It evinces the grossest indifference to the feelings of the audience, and betrays a servile dependence upon mere terms, instead of having thoroughly imbibed the true spirit of the subject. To be sure, the words are necessary, but let them be well committed, and do not sacrifice, in the few minutes only, the patience of the many by the mere laziness of purpose in an individual. It is even better and far more manly to take the manuscript from your pocket and read, than to be, prompted. The best way is, to study it so completely that you will not need to do even that. GENERAL DIRECTIONS. Begin with a moderate voice. Try to feel at ease by looking around, and shaking off any stiffness of position. Keep your mind composed and collected. Guard against bashfulness, which will wear away by opposition. Think of what you are going to say, and not merely of the audience. Be manly but simple. You must acquire assurance -First, by thoroughly mastering your subject, and the consciousness that you can make what you are to deliver worth hearing. Secondly, by wholly engaging in it, with the mind intent on it, and the heart warmed with it. Never be influenced and moved by outside circumstances. Be yourself and know yourself. Have a presence that fills the limits. Whatever changes you may have occasion to make in voice and gesture, should be simple and easy, so as not to detract from the interest. Have your gestures in argumentative language aimed directly to your audience; look into their eyes and not into a vacuum. Make them feel that it is to each of them that you are speaking; yet speak to all at once. Search and penetrate the entire mass of listeners. Have the power to distribute expression. The tendency of youthful orators is to look point blank directly in front of them, and to lean with the body towards the right hand alone. The position should be imperceptibly changed sufficiently often to keep the attention of each hearer constantly on the alert. Be sure that every one is listening to you, and yet do not individualize, as it is extremely disagreeable to an auditor to find himself selected from the rest. Look around frequently from side to side, from end to end, quietly and easily, and control all your hearers. Instead of simply making them hear you, have them listen to each word by your pronouncing it clearly and distinctly. Do not speak too loud, but have the intonations of the voice full, strong, and sonorous. Do not betray mannerisms in either voice or action. Whether you speak before a large assembly, or in a small room, do it naturally, but in either case have the requisite power to properly fill the space with your voice. Address yourself, at each moment, however light the sentiment, to the farthest person in the place, for everybody wishes to hear. When you have attained the strength beyond which you cannot go without forcing the voice, stop there until you have acquired the requisite power by elementary drill. Never raise the pitch, but increase the force. In echoing buildings, speak slowly and distinctly, pause often, and try to adapt the voice to the peculiarities of the place. Even under the most annoying circumstances, be composed and listen to your own ideas as if you were an auditor instead of the orator. This will prevent declamation. Never get out of breath, nor appear to be fatigued. Breathe unconsciously, by forming the habit; every kind of puffing and panting is disagreeable. By breathing deeply we stir the blood, animate the thinking powers, and prevent nervousness and hesitation. Never lose or relax entirely the grasp in expression; increase or diminish the force, raise or lower the pitch, but never entirely slacken the nervous power that holds all together to the end. Even in the lightest sentiments breathe out the expression, so that the meaning of each word is felt by all. Deliberate, reflect, think, as it were, from head to foot, of what you are saying, word by word, and yet spanning it as a whole; retaining the meaning, by intonat ons, looks, and actions, and still collecting ideas that follow, till the entire subject is brought to a satisfactory termination. This makes an audience listen rather than simply hear. They can then understand line by line, idea after idea, each exactly and accurately as a part of the whole. The mind must act comprehensively, and hold sway over the entire subject, as the voice intones and deals out the parts; the sense is to be held suspended and swayingly, without break or interruption, to its close. Appropriate gesture and action will assist very materially to hold and bind it together in this desired. It helps to point out, to note the meaning by the movement of the hands, the head, the eyes, the body and feet-in fact by all parts of the frame. Ges manner. ture is not absolute, yet must not be merely impulsive motions. In reading from a book or manuscript, hold it low enough to allow everybody present to see your face; a good rule is, that the top of it would touch your chin if inclined toward the body. In reading look from the book or paper as frequently as possible, as if you were speaking, but with less action. Practice first in private, in a conversational manner, and when in public give satisfactory force. SHORT HINTS. Be natural; do not aim at too much; do not try to read, but to feel; do not declaim, but talk; be colloquial, yet not prosaic; be forcible, but not ranting. Be in earnest, profoundly in earnest. Be moderate in gesture; be impetuous and ardent; do not command by sympathy, but by power, passion, will-indomitable will. Keep the body firm and braced in high excitement; keep the sinews braced up like the strings of a harp or violin; be simple and without parade. Speak as though the whole thought was your own; give passionate thoughts a rapid condensation; give the words a vibratory intonation; suppress force, and treasure strength and power. Concentrated tones of passion are better than the highest fury. Imbue each thought with all its capability of expression, and conceive fullest force in each particular. Be intense and passionate in intonation, the whole soul absorbed. In the severest passions delineate to appal; be real; let the form fill the eye of the listener. Effect by tone of voice, the power of the eye, the motion of the hand, and the quality of the sound given. Fervor is sure to effect. Read like one possessing good sense unconsciously; be the character, forget self. Conception of character, or passion, comes long before execution, is not imitation but reality of feeling. To be a hero, feel to be so. Do not despise trifles. Do not guess but determine abilities. Practice often, for the vocal organs become paralyzed for want of action. BEAUTIES OF DELIVERY. (ABBREVIATED).—DR. BARBER. Voice-full, strong, agreeable. Enunciation-exact, audible; not affected precise ness. ony. Recurrent Melody-not monotonous. High Tones-on emphatic words free from monot Radical Stress-effectively used. Slides--Pitch, downward. Rad., positive. Van. Stress-not monotonous. Cadence-proper place. Parenthesis-Paragraphs-changed by transitions of Pitch, Time, and Quality of Voice. The Sense-vividly expressed by the vocal powers. |