple tree
And a world in blossom for you and me.
3. O for a soft and gentle wind!
I heard a fair one cry;
But give to me the snoring breeze
And white waves heaving high;
And white waves heaving high, my lads,
The good ship tight and free;
The world of waters is our home,
And merry men are we.               -Cunningham.
4. Who knows himself before he has been thrilled with indignation at an outrage, or has heard an eloquent tongue, or has shared
the throb of thousands in a national exultation or alarm?-Emer80  1.
5. Hurrah! hurrah! the west wind comes freshening down the bay!
The rising sails are filling, give way, my lads, give way.
-Whittier.
6. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean-roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.
-Byron.




VOICE TRAINING


507


7. It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey and a ho, and a hey-nonino!
That o'er the green cornfield did pass
In the spring-time, the only pretty ring time
When birds do sing hey-ding-a-ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.      -Shakespeare.
8. Charge! Chester, charge! On! Stanley, on!
Were the last words of Marmion.           -Scott.
9. W'en you see a man in woe,
Walk right up and say "hullo!"
Say "hullo" and "how d' ye do?"
"How 's the world a-usin' you?"
Slap the fellow on his back,
Bring yer han' down with a whack;
Waltz right up, an' don't go slow,
Grin an' shake an' say "hullo!"
-S. W. Foss.
10. Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee:       21/
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith, triumphant o'er our fears,
Are all with Thee-are all with Thee!  -Longfellow.
11. Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can;
Come saddle your horses, and call up your men;
Come open the Westport, and let us gang free,
And it 's room for the bonnets of bonnie Dundee!-Scott.
12. One of the illusions is, that the present hour is not the
critical decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is
the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly,
until he knows that every day is Doomsday.-Emerson.
13. No man can accomplish that which benefits the ages and not
suffer. I)iscoverers do not reap the fruit of what they discover.
Reformers are ielted and beaten. Men who think in advance of
their time are persecuted. They who lead the flock must fight the
wolf.-Bccch er.
14.      I go to prove my soul!
I see my way as birds their trackless way.
I shall arrive! What time, what circuit first,
I ask not; but unless God send His hail




508


PUBLIC SPEAKING


Or blinding fireballs, sleet or stifling snow,
In some time, His good time, I shall arrive;
He guides me and the bird. In His good time!-Browning.
15. Come, all ye jolly shepherds, that whistle down the glen
I '11 tell ye of a secret that courtiers dinna ken:
What is the greatest bliss that the tongule o' man can name?
'T is to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come hame.-Hogg.
16. Words are instruments of music; an ignorant man uses
them for jargon; but when a master touches them they have unexpected life and soul. Some words sound out like drums: some
breathe memories sweet as flutes; some call like a clarionet; some
shout a charge like trumpets: some are sweet as children's talk;
others rich as a mother's answering back.
17. When a man lives with God. his voice shall be as sweet as
the murmur of the brook and the rustle of the corn.-Emerson.
18. Over our manhood bend the skies;
Against our fallen and traitor lives
The great winds utter prophecies:
With our faint hearts the mountain strives,
Its arms outstretched, the druid wood
Waits with its benedicite,
And to our age's drowsy blood
Still shouts the inspiring sea.            -Lowell.
19. Ye living flowers that skirt th' eternal frost!
Ye wild goats, sporting 'round the eagle's nest!
Ye eagles, playmates of the mountain storm
Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!
Ye signs and wonders of the elements!
Utter forth "God!" and fill the hills with praise
-Coleridge.
20. There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows, and in miseries;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
-Shakespeare.




VOICE TRAINING


509


21. Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole.
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus                            -William Ernest Henley.
22. Fear Death?-to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Tho' a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, so-one fight more,
The best and the last
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forebore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute 's at end,
And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!
Prospice                                  -Robert Browning.
23. There lies the port: the vessel puffs her sails:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me,That ever with a frolic welcome took




510


PUBLIC SPEAKING


The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads,-you and I are old;
Old age has yet his honor and his toil:
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come my friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides" and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Ulysses.                                        -Temnyson.
24. The suns of summer seared his skin,
The cold his blood congealed;
The forest giants blocked his way;
The stubborn acres' yield
He wrenched from them by dint of arm,
And grim old Solitude
Broke bread with him and shared his cot
Within the cabin rude.
The gray rocks gnarled his massive hands;
The north wind shook his frame;
The wolf of hunger bit him oft;
The world forgot his name;
But 'mid the lurch and crash of trees,
Within the clearing's span
Where now the bursting wheatheads dip,
The Fates turned out-a man!
The Frontiersman.                       -Richard Wightman.


25. The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;




VOICE TRAINING


511


The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;
Blow, hugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
O hark, 0 hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, further going;
O sweet and far, from cliff and scar,
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying;
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.
0 love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.
Bugle Song.                                     -Tennyson.
2(;. I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges;
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river;
For men may come and me*n may go,
But I go on forever.
The Brook.                                      -Tennyson.
27. With deep affection and recollection,
I often think of those Shandon bells,
Whose sound so wild would, in the days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle their magic spells.
On this I ponder where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee,
With thy bells of Shandon, that sound so grand, on
The pleasant waters of the river Lee.




