PUBLIC SPEAKING- DALE DOROTHY chap 3
Summary
1. “The art of war,” said Napoleon, “is a science in which nothing succeeds which has not been calculated and thought out.”
That is as true of speaking as of shooting.
A talk is a voyage. It must be charted.
7. “All the facts on both sides of your subject,” advised former Senator Albert J. Beveridge, “must be collected, arranged, studied, digested.
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- How Famous Speakers Prepared Their Addresses
I was present once at a luncheon of the New York Rotary Club when the principal speaker was a prominent government official. The high position that he occupied gave him prestige, and we were looking forward with pleasure to hearing him.He had promised to tell us about the activities of his own department; and it was one in which almost every New York business man was interested.He knew his subject thoroughly, knew far more about it and he could possibly use; but he had not >eech. He had not selected his material. He had not arranged- it in orderly fashion. Nevertheless, with a courage 5m of inexperience, he plunged heedlessly, blindly, intos speech. He did not know where he was going, but heas on his way. His mind was, in short, a mere hodgepodge, and so wastc mental feast he served us. He brought on the ice creamrst, and then placed the soup before us. Fish and nuts came;xt. And, on top of that, there was something that seemedbe a mixture of soup and ice cream and good red herring,have never, anywhere or at any time, seen a speaker moretteriy confused.
He had been trying to talk impromptu; but, in desperation now, he drew a bundle of notes out of his pocket, confessing that his secretary had compiled them for him—andno one questioned the veracity of his assertion. The notesthemselves evidently had no more order than a flatcar fullof scrap iron. He fumbled through them nervously, glancingfrom one page to another, trying to orient himself, tryingto find a way out of the wilderness, and he attempted to talkas he did so. It was impossible. He apologized and, callingfor water, took a drink with a trembling hand, uttered a fewmore scattering sentences, repealed himself, dug into hisnotes again. . . . Minute by minute he grew more helpless,more lost, more bewildered, more embarrassed. Nervousperspiration stood out on his forehead, and his handkerchief shook as he wiped it away. We in the audience satwatching the fiasco, our sympathies stirred, our feelingsharrowed. We suffered positive and vicarious embarrassment, But with more doggedness than discretion, the continued, floundering, studying his notes, apologizing anddrinking. Everyone except him felt that the spectacle wasrapidly approaching total disaster, and it was a relief to usall when he sat down and ceased his death struggles. It wasone of the most uncomfortable audiences 1 have ever beenin; and he was the most ashamed and humiliated speakerI have ever seen. He had made his talk as Rousseau saidalove letter should be written: he had begun without knowing what he was going to say, and he had finished withoutknowing what he had uttered. The moral of the tale is just this: “When a man’s knowledge is not in order,’1 said Herbert Spencer, “the moreofit he has, the greater will be his confusion of thought.” No sane man would start to build a house without somesort of plan; but why wilt he begin to deliver a speechwithout the vaguest kind of outline or program? A speech is a voyage with a purpose, and it without the vaguest kind of outline or program? A speech is a voyage with a purpose, and it mustbecharted. The person who starts nowhere, generally getsthere. I wish that I could paint this saying of Napoleon’sinflaming letters of red a foot high over every doorway ontheglobe where students of public speaking foregather: “The Hozv Famous Speakers Prepared Their Addresses 39irt of war is a science in which nothing succeeds which haslot been calculated and thought out.” That is just as true of speaking as of shooting. But doipeakers realize it—or, if they do—do they always act ont? They do not. Most emphatically they do not. Many a las just a trifle more plan and arrangement than a bowlofish stew. What is the best and most effective arrangement for apven set of ideas? No one can say until he has studied them,t is always a new problem, an eternal question that everypcaker must ask and answer again and again. No infallibleules can be given; but we can, at any rate, illustrate brieflytere, with a concrete case, just what we mean by orderlyxrangements. How a Prize-Winning Speech Was Constructed Here is a speech that was delivered some yearsgo before the National Association of Real Estate Boards,t won first prize in competition with twenty-seven otherpeeches on various cities—and would do so today! Thispecch is well constructed, full of facts stated ividly, interestingly. It has spirit. It marches. It will meritfading and study. Mr. Chairman and Friends: Back 144 years ago, this great nation, the UnitedStates of America, was born in my City of Philadelphia,and so it is quite natural that a city having such an his-torical record should have that strong American spiritthat has not only made it the greatest industrial centerin this country, but also one of the largest and mostbeautiful cities in the whole world. Philadelphia has a population close to two millions ofpeople, and our city has an area that is equal to the combined size of Milwaukee and Boston, Paris arid Berlin,and out of our 130 square miles of territory we havegiven up nearly 8,000 acres of our best land for beautifulparks, squares and boulevards, so that our people have the proper places for recreation and pleasure, andthe right kind of environment that belongs to every decentAmerican. Philadelphia, friends, is not only a large, clean andbeautiful city, but it is also known everywhere as the greatworkshop of the world, and the reason it is called theworkshop of the world is because we have a vast armyofover 400,000 people employed in 9,200 industrial establishments that turn out one hundred thousand dollars’worth of useful commodities every ten minutes of theworking day, and according to a well-known statistician,there is no city in this country that equals Philadelphiain the production of woolen goods, leather goods, knitgoods, textiles, felt hats, hardware, tools, storage batteries,steel ships and a great many other things. We build a rail-road locomotive every two hours day and night, and morethan one-half the people in this great country ride instreetcars made in the Gty of Philadelphia.
