PUBLIC SPEAKING= DALE DOROTHY CHAP 7

Platform Presence and Personality The Carnegie Institute of Technology at one timegave intelligence tests to one hundred prominent businessmen. The tests were similar to those used in the army during the war; and the results led the Institute to declare thatpersonality contributes more to business success than doessuperior intelligence. That is a very significant pronouncement: very significant for the business man, very significant for the educator,very significant for the professional man, very significantfor the speaker. Personality—with the exception of preparation—is probably the most important factor in public address, “ineloquent speaking,” declared Elbert Hubbard, “it is mannerthat wins, not words.” Rather it is manner plus ideas. Butpersonality is a vague and elusive thing, defying analysislike the perfume of the violet. It is the whole combinationof the person: physical, spiritual, mental; traits, predilections, tendencies, temperament, cast of mind, vigor, experience, training, the whole life. It is as complex as Einstein’s theory of relativity, almost as little understood. A personality is A personality is determined by inheritance and environmeat and is extremely difficult to alter or Improve. Yetwecan, by taking thought, strengthen it to some extent andmake it more forceful, more attractive. At any rate, wecan strive to get the utmost possible out of this strangething that nature has given us. The subject is of vast importance to every one of us. The possibilities for improvement, limited as they are, are still large enough to warranta discussion and investigation. If you wish to make the most of your individuality, gobefore your audience rested. A tired speaker is notmagnetic nor attractive. Don’t make the ah-too-commonerror of putting off your preparation and your planninguntil the very last moment, and then working at a furiouspace, trying to make up for lost time. If you do, youarebound to store up bodily poisons and brain fatigues thatwill prove terrific drags, holding you down, sapping yourvitality, weakening both your brain and your nerves. If you must make an important talk to a committeemeeting at four, have a light lunch, if possible, andtherefreshment of a siesta. Rest—that is what you need,physical and mental and nervous. Geraldine Farrar used to shock her newly made friendsby saying good night and retiring early, leaving themtotalk the remainder of the evening with her husband. Sheknew the demands of her art. Madame Nordica said that being a prima Madame Nordica said that being a prima donna meantgiving up everything one liked: social affairs, friends,tempting meals. When you have to make an important talk, bewareofyour hunger. Eat as sparingly as a saint. On Sunday afternoons, Henry Ward Beecher used to have crackers andmilk at five, and nothing after that. “When I am singing in the evening,” said MadameMelba, “I do not dine but have a very light repast at fiveo’clock, consisting of either fish, chicken, or sweetbread,with a baked apple and a glass of water. I always find myself very hungry for supper when I get home from the operaor concert.” How wisely Melba and Beecher acted, I never realized Platform Presence and Personality inuntil after I became a professional speaker myself and triedto deliver a two-hour talk each evening after having con-sumed a hearty meal. Experience taught me that I couldn’tenjoy a filet de sole aux pommes nature and follow thatby a beefsteak and French fried potatoes and salad andvegetables and a dessert, and then stand up an hour afterward and do either myself or my subject or my body justice.The blood that ought to have been in my brain was dow

Madame Nordica said that being a prima donna meantgiving up everything one liked: social affairs, friends,tempting meals. When you have to make an important talk, bewareofyour hunger. Eat as sparingly as a saint. On Sunday afternoons, Henry Ward Beecher used to have crackers andmilk at five, and nothing after that. “When I am singing in the evening,” said MadameMelba, “I do not dine but have a very light repast at fiveo’clock, consisting of either fish, chicken, or sweetbread,with a baked apple and a glass of water. I always find myself very hungry for supper when I get home from the operaor concert.” How wisely Melba and Beecher acted, I never realized Platform Presence and Personality inuntil after I became a professional speaker myself and triedto deliver a two-hour talk each evening after having con-sumed a hearty meal. Experience taught me that I couldn’tenjoy a filet de sole aux pommes nature and follow thatby a beefsteak and French fried potatoes and salad andvegetables and a dessert, and then stand up an hour afterward and do either myself or my subject or my body justice.The blood that ought to have been in my brain was The blood that ought to have been in my brain was downin my stomach wrestling with that steak and potatoes.Paderewski was right: he said when he ate what he wantedto eat before a concert, the animal in him got uppermost,that it even got into his finger tips and clogged and dulledhis playing. Why One Speaker Draws Better Than AnotherDo nothing to dull your energy. It is