512               PUBLIC SPEAKING
I 've heard bells chiming full many a clime in,
Tolling sublime in cathedral shrine;
While at a glib rate, brass tongues would vibrate;
But all their music spoke naught like thine.
For memory dwelling, on each proud swelling
Of thy belfry, knelling its bold notes free,
Made the bells of Shandon sound far more grand, on
The pleasant waters of the river Lee.
The Bells of Shandon.                           -Mlahony
28 and 29. The long period sentences quoted at p. 438.




INDEX


Abbott, Lyman, 391, 392, 393.
Abstract ideas, difficult to attend to, 62; use of, treacherous, 64; not necessarily superior, 70.
Abstract  subjects, preparing
speeches on, 85.
Accuracy and authority of the
speaker, 305 if.
Action, may not follow belief,
187; determined   by  attention, 191 ff; after deliberation, 193; to develop sense of
responsibility, 207; suggestion and, 222; mob demands
immediate,   241;   securing
future, 343.
Activity, a means of interesting, 135.
Admissions of an opponent, 295.
Advertising, a means of increasing authoritativeness of
the  speaker, 225; use of
repetition in, 287.
Affectation, 16; in phrasing,
170 f.
Affections, as fundamental interests, 114; as motive, 197.
Age and conservatism, 284.
Agitator, 283, 307.
Aiken, W. A., 501.
A Liberal Education, selection,
463.
Alice in Wonderland, 132, 172.
Amplification, and   sustained
attention, 152 f; and brevity,
154; in persuasion, 213; as
a means of suggestion, 224;
affecting delivery, 436.
Amusing an audience, 131, 311.
Analogy, 141.


Analysis, of   subjects, 80 ff,
152 f; of audience, 396 ff; in
outline, 402 ff.
Angell, J. R., 57, 61, 76, 192.
Anger, diminishes the influence
of the speaker, 327.
Antagonizing the audience, 134,
257, 330 ff.
Anticipation, to sustain attention, 130; a factor in suggestion, 236.
Antithesis, 169.
Appeal, to emotion, 196; to a
mob, 240 f.
Approach, to the audience, 257;
belligerent  attitude  to  be
avoided, 257; finding common
ground, 260; explanations,
265; definition of terms in,
267; order    of arguments,
270; concessions, 268; in the
outline, 404, 414, 417.
Approval and admiration, as
motives, 201.
Argument, exposition in, 177;
review of accepted, in persuasion, 212; place of logical, in
persuasion, 248; both persuasive and sound to be effective, 249; emotion in, 250;
effect of unrelated emotion
on, 255; tendency of audience
to resist, 259; rate of progress in, 273; bearing of fixed
opinions, principles and sentiments on, 273 ff; precedent,
288; authorities, 291; for
future action, 344; see Belief, Authority, Approach to
audience, Persuasion and belief.


513




514


INDEX


Aristotle, classification of emotions, 197; justification  of
persuasion, 339.
Association, of the new with
the old, 55; and     emotion,
103 ff.
Athletics, speech subjects on,
361.
Attention, and delivery, general
references, Chapters II, IV,
XIII, XIV; principles      of,
50 ff; forms of, 51 ff; and interest, 53;   sustained, 59;
concreteness and, 62; imagination  and,   73;   of  the
speaker to his topic, 77 ff;
economy of, 112; of the audience, how won, 112 ff; imagination and attention of audience, 139 ff; means of sustaining,  152 ff;  determines
action, 192; belief, a problem
of securing exclusive, 245;
and remote action, 343; relation of ideas, 434 ff; see
Centering, Audience, Speaker.
Attitude, emotional, of audience, 253, 346; speaker to
avoid a belligerent, 257.
Audience, contact with, Chapter II; attention of, Chapters
VI, VIII, IX; necessity of
interesting, 111; how win the
attention of, 112 ff; fundamental interests of, 113; differences in interests of, 115;
relation of speaker to, 116 ff;
the general, 118ff; common
interests of, 11Sff; means of
interesting all, 120ff; use of
derived interest, 120; novelty
and interest of, 123; the familiar and interest of, 124;
differences  in   relish  for
novelty,   126;   making    it
think, 127; antagonizing the,
134;   consideration  of, in
choosing illustrations, 145;
emotional attitude of, ap

proach to, 257; conservative
or radical tendencies of, 279;
fairness and courtesy toward,
317; respect for, 318; not to
be patronized, 321; tact in
addressing, 329 ff; convicting
of ignorance, 330; should
avoid humiliating, 331; needless stirring of prejudices of,
333; demands sincerity in
the speaker, 335; consideration of, in choosing subjects,
349 ff; salutation of, 493 f;
see Attention, Emotion, Motives, Interest, Sustained attention, and Suggestion.
Authority, in suggestion, 224;
effectiveness of, in argument,
291 f;  persuasive  use  of,
291 f; tests for an, 292; how
attacked,   300;   Lincoln's
method of attacking, 301;
the speaker as an, 304; used
against exaggeration, 307;
positiveness an element in,
308; effect of humor on, 311;
see Exaggeration.
Await the Issue, a selection,
465.
Bacon, Lord, on reading, 377 f.
Bailey, L. H., 280.
Bain, A., 246, 278.
Baker, G. P., 186, 198, 268, 382.
Baldwin, J. M., 193, 254.
Banquet speaking, and stories,
132; usually purposeful, 189.
Beecher, Henry Ward, his training, 10; definition of oratory,
188; use of motives, 198, 201;
and crowd psychology, 234;
finding common ground, 264;
and self-respect, 326.
Belief, as a purpose of speaking, 111; and action, 187;
persuasion and, 245-348; and
attention, 245; dependence
of, upon experience, 247; logical argument in    securing,