Wemanufacture a thousand cigars every minute, and last year,in our 1 15 hosiery mills, we made two pairs of stockingsfor every man, woman and child in this country. Wemake more carpets and mgs than ail of Great Britain andIreland combined, and, in fact, our total commercial andindustrial business is so stupendous that our bank clearings last year, amounting to thirty-seven billions ofdollars, would have paid for every Liberty Bond in theentire country. But, friends, while we are very proud of our wonderful industrial progress, and while we are also very proudof being one of the largest medical, art and educationalcenters in this country, yet, we feel a still greater pridein the fact that we have more individual homes in the
of being one of the largest medical, art and educationalcenters in this country, yet, we feel a still greater pridein the fact that we have more individual homes in theCity of Philadelphia than there are in any other city inthe whole world. In Philadelphia we have 397,000separate homes, and if these homes were placed ontwenty-five-foot lots, side by side, in one single row, thatrow would reach all the way from Philadelphia clearthrough to this Convention Hall, at Kansas City, andthen on to Denver, a distance of 1,881 miles. But, what I want to call your special attention to is thesignificance of the fact that tens of thousands of homes are owned and occupied by the working people ofour city, and when a man owns the ground upon whichhe stands and the roof over his head, there is no argument ever presented that would infect that man with thoseimported diseases, known as Socialism and Bolshevism.Philadelphia is not a fertile soil for European anarchy,because our homes, our educational institutions and ourgigantic industry have been produced by that trueAmerican spirit that was born in our city, and is aheritage from our forefathers. Philadelphia is the mothercity of this great country, and the very fountainhead ofAmerican liberty. It is the city where the first Americanflag was made; it is the city where the first Congress ofthe United States met; it is the city where the Declarationof Independence was signed; it is the city where thatbest loved relic in America, the Liberty Beil, has in-spired tens of thousands of our men, women and chil-dren, so that we believe wc have a sacred missiondren, so that we believe wc have a sacred mission, whichis not to worship the golden calf, but to spread theAmerican spirit, and to keep the fires of freedom burning, so that with God's permission, the Government ofWashington, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt maybean inspiration to all humanity. Let us analyze that speech. Let us see how it is eonructed, how it gets its effects. In the first place, it has aeginning and an ending. That is a rare virtue—more rarelan you may be inclined to think. It starts somewhere. It Des there straight as wild geese on the wing. It doesn’tawdle. It loses no time. It has freshness, individuality. The speaker opens by sayig something about his city that the other speakers couldot possibly say about theirs: he points out that his city is
le birthplace of the entire nation. He states that it is one of the largest and most beautiful[ties in the world. But that claim is general, trite; standingy itself, it would not impress anyone very much. Theweaker knew that; so he helped his audience visualize thetagnimde of Philadelphia by stating it “has an area equal) the combined size of Milwaukee, Boston, Paris anderlin.” That is definite, concrete. It is interesting. It is 4 2 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEsurprising. It makes a mark. It drives home the idea betterthan a whole page of statistics would have done. Next he declares that Philadelphia is “known everywhereas the great workshop of the world.” Sounds exaggerated,doesn’t it? Like propaganda. Had he proceeded han a whole page of statistics would have done. Next he declares that Philadelphia is “known everywhereas the great workshop of the world.” Sounds exaggerated,doesn’t it? Like propaganda. Had he proceeded immediatelyto the next point no one would have been convinced. Buthe doesn’t. He pauses to enumerate the products in whichPhiladelphia leads the world: “woolen goods, leather goods,knit goods, textiles, felt hats, hardware, tools, storagebatteries, steel ships.” Doesn’t sound so much like propaganda now, does it? Philadelphia “builds a railroad locomotive every twohours day and night, and more than one-half the peopleinthis great country ride in streetcars made in the city ofPhiladelphia.” “Well, I never knew that,” we muse. “Perhaps I rodedown town yesterday in one of those streetcars. FUlookto-morrow and see where my town buys its cars.” “A thousand cigars every minute . . . two pairs of “A thousand cigars every minute . . . two pairs of stockings for every man, woman and child in this country.” We are still more impressed. . . . “Maybe my favoritecigar is made in Philadelphia . . . and these socks I haveon. . . What does the speaker do next? Jump back to the subjectof the size of Philadelphia that he covered first and giveussome fact that he forgot then? No, not at all. He sticks toapoint until he finishes it, has done with it, and need neverreturn to it again. For that we are duly grateful, Mr.Speaker. For what is more confusing and muddling thantohave a speaker darting from one thing to another and backagain as erratic as a bat in the twilight? Yet many a speakerdoes just that. Instead of covering his points in order 1, 2,3, 4, 5, he covers them as a football captain calls outsignals—27, 34, 19, 2. No, he is worse than that. covers them like this—27, 34, 27, 19, 2, 34, 19. But this speaker, however, steams straight aheadonschedule