HOW TO MASTERThe SPOKEN WORD

Designed as a Self-Instructor for all who would Excel in the Art of Public Speaking

By EDWIN GORDON LAWRENCE

author of “the power of speech,” “speech making,” “the lawrence reader and speaker”

(A. C. McClurg & Co. logo)

A. C. McCLURG & COMPANY CHICAGO, NINETEEN THIRTEEN

[Verso] Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1913

Published March, 1913

W. F. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICAGO

[Dedication]To WILLIAM EDWIN HALL As a mark of appreciation and affection I dedicate this book

“Give me that man That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him In my heart’s care, ay, in my heart of heart, As I do thee”

[p. i]

PREFACE

This work aims to show how to breathe correctly, produce voice properly, put the meaning into words by aid of inflection, emphasis, and the tones of the voice; how to improve the memory, acquire fluency of speech, control an audience, construct speeches, and in every way become competent to think on one’s feet and express thought vocally in an entertaining, convincing, and moving manner. It is intended as a text-book to aid in making students proficient in the art of vocal expression. It aims to cover the field exhaustively, dealing in a comprehensive manner with all subjects pertaining to the construction and the delivery of speeches.

There are so many books treating of the subject of oratory that there would appear scant room for another, but as they all treat mainly of the way to speak, and only give general instructions as to how to speak, there is, in the author’s opinion, a wide field for a book that explicitly shows not only what a person should employ in order to become a ready and effective speaker but also gives specific instructions as the employment of those means.

This book is intended to take the place of the living teacher wherever the services of a thoroughly competent [p. ii] one cannot be secured, or where the student desires to work in the privacy of his own room, and the aim of the author is to make it more practical and of greater value than any of the so-called “Personal Correspondence Courses” now being exploited, and for which exorbitant fees are charged. It may, however, be used to equal advantage by the teacher in the class room as a text-book.

No vague instructions such as, “speak in a clear ringing voice,” “use expressive language,” “mean what you say,” etc., will be given; but in their place will be found directions as to how to gain a good voice, how to acquire the power of explaining by the tones of the voice the meaning of the spoken words, how to secure a delivery that will carry conviction to the listener, and how to construct speeches. In short, this book aims not only to tell the essentials of oratory but also to show the way in which they may be acquired. It contains the complete course in oratorical training as given in the Lawrence School of New York. Finally, the book is presented as a vade mecum that will pilot the would-be orator to success.

Edwin G. Lawrence.

[p. iii]

FOREWORD

Vital are the questions now confronting man the world over; but particularly are those questions important to Americans, because the United States of America is looked upon as the pioneer country of the world in all matters pertaining to man’s emancipation from the injustice of ages, and that young country is expected to blaze a trail through the unsolved realm of progress along which the older nations may travel till they reach the plain of universal justice and liberty.

Among the problems now confronting the people are those of finance, labor, religion, conservation of natural resources, and civic justice. The questions are here, but where are the orators capable of making those questions clear to the masses? Where are the men to solve those problems? Some there are who are nobly responding to the demands of the times, but they are too few successfully to grapple with the task.

It is claimed that this is the age of the printing-press and that the necessity for orators no longer exists. This is surely not a valid claim. The newspaper is doing its work, and in many cases is doing it nobly, but it can never take the place of the human voice. An article may be printed in a paper having a circulation running into the hundreds of thousands, and yet the article will be [p. iv] read by only a small percentage of those into whose hands the paper falls; and out of this percentage a still smaller percentage will be influenced by the printed word. The speaker, on the other hand, addresses an audience of only a few thousand, but of that number, if the speaker is deserving of the name, he will influence a majority. Suppose he convinces and persuades only one hundred, the one hundred are so thoroughly brought into accord with the speaker that they go out into the world and, by word of mouth, bring ten times their number to the same way of thinking. By this means all great movements have flourished. John the Baptist, with the spoken word, prepared the way and made straight

the path; Jesus of Nazareth taught by spoken symbols only; Paul of Tarsus carried Christianity into Greece and Rome by means of speech; Peter the Hermit enthused the Crusaders by his spoken utterances; Martin Luther brought about a reformation by his speech before the Diet of Worms; Patrick Henry aroused his countrymen by his eloquence; Daniel O’Connell accomplished Catholic emancipation in Great Britain by means of presenting the cause of religious liberty to friend and foe in the shape of the spoken word; Daniel Webster expounded the Constitution orally; William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Abraham Lincoln pleaded for the enslaved negro by word of mouth; and La Follette, Bryan, and Roosevelt are expressing the thoughts of the people of today by means of man’s greatest attribute—speech.

[p. v] Therefore, if any would take part in the glorious work of advancing the progress of the world, let him fit himself to discuss by word of mouth the great problems now confronting humanity.

THE VALUE OF ELOQUENCE

Faith cometh by hearing.

—St. Paul, Romans X:17

It is not enough to speak, but to speak true.

—Shakespeare

Mend your speech a little Lest it may mar your fortunes.

—Shakespeare

The power of utterance should be included by all in their plans of self-culture.