---




INDEX


515


248; emotion    in  securing,
250; desire and, 253 ff; common ground of, 262; reasons
often absent for, 275; conservatism  and, 279 ff; see
Persuasion and belief.
Bell, Alexander Melville, 501.
Belligerent attitude and persuasion, 257.
"Be natural," 28.
Betts, W. H., 72.
Beveridge, A. J., on humor,
313; on self-confidence, 325.
Bible, as a source of illustration, 146, 147; a model of
pure English, 322; Paul's
persuasiveness, 341;   references to Luke 18:10, 458,
460, 462.
Bluff, in college debates, 299.
Bluntness, 172.
Books, as authorities in arguments, 294; finding    them,
369 ff.
Booth, Maud Ballington, 27.
Bows, 493.
Breathing, pause utilized for,
440; exercises for, 502.
Brevity, detail consistent with,
143; virtue of, 154; not
necessarily good, 154; suggestions for, 157.
Brooks, Phillips, on    speech
preparation,  380;   outline,
399.
Bryan, W. J., 147, 170.
Bryce, James, as an authority,
295.
Burke, Edmund, 214, 489.
Burr, George L., 172.
Business men and public speaking, 8.
Campus topics for speech subjects, 352, 360.
Carlyle, Thomas, 114, 465.
Centering, 425 ff.
Chairman, recognition of, 493;
duties of, 495.


Chart,  in   exposition,  179;
speaker's, 396.
Cicero, 45, 257, 417.
Classical form of outline, 416 ff.
Clearness, and vividness needed
by speaker, 50; through concreteness, 63;   imagination
and, 73; as a purpose of
speaking, 111; and brevity,
156; consideration of audience needed, 182; an essential
of the outline, 406.
Climax, in composition, 169; in
order of argument, 270.
Coherence, in composition, 164;
Wendell Phillips and, 165;
in the outline, 407; in delivery, 442.
College classes in public speaking, 12.
College students and clearness,
183; and modesty, 323.
College oratory, 17, 164.
Common ground, 260; of interest, 260; of feeling, 260; of
belief, 262; methods of finding, 263 ff; see Persuasion
and belief.
Commonplace    and   platitude,
119.
Composition, 168.
Concessions, 268.
Conclusion of an outline, 406,
418.
Concreteness and attention, 62;
and clearness, 63; Dewey's
definitions, 68; and interest
of the audience, 135; and sustained attention, 153; and
persuasion, 215.
Conduct, a purpose of speaking, 111, 184-244; see Persuasion.
Conflict, interest in, 134.
Conservatism, and persuasion,
279; considerations in judging, 279 ff; overcoming, 286.
Consonants, exercises for, 504.
Contra-suggestion, 229.




516


INDEX


Conventions, stampeding, 234,
236.
Conversational delivery, analysis of, 30.
Conversational quality, not conversational style, 28; recreation of thought, 30f; sense
of communication, 31; in
reading, 33; in speaking from
manuscript, 34; in speaking
from memory, 34; in extemporaneous speaking, 36; directness, 37; interrogation
helps to gain, 170.
Conversational public speaking,
misconceptions of, 25; need
not sound like conversation,
25; "a gentleman conversing," 27; not less dignified or
eloquent, 26; not necessarily
good, 41.
Conversing with an audience,
20-49.
Conviction, exposition  as  a
means to, 176; definition of,
185; in college debating. 337;
mood of, 345; strongest, rests
on both reason and emotion,
346; see Argument, Belief,
Persuasion.
Co6rdination,  exercises  for,
physical, 479.
Corax, 417.
Corson, Hiram, 446.
Correlation and subordination,
in an outline, 407 ff.
Courtesy, 317.
Crane, T. F.. 5.
Criticism, in learning public
speaking, 13; of self, 89; of
gesture. 481, 485.
Crowd, homogeneous, 231; characteristics of, 231; desirability of forming, 233; methods
of forming, 234: in a convention stampede, 236; may become a mob, 237; ethics of
use of suggestion on, 241; see
Mobs.


Curiosity and attention of the
audience, 129.
Curry, S. S., 476, 501. 504.
Curtis, George William, 149,
189, 282, 357, 462.
Curzon, Earl, 4.
Cynicism, 339.
Darwin, Charles, on origin of
gesture, 469.
Debating, use of authority in,
298 ff; use of letters as authority, 299; "bluff" in, 299;
attacking authority, 300 ff;
display of anger, 327; sincerity in, 337; see Argument,
Authority, Approach, Belief.
Declamation, see Selections.
Definition of terms, 267.
DeGarmo, Charles, 50, 63.
Delivery, Chapters II, IV, V,
XIII, XIV, XV, XVI; right
thinking necessary, 17; conversing with an audience, 20 -49; conversational quality
in, 28; "Be natural" insufficient advice, 28; conversational delivery analyzed, 30;
directness, 37; will power,
39; mechanical methods, 44;
imitation, 47; individuality
of, 47; attention in, 31 ff,
50 ff, 424 if; preparation for,
93, 105, 420 ff; imagery during. 93; staleness in, 96; emotion in, 97-108; and composition, 167; centering and
emphasis, 426 ff; thought relations in, 434 ff; coherence
of, 434 ff, 441; pause, 439;
monotony, 442; delivery of
selections, 445-468; see Extemporaneous      Speaking,
Written Speech.
Demosthenes, 336.
Denunciation, 258; opprobrious
epithets, 258.
Derived interest, and attention,