time, never idling, never turning back, swervingneither to the right nor left, like one of those locomotiveshe has been talking about. But, he makes now the weakest point of his entire speech: How Famous Speakers Prepared Their Addresses 433hiladelphia, he declares, is “one of the largest medical,irt and educational centers in this country.” He merely an-lounces that; then speeds on to something else—onlyweive words to animate that fact, to make it vivid, weive words to animate that fact, to make it vivid, to;ngrave it on the memory. Only twelve words lost, subnerged, in a sentence containing a total of sixty-five. Itloesn’t work. Of course not. The human mind docs not>perate like a string of steel traps. He devotes so little timeo this point, is so general, so vague, seems so unimpressedlimself that the effect on the hearer is almost nil. Whathould be have done? He realized that he could establishhis point with the self-same technique that he just employed to establish the fact that Philadelphia is the workshop)f the world. He knew that. He also knew that he wouldlave a stop watch held on him during the contest, that hevould have five minutes, not a second more; so he hadtoilur over this point or slight others. There are “more individual homes in the city of Philalelphia than there are in any other city in the world.” Howloes he make this phase of his topic impressive and conzincing? First, he gives the number: 397,000. Second, he
zincing? First, he gives the number: 397,000. Second, hevisualizes the number: “If these homes were placed onwenty-five-foot lots, side by side, in one single row, that*ow would reach all the way from Philadelphia clearhrough this Convention Hall at Kansas City, and then on0 Denver, a distance of 1,881 miles.” His audience probably forgot the number he gave beforele had finished the sentence. But forget that picture? Thatvould have been well nigh impossible. So much for cold material facts. But they are not thestuff out of which eloquence is fashioned. This speakerispired to build up to a climax, to touch the heart, to stirhe feelings. So now on the home stretch, he deals withpmotional material. He tells what the ownership of pmotional material. He tells what the ownership of thosehomes means to the spirit of the city. He denounces “thosemported diseases, known as Socialism and Bolshevism.”3e eulogizes Philadelphia as “the very fountainhead ofAmerican liberty.'” Liberty! A magic word, a word full of'eeling, a sentiment for which millions have laid down theirives. That phrase in itself is good, but it is a thousand times 44 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEbetter when he backs it up with concrete references to historic events and documents, dear, sacred, to the heartsofhis hearers. . . . “It is the city where the first AmericanFlag was made; it is the city where the first Congress of United States met; it is the city where the DeclarationofIndependence was signed . Liberty Bell ... a sacredmission . . . , to spread the American spirit ... to keepthefires of freedom burning, so that with God’s permission, theGovernment of Washington, Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt may be an inspiration to all humanity.” That is a realclimax! So much for the composition of this talk. But admirableas it is from the standpoint of construction, this speechcould come to grief, could easily have been broughttonaught, had it been expressed in a calm manner devoidofall spirit and vitality. But the speaker delivered it as hecomposed it, with a feeling and enthusiasm bom of thedeepest sincerity. Small wonder that it won first prize, thatit was awarded the Chicago cup.
The Way Doctor Conwell Planned His SpeechesThere are not, as I have already said, anyinfallible rules that will solve the question of the best arrangement. There are no designs or schemes or charts that willfit all or even a majority of speeches; yet here are a fewspeech plans that will prove usable in some instances. Thelate Dr. Russell H. Conwell, the author of the famous“Acres of Diamonds,” once informed me that he had builtmany of his innumerable speeches on this outline: 1. State your facts. 2. Argue from them. 3. Appeal for action. Many people have found this plan very helpful Many people have found this plan very helpful andstimulating: 1. Show something that is wrong. 2. Show how to remedy it. 3. Ask for cooperation. How Famous Speakers Prepared Their Addresses 45Or, to put it in another way: 1. Here is a situation that ought to be remedied. 2. We ought to do so and so about the matter. 3. You ought to help for these reasonsThis outline is briefly still another speech plan: 1. Secure interested attention. 2. Win confidence. 3. State your facts; educate people regarding themerits of your proposition. 4. Appeal to the motives that make men act
How Famous Men Have Built a Talk Former Senator Albert J. Beveridge wrote a veryshort and very practical book entitled The Art of PublicSpeaking. “The speaker must be master of his subject,”said this noted political campaigner. “That means that allthe facts must be collected, arranged, studied, digested not only data on one side, but material on the other sideand on every side—all of it. And be sure that they arefacts, not mere assumptions or unproved assertions. Take nothing for granted. “Therefore check up and verify every item. This means painstaking research, to be sure, but what of it?—are younot proposing to inform, instruct, and advise your fellow citizens? Are you not setting yourself up as an authority?“Having assembled and marshalled the facts of any problem, think out for yourself the solution those facts compel Thus your speech will have originality an
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