—William Ellery Channing

He is an orator that can make me think as he thinks and feel as he feels.

—Daniel Webster

A vessel is known by its sound whether it be cracked or not; so men are proved by their speeches, whether they be wise or foolish.

—Demosthenes

I advocate in its full intent and for every reason of humanity, of patriotism, of religion, a more thorough culture of oratory.

—Henry Ward Beecher

[p. vi] Eloquence has a client which, before all, it must save or make triumph. It matters little whether this client be a man, a people, or an idea.

—Victor Cousin

It is to this early speaking practice in the great art of all arts, oratory, that I am indebted for the primary and leading impulses that stimulated me forward.

—Henry Clay

Ninety-nine men in every hundred in the crowded professions will probably never rise above mediocrity because the training of the voice is entirely neglected and considered of no importance.

—William E. Gladstone

He who does not use a gift, loses it; the man who does not use his voice or limbs, loses power over them, and becomes disqualified for the state of life to which he is called.

—Cardinal Newman

I recognize but one mental acquisition as an essential part of the education of a lady or gentleman, namely, an accurate and refined use of the mother-tongue.

—Charles W. Eliot

Extemporaneous speaking should be practiced and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business if he cannot make a speech.

—Abraham Lincoln

[p. vii] The cultivated voice is like an orchestra. It ranges high, intermediate or low, unconsciously to him who uses it, and men listen, unaware that they have been bewitched out of their weariness by the charms of a voice not artificial, but made by assiduous training to be his second nature.

—Henry Ward Beecher

Men forget what they read; some do not read at all. They do not, however, forget when they are told by a vigorous speaker who means what he says.

—John Oliver Hobbes (Mrs. Craigie)

For who can suppose amid the great multitude of students, the utmost abundance of masters, the most eminent geniuses among men, the infinite variety of causes, the most ample rewards offered to eloquence, there is any other reason to be found for the small number of orators than the incredible magnitude and difficulty of the art?

—Cicero

[p. ix]

CONTENTS

[p. 1]

CHAPTER I

THE MAKING OF ORATORY

the means employed by great orators

The question is often asked, How can I become a public speaker? This might be aptly answered by putting another question, How did other men become public speakers? because by a careful study of the means they employed, others may become equally proficient. From the beginning of oratory down to the present day orators have made their effects in composition and delivery by the selfsame means, and if men of today will apply themselves to a mastery of those means with perseverance and intelligence equal to that of the men of the past, there is no reason why they should not meet with equal proficiency.

Let us go back to Gorgias, the Greek rhetorician and teacher of oratory, who was born about the year 483 b. c., and study the manner of his workmanship.

In his speech “The Encomium on Helen,” he arranges his words in masterly style, making use of all the forms of construction that we possess at this time. He employs [p. 2] the series, the contrasts (single, double, and triple), the conditional, the negative, the positive, and, in fact, all the known forms of arranging words so as to make them best express the orator’s meaning. Here is an effective concluding series he uses: “A city is adorned by good citizenship, the body by beauty, the soul by wisdom, acts by virtue, and speech by truthfulness,” and he follows this sentence with the following one: “But the opposites of these virtues are a disgrace.” Note how effective he makes the first thought by immediately contrasting it with one that rivets the attention to the graces of good citizenship, beauty, wisdom, virtue, and truthfulness, by stating that the reverse of these things are disgraces. Then follows a series of contrasts: “Man and woman, word and deed, city and government” which, he says, “we ought to praise,” and then qualifies this

positive with the conditional, “if praiseworthy,” and then makes a strong contrast by stating, “and blame” which he qualifies by adding the conditional “if blameworthy.” He then makes a statement very strong by employing a double contrast, “For it is equally wrong and stupid to censure what is commendable, and to commend what is censurable.” After this clear reasoning comes another statement: “Now I conceive it to be my duty in the interest of justice to confute the slanders of Helen, the memory of whose misfortunes has been kept alive by the writings of the poets and the fame of her name.” He ends his statement with this strong concluding series, “I propose, therefore, by argument to exonerate her [p. 3] from the charge of infamy, to convince her accusers of their error, and remove their ignorance by a revelation of the truth.” Now read the entire paragraph:

A city is adorned by good citizenship, the body by beauty, the soul by wisdom, acts by virtue, and speech by truthfulness. But the opposites of these virtues are a disgrace. Man and woman, word and deed, city and government we ought to praise if praiseworthy, and blame if blameworthy. For it is equally wrong and stupid to censure what is commendable, and to commend what is censurable. Now I conceive it to be my duty in the interest of justice to confute the slanders of Helen, the memory of whose misfortunes has been kept alive by the writings of the poets and the fame of her name. I propose, therefore, by argument to exonerate her from the charge of infamy, to convince her accusers of their error, and to remove their ignorance by a revelation of the truth.