INDEX


517


54, 78; and attention of audience, 120.
Derived primary attention, 52.
Desire, and persuasion, 196;
and belief, 251.
Detail, in illustration, 142 ff.
Dewey, John, 6~, 127, 137, 196.
Diagrams, 139, 144, 179.
Dignity of bearing, 316, 326.
Directness of delivery, 36, 37.
Discussion, in an outline, 446.
Distinctness of voice, 498.
Dolliver, J. P., 6, 321.
Dull subjects, how to make interesting, 55, 78.
Earnestness, 338.
Echo, and coherence, 165; and
delivery, 435 ff.
Education and study of public
speaking, 14.
Elimination, and unity, 162.
Elocution, 16.
Emerson, R. W., 218, 342.
Emotion, in delivery, 97-108;
and sincerity, 98; in all good
speaking, 98; not to be assumed, 99; can a speaker
command? 100; repression of,
100; James-Lange theory of,
101; developed from   ideas,
103; and associations, 103;
effect of analysis on, 105;
time element in preparing,
105; preparing for speaking,
105; balancing with thought,
105; emotional drift during
delivery, 107; in exposition,
183; in persuasion, 195; relation to motives, 196; Aristotle's  classification,  197;
bald appeal to, 205; concerned with particulars, 215;
and suggestibility, 230; and
the psychological crowd, 231;
in argument. 250 ff; common
ground of, 261; in beliefs of
educated men, 275; mood, the


residue of, 346; gesture and,
469.
Emphasis, in composition, 167;
a result of centering, 426,
443; mechanical, 426, 443;
structural, in delivery, 441;
gesture for, 473, 490.
Endurance of voice, 499.
Engineer, needs training in public speaking, 7.
Entertainment as an end, 111.
Epigrams, 154.
Epithets, opprobrious, 257.
Essenwein, J. B., 381.
Ethical questions, speech subjects from, 364.
Ethics, of use of motives, 197 f;
of suggestion, 241; of persuasion, 339; and originality
in speeches, 383.
Exaggeration, and   authority,
305 ff; tends to misunderstanding, 306; places speaker
in hands of opponents, 307;
and positiveness, 308; and
hyperbole, 308; strength of
understatement. 309.
Exercises for bearing and gesture, 447 ff; for voice training, 502 ff.
Exordium, 417.
Explanation, in finding common
ground, 265; see Exposition.
Exposition, importance of, 176;
in argument, 177; speeches
purely   expository,   177;
methods of, 178; use of pictures, charts, and maps, 179;
clearness in, 182; students
unfitted for, 183; emotion in,
184; and   persuasion, 219,
265; as part of introduction,
417.
Expository  speech, 176-184;
suggestions for topics, 363;
outline of, 412 ff, 420.
Extemporaneous speaking, conversational quality in, 36;
and written speeches, 385 if;




518


INDEX


meaning of term, 385; advantages and defects of, 385 ff;
combined with   memorizing,
388; reducing    defects  of,
389 ff; demands good preparation, 392; use of outline,
421.
Eye, effect  of  in  speaking,
39.
Facts, power of, 288.
Fairness, as a motive, 200; in
common ground, 269; qualification of an authority, 294;
in the speaker, 317.
Faith and action, 210.
Familiar, interest in the, 58;
interest of audience in, 124;
triteness, 124; as a means
of overcoming conservatism,
286; words, 322.
Fear, as a motive, 202.
Feeling, unity  of, 159 f; in
crowd, 231; common ground
of, 261; see Emotion.
Figures of speech, 148 ff.
Fixed opinions, principles and
sentiments,  in  persuasion,
273 ff.
Fluency, a danger, 17.
Force, 168, 170 ff; and slang,
173; of imagery, 217-222.
Foster, W. F., 215, 270, 294,
296, 298, 379.
Franklin, Benjamin, 287, 323,
325.
Gardiner, J. H., 64.
General words, 65, 67.
Generalizations, 65, 67; "glittering generalities." 82; have
persuasive force, 216.
"Gentleman   conversing,"  26,
495.
Genung, 152, 163, 168, 213, 257,
309, 312, 357.
Gesture, 468-491: a means of
expression, 468: adapted to
the expression of feeling, 469;


origin of, 469; metaphorical
character of, 470; frees from
restraint,  470;  inevitable,
471; effect on feeling, 472;
from impulse. 473; first stage
of training, 473; poise, 474;
free body action in, 474; exercises for, 476; second stage
of training, 481; shades of
meaning, 482; third stage of
training,  483;   kinds  of,
486 ff; locative, 486; illustrative, 488; suggestive, manifestive, emphatic, 490.
Gettysburg Address, illustrating brevity, 156; an example
of unity, 160; model for occasional address, 189; echo
in, 435.
"Gift of gab," 17.
Gladstone, W. E., 88, 389.
Good Humor, 327.
Grady, H. W., 91.
Halleck, 81, 140, 220.
Hamlet, 132, 154, 194.
Health, as an interest, 113; as
motive, 197; an element of
the speaker's power, 316;
voice training beneficial to,
497.
Helmholtz, H. L. F., 60.
Henry, Patrick. 322.
Hesitation, 440.
Heterogeneous audience, interests of a, 118; formed into a
crowd, 231.
Hill, A. S., 65.
History, as a field for speech
subjects, 351, 364; sources of
facts of, 374.
Hoar, George F., 4.
Hollingworth, H. L., 135.
Holmes, Oliver   Wendell, 89,
276.
Honesty and tact. 339.
Honor, a fundamental interest,
113; as a motive, 197.
Hughes, Charles E., 7, 119.




