Public Speaking Made Simple

Please understand clearly that to have conversational quality in your public speech does not require a low tone, or a careless manner, or undignified English. So far as our present problem is concerned, use what manner seems good to you. Give your thoughts fitting garb; to plain thoughts plain expression, to heightened thoughts heightened expression.What I am now urging is, that, whatever else you do, you should make your speech genuine * communication. Do not look upon public speaking as a performance, but as a genuine dealing with men.

I Love Public Speaking

With the call for public speakers from pulpit, bar, stump, and lecture platform remaining undiminished, and with the large additional call in these latter days from ever multiplying organizations, with their meetings, conventions and banquets, it comes about that there is to-day greater opportunity and demand for speech making than ever before. The average man finds it greatly to his advantage in civic, organization and business affairs to be able to stand up and speak his mind; while any man who is known"v\Ti to have anything of interest to say, or who has in any way aroused favorable public attention, mil be fairly dragged upon the platform. Thus it comes about that never before did so many untrained and ill-prepared men find themselves upon their legs facing audiences, " not frequently to the regret of both parties. While many work out their own salvation, literally with fear and trembling, more have but scanty success. I shall not enter upon any praises of the art of public speaking. It is good and it is bad; it is base and it is noble. It is part of human life and it is what one makes it. My point is that it is important. I wish we might start with a sane, well-balanced view of this subject, which seems peculiarly unfortunate in the number of half truths that gather about it. We need not deny that it is better to "do noble deeds" than to talk about them, in order to recognize that often one must talk before he wall be allowed to do; and especially that he must talk in order to induce others to do. We need not deny that public speaking was comparatively more important in ancient than in modern times. I remember when I first learned how to speak publicly. It was a total disaster. I had to introduce my classroom teacher who served as a guest speaker at the time. This happened in the Ivory Coast in the village of Sallue to be precise. I could hear the sound of my heartbeat like a thunder sounding from the higher mountain. I very nearly dropped his autobiographer and ran away. Now, that sounds funny, doesn't it? The point is that it is still important to-day, and that apparently in this age of discussion and government by j)u})lic opinion, it is increasingly important. It would be easy to fill a book with expressions by men of affairs to the effect that ability to speak well is important to success. Every Liberian youth, if he desires for any purpose to get influence over his countrymen in an honorable way, will seek to become a good public speaker." Eloquence and oratory are words which easily acquire bad meanings; for the art of public speaking is readily prostituted to foolish or base uses. To be continued:

If You Can Think It, Then You Can Achieve It.: MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

If You Can Think It, Then You Can Achieve It.: MARRIAGE AND FAMILY