The author of this manual has at various intervals prepared several
treatises relating to the art of speech. Their wide circulation is an
indication of the demand for works upon this subject. They were intended
to embrace the principles which govern speech-making in the forum, in the
pulpit, or at the bar. While these do not differ essentially from the
principles applicable to occasions where the object is only entertainment,
yet there are certain well-defined differences which it is the purpose of
this little volume to point out. We hope thus to render the same service to
a person who is called upon to offer or respond to a toast in a convivial
assembly, as the author's previous volumes rendered to those preparing to
speak upon subjects of a serious and practical nature.
That help is needed, and may be afforded, no one will deny. A novice called
upon to participate in the exercises of a public banquet, an anniversary,
or other entertainment, unless he has an experienced friend to give him a
few hints or advice, is apt to be dismayed. He does not even know how to
make a start in the work of preparation, and his sense of inability and
fear of blundering go far to confuse and paralyze whatever native faculty
he may have. A book like this comes to him at such a time as reinforcements
to a sorely pressed army in the very crisis of a battle. As he reads, some
ideas which seem practical, flash upon him. He learns what others before
him have done. If he is to offer a toast, he examines the list furnished
in this volume, finding one perhaps that pleases him, or one is suggested
which is better adapted to his purpose than any in the book, and he wonders
at the stupidity of the author in omitting it. Soon he becomes quite
interested in this suggested toast, and compares it with those in the list
to find out wherein it differs. Thus gradually and unconsciously he has
prepared himself for the part he is to perform.
Or if invited to respond to a toast, he passes through a similar
experience. He may find the outline of a speech on that very topic; he
either uses it as it is printed or makes an effort to improve it by
abridgment or enlargement. Next he looks through the treasury of anecdotes,
selects one, or calls to mind one he has read elsewhere which he considers
better. He then studies both of them in their bearings on the subject
upon which he is to speak, and longs for the hour to arrive, when he will
surprise and delight his friends by his performance. He rises to speak
conscious that he knows a great deal, not only about the toast assigned to
him, but about other toasts as well--feels that he has something to say
which, at least, will fill in the time, and save him from confusion and
discredit. He even hopes to win applause by means of the stories and happy
turns with which his speech is interspersed.
He has thus satisfactorily taken the first step toward becoming a ready and
entertaining after-dinner speaker. The sense of knowing how to do what is
expected of him has a wonderfully quieting effect upon his nerves; and thus
the study of this book will greatly add to the confidence of a speaker, and
the effectiveness of his delivery. Whatever graces of manner he possesses
will become available, instead of being subverted by an overmastering fear.
It is not easy to mention all the uses of such a manual. One who has been
accustomed to speaking, but fears he is getting into a rut, can turn to
this text-book and find something which is _not_ so distressingly his
own, that his friends expect him to parade it before them on all occasions.
He may glance over the outline of a speech altogether new and strange to
him, and endeavor to adapt it to his own use; or he may weave together
fragments of several speeches, or take the framework of one and construct
upon it a speech which will enable him to make a new departure. A writer
sometimes, after years of practice, finds it difficult to begin the
composition of some simple reception or commemorative address; but the
reading of a meagre outline, not one word or idea of which may be directly
used, serves to break the spell of intellectual sloth or inertia, and
starts him upon his work briskly and hopefully.
The field covered by the present volume is not entirely unoccupied. One of
the earliest publications in this line is an anonymous English work, very
dignified and conservative. The speeches it furnishes are painstaking, but
a trifle heavy, and savor so much of English modes of expression, as well
as thought and customs, as to be poorly adapted to this country. Two works
have appeared in this country, also, one being intended apparently for
wine parties only; the other, while containing a number of gem-like little
speeches, fails to give the aid which is sought by the ordinary tyro, and
is calculated rather to discourage him; giving him the impression that it
is more difficult to become an acceptable after-dinner speaker than he had
ever supposed. While a few of the best things in the latter volume are
availed of, a different method is pursued in the present work. Outlines
of speeches are preferred to those which are fully elaborated; and the
few plain rules, by which a thing so informal and easy as an after-dinner
speech may be produced, are so illustrated as to make their application
almost a matter of course. Good-humor and brevity, an outline and a
story--what more is needed, unless it be that serene self-confidence which
enables a speaker to say even foolish and absurd things, with the assurance
that all goes down at a public dinner? What if you are not the most
brilliant, humorous, and stirring speaker of the evening? Aim to fill your
place without discredit; observe closely those who make a great success;
the next time you may have a better outline or more telling story, and
become, before you know it, the leader of the evening.
It is not intended to give rules or directions for the order either
of drinking or feasting. That field is fully occupied. But the custom
of making addresses at the close of a feast has, been so thoroughly
established, and so frequent are these occasions, that a gentleman is not
fully equipped for a place in society, if he cannot gracefully offer or
respond to a toast, or preside at a gathering where toasts or other forms
of after-dinner speaking are expected. It is the aim of this manual to help
the beginner in this field.