Part 2 (1/2)
_How to Conquer Monotony_
We obviateour wardrobes We avoidour powers of speech Weour tools
The carpenter has special imple The organist has certain keys and stops which he manipulates to produce his harmonies and effects In like manner the speaker has certain instruuuides the beliefs of his audience To give you a conception of these instru to use the chapters
Why did not the Children of Israel whirl through the desert in li-picture entertain machines on the Ark? The laws that enable us to operate an auto-pictures, or music on the Victrola, would have worked just as well then as they do today It was ignorance of law that for ages deprived humanity of our modern conveniences Many speakers still use ox-cartautonorant of laws thatJust to the extent that you regard and use the laws that we are about to examine and learn how to use will you have efficiency and force in your speaking; and just to the extent that you disregard the be feeble and ineffective We cannot ihly upon you the necessity for a real working mastery of these principles They are the very foundations of successful speaking ”Get your principles right,” said Napoleon, ”and the rest is a matter of detail”
It is useless to shoe a dead horse, and all the sound principles in Christendom will never make a live speech out of a dead one So let it be understood that public speaking is not aa few dead rules; the most important law of public speech is the necessity for truth, force, feeling, and life Forget all else, but not this
When you have mastered the mechanics of speech outlined in the next few chapters you will no longer be troubled with e of these principles and the ability to apply thereat variety in your powers of expression But they cannot beabout them--you must practise, _practise_, _PRACTISE_ If no one else will listen to you, listen to yourself--you must always be your own best critic, and the severest one of all
The technical principles that we lay down in the following chapters are not arbitrary creations of our own They are all founded on the practices that good speakers and actors adopt--either naturally and unconsciously or under instruction--in getting their effects
It is useless to warn the student that he must be natural To be natural may be to be monotonous The little strawberry up in the arctics with a few tiny seeds and an acid tang is a natural berry, but it is not to be compared with the improved variety that we enjoy here The dwarfed oak on the rocky hillside is natural, but a poor thing compared with the beautiful tree found in the rich, ifts until you have approached the ideal, for we must strive after idealized nature, in fruit, tree, and speech
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1 What are the causes of monotony?
2 Cite some instances in nature
3 Cite instances in man's daily life
4 Describe some of the effects of monotony in both cases
5 Read aloud so or force
6 Now repeat it after you have thoroughly assimilated its matter and spirit What difference do you notice in its rendition?
7 Why is monotony one of the worst as well as one of the most common faults of speakers?
CHAPTER III
EFFICIENCY THROUGH EMPHASIS AND SUBORDINATION
In a word, the principle of e particular rules, but by being full of a particular feeling
--CS BALDWIN, _Writing and Speaking_
The gun that scatters toothe birds The same principle applies to speech The speaker that fires his force and eet results Not every word is of special importance--therefore only certain words demand emphasis
You say Massa_CHU_setts and Minne_AP_olis, you do not emphasize each syllable alike, but hit the accented syllable with force and hurry over the unimportant ones Nohy do you not apply this principle in speaking a sentence? To some extent you do, in ordinary speech; but do you in public discourse? It is there that monotony caused by lack of emphasis is so painfully apparent
So far as ee sentence as just one big word, with the important word as the accented syllable