The speaker at home : chapters on public speaking and reading aloud

Preface

HE following pages are more especially addressed to the younger members of the Universities, in the confident hope that the subjects of which they treat will soon be recognized in their full importance by every man who is looking forward to serve in the Christian ministry. The time has passed when the Church of England can afford to let judgment go by default ; and she has already suffered much by her supineness in this particular.

Unfortunately, erroneous opinions on this subject have been blindly acquiesced in until they have gained, a sort of prescriptive authority ; and even now, men of the most earnest and practical turn of mind are again and again found to endorse the absurd paradox, that, though the best years of life may advantageously be spent in storing the mind with the treasures of knowledge, yet a few weeks' study of the only means of applying vi PREFACE.

this knowledge should be absolutely forbidden — lest, forsooth, it should result in " foppery," in " affectation," or in " theatrical display." Without attempting to argue against an objection so shadowy, we can only say that, so far from having any foundation in truth or reason, it seems to be a gratuitous insult to the Clergy, an insult to their office, and an insult to common sense. An insult to the Clergy, because surely that charity which believeth all things may well believe that any personal feelings would, as a rule, be entirely subordinated to the interests of the great work entrusted to them. An insult to their office, because when was it ever heard that men placed themselves in any responsible situation without long preparation for, at least, its more arduous duties. And lastly, an insult to common sense, because it is utterly incompatible with our experience in analogous cases. Does the soldier, borne along in the full tide of battle, think of the evolutions or the exact step of the parade-ground ? Does the practised swimmer, battling with the waves to save a life, think of each once carefully studied movement ? Decidedly not! Why then should it be supposed that an earnest man, engaged in the crowning act of his week's ministry, and oppressed with the sense that in the mysterious ways of God's providence the unalterable destiny of some of

PREFACE. vii

his hearers may be imperilled upon his single appeal, why, I say, under such circumstances, should it be supposed that an earnest man would be thinking of rules, or of gratifying the littleness of mere personal vanity ?

We may well hope that such objections will soon cease to prevent reading and speaking becoming recognized subjects of study ; and, as a necessary consequence, the general standard of proficiency in them being raised far above its present level.

The chapters on reading aloud were originally thrown together for a lecture at the Crosby Hall Mechanics' Institute ; and it seemed preferable to endeavour to write the rest of this little work in the style of a lecture, rather than recast that which was so far prepared.

Preface To The Second Edition

^N thanking those gentlemen who have so kindly complied with the request contained in page 47 of the former edition* of this work, the author would venture again to draw attention to the advantage which may be derived from the results of experience being thus from time to time collected.

* Page 43 of this edition.

Chapter I

Page EARERS not necessarily listeners — illustrated by anecdote. Why attention is best arrested by extempore speaking. Archbishop Whateley 's analogy. Obj ections to extempore speaking. Want of fluency in conversation not necessarily a disqualification for public speaking. Failure of subject-matter arises from want of preparation. A clear view of a subject to be gained only by writing upon it. Objection arising from abuse of extempore speaking . . 1

Chapter II. On gaining a command of words. Private practice for speaking. Difficulties to be overcome. Details of plan for practice. Vindication of plan .... 8

Chapter III. Nervousness inseparable from first attempts at public "speaking — illustrated by anecdote. Timidity should be overcome by early training. Schools not yet available. Unions and debating societies at the Universities should be made more available 13

Chapter IV. Plan to be pursued by those already engaged in active life. The cause to which a celebrated orator ascribed his power. Lord Chesterfield's maxims. Correctness in conversation. Indulgence extended to most young speakers not accorded to the clergy. A clergyman would speak first in his schools. Difficulty of keeping the attention of children. The modern story-teller, his materials, and the use of his art. Lectures adapted to school-children. MS. not to be dispensed with at once in preaching. Difficulty of combining written with extempore matter. Advantages of concluding a written sermon with extempore address. The first labour expended in acquiring the power of extempore speaking, repaid in after years .... 19

Chapter V. Plan proposed requires labour. But not greater than should be bestowed upon a MS. previous to reading. Extempore speaking contrasted in its effects with reading from aMS. Archbishop Whateley's analogy capable of difi CONTENTS.