INDEX


519


Hugo, Victor, 144.
Humor, and attention of the audience, 131 ff; disposes of hostility, 261; and authoritativeness of the speaker, 311;
not inconsistent with serious
purposes, 313; Lincoln's use
of, 313; see Good Humor.
Huxley, Thomas, 254, 463.
Hyperbole, 308.
Ibsen, Henrik, 15.
Ideas, acquiring of, as a system
of grafting, 56; developing
emotion from, 103; impress a
single idea, 161; uncontrolled
association of, 161; exclusive
attention to an idea results
in action, 191 ff; inhibiting
action, 192; motor, 220; dynamic nature of, 223; and
suggestion, 223; exclusive attention to. secures belief, 245;
original, 380 ff.
Identification, to make a motive effective, 203; to secure
assent to a new    proposal,
276 ff.
Illustration, and early preparation, 89; used to secure derived interest, 122; specific
and general, 138; suggestions
for, 141 ff.
Imagery, kinds of, 70; during
delivery, 93; variations in
use of, 151; Emerson quoted,
218; images of motion, 220;
a mob thinks in, 239.
Imagination, 70 fr; and images,
71; and the imaginary, 72;
"a  commonplace, necessary
process," 72; and attention,
73; and clearness, 73; social
value of, 74; productive and
reproductive, 74; needs material to work with, 75; in
speech preparation, 83: and
attention  of the audience,
139ff; use of analogy, 141;


in sustaining attention, 153;
in persuasion, 217; and conservatism, 286; and    sympathy, 329.
Imitation, in learning public
speaking, 47; a factor in suggestion, 225.
Impersonation, with selections,
447; gesture in, 489.
Impression,   premanency   of,
343 ff.
Impromptu speaking, 385.
Impulse, to gesture, 473.
Individuality of the speaker,
14; destroyed by imitation,
47.
Inflection, 437.
Influencing conduct, see Persuasion.
Influence of the speaker, affected by reputation, 116; by
age, 117; by    rashness of
statement, 305; by humor,
311; moral character, 314;
personality, 315; health, 316;
by attitude toward audience,
317-339.
Imitation of tone, 503.
Inspiration, 90 ff, 398, 422.
Interest, and  attention, 53;
grows with knowledge, 54,
90; derived, 54; and novelty,
56; in the familiar, 58; and
the attention of the audience,
Chapter VI; as speaker's purpose. 111; necessity of interesting  the  audience, 111;
fundamental interests of audience, 113; the human interest, 114; differences in
groups, 115; variation of interests of same group, 115;
as affected by the speaker,
116; of a general audience,
118 ff; derived, to reach the
audience,   120 ff;  novelty,
123; and the familiar, 124;
triteness, 124;  sensational
methods, 128; curiosity, 129;




520


INDEX


suspense  and  anticipation,
130; humor, 131; conflict,
134; activity, 135; concreteness of expression, 135; use
of specific, 137; imagination,
139; illustration, 14111; figures of speech, 148 ff; amplification, 154; variety, 158;
elements   of   composition,
159 ff; to secure postponed
action,  345;  relation  to
speech subjects, 350ff; see
Attention.
Interrogation, and force, 170.
Introdiuction, to make hearers
well disposed, 257; of outline, 404, 417, 419 ff; see Approach.
James, William, 15, 53, 54, 56,
58, 60, 101, 123, 152, 191,
194, 195, 203, 208, 245, 277,
425, 457.
James-Lange theory of Emotions, 101.
Jevons, W. S., 63.
Ketcham, V. A., 132.
Kirby, E. N., 454.
Knowledge and interest, 54.
Language, concrete   and  abstract. 62 ff, 135 ff; effective
phrasing, 170; common people like to hear good, 322;
tact in choice of, 335; inadequate for expression, 468;
gesture the original, 469; see
Figures of Speech.
Lavisse, Ernest, 279.
Lawyers, speaking a help to, 7;
use emotion in argument, 255.
Leadership and public speaking,
14.
Le Bon, G., 232, 240, 243, 274,
382.
Lee, D. C., 453.
Liberal Education, a selection,
463.


Lincoln, Abraham, preparing a
speech on, 62, 81, 82, 84, 117,
152;   Lincoln-Douglas   debates, 301, 307, 325, 328; use
of common ground, 266; tairness of, 270; meeting authority, 301; misrepresented by
Douglas, 307; his humor,
313; respect for his audience,
320; humility of, 325; good
humor of, 328.
Literary facts, sources of, 375.
Literature, as a field for speech
subjects, 351, 356.
Lloyd-George,   D.,   effective
phrases of, 219.
Locative gestures, 486.
Logic,, and persuasion, 247 f;
and emotion, 254.
Lowell, A. Lawrence, 9, 215,
256.
Lowell, James Russell, 310, 381,
382.
McDougall, W., 196, 229, 243.
Manifestive gestures, 490.
Manners on platform, 492-496.
Manuscript, speaking from, 34,
388.
Maps, in exposition, 179.
Marsh, G. P., 309.
Material, needed for imagination, 75; working    of, in
speech preparation, 82; imagination used on speech materials, 140; for illustration,
sources of, 146; considered
from different angles, 153;
finding, for speech, 369 ff; for
selections, 449; see Speech
preparation.
Matthews, Brander, 310, 388.
Mechanical methods, of delivery, 44; useful in gathering
materials, 80, 379; not desirable to secure emphasis, 426,
443.
Memory, speaking from, 34, 387.
Memorizing, 34, 387, 456, 457.