magnetic.Vitality, aliveness, enthusiasm: they are among the firstqualities I have always sought for in employing speakersand instructors of speaking. People cluster around theenergetic speaker, the human dynamo of energy, like wildgeese around a field of autumn wheat. I have often seen this illustrated by the open-air speakersin Hyde Park, London. A spot near Marble Arch entranceis a rendezvous for speakers of every creed and color. Ona Sunday afternoon, one can take his choice and listen toa Catholic explaining the doctrine of the infallibility of thePope, to a Socialist propounding the economic gospelofKarl Marx, to an Indian explaining why it is right andproper for a Mohammedan to have two wives, and so on.Hundreds crowd about one speaker, while his neighborhas only a handful. Why? Is the topic always an adequateexplanation of the has only a handful. Why? Is the topic always an adequateexplanation of the disparity between the drawing powersofdifferent speakers? No. More often the explanation is to befound in the speaker himself: he is more interested and,consequently, interesting. He talks with more life andspirit. He radiates vitality and animation; they alwayschallenge attention. I I 2 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEHow Arc You Affected by Clothes? An inquiry was sent to a large group of peopleby a psychologist and university president, asking themthe impression clothes made on them. All but unanimously,they testified that when they were well groomed and faultlessly and immaculately attired, the knowledge of it, thefeeling of it, had an effect which, while it was difficult toexplain, was still very definite, very real. It gave them moreconfidence; brought them increased faith in themselves;heightened their self-respect. They declared that whentheyhad the look of success they found it easier to think success,to achieve succ

to achieve success. Such is the effect of clothes onthewearer himself. What effect do they have on an audience? I have noticedtime and again that if the speaker is a man with baggytrousers, shapeless coat and footwear, fountain pen andpencils peeping out of his breast pocket, a newspaper orapipe and can of tobacco sticking out the sides of his garment, or is a woman with an ugly, bulging purse and withher slip showing—I have noticed that an audience hasaslittle respect for that person as the speaker has for his orher own appearance. Aren’t they very likely to assume thatthe mind is as sloppy as the unkempt hair, unpolishedshoes, or bulging handbag? One of the Regrets of Grant’s Life When General Lee came to Appomattox CourtHouse to surrender his army, he was immaculately attiredin a new uniform and, at his side, hung a sword of extraordinary value. Grant was coatless and swordless, and waswearing the shirt and trousers of a private. “I must havecontrasted very strangely,” he wrote in his Memoirs, “witha man so handsomely dressed, six feet high, and of fault-less form.” The fact that he had not been appropriatelyattired for this historic less form.” The fact that he had not been appropriatelyattired for this historic occasion came to be one of the realregrets of Grant’s life. Platform Presence and Personality 113The Department of Agriculture in Washington has several hundred stands of bees on its experimental farm.Each hive has a large magnifying glass built into it, andthe interior can be flooded with electric light by pressingabutton; so, any moment, night or day, these bees are liableto be subject to the minutest scrutiny. A speaker is likethat: he is under the magnifying glass, he is in the spotlight, all eyes are upon him. The smallest disharmonyinhis personal appearance his personal appearance now looms up like Pike’s Peakfrom the plains. “Even Before We Speak, We Are Condemned or Approved” A number of years ago I was writing for theAmerican Magazine the life story of a certain NewYorkbanker. I asked one of his friends to explain the reason forhis success. No small amount of it, he said, was due to theman’s winning smile. At first thought, that may sound likeexaggeration but I believe it is really true. Other men,scores of them, hundreds of them, may have had moreexperience and as good financial judgment, but he hadanadditional asset they didn’t possess—he had a most agreeable personality. And a warm, welcoming smile was oneof the striking features of it. It gained one’s confidenceimmediately. It secured one’s good will instantly. Weallwant to see a man like that succeed; and it is a real pleas-ure to give him our patronage. “He who cannot smile,” says a Chinese proverb, “oughtnot to keep a shop.” And isn’t a smile just as welcomebefore an audience as behind a counter? I am thinkingnow of a particular student who attended a course in publicspeaking conducted by the Brooklyn Chamber of speaking conducted by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. He always came out before the audience withanair that said he liked to be there, that he loved the job thatwas before him. He always smiled and acted as if he wereglad to see us; and so immediately and inevitably hishearers warmed toward him and welcomed him. ”4 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEBut I have seen speakers