HOW TO BECOME A
PUBLIC
SPEAKER
[Illustration]
SHOWING THE BEST MANNER OF ARRANGING THOUGHT SO AS TO GAIN CONCISENESS,
EASE, AND FLUENCY IN SPEECH
BY
WILLIAM PITTENGER
PHILADELPHIA
THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY
1903
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ELOCUTION AND ORATORY,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
I. Can the Art of Speech be Learned? 5
II. The Four Methods of Public Speech, 11
III. An Embryo Speech, with Models, 24
IV. Initial Fear and How to Overcome it, 40
V. Utility of Debating Societies, 45
VI. Thought and Emotion, 51
VII. Language, 65
VIII. Imagination, 73
IX. Voice and Gesture, 78
X. Confidence, 89
XI. The Pen and the Tongue, 99
XII. Subject and Object, 102
XIII. Thought-Gathering, 113
XIV. Constructing a Plan, 120
XV. How shall the Written Plan be Used? 124
XVI. The First Moment of Speech, 134
XVII. The Introduction, 143
XVIII. Progress of the Speech, 154
XIX. After the Speech, 164
CHAPTER I.
CAN THE ART OF SPEECH BE LEARNED?
There is a widespread opinion that all study of the mode of oratory is
unmanly, and leads to the substitution of artifice and adornment for
simplicity and power. “Let a man have something important to say,” it is
argued, “and he need not waste his time in trying to find how to say
it.” So general is this sentiment, that a ministerial acquaintance of
the writer’s was recently very careful to conceal from his congregation
the fact that he was taking a series of lessons in elocution, lest his
influence should be diminished.
We may admit that the popular prejudice against the study of eloquence
is not without a mixture of reason. It is possible to foster a spurious
kind of oratory, which shall be far inferior to the rudest genuine
speech. But, on the other hand, it is safe to maintain that every
rational power man possesses can be strengthened by judicious
cultivation, without in the least impairing its quality. There is no
trick in true oratory—no secret magic by which a weak-minded man can
become the leader of others stronger and wiser than himself. The great
prizes of eloquence cannot be placed in the hands of the ignorant or
slothful. But so surely as a raw apprentice can be transformed into a
skillful workman, any person possessed of ordinary faculties, who will
pay the price in labor, can be made master of the art of ready and
forcible public utterance.
The methods of oratorical cultivation presented in this volume are not
based upon mere theory. They have been tested in hundreds of instances,
and their results are beyond question. A carpenter will assert with
perfect assurance, “I guarantee to take an ordinary young man, who will
place himself in my hands for a reasonable time, and turn him out a
thorough mechanic, master of every part of his trade.” The effects of
training are as marvelous and as certain in the fields of eloquence.
But this training must necessarily combine practice with theory. To
study about great orators and observe their works is not sufficient.
Here again, we may take a lesson from the mode in which an apprentice is
trained. The master architect does not take his young men to gaze upon
finished buildings, and expect them, from mere admiration and
architectural fervor, to construct similar works. He would soon find
that not one in a hundred had the “mechanical genius” for such an easy
triumph. But he takes them into the shop, where work is in progress,
places before them some simple task, and from that leads them on, step
by step, to more difficult achievements. They learn how to make the
separate parts of a house, and afterward how to fit those parts into a
complete work. Under this rational mode of instruction the great
majority master the whole business placed before them, and the failures
are rare exceptions. If similar success does not attend oratorical
students, the explanation must be sought, not in the nature of oratory,
but in wrong methods of training. Merely reading Cicero and Demosthenes,
even in their original tongues, declaiming choice selections, or
listening to great orators, will not make any one eloquent, unless
indeed he possesses that rare natural genius which rises above all rules
and sweeps away every obstacle.
But it must be remembered that there are many degrees of eloquence. The
popular conception is somewhat unjust in refusing recognition to those
who possess this power in only a fair degree. It is not possible by any
mode of training to produce many orators of the very highest type. Such
will ever be rare for the same reason that there are but few great
poets, generals, or statesmen. But proper education in the art of speech
should enable a man to give full, free, and adequate expression to
whatever thoughts and feelings he may possess. It may go further, and
make him more fruitful in thought, and more intense in feeling, than he
could have been in the absence of such education, and he may thus become
fairly entitled to the rewards of eloquence without, however, reaching
the level of the few great world-orators. The distinction between a good
degree of practical, working eloquence, which may be successfully taught
to the mass of students, and the very highest development of the same
faculty, should always be kept in mind. Even the mightiest genius may be
regulated, strengthened, and directed by culture; while moderate talents
may, by similar culture, reach a very serviceable degree of efficiency
and power.
While these considerations appear almost self-evident, they are not
unnecessary. On listening to a true orator—one who, without hesitation,
pours forth a stream of well-chosen words, and develops a difficult
subject in a clear and masterly manner—we are apt to receive an
impression like that made by the operation of a law of nature, or an
unerring animal instinct. Does the orator acquire eloquence as the bee
learns to construct honey-cells? There is, no doubt, a foundation for
eloquence in natural ability, but the analogy is far more close with the
human builder, who sees mentally the image of the house he wishes to
construct, fits the various timbers and other materials into their
places, and works intelligently until his conception is realized. To
Jack Cade and his fellows the mysteries of reading and writing “came by
nature;” but experience has shown that this much of nature can be
developed in the great majority of American children. In the moderate
and reasonable meaning of the term, eloquence can be made almost as
general as the elements of a common-school education. The child that
masters the art of reading, really makes a greater conquest over
difficulties, than the average well-educated youth needs to add to the
stores he already possesses, in order to attain a good degree of
oratorical power. There are, indeed, a few indispensable requisites
which will be understood by every person; but the want of these debars a
small minority only, and their absence is easily recognized. For all
others the path of success lies open. Patient practice in the use of the
pen as a servant but not as a master, the study of good models, and the
laborious mastery in detail of the separate elements of oratory, will
not fail of abundant fruit.
There are two classes of works with which this treatise should not be
confounded. It aims to occupy an almost vacant place between manuals of
elocution on the one hand, and works of technical instruction in the
various oratorical professions, on the other. Both of these classes of
books are very useful, and teach indirectly many of the elements of true
eloquence. Elocution deals with voice and gesture, which are prime
elements in oratory; and although it is popularly supposed to be
applicable only to reading and recitation, it is equally serviceable in
off-hand speech. Works of the second class give rules for preaching,
debating, pleading at the bar, teaching, and all other professions which
involve public speech. They show how various kinds of discourses may be
constructed, but have few practical directions about the mode of
delivery, or that grand and noble work—the development of the oratorical
power itself.
This book is written from the standpoint of the student who wishes to
wield the golden sceptre of eloquence and is willing to put forth all
reasonable efforts to that end. It will aim to guide him into the right
path; show him what helps are available, and what discipline is
necessary; encourage him in overcoming difficulties, and stimulate him
to seek the very highest excellence within the compass of his faculties.