INDEX


521


Mills, Wesley, 501.
Misrepresentation, in  debate,
307.
Mob, 237 fr; control of, 238 if;
sec Suggestion, Crowds.
Modesty, 323.
Monotony, of emotion in delivery, 107; and sustained attention, 152; in repetition, 213;
as a method of suggestion,
236; in delivery, 442.
\ood, of conviction, 349.
Moral character and the speaker's influence, 314.
Motives, 1!)6 ff; ethical use of,
197; high and low, 198f;
fairness, 200; desire for approval and admiration, 201;
rivalry, 202; fear, 202; not
always best to mention, 203;
laid appeal to, 205.
Muchlmore, G. B., 476, 502.
Music, increasing suggestibility,
235.
Naturalness, varied meanings
of, 28 f; study needed for development of, 30, 172.
New idea and echo, 435.
Newcomer, A. G., 197.
Note taking, 80, 82, 379.
Observation and illustrations,
147.
Occasion, relation of speaker to,
116; and appeal to motives,
204; the subject suggested by,
349.
Oral  reading, conversational
elements in, 33; improved by
the study of selections, 446;
see Manuscript.
Orators, born, 110.
Oratory, the term, 4, 6; of the
"college" kind, 17.
Order, of details in illustration,
144; of argument, 270.


Organizations, value of, in persuasion, 210; are conservative, 281.
Origin and history of a question, 266.
Original speeches, best to begin
with, 445; see Originality.
Originality, 380 ff; moral aspects of, 383.
Outline, value of, 395; objections to, 398 ff; analysis in,
402; parts of, 404 ff; clearness, 406; coherence, 164,
407; tests of, 410; the classical form of, 416; suggested
form, 419; use of, 420.
Parallel constructions, an aid
to coherence, 165.
Paraphrasing, statements of an
authority, 298; not original
work, 382.
Partition, in outlines, 418.
Paul, and the ethics of persuasion, 341.
Pause, 439 ff.
Peroration, 406, 418.
Personality, in a crowd, 230,
235, 2-11 an element in power
of speaker, 315 ff.
Persuasion, Chapters VIII, IX;
exposition as a means to,
176;   influencing   conduct
when   active  opposition  is
lacking, 185 ff; definition of
the term, 185, 194; compared
with conviction, 185 ff; belief
and action, 187; the chief
purpose of public speaking,
188; hearers classified with
reference to, 189; foundation
principle of, 191 ff; "what
holds  attention  determines
action," 191; action after deliberation, 193; the theory
of, 194; conventional theory
of, 195; significance of emotion in, 195; bald appeal to
emotion, 203; sense of re



522


INDEX


sponsibility, 205; compelling
people to face the truth, 208;
faith, 210; value of organization, 210; manner of presenting proposal, 211; keeping
proposal  before   attention,
212 if; concrete and specific
expression, 215 f; influence of
imagination, 217; and suggestion, 222 ff; see Suggestion, Persuasion and Belief.
Persuasion and Belief, Chapter
IX; belief and attention, 245;
logical argument in, 248;
emotional element in sound
argument, 250; effect of desire, 251; effect of prejudice,
255; approach to an audience, 257 ff; belligerent attitude, 257; common ground,
260 ff;  explanations,  265;
definition of terms, 267; concessions, 268; the issues, 269;
order of argument, 270; rate
of progress, 273; fixed opinions, principles and   sentiments, 273; identifying beliefs, 276; conservative and
radical tendencies of the audience, 279 ff; forces against
change, 281; overcoming conservatism, 286; persuasive
use of authority, 291; attitude of the speaker, 304 ff;
not trickery, 339; future action, 343 ff; the "mood" of
conviction, 345.
Persuasiveness of the speaker,
effect of personal qualities,
304 ff.
Phelps, Austin, 155, 168, 309,
322.
Phillips, A. E., 111, 114, 197.
Phillips, Wendell, "a gentleman
conversing," 27; an exemplar
of conversational style, 28;
speaking from memory, 35;
his coherence and force, 165;
use of suggestion, 233, 249;


of common ground, 262; use
of understatement, 310.
Phrasing, 425 ff.
Picturing gestures, 488.
Pillsbury, W. B., 54, 118, 192,
246 f.
Pitch, 444; change from natural, 499.
Plan, importance of, 393 ff; how
to make, 394 ff.
Pleasure, a fundamental interest, 114.
Poise, and gesture, 474; exercises for, 476; on the platform, 484.
Political science, a field for
speech subjects, 350, 362.
Positiveness, an element in authoritativeness, 308.
Power, a fundamental interest,
113; a motive, 197.
Practical, the, interest in, 70,
137.
Practical public speaking, 7,
16.
Practical thinking, 70, 137.
Preacher, oral reading of, 33;
age of, and effectiveness, 117;
and   sensational   methods,
128; use of anticipation, 130;
brevity  of  sermons, 157;
vaudeville type of, 158; unity
of sermons, 163; Robert Collier's "naturalness," 172; belief  without  action, 187;
omitting   the  exhortation,
204, 333; bringing home individual responsibility, 206;
finding common ground, 263,
265; indulgence in the exclamatory style, 310; appeal
to duty, 333; Phillips Brooks
on  the preacher's reading,
380:   on   outlining,  399;
Beecher on extemporaneous
preaching, 386; on writing,
390; Lyman Abbott quoted,
390, 391, 392, 393; Dr. Storrs
quoted, 391; writing sermons,