who walked out in a cold,perfunctory manner as if they had a disagreeable tasktoperform, and would thank God when it was over. Weinthe audience were soon feeling the same way. Theseat-titudes are contagious. “like begets like,” observes Professor Overstreet inInfluencing Human Behavior . “If we are interested in ouraudience, there is a likelihood that our audience will beinterested in us. If we scowl at our audience, there is everylikelihood that inwardly or outwardly they will scowlatus. If we are timid and rather flustered, they likewise willlack confidence in us. If we are brazen and boastful, theywill react with their own self-protective egotism. Evenbefore we speak, very often, we are condemned or approved. There is every reason, therefore, that we shouldmake certain that our attitude is such as to elicit response.” Crowd Your Audience Together As a public lecturer, I have frequently spokentoa small audience scattered through a large hall in the afternoon, and to a large audience packed into the same hall atnight. The evening audience has laughed heartily at thesame things that brought only a smile to the faces of theafternoon group; the evening crowd has applauded generously at the very places where the afternoon gatheringwas utterly unresponsive. Why? For one thing, the elderly women and the children thatare likely to come in the afternoon cannot be expectedtobe as demonstrative as the more vigorous and discriminating evening crowd; but that is only a partial explanation.The fact is that no audience will be easily moved whenit is scattered. Nothing so dampens enthusiasm as wide,open spaces and empty chairs between the listeners. Henry Ward Beech Henry Ward Beecher said in his Yale Lectures onPreaching: Platform Presence and Personality 115People often say, “Do you not think it is much moreinspiring to speak to a large audience than a small one?”No, I say; I can speak just as well to twelve personsasto a thousand, provided those twelve are crowded aroundme and close together, so that they can touch each other.But even a thousand people with four feet of spacebetween every two of them, would be just the same asanempty room. . . . Crowd your audience together andyouwill set them off with half the effort A man in a large audience tends to lose his individuality.He becomes a member of the crowd and is swayedfarmore easily than he would be as a single individual Hewill laugh at and applaud things that would leave himunmoved if he were only one of half a dozen people listen-ing to you. It is far easier to get people to act as a body than to actsingly. Men going into battle, It is far easier to get people to act as a body than to actsingly. Men going into battle, for example, invariably wantto do the most dangerous and reckless thing in the worldthey want to huddle together. During the late war, Germansoldiers were known to go into battle at times with theirarms locked about one another. Crowds! Crowds! Crowds! They are a curious phenomenon. An great popular movements and reforms have beencarried forward by the aid of the crowd mentality. Aninteresting book on this subject is Everett Dean Martin’sThe Behavior of Crowds, If we are going to talk to a small group, we shouldchoose a small room. Better to pack the aisles of a smallplace than to have people scattered through the lonely,deadening spaces of a large hall. If your hearers are scattered, ask them to move downfront and be seated near you. Insist on this, before youstartspeaking. Unless the audience is a fairly large one, and there is areal reason, a necessity, for the speaker to stand on a platform, don’t do so. Get down on the same level with them.Stand near them. Break up all formality. Get an intimatecontact. Make the thing conversationalMajor Pond Smashed the Windows Keep the air fresh. In the well-known processofpublic speaking, oxygen is just as essential as the larynx,pharynx and human epiglottis. All the eloquence of Cicero,and all the feminine pulchritude in the Music Hall Rockettes, could hardly keep an audience awake in a roompoisoned with bad air. So, when I am one of a numberofspeakers, before beginning, I almost always ask the audi-ence to stand up and rest for two minutes while the windows are thrown open. For fourteen years Major James B. Pond traveled allover the United States and Canada as manager for HenryWard Beecher when that famous Brooklyn preacher wasat his flood tide as a popular lecturer. Before the audienceassembled, Pond always visited the hall or churchortheater where Beecher was to appear, and rigorouslyinspected the lighting, seating, temperature and ventilation.Pond had been a blustering, roaring old army officer; heloved to exercise authority; so if the place was too warmor the air was dead and he could not get the windows open,he hurled books through them, smashing and shatteringthe glass. He believed with Spurgeon that “the next bestthing to the Grace of God for a preacher is oxygen,Let There Be Light—on Your Face Unless you are demonstrating Spiritualism beforea group of people, flood the room, if possible, with lights.It is as easy to domesticate a quail as to develop enthusiasmin a half-lighted room gloomy as the inside of a thermosbottle. Read