HOW SHALL THE WRITTEN PLAN BE USED?
Now that the plan is completed and fully written out, the next question
arises as to what shall be done with it. It may either be used or
abused. To read it to the audience or exhibit it to them would be an
obvious abuse. Possibly if the speaker possessed a large blackboard, the
latter course might, in special cases, have some advantages. But even
then it is better that the students should, in most instances, exercise
their own ingenuity in gathering out of the body of the speech the
central thoughts which they wish to preserve in their notebooks, than
that the work should be done for them in advance by having the whole
plan of the lecture placed in their sight.
The writer has experimented on this subject by repeating the same
lecture to different classes with the outline in some cases exposed to
view, and in the others concealed: the interest has always seemed to be
greater, and the understanding more complete in the latter case. If this
is true where instruction is the only aim, it is still more necessary
where persuasion is the object of the speaker. The exposing in advance
of the means by which he intends to work, will put on their guard the
very persons whose hearts he wishes to capture, and thus lose him all
that advantage of surprise which is often as momentous in oratorical as
in military affairs.
There are two other ways of using the plan to be considered. One is to
keep it in the speaker’s sight, so that he may step along from one item
to another, thus keeping a foundation of written words in the midst of
the uncertainty of his extemporaneous efforts, like that afforded by
stepping-stones to a man crossing a running stream. There are some
advantages in such use. The speaker will feel freer in making those
pauses which are sometimes necessary for the sake of emphasis. He is
better able to collect his scattered ideas in case any untoward
circumstance should break the thread of his discourse. If he is confused
for a moment, he may look down to his paper and recover himself, while
if thoughts and words flow easily he can ignore the plan which lies
before him.
But all the reasons for thus using the plan are the most emphatic
condemnation of the practice. They are all make-shifts. They are based
upon the thought that the great object is to secure the speaker from
danger and confusion; in other words, they put him on the defensive,
instead of the aggressive. Were the question to be stated, “How can a
man best preserve the form of extemporaneous speech while shielding
himself from the most dangerous incidents of that mode of address?” it
might plausibly be replied, “By making a very full plan and concealing
it at some point within the reach of his eyes, and using it whenever
that course becomes easiest.”
But we have not sought to point out the mode of speech which will best
protect the speaker from risks incident to his work. For real
effectiveness, compromises are usually hurtful, and this expedient forms
no exception.
To have a plan in sight tends powerfully to break up the speech into
fragments and destroy its unity. A series of short addresses on related
points, affords no substitute for a concentrated discourse. The speaker
who publicly uses his sketch, speaks on until he reaches a point at
which he does not know what is to come next, and on the brink of that
gulf, looks down at his notes, and, perhaps after a search, finds what
he wants. Had the thought existed in his mind, it would have blended the
close of the preceding sentences into harmony with it. Direct address to
the people, which they so much value in a speaker, is interfered with in
the same way, for his eye must rest for a portion of the time upon his
notes. He will also be apt to mention the divisions of his speech as
they occur, because the eye is resting upon them at the same time the
tongue is engaged, and it is hard to keep the two members from working
in harmony.
If notes must be used the same advice applies that we have already
offered to those who read in full. Be honest about it; do not try to
hide the notes. Any attempt to prove to an audience that we are doing
what we are not doing, has in it an element of deception, and is morally
objectionable. The use of notes is not wrong, but to use them while
pretending not to use them is wrong.
Some speakers carry their notes in their pockets for the sake of being
able to take them out in case they find their memory failing, and thus
they guard against the misfortune which once befell the eloquent Abbe
Bautain, who, on ascending the pulpit to preach before the French King
and Court, found that he had forgotten subject, plan, and text. This
method is honest and unobjectionable, for the notes of the plan are
either not used by the speaker at all, or if he takes them from his
pocket, the people will understand the action.
The only remaining method, and that which we would urge upon every
extempore speaker, is to commit the plan, as sketched, to memory. It is
put in the best possible shape for the expression of the subject by the
labor which has been previously bestowed upon it, and now such review as
will give the mind a perfect recollection of the whole subject in its
orderly unfolding is just what is needed for final mastery. Previously
much of the work of preparation was given to detached fragments. Now the
subject as a whole is spread out. The time given to a thorough
memorizing of the plan need not be great; it will indeed be but small if
the plan itself is so well arranged that every preceding part suggests
what follows; but it will be the most fruitful of all the time spent in
preparation. It puts you in the best condition for speaking. The object
is then fixed in the heart and will fire it to earnestness and zeal,
while the subject is spread, like a map, before the mental vision. All
the power you possess can then be brought to bear directly upon the
people. Do not fear that in the hurry of discourse you will forget some
part of what is clear when you begin. If you are in good mental and
physical condition, the act of speech will be exhilarating and
stimulating, so that every fine line of preparation will come into
clearness just at the right time, and many a relation unperceived
before, many a forgotten fact, will spring up in complete and vivid
perception. There is a wonderful luxury of feeling in such speech.