INDEX


523


3900ff; making a plan, 393;
an outline, 399 ff.
Precedent, overcomes conservatism, 288; fallacies of, 290.
Prejudice, appealing to, 197,
255; may be good, 197, 346;
influence on  belief, 255 ff;
disqualifies an authority, 294,
303;   sometimes   needlessly
stirred, 333.
Preparation, of selections for
delivery, 453; of speeches, see
Speech preparation.
Press, supplanting public speaking, 6.
Primary attention, 51.
Property, a fundamental interest, 113; a motive, 197.
Psychological crowd, 231 ff.
Public questions, speech subjects from, 355, 362.
Public speaking, demand for,
3; compared with the power
of the press, 6; a subject for
study, 10 ff; distinguish from
elocution, reading, and "college oratory," 16, 448; what
is to be learned? 18; educational value, 14; a normal
act, 20; and private conversation compared, 20 ff; purposes of, 111; persuasion the
chief purpose of, 188.
Purpose, importance of, 109;
purposes of a speaker, 111;
unity of, in a speech, 149;
persuasion, the chief, 189;
consideration of, in choosing
a subject, 357.
Quintilian, 314.
Quotations, in   exact  words,
298.
Radical audience, 279 ff.
Range of voice. 499. 505.
Rate of delivery, 42, 430, 440.
Rate of progress in argument,
273.


Reading in speech preparation,
81, 376 ff; taking notes in,
80, 82, 379; see Oral reading,
Manuscript.
Reason,  and   emotion,   196.
250 ff; not always the foundation of conviction, 273 fr.
Reform, 282 ff.
Relations of ideas, 80 ff, 164,
402 ff, 407; as affecting delix ery, 434 ff, 455; see Analysis.
Recreation of thought in delivery, 31.
Relaxation,   exercises   for,
477.
Repetition, in persuasion, 212;
set phrases, 212; and suggestion, 224; to overcome conservatism, 287.
Reputation, a fundamental interest, 113; as motive, 197;
and   authority, 292;   and
attacking authority, 301 ff;
and authoritativeness of a
speaker, 224 f, 304 ff; for
sincerity, 335.
Responsibility, sense of, and
conduct, 205: effect of numbers on, 230 f; lost in a mob,
238.
Restatement,  in   persuasion,
212 f; affecting delivery, 436,
455.
435.
Restraint, of emotion, 100; gesture and, 472 f; lack of, in a
crowd, 231.
Righteousness, a fundamental
interest, 113.
Ringwalt, R. S., 117, 417.
Rivalry as a motive, 202.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 115, 219.
293, 295, 334.
Root. Elihu, 114, 200, 281, 295.
390.
Ross.. EA., 74. 223, 220. 241,
243.
Royce, Josiah, 57. 59, 64, 230.
Rules of thumb, 18.




524


INDEX


Scheme for study of a selection,
454.
Schopenhauer, A., 47, 65.
Schurman, J. G., 5.
Scott, W. D., 70, 223, 243.
Secondary attention, 51.
Selecting the subject, 349ff;
see Speech subjects.
Selections, study and delivery
of, 445 ff; kind to be used,
477; how to find, 449; qualities of a good, 451; preparation of, 453; partial analysis
of, "Who is to blame?" 457;
for voice training, 506 ff.
Self-centeredness of the speaker, 109, 114.
Self-confidence, 323 ff.
Self-control, 328.
Self-expression, value of, 15.
Self-respect, and influence of
the speaker, 326.
Sensationalism, 128.
Sense of communication, 31 ff.
Sentimentality  and   emotion,
97.
Sentiments, as interests, 113;
as motives, 197.
Sermons. see Preachers.
Shurter, E. D., 216.
Sidis, B., 228, 230, 235, 243.
Simplicity of style, 163.
Sincerity, and emotion, 97; in
the use of language, 171; in
apologies, 323; in persuasion,
335; in debating, 337.
Slang, 173.
Snowdon, Mrs. Phillip, 307.
Social suggestion, 226 ff.
Social science as a field for
speech subjects, 351; topics
from, 363.
Social welfare as a human interest, 113.
Soliloquizing speaking, 32 ff.
Speaker, his attention, Chapters II, III, IV, XIII; his
emotion, Chapter V; his purposes, 111; relation to audi