David Bclasco’s articles on stage production, andyou will discover that the average speaker does not havethe foggiest shadow of the ghost of an idea of the tremendous importance of proper lighting. Let the light strike your face. People want to see you. Platform Presence and Personality 117The subtle changes that ought to play across your featuresare a part, and a very real part, of the process of self-expression. Sometimes they mean more than your words.If you stand directly under a light, your face maybedimmed by a shadow; if you stand directly in front ofalight, it is sure to be. Would it not, then, be the partofwisdom to select, before you arise to speak, the spot thatwill give you the most advantageous illuminationNo Trumpery on the Platform And do not hide behind a table. People wanttolook at the whole man. They will even lean out in the aislesto see all of him. Some well-meaning soul is pretty sure to give you a tableand a water pitcher and a glass; but if your throat becomesdry, a pinch of salt or a taste of lemon will start the salivaagain better than Niagara. You do not want the water nor the pitcher. Neitherdoyou want all the other useless and ugly impedimenta thatclutter up the average platform. The Broadway salesrooms of the various automobilemakers are beautiful, orderly, pleasing to the eye. TheParis offices of the large perfumers and jewelers are artisti-cally and luxuriously appointed. Why? It is good business.One has more respect, more confidence, more admirationfor a concern housed like that. For the same reason, a speaker ought to have a pleasingbackground The ideal arrangement, to my way of thinking, would be no furniture at all. Nothing behind thespeaker to attract attention, or at either side of himnothing but a curtain of dark blue velvet. But what does he usually have behind him? Mapsandsigns and tables, perhaps a lot of dusty chairs, some piledon top of the others. And what is the result? Acheap,slovenly, disorderly atmosphere. So clear all the on top of the others. And what is the result? Acheap,slovenly, disorderly atmosphere. So clear all the trumperyaway. ‘The most important thing in public speaking,” saidHenry Ward Beecher, “is the man.” Il8 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCESo let the speaker stand out like the snowclad topsofthe Jungfrau towering against the blue skies of Switzerland.No Guests on the Platform I was once in London, Ontario, when the PrimeMinister of Canada was speaking. Presently the janitor,armed with a long pole, started to ventilate the room,moving about from window to window. What happened?The audience, almost to a man, ignored the speaker foralittle while and stared at the janitor as intently as if hehadbeen performing some miracle. An audience cannot resist—or, what comes to the samething, it will not resist—the temptation to look at movingobjects. If a speaker will only remember that truth, he cansave himself some trouble and needless annoyance. First, he can refrain from twiddling his thumbs, playingwith his clothes and making little nervous movementsthatdetract from him. I remember se

detract from him. I remember seeing a New York audiencewatch a well-known speaker’s hands for half an hour whilehe spoke and played with the covering of a pulpit at thesame time. Second, the speaker should arrange, if possible, to havethe audience seated so they won’t have their attentiondistracted by seeing the late comers enter. Third, he should have no guests on the platform. Afewyears ago Raymond Robins delivered a series of talks inBrooklyn. Along with a number of others, I was invitedtosit on the platform with him. I declined on the ground thatit was unfair to the speaker. I noted the first night howmany of these guests shifted about and put one leg overtheother and back again, and so on; and every time oneofthem moved, the audience looked away from the speakerto the guest. I called Mr. Robins’ attention to this the nextday; and during the remainder of his evenings with us, hevery wisely occupied the platform alone. David Belasco did not permit the use of red flowers onthe stage because they attract too much attention.the stage because they attract too much attention. Then Platform Presence and Personality 119why should a speaker permit a restless human being to sitfacing the audience while he talks? He shouldn’t. And,ifhe is wise, he won’t. The Art of Sitting Down Isn’t it well for the speaker himself not to sitfacing the audience before he begins? Isn’t it better toarrive as a fresh exhibit than an old one? But, if we must sit, let us be careful of how we sit. Youhave seen men look around to find a chair with the modified movements of a foxhound lying down for the night.They turned around and when they did locate a chair, theydoubled up and flopped down into it with all the self-control of a sack of sand. A man who knows how to sit feels the chair strike theback of his legs, and, with his body easily erect from headto hips, he sinks into it with his body under perfect control.Poise We just said, a few pages previously, Poise We just said, a few pages previously, not to playwith your clothes or your jewelry because it attractedattention. There is another reason also. It gives an impression of weakness, a lack of self-control. Every movementthat does not add to your presence detracts from it. Thereare no neutral movements. None. So stand still and controlyourself physically and that will give you an impressionofmental control, of poise. After you have risen to address your audience, do notbe in a hurry to begin. That is the hallmark of the amateur.Take a deep breath. Look over your audience for a moment; and, if there is a noise or disturbance, pause untilit quiets down. Hold your chest high. But why wait until you get beforean audience to do this? Why not do it daily in private?Then you will do it unconsciously in public. 