This is a masterly passage, clear in its statement, logical in its argument, and sound in its conclusion, making a splendid model for a student of oratory to follow. True, the mere faculty of arranging words will not constitute an orator, but it is one of the essentials that go to the making of one; and this power of arranging words, and the capacity for electing the appropriate theme, and judgment in adopting the proper delivery are the principal means that men have possessed in all times for the making of orators. It is essential that the arts of construction and composition should be diligently studied by speakers, for it is as impossible to have oratory without men who understand the rules of composition as it [p. 4] is to have orators without oratory. Matter that is to be spoken must not merely be well written, it must be constructed according to the rules of oratory in order that it may sound well. Literature is to be read, oratory is to be spoken; consequently words intended to be spoken must be arranged in such a manner as to make them more

effective when uttered by the living voice than when they are set in dead type; and this can only be done by gaining a mastery of the rules of oratory and applying them correctly. We are now dealing with the creation of oratory; later, we will consider the making of orators. The example of Gorgias’ oratory cited here gives a clear illustration of the effective use of words, and in order to emphasize this important point of the value of words according to their location, other examples follow.

William H. Seward in his “Plea for the Union” uses this sentence:

If the constellation is to be broken up, the stars, whether scattered widely apart or grouped in smaller clusters, will thenceforth shed forth feeble, glimmering, and lurid lights.

He opens with a conditional phrase, “If the constellation is to be broken up” and then commences his statement with “the stars” which he interrupts to interject the parenthetical phrase “whether scattered widely apart or grouped in smaller clusters,” goes back to his main thought with the words “will thenceforth shed forth feeble, glimmering, and lurid lights.” “Feeble, glimmering, and lurid” constitute a commencing series qualifying “lights,” and thus is brought about an effective close to a well-knit sentence.

[p. 5] Another well-arranged sentence for cumulative force is the following from the same speech:

After Washington, and the inflexible Adams, Henry, and the fearless Hamilton, Jefferson, and the majestic Clay, Webster, and the acute Calhoun, Jackson, the modest Taylor, and Scott, who rises in greatness under the burden of years, and Franklin, and Fulton, and Whitney, and Morse, have all performed their parts, let the curtain fall.

In long sentences, such as this, care should be exercised properly to group the members composing it, otherwise the force will be lost on account of a confusion of ideas. In this sentence there are three groups: Washington, Adams, Henry, Hamilton, and Jefferson constituting the first; Clay, Webster, Calhoun, Jackson, Taylor, and Scott the second; Franklin, Fulton, Whitney, and Morse the third. These, with the phrase “have all performed their parts,” constitute a commencing series, the sense being completed by “let the curtain fall.”

In his address, “The American Scholar,” delivered at Cambridge, Mass., August 31, 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson employed these words:

The theory of books is noble. The scholar of the first age received into him the world around; brooded thereon; gave it the new arrangement of his own mind and uttered it again. It came into him, life; it went out from him, truth. It came to him, short-lived actions; it went out from him, immortal thoughts. It came to him, business; it went from him, poetry. It was dead fact; now, it is quick thought. It can stand and it can go. It now endures, it now flies, it now inspires. Precisely in proportion to the depth of [p. 6] mind from which it issued, so high does it soar, so long does it sing.

This powerful passage is effective mainly because of the masterful arrangement of the words. Emerson opens with the positive statement that “The theory of books is noble.” He follows this with the concluding series, “The scholar of the first age received into him the world around; brooded thereon; gave it the new arrangement of his own mind and uttered it again.” Then comes the double contrast, “It came into him, life; it went out from him, truth.” This is followed by a triple contrast, “It came to him, short-lived actions; it went out from him, immortal thoughts.” Then comes another double contrast, “It came to him, business; it went from him, poetry.” Then another triple contrast is used, “It was dead fact; now, it is quick thought.” Then comes the positive statement that “It can stand and it can go.” A concluding series then follows, “It now endures, it now flies, it now inspires,” and the paragraph ends with the conditional phrase and the concluding phrases, “Precisely in proportion to the depth of mind from which it

issued, so high does it soar, so long does it sing,” the concluding clause containing the double contrast, “so high does it soar, so long does it sing.” Few paragraphs of like length contain so much thought as does this one of Emerson’s, and the immensity of thought could be placed in such a small space only because of the skilful disposition of the words, the meaning being made clear by the clever placing of one word against another word, [p. 7] one idea against another idea. The sentences are short, and while they may not be particularly beautiful, they are exceedingly strong.

In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address is this telling sentence:

To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.

The words “strengthen, perpetuate, and extend” are a commencing series because they act on the word “interest.” Slavery was the object for which the insurgents would separate the Union, even by going to the extreme of making war; while the Federal Government claimed merely the right to prevent its spreading into the territories. What makes this sentence so clear and so forceful is the manner in which the contrast is brought out regarding the acts of the insurgents and the claims of the Government.

One of the most expressive and best constructed sentences in English literature is the following from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

This is a triple opposition, “The world will little note nor long remember” being contrasted with “but it can never forget,” “we” with “they,” and “say” with “did.”

[p. 8] Another beautiful specimen of construction is the last paragraph of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address:

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right—let us strive on to finish the work we are in: to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.