TEST QUESTIONS

These questions are for the student to use in testing his knowledge of the principles in this lesson. They are suggestive merely, dealing largely with the practical application of the principles, and are to be placed in the notebook for future reference.

1. Corax made his type plan to meet the needs of citizens who had to plead land-claim suits; that is, in Sicily, when there was a dispute over the title of a piece of property, each citizen argued his own cause. Why do you think the arrangement Corax made was a good one for the purpose?

2. Why is it better to divide the speech into three partsintroduction, body, and conclusion-than to enumerate five or eight separate parts?

3. Did you ever hear a speaker who made a fairly good speech but did not succeed in driving it home? What man do you know who does drive home his ideas most thoroughly? 4. Why should the conclusion be in the mind from the start? Why prepare the introduction last?

5. Did you ever hear a long speech and find it impossible to remember the message of the speaker? Would a summary have helped any? Why?

6. Why do you think a formal summary is more necessary in a legal plea than in a eulogy? When is the service of a formal summary indispensable? When may it be omitted?

7. What advantage has the crisp summary over the formal summary? What disadvantage?

8. Were you ever repelled by a speaker who was highly emotional at the very beginning? Were you ever "carried away" by an emotional burst at the end? Why do you tolerate at the end what might be offensive at the beginning?

9. Why is it better to tell what you want the audience to do in an appeal at the end than to tell it in a statement in the beginning?

10. What is a good note of appeal to strike with most juries? Why do lawyers defending murder cases often demand a death sentence or acquittal, but not a compromise sentence for a period of years?

11. What is a good note of appeal to be used with gatherings of business men?

12. Do you think the poetical quotation at the end of Grady's "New South" strengthens or weakens the effect?

13. Were you ever stirred by a speaker but were left with the feeling that while you would like to do something, you did not know just what to do? Why should most appeals be very definite?

14. What is the effect on the speaker himself of uncertainty concerning the ending of a speech? What effect does rambling have on an audience?

15. Why is the summary an efficient means of stopping rambling?

LESSON 7

PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF DELIVERY

1. INTRODUCTION

Thus far we have spoken about the mental side of speech-making: The clear thinking out of ideas, their arrangement in the most effective order, their proper introduction, their application and appeal-all these are matters of mental exercise. But now we must turn for a while to the physical side of the delivery of a speech. A cornetist might have the most wonderful melodies in his mind, but if he had no instrument and if his breath were insufficient to make it produce sound, other people would never get the benefit of his musical genius. The body with its lungs, vocal cords, and tongue is the instrument of the public speaker. Without a good control of the body, there can be no adequate expression of ideas by means of voice and gesture. Therefore, we shall consider the most important of those physical things which influence the effectiveness of a speaker.

We do not intend to give minute directions about the way the finger should be pointed or the eyebrow raised. We are not concerned with the conscious control of details of gesture or grimace. But we do face this situation: Some men get out of breath when they speak; some become hoarse if they talk continuously for five or

ten minutes; some speak so poorly that they cannot be heard even in a small hall; some have their voices "break." All these are practical obstacles to efficiency. We must show the student how to overcome or avoid them.

But besides these very obvious weaknesses of most untrained speakers, there are the less generally recognized deficiencies of unpleasant tone, jerky delivery due to poor breathing, and individual mannerisms. With these, also, we must deal.

Fortunately, if the student will acquire a few simple habits of posture and breathing, most of the matters of voice range, quality, and ease will take care of themselves. These habits are to speaking what normal living is to health. If one lives properly, he need never attend to his health, for it will take care of itself, and he need never consult a physician. So, also, the speaker who habitually stands well and breathes properly will unconsciously produce pleasant, strong tones and make graceful gestures. Furthermore, easy posture and correct, deep breathing have a wonderful influence upon the mental calm and effectiveness of the speaker. We shall, then, devote this lesson to fundamental, physical considerations which have a far-reaching effect upon the mind and voice of the speaker.

2. POSTURE

By posture, we mean the way the speaker standshow he rests upon his feet, how he holds his trunk, or torso, and the attitude of his head and arms. There is a good posture which makes for efficiency and there are

bad ones which interfere with delivery. The ideal posture should do two things: (1) It should be the most comfortable position of rest from which the speaker may make the most direct, easy, and graceful movements when there is a natural impulse for him to do so; and (2) it should be the best position to foster the kind of breathing which is most desirable for the public speaker.

(a) The Position of the Feet

The first and easiest thing to explain about posture is the disposition of the feet. They should be placed so as to support the body in easy balance, permitting the simplest change of position when the speaker moves about on the platform or shifts his weight in gesture. There are, of course, many different attitudes which a speaker may assume during an address. We shall describe now the normal posture, or standard position, from which the speaker departs in assuming the others and with which others are compared.

Look at the outline picture of Demosthenes and note the position of the feet. You will see that the right foot is somewhat in advance of the left, thus bringing the right hand, with which most men usually make the most gestures, nearest the audience. (The Greek orator has that arm free of drapery so that its movements will be unhampered.) Neither foot points directly at the audience, though the right foot comes nearer to doing so than the left. If a line were drawn through the right foot and back to the left foot, it would pass through the left heel. The right foot is advanced so that the heel is about as far forward as the toe of the left. The accom