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

of

      the day but change that marble from one point to another and back again,

      and you will go insane if you continue long enough.

      So this thing that shortens life, and is used as the most cruel of

      punishments in our prisons, is the thing that will destroy all the life

      and force of a speech. Avoid it as you would shun a deadly dull bore.

      The "idle rich" can have half-a-dozen homes, command all the varieties

      of foods gathered from the four corners of the earth, and sail for

      Africa or Alaska at their pleasure; but the poverty-stricken man must

      walk or take a street car--he does not have the choice of yacht, auto,

      or special train. He must spend the most of his life in labor and be

      content with the staples of the food-market. Monotony is poverty,

      whether in speech or in life. Strive to increase the variety of your

      speech as the business man labors to augment his wealth.

      Bird-songs, forest glens, and mountains are not monotonous--it is the

      long rows of brown-stone fronts and the miles of paved streets that are

      so terribly same. Nature in her wealth gives us endless variety; man

      with his limitations is often monotonous. Get back to nature in your

      methods of speech-making.

      The power of variety lies in its pleasure-giving quality. The great

      truths of the world have often been couched in fascinating stories--"Les

      Miserables," for instance. If you wish to teach or influence men, you

      must please them, first or last. Strike the same note on the piano over

      and over again. This will give you some idea of the displeasing, jarring

      effect monotony has on the ear. The dictionary defines "monotonous" as

      being synonymous with "wearisome." That is putting it mildly. It is

      maddening. The department-store prince does not disgust the public by

      playing only the one tune, "Come Buy My Wares!" He gives recitals on a

      $125,000 organ, and the pleased people naturally slip into a buying

      mood.

       _How to Conquer Monotony_

      We obviate monotony in dress by replenishing our wardrobes. We avoid

      monotony in speech by multiplying our powers of speech. We multiply our

      powers of speech by increasing our tools.

      The carpenter has special implements with which to construct the several

      parts of a building. The organist has certain keys and stops which he

      manipulates to produce his harmonies and effects. In like manner the

      speaker has certain instruments and tools at his command by which he

      builds his argument, plays on the feelings, and guides the beliefs of

      his audience. To give you a conception of these instruments, and

      practical help in learning to use them, are the purposes of the

      immediately following chapters.

      Why did not the Children of Israel whirl through the desert in

      limousines, and why did not Noah have moving-picture entertainments and

      talking machines on the Ark? The laws that enable us to operate an

      automobile, produce moving-pictures, or music on the Victrola, would

      have worked just as well then as they do today. It was ignorance of law

      that for ages deprived humanity of our modern conveniences. Many

      speakers still use ox-cart methods in their speech instead of employing

      automobile or overland-express methods. They are ignorant of laws that

      make for efficiency in speaking. Just to the extent that you regard and

      use the laws that we are about to examine and learn how to use will you

      have efficiency and force in your speaking; and just to the extent that

      you disregard them will your speaking be feeble and ineffective. We

      cannot impress too thoroughly upon you the necessity for a real working

      mastery of these principles. They are the very foundations of successful

      speaking. "Get your principles right," said Napoleon, "and the rest is a

      matter of detail."

      It is useless to shoe a dead horse, and all the sound principles in

      Christendom will never make a live speech out of a dead one. So let it

      be understood that public speaking is not a matter of mastering a few

      dead rules; the most important law of public speech is the necessity for

      truth, force, feeling, and life. Forget all else, but not this.

      When you have mastered the mechanics of speech outlined in the next few

      chapters you will no longer be troubled with monotony. The complete

      knowledge of these principles and the ability to apply them will give

      you great variety in your powers of expression. But they cannot be

      mastered and applied by thinking or reading about them--you must

      practise, _practise_, _PRACTISE_. If no one else will listen to you,

      listen to yourself--you must always be your own best critic, and the

      severest one of all.

      The technical principles that we lay down in the following chapters are

      not arbitrary creations of our own. They are all founded on the

      practices that good speakers and actors adopt--either naturally and

      unconsciously or under instruction--in getting their effects.

      It is useless to warn the student that he must be natural. To be natural

      may be to be monotonous. The little strawberry up in the arctics with a

      few tiny seeds and an acid tang is a natural berry, but it is not to be

      compared with the improved variety that we enjoy here. The dwarfed oak

      on the rocky hillside is natural, but a poor thing compared with the

      beautiful tree found in the rich, moist bottom lands. Be natural--but

      improve your natural gifts until you have approached the ideal, for we

      must strive after idealized nature, in fruit, tree, and speech.

      QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES.

      1. What are the causes of monotony?

      2. Cite some instances in nature.

      3. Cite instances in man's daily life.

      4. Describe some of the effects of monotony in both cases.

      5. Read aloud some speech without paying particular attention to its

      meaning