120 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCE“Not one man in ten,” said Luther H. Gulick in hisbook, The Efficient Life, “carries himself so as to lookhisbest. . . . Keep the neck pressed against the collar.” Hereis a daily exercise he recommends: “Inhale slowly andasstrongly as possible. At the same time is a daily exercise he recommends: “Inhale slowly andasstrongly as possible. At the same time press the neck backfirmly against the collar. Now hold it there hard. Thereisno harm in doing this in an exaggerated way. The objectis to straighten out that part of the back which is directlybetween the shoulders. This deepens the chest.” And what shall you do with your hands? Forget them.Ifthey fall naturally to your sides, that is ideal. If they feellike a bunch of bananas to you, do not be deluded intoimagining that anyone else is paying the slightest attentionto them or has the slightest interest in them. They will look best hanging relaxed at your sides. Theywill attract the minimum of attention there. Not eventhehypercritical can criticize that position. Besides, they willbe unhampered and free to flow naturally into gestureswhen the urge makes itself felt. But suppose that you are very nervous and that youfindputting them behind your back, shoving them into yourpockets or resting them on the rostrum, helps to relieveyour self-consciousness—what should you do? Use yourcommon sense. I have heard a number of the celebratedspeakers of this generation. Many, if not most, put theirhands into their pockets occasionally while speaking. Bryandid it. Chauncey M. Depew did it. Teddy Roosevelt didit.Even so fastidious a dandy as Disraeli sometimes suc-cumbed to this temptation. But the sky did not fall and,according to the weather reports, if my memory serves meright, the sun came up bn time as usual the next morningf a person has something to say worth while, and saysitwith contagious conviction, surely it will matter little whathe does with his hands and feet. If his head is full andheart stirred, these secondary details will very largely takecare of themselves. After all, the stupendously importantthing in making a talk is the psychological aspect ofit,not the position of the hands and feet. Platform Presence and Personality 121Absurd Antics Taught in the Name of GestureAnd this brings us very naturally to the muchabused question of gesture. My first lesson in public speaking was given by the president of a college in the MiddleWest. This lesson, as I remember it, was chiefly concernedwith gesturing; it was not only useless but misleading andpositively harmful. I was taught to let my arm hang looselyat my side, palm facing the rear, fingers half closed andthumb touching my leg. I was drilled to with gesturing; it was not only useless but misleading andpositively harmful. I was taught to let my arm hang looselyat my side, palm facing the rear, fingers half closed andthumb touching my leg. I was drilled to bring the armupin a graceful curve, to make a classical swing with the wristand then to unfold the forefinger first, the second fingernext, and the little finger last. When the whole aestheticand ornamental movement had been executed, the armwasthen to retrace the same graceful and unnatural curve andrest again by the side of the leg. The whole performancewas wooden and affected. There was nothing sensible orhonest about it. I was drilled to act as no one, in his rightmind, ever acted anywhere. There was no attempt whatever to get me to put myownindividuality into my movements; no attempt to spur meonto feeling like gesturing; no endeavor to get the flow andblood of life in the process, and make it natural and unconscious and inevitable; no urging me to let go, to bespontaneous, to break through my shell of reserve, to talkand act like a human being. No, the whole regrettableperformance was as mechanical as a typewriter, as lifelessas a last year’s bird nest, as ridiculous as a Punch andJudy show. It seems incredible that such absurd antics could havebeen taught in the twentieth century, yet only a few yearsago a book about gesturing was published—a whole booktrying to make automatons out of men, telling them whichgesture to make on this sentence, which to been taught in the twentieth century, yet only a few yearsago a book about gesturing was published—a whole booktrying to make automatons out of men, telling them whichgesture to make on this sentence, which to make on that,which to make with one hand, which with both, whichtomake high, which to make medium, which to make low,how