THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING. J. BERG ESENWEIN DALE CARNAGEY

anon like snow upon the desert's dusty

      face--lighting a little hour or two--is gone.

      The bird of time has but a little way to flutter,--and the bird

      is on the wing.

      You will note that the punctuation marks have nothing to do with the

      pausing. You may run by a period very quickly and make a long pause

      where there is no kind of punctuation. Thought is greater than

      punctuation. It must guide you in your pauses.

      A book of verses underneath the bough,--a jug of wine, a loaf of

      bread--and thou beside me singing in the

      wilderness--Oh--wilderness were paradise enow.

      You must not confuse the pause for emphasis with the natural pauses that

      come through taking breath and phrasing. For example, note the pauses

      indicated in this selection from Byron:

      But _hush!_--_hark!_--that deep sound breaks in once more,

      And _nearer!_--_clearer!_--_deadlier_ than before.

      _Arm_, ARM!--it is--it is the cannon's opening roar!

      It is not necessary to dwell at length upon these obvious distinctions.

      You will observe that in natural conversation our words are gathered

      into clusters or phrases, and we often pause to take breath between

      them. So in public speech, breathe naturally and do not talk until you

      must gasp for breath; nor until the audience is equally winded.

      A serious word of caution must here be uttered: do not overwork the

      pause. To do so will make your speech heavy and stilted. And do not

      think that pause can transmute commonplace thoughts into great and

      dignified utterance. A grand manner combined with insignificant ideas is

      like harnessing a Hambletonian with an ass. You remember the farcical

      old school declamation, "A Midnight Murder," that proceeded in grandiose

      manner to a thrilling climax, and ended--"and relentlessly murdered--a

      mosquito!"

      The pause, dramatically handled, always drew a laugh from the tolerant

      hearers. This is all very well in farce, but such anti-climax becomes

      painful when the speaker falls from the sublime to the ridiculous quite

      unintentionally. The pause, to be effective in some other manner than in

      that of the boomerang, must precede or follow a thought that is really

      worth while, or at least an idea whose bearing upon the rest of the

      speech is important.

      William Pittenger relates in his volume, "Extempore Speech," an instance

      of the unconsciously farcical use of the pause by a really great

      American statesman and orator. "He had visited Niagara Falls and was to

      make an oration at Buffalo the same day, but, unfortunately, he sat too

      long over the wine after dinner. When he arose to speak, the oratorical

      instinct struggled with difficulties, as he declared, 'Gentlemen, I have

      been to look upon your mag--mag--magnificent cataract, one hundred--and

      forty--seven--feet high! Gentlemen, Greece and Rome in their palmiest

      days never had a cataract one hundred--and forty--seven--feet high!'"

      QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

      1. Name four methods for destroying monotony and gaining power in

      speaking.

      2. What are the four special effects of pause?

      3. Note the pauses in a conversation, play, or speech. Were they the

      best that could have been used? Illustrate.

      4. Read aloud selections on pages 50-54, paying special attention to

      pause.

      5. Read the following without making any pauses. Reread correctly and

      note the difference:

      Soon the night will pass; and when, of the Sentinel on the

      ramparts of Liberty the anxious ask: | "Watchman, what of the

      night?" his answer will be | "Lo, the morn appeareth."

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

      the burdens | we must carry, | the assaults | we must endure, |

      knowing full well the cost, | yet we enlist, and we enlist | for

      the war. | For we know the justice of our cause, | and we know,

      too, its certain triumph. |

      Not reluctantly, then, | but eagerly, | not with faint hearts, |

      but strong, do we now advance upon the enemies of the people. |

      For the call that comes to us is the call that came to our

      fathers. | As they responded, so shall we.

      "He hath sounded forth a trumpet | that shall never call retreat,

      He is sifting out the hearts of men | before His judgment seat.

      Oh, be swift | our souls to answer Him, | be jubilant our feet,

      Our God | is marching on."

      --ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE, _From his speech as temporary chairman of

      Progressive National Convention, Chicago, 1912_.

      6. Bring out the contrasting ideas in the following by using the pause:

      Contrast now the circumstances of your life and mine, gently and

      with temper, Æschines; and then ask these people whose fortune

      they would each of them prefer. You taught reading, I went to

      school: you performed initiations, I received them: you danced

      in the chorus, I furnished it: you were assembly-clerk, I was a

      speaker: you acted third parts, I heard you: you broke down, and

      I hissed: you have worked as a statesman for the enemy, I for my

      country. I pass by the rest; but this very day I am on my

      probation for a crown, and am acknowledged to be innocent of all

      offence; while you are already judged to be a pettifogger, and

      the question is, whether you shall continue that trade, or at

      once be silenced by not getting a fifth part of the votes. A

      happy fortune, do you see, you have enjoyed, that you should

      denounce mine as miserable!

      --DEMOSTHENES.

      7. After careful study and practice, mark the pauses in the following:

      The past rises before me like a dream. Again we are in the

      great struggle for national life. We hear the