ence, occasion  and   theme,
116, 334; his age, 117; his
authority, 225, 304; factors
in influence of, 305 ff; attitude toward audience, 257,
317; personality, 315.
Speaker's chart, 396.
Specific words, 67; and interest, 137; specific and general
applied to illustration, 138;
and concrete in persuasion,
215; see Concreteness, Imagination.
Speech preparation, developing
interest,  77 ff;  stages  of,
79 ff;  preliminary  revisal,
79; reading and conversing,
81; working    the material,
82; imagination in, 83; preparing an abstract subject,
85; expression during, 87;
time needed, 88; finding material, 369 ff; what to read,
376; how to read, 377; taking notes, 378; originality,
380 ff;  extemporaneous   or
written, 385 ff; plan. 393 ff;
speaker's chart. 396; outline,
395 ff; see Lincoln, Speech
subjects, and Outlines.
Speech subjects, should be of
interest,  77;  relation  of
speaker to, 116; should be
narrowed, 92, 152, 157, 161,
358; suggested by the occasion, 349; suggestions for
finding, 349 ff; should have
interest for both speaker and
audience, 350; sources of,
350 ff; and purposes of the
speaker, 357; mood of the occasion considered. 358; time
element in treatment of, 358;
adapted to oral presentation,
359; suggested topics, 359 if;
see Lincoln.
Spencer, Hlerbert, 67, 145.
Staleness, in delivery, 94.
Stories, not the only means of




INDEX


525


humor, 133; a means of finding common ground, 261.
Storrs, R. S., 391.
Strunsky, Simeon, 130, 158.
Stump speakers, sincerity of,
337; voice inflection of, 439.
Subjects, see Speech subjects.
Subordination, necessary  for
unity, 161 f; and correlation
in the outline, 408; in delivery, 434.
Suggestion, meaning of, 222;
methods of, 224; and authority, 224; repetition, 224; the
impulse to imitate, 225; social, 226; and immediate action, 227; direct and indirect, 228; contra-suggestion,
229; increasing suggestibility, 230; effect of numbers,
230; the psychological crowd,
231; forming a crowd, 233 ff;
stampeding political conventions, 234, 236; mobs, 237 ff;
ethics of, 241.
Suggestive gestures. 490.
Summarizing, in preparing for
delivery, 441.
Suspense and attention, 130.
Sustained attention, 59, 152; in
persuasion, 212 ff.
Sympathy, factor in court decisions, 252 f; and inlluence
of the speaker, 328; in tact,
329.
Tact, in exposition, 184; in use
of motives, 204; in disarming opposition to argument,
257 f; a combination of various qualities, 329; convicting
the audience of ignorance.. 330; admissions helpful, 331;
needless raising of prejudice,
333; and the appeal to duty,
333; relation of speaker to
audience, 334; care in use of
language, 335; and honesty,
339


Taft, William H., 200, 295.
Talmage, DeWitt. 292.
Taylor, W. W., 133.
Tests, of authority, 292 ff; of
an outline, 410.
Thanatopsis, illustrating  forward-looking thought, 438.
Theory, and practice in public
speaking, 9.
Thinking   and  delivery,  17,
Chapters II, III, IV, XIII,
442; on   one's feet, 31 ff;
checked by mechanical methods, 46, 427; imitation relieves from, 47; theoretical
versus practical, 69; in preparation, Chapter IV; balance
of thought and feeling, 105;
making the audience think,
127; average man interested
only in the practical, 137:
and sincerity of expression.
172; while reading, 377; and
memory, 457.
Thorndike. E. L., 54, 194, 196.
Time, in preparation, 88; and
emotion, 105.
Titchener, E. B., 50, 51, 151,
192.
Topics, 503 ff; see Speech subjects.
Triteness,  124;  in  student
speakers, 125.
Twain, Mark, 311, 322.
Uncertainty and attention. 130.
Understatement, strength   of.
309.
Unity, in variety, 158 ff: kinds
of unity, 159; of the Gettysburg Address, 160; warnings,
161; and coherence, 164; relation to emphasis, 167; of
delivery, 441.
Van Dyke, Henry, 171.
Variety, of imagery, 151: unity
in. 158; of delivery, 442.
Verbosity, 154.




526


INDEX


Vividness of thinking, 50, 62 ff;
in preparation, 83; see Imagination.
Voice, communicative quality
of, 38;   qualities  desired,
498 ff.
Voice training, place of, 44;
general   reference,  497 ff;
qualities to  be   developed,
498; references for, 501; exercises for, 502 ff; selections
for, 506.
Vowels, exercises for, 504.
Waite, H. M., 8.
Ward, J. C., 78, 87.
Washington, Booker T., 276,
333.
Washington, George, 301.
Webster, Daniel, a conversational public speaker, 25; on
extemporaneous acquisition,
90; his illustrations, 148;
emotional appeal before the
Supreme Court, 253; disposing of prejudice, 255; finding common ground, 264; defying authority, 301; prac

tice of understatement, 309;
not devoid of humor, 313;
reputation and influence of,
315; personality, 316; and
memorizing, 389.
Wendell, Barrett, 148, 165, 182,
262, 305.
Whately, Richard, 185.
White, Andrew D., 5, 14, 234,
416, 497.
Whitefield, George, 36, 218.
Who is to Blame? a selection,
462; study of, 457.
Wiley, Dr. H., 209.
Will, in the theory of persuasion, 185, 195.
Willcox, W. F., 293.
Will power in delivery, 39.
Wilson, Woodrow, 88, 207, 254,
295.
Wish to believe, 251, 272.
Writing, in preparing a speech,
87; extemporaneous speaker
should practise. 390.
Written speech, 34, 387: and
the outline, 421; see Manuscript.


CT      921