to hold this finger and how to hold that. I have seentwenty men at a time standing before a class, all reading 122 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEthe same ornate oratorical selection from such a book,allmaking precisely the same gestures on precisely the samewords, and all making themselves precisely ridiculous.Artificial, time-killing, mechanical, injurious—it hasbrought this whole subject into disrepute with manypeople. The dean of a large college in Massachusetts recentlysaid that his institution had no course in public speakingbecause he had never seen one that was practical, onethat taught how to speak sensibly. My sympathy wasallwith the dean. Nine-tenths of the stuff that has been written on gestureshas been a waste and worse than a waste of good whitepaper and good black ink. Any gesture that is gotten outof a book is very likely to look like it. The place to getitis out of yourself, out of your heart, out of your mind, of your own interest in the subject, out of your own desireto make someone else see as you see, out of your ownimpulses. The only gestures that are worth one, two, three,are those that are bora on the spur of the instant. Anounce of spontaneity is worth a ton of rules. Gesture is not a thing to be put on at will like a dinnerjacket. It is merely an outward expression of inward condition just as are kisses and colic and laughter and seasickness. And a man’s gestures, like his toothbrush, should be verypersonal things. And, as all people are different, theirgestures will be individual if they will only act natural. No two persons should be drilled to gesture in preciselythe same fashion. Imagine trying to make the long, awkward slow-thinking Lincoln gesture in the same fashionasdid the rapidly-talking, impetuous and polished Douglas.It would be ridiculous, “Lincoln,” according to his biographer and law partner,Herndon, “did not gesticulate as much with his handsaswith his head. He used the latter frequently, throwingitwith vim this way and that. This movement was a significant one when he sought to enforce his statement. It sometimes came with a quick jerk, as if throwing off electricsparks into combustible material. He never sawed the airor rent space into tatters and rags as some orators do. or rent space into tatters and rags as some orators do. He Platform Presence and Personality 123never acted for stage effect. ... As he moved along in hisspeech he became freer and less uneasy in his movements;to that extent he was graceful. He had a perfect naturalness,a strong individuality; and to that extent he was dignified.He despised glitter, show, set forms and shams. . . . Therewas a world of meaning and emphasis in the long, bonyfinger of his right hand as he dotted the ideas on the mindsof his hearers. Sometimes, to express joy or pleasure, hewould raise both hands at an angle of about fifty degrees,the palms upward, as if desirous of embracing the spiritof that which he loved. If the sentiment was one of detestation—denunciation of slavery, for example—both arms,thrown upward and fists clenched, swept through the air,and he expressed an execration that was truly sublime.This was one of his most effective gestures, and signifiedmost vividly a fixed determination to drag down the object of his hatred and trample it in the dust. He alwaysstood squarely on his feet, toe even with toe; that is, henever put one foot before the other. He neither touchednor leaned on anything for support. He made but fewchanges in his positions and attitudes. He never ranted,never walked backward and forward on the platform. never walked backward and forward on the platform. Toease his arms, he frequently caught hold, with his lefthand, of the lapel of his coat, keeping his thumb uprightand leaving his right hand free to gesticulate.” St. Gaudenscaught him in just that attitude in the statue which standsin Lincoln Park, Chicago. Such was Lincoln’s method. Theodore Roosevelt wasmore vigorous, fiery, active, his whole face alive with feel-ing, his fist clenched, his entire body an instrumentofexpression. Bryan often used the outstretched hand withopen palm. Gladstone often struck a table or his openpalm with his fist, or stamped his foot with a resoundingthud on the floor. Lord Rosebery used to raise his rightarm and bring it down with a bold sweep that had tre-mendous force. Ah, but there was force first in the speaker’sthoughts and convictions; that was what made the gesturestrong and spontaneous. Spontaneity . . . life . . . they are the summum bonumof action. Burke was angular and exceedingly awkwardin I2 4 HOW TO DEVELOP SELF-CONFIDENCEhis gestures. Pitt sawed the air with his arms “like a clumsyclown.” Sir Henry Irving was handicapped by a lamelegand decidedly odd movements. Lord Macaulay’s actionson the platform were ungainly. So were Grattan’s. So wereParnell’s. “The answer then appears to be,” said the lateLord Curzon at Cambridge University, Lord Curzon at Cambridge University, in an addressonParliamentary Eloquence, “that great public speakers maketheir own gestures; and that while a great orator is doubtless aided by a handsome exterior and graceful action,itdoes not matter very much if he happens to be ugly andawkward.” Many years ago, I heard the famous Gypsy Smithpreach. 