Acquiring Confidence Before An Audience

A FOREWORD
 The efficiency of a book is like that of a man,
 in one important respect: its attitude toward its subject is the
 first source of its power.
 A book may be full of good ideas well
 expressed, but if its writer views his subject
 from the wrong angle even his
 excellent advice may prove to be ineffective.
 This book stands or falls by its authors' attitude toward
 its subject. If the best way to teach oneself or others to
 speak effectively in public is to fill the mind with
 rules, and to set up fixed standards for the interpretation of
 thought, the utterance of language,
 the making of gestures,
 and all the rest, then this book will be limited in
 value to such stray ideas throughout its pages as may
 prove helpful to the reader−−as an effort to enforce a
 group of principles it must be
 reckoned a failure, because it is then untrue.
 It is of some importance, therefore,
 to those who take up this volume with open mind that they should see
 clearly at the out−start what is the thought that at once
 underlies and is builded through this structure. In plain
 words it is this:
 Training in public speaking is not a matter
 of externals−−primarily; it is not a matter of
 imitation−−fundamentally;
 it is not a matter of conformity to
 standards−−at all. Public speaking is public
 utterance, public issuance, of the man himself;
 therefore the first thing both in time and in importance is that
 the man should be and think and feel things that are
 worthy of being given forth. Unless there be something of
 value within, no tricks of training can ever make of
 the talker anything more than a machine−−albeit a highly
 perfected machine−−for the delivery of other men's
 goods. So self−development is fundamental in our plan.
 The second principle lies close to the first:
 The man must enthrone his will to rule over his thought, his
 feelings, and all his physical powers,
 so that the outer self may give perfect, unhampered expression to the
 inner. It is futile, we assert,
 to lay down systems of rules for voice
 culture, intonation, gesture, and what not,
 unless these two principles of having something to
 say and making the will sovereign have at least begun to
 make themselves felt in the life.
 The third principle will, we surmise,
 arouse no dispute: No one can learn how to speak who does not first
 speak as best he can.
 That may seem like a vicious circle in
 statement, but it will bear examination.
 Many teachers have begun with the how. Vain effort!
 It is an ancient truism that we learn to do by doing. The
 first thing for the beginner in public speaking is to
 speak−−not to study voice and gesture and the rest. Once
 he has spoken he can improve himself by
 self−observation or according to the criticisms of those who hear.
 But how shall he be able to criticise himself?
 Simply by finding out three things: What are the qualities which
 by common consent go to make up an effective
 speaker; by what means at least some of these qualities may
 be acquired; and what wrong habits of speech in
 himself work against his acquiring and using the qualities
 which he finds to be good.
 Experience, then, is not only the best teacher,
 but the first and the last. But experience must be a dual
 thing−−the experience of others must be used to
 supplement, correct and justify our own experience; in this
 way we shall become our own best critics only
 after we have trained ourselves in self−knowledge, the
 knowledge of what other minds think,
 and in the ability to judge
 ourselves by the standards we have come to
 believe are right. "If I ought," said Kant, "I can."
 An examination of the contents of this volume will
 show how consistently these articles of faith have been
 declared, expounded, and illustrated.
 The student is urged to begin to speak at once of what he knows. Then
 he is given simple suggestions for self−control,
 with gradually increasing emphasis upon the power of the
 inner man over the outer. Next,
 the way to the rich storehouses of
 material is pointed out. And finally, all the
 The Art of Public Speaking
 The Art of Public Speaking