Sailing with a swift wind, riding a race-horse, even the joy of
victorious battle—indeed, all enjoyments that arise from the highest
powers called forth into successful exercise—are inferior to the thrill
and intoxication of the highest form of successful extemporaneous
speech. To think of using notes then would seem like a contemptible
impertinence! Imagine Xavier or Luther with their notes spread out
before them, looking up the different items from which to address the
multitudes spell-bound before them! The Presbyterian Deacon who once
prayed in the presence of his note-using Pastor, “O Lord! teach Thy
servants to speak from the heart to the heart, and not from a little
piece of paper, as the manner of some is,” was not so very far wrong!
It is advisable to commit the plan to memory a considerable time before
speaking. It then takes more complete possession of the mind and there
is less liability of forgetting some portion. This is less important
when the subject is perfectly familiar, for then “out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh,” but those subjects which have been
recently studied for the first time are in a different position; and
some meditation upon that which has just been arranged in its best form
will be very serviceable. Even if the salient points are firmly grasped,
some of the minor parts may require further close consideration. No
study is ever so profitable as that which is bestowed after the plan is
complete, for up to that time there is danger that some of the thoughts
to which our attention is given may be ultimately rejected and others
radically modified. But when the plan is finished each idea has settled
into its place. If obscurity rests anywhere, it may be detected at once,
and the strength of the mind be brought to bear for its banishment.
Impressions derived from meditation are then easily retained until the
hour of speech, because associated with their proper place in the
prepared outline. Such deep meditation on each division of the discourse
can scarcely fail to make it original in the true sense of the term, and
weave all its parts together with strong and massive thoughts.
After the plan has been memorized we can meditate upon it not only at
the desk, but anywhere. As we walk about or lie in bed, or at any other
time find our minds free from distractions, we can ponder the ideas that
cluster around our subject until they grow perfectly familiar. Even when
we are reading or thinking on other topics, brilliant thoughts will not
unfrequently spring up, or those we possessed before take stronger and
more definite outlines. All such gains can be held in memory without the
use of the pen, because the plan furnishes a suitable place for them.
The course here described we would urge strongly upon the consideration
of the young speaker. If carefully followed, its results will be
invaluable. Arrange the plan from which you are to speak as clearly as
may be in the form of a brief sketch; turn it over and over again;
ponder each idea and the manner of bringing it out; study the connection
between all the parts until the whole from beginning to end appears
perfectly plain and simple. So frequently has this mode of preparation
been tested that its effectiveness is no longer a matter of experiment.
It is advantageous to grasp the whole subject, as early as possible, in
a single idea—in the same manner in which the future tree is compressed
within the germ from which it is to spring. Then this one thought will
suggest the entire discourse to the speaker, and at its conclusion will
be left clear and positive in the hearer’s mind. For some acute auditors
this may be less necessary. They are able to outrun a loose speaker,
arrange his scattered fragments, supply his omissions, and arrive at the
idea which has not yet formed itself clearly in his own mind. Such
persons often honestly commend orators who are incomprehensible to the
majority of their hearers. But the opinions of such auditors are an
unsafe guide, for they form a very small minority of any assembly.
There is one further step which may sometimes precede the moment of
speech with profit—the placing upon paper of a brief but connected
sketch or statement of the whole discourse. If this is made in the
ordinary writing there is danger that its slowness will make it more of
a word-study than what it is intended to be—a test of ideas. A thorough
mastery of shorthand, or the service of some one who has such mastery,
will supply this defect. If the plan is well arranged there will be no
pause in the most rapid composition, and if the whole discourse can at
one effort be thrown into a dress of words there may be full assurance
that the same thing can be accomplished still more easily and
effectively when the additional stimulus of an audience is supplied.
There should be no attempt, in the moment of speaking, to recall the
very words used in writing, but the command of language will undoubtedly
be greatly improved by having so recently used many of the terms that
will be again required. Frequently there will be fine passages in the
speech which you have thus struck off at white heat that you may be
unwilling to forget, but it is better to make no effort to remember
them, for you are almost sure to rise still higher in the moment of
public delivery.
When this rapid writing is not available, a partial substitute for it
may be found in writing in the ordinary hand a brief sketch or compact
model of the whole discourse. You will be surprised to notice how short
a compass will suffice for a discourse requiring an hour or more in
delivery, without the omission of a single material thought. Such a
sketch differs from the plan in clearly expressing all the ideas that
underlie the coming speech, while the latter would be nearly
unintelligible to any but its author. The one is only a few marks thrown
out in the field of thought by which an intended pathway is indicated;
the other is a very brief view of the thoughts themselves, without
adornment or verbiage. Some speakers who might feel insecure in trusting
the notes and hints of the plan would feel perfectly safe in enlarging
upon a statement of their thoughts so brief that the whole sketch of the
speech would not require more than three or four minutes to read. But
this whole plan of writing, either in full or in brief, is only an
expedient, and need not be adopted by those who have full confidence in
their trained and cultivated powers.
After you have prepared your plan it is well to preserve it for future
use, which may be done by copying it into a book kept for that purpose:
or, what is more convenient in practice, folding the slip of paper on
which it is written into an envelope of suitable size with the subject
written on the back. These may be classified and preserved, even in very
large numbers, so as to be easily consulted. From time to time, as your
ability grows, they may be improved upon so as to remain the complete
expression of your ability on every theme treated. On the back of the
envelope may also be written references to any source of additional
information on the same subject, and printed or written scraps, valuable
as illustrations, or for additional information, may be slipped inside.