1 was enthralled by the eloquence of this manwhohad led so many thousands to Christ. He used gestureslots of them—and was no more conscious of them thanof the air he breathed. Such is the ideal way. And such is the way you will find yourself makinggestures if you will but practice and apply these principles.I can’t give you any rules for gesturing, for everythingdepends upon the temperament of the speaker, uponhispreparation, his enthusiasm, his personality, the subject,the audience, the occasion. Suggestions That May Prove Helpful Here are, however, a few limited suggestions thatmay prove useful. Do not repeat one gesture until it becomes monotonous. Do not make short, jerky movementsfrom the elbow. The movements from the shoulder lookbetter on the platform. Do not end your gestures tooquickly. If you are using the index finger to quickly. If you are using the index finger to drive homeyour thought, do not be afraid to hold that gesture throughan entire sentence. The failure to do this is a very commonerror and a serious one. It distorts your emphasis, makingsmall things unimportant, and truly important pointsseem trivial by comparison. When you are doing real speaking before a real audience, make only the gestures that come natural. But whileyou are practicing, force yourself, if necessary, to use ges- Platfonn Presence and Personality 125tures. Force yourself to do it, and the doing of it will soawaken and stimulate you that your gestures will soonbe coining unsought. Shut your book. You can’t learn gestures from a printedpage. Your own impulses, as you are speaking, are moreto be trusted, more valuable than anything any instructorcan possibly tell you. If you forget all else we have said about gesture anddelivery, remember this: if a man is so wrapped up in whathe has to say, if he is so eager to get his message acrossthat he forgets himself and talks and acts spontaneously,then his gestures and his delivery, unstudied though theymay be, are very likely to be almost above criticism. Ifyou doubt this, walk up to a man and knock him may be, are very likely to be almost above criticism. Ifyou doubt this, walk up to a man and knock him down.You will probably discover that, when he regains his feet,the talk he delivers will be well nigh flawless as a gemofeloquence. Here are the best eleven words I have ever read onthesubject of delivery: Fill up the barrel. Knock out the bung. Let nature caper

Summary 1. According to experiments conducted bytheCarnegie Institute of Technology, personality has moreto do with business success than has superior knowledge.This pronouncement is as true of speaking as of business.Personalia, however, is such an intangible, elusive, mysterious thing that it is almost impossible to give directionsfor developing it, but some of the suggestions given in thischapter will help a speaker to appear at his best. 2. Don’t speak when you are tired. Rest, recuperate,store up a reserve of energy. 3. Eat sparingly before you speak. 4. Do nothing to dull your energy. It is magnetic. People cluster around the energetic speaker like wild geesearound a field of autumn wheat. 5. Dress neatly, attractively. The consciousness of beingwell dressed heightens one’s self-respect, increases self-confidence. If a speaker has baggy trousers, unkempt shoes,ungroomed hair, fountain pen and pencils peepingungroomed hair, fountain pen and pencils peeping outofhis coat pocket, or a bulging, ugly handbag, the audienceis liable to feel as little respect for the person as he seemsto feel for himself. 6. Smile. Come before your hearers with an attitude thatseems to say you are glad to be there, “Like begets like,”says Professor Overstreet. “If we are interested in our audi-ence there is every likelihood that our audience will beinterested in us. Even before we speak, very often, wearecondemned or approved. There is every reason, therefore,that we should make certain that our attitude is such astoelicit warm response.” 7. Crowd your audience together. No group is easily in- Platform Presence and Personality 127fluenced when it is scattered. An individual, as a memberof a compact audience, will laugh at, applaud and approvethings that he might question and oppose if he things that he might question and oppose if he wereaddressed singly or if he were one of a group scatteredthrough a large room. 8. If you are speaking to a small group, pack theminasmall room. Don’t stand on a platform. Get down onthesame level with them. Make your talk intimate, informal,conversational. 9. Keep the air fresh. 10. Flood the place with lights. Stand so that the lightwill fall directly in your face, so all your features canbeseen. 11. Don’t stand behind furniture. Push the tables andchairs to one side. Clear away all the unsightly signs andtrumpery that often clutter up a platform. 12. If you have guests on the platform, they are suretomove occasionally; and, each time they make the slightestmovement, they are certain to seize the attention of yourhearers. An audience cannot resist the temptation to lookat any moving object or animal or person; so why storeup trouble and create competition for yourself?