Page ferent application. Extempore speaking influences the speaker before the hearer. Speaking and reading orators. Dr. Chalmers an instance of the latter. His reasons for not speaking extempore. Earnestness the real secret of success in all cases. Rant not earnestness. Time required in the study of MS. previous to reading or speaking. Evening generally devoted to reading. Early rising — its advantages. Dr. Cumming's opinion as to the labour required for extempore speaking. Practice will lessen the labour of preparation. Preaching not to be compai'ed with ordinary speaking . 31

Chapter VI. Details of preparatory study. The necessity of settling the exact point to be aimed at in speaking. Some speakers neglect this — hence tbey indulge in high nonsense. Mr. Addison's definition of such speaking. Principle applied to preaching. Advantage of a short text. Incident illustrating the necessity of speaking to the point. Sidney Smith's method of discovering whether a Sermon was understood. Sermons forgotten in a few hours — probable cause of this. Keeping close to one subject difficult. How the difficulty may probably be lessened. Superfluous matter to be avoided, however good in itself. A length which no speech should exceed 46

Chapter VII. Anecdote showing tendency to repetition in extempore speaking. This avoided by the subject being well arranged. Advantage of arrangement to speaker and hearer 55

Chapter VIII. Anecdote showing how a speaker may be misunderstood — especially by agricultural poor. Consequent necessity of plain speaking. Colloquial style incidental to speaking, an ornate style to writing. One counteracts the other in proposed plan of preparation. " Perspicuity" and " sublimity " not incompatible. Why common-place expressions should be avoided. Aristotle's remarks on the use of foreign words, and the length of sentences. Newman's description of the style of writing in vogue at the present day — well suited as preparatory for extempore speaking, but generally dangerous . . 58

Chapter IX. Extreme accuracy often desirable in speaking. Memoriter speaking less difficult than supposed. Prej udice against it unfounded. Probable meaning of Cicero's phrase, " mandare memoriae." Disadvantages incidental to memoriter speaking. Failure of memory while speaking. How to be met. Advantages of combining extempore with memoriter speaking. Nature and extent of preparation for speaking — illustrated by example of Mr. Robertson of Brighton . 66

Chapter X. Modesty essential in an orator. Timidity gives way before real feeling. Anecdote of a Vice-Chancellor

CONTENTS. ' xi

Page of Oxford. Feeling more effective than studied eloquence. The true source of confidence 73

Chapter XI. A Scylla or Charybdis. Definition, origin, and remedy of spouting. Deliberation and self-possession indispensable to a speaker. Advantages of a distinct pronunciation. The management of the voice. The bass voice most difficult to control. M. Bautain's definition of a sympathetic voice. Its cause, origin, and effect . . 78

Chapter XII. Absence of action arises from modesty of English character. Difference of the Italian orators. The effect of action. The action of Cicero and Demosthenes compared with that seen at the English bar — anecdote illustrative of. Origin of appropriate gesture. Why difficult to be used in reading, or in memoriter speaking. Forced action like rouge on the cheek 83

Chapter XIII. Lecturing a means of supporting many useful societies. Lecturing a preparation for public speaking. Lecturers in country parishes. A winter's experience of a weekly lecture. Assistance derived from village choir. Nature of subjects chosen. Readings from Shakespeare popular. Advantages of combining speaking with reading. 89

Chapter XIV. Anecdote of Corregio. The orator must study in a kindred spirit. Industry versus genius. Vanity often claims for genius the results of industry. Lord Brougham's opinion as to the acquisition of oratorical power. The danger of fluent speaking. Fluency no evidence of power. Plato's preparation for speaking. Early training of Demosthenes. His difficulty in speaking. Progressive workmanship of his finest passages. His aim to gain strength rather than beauty. Cicero a warning as well as an example. Mr. Pitt's early training. His first speech impromptu. His manner and style. His faults. Sheridan's early failure and ultimate success in oratory. Burke's description of his eloquence, and Lord Brougham's account of the means by which he attained his power. His faults. Nothing impromptu. The reading oratory of Dr. Chalmers. His power — incident to illustrate. Probable reason of his success. Greatest orators have not commanded a uniformly attentive hearing. Anecdote of Burke 95

Chapter XV. First principles of reading. Suspension of the voice distinct from a pause. Punctuation insufficient guide to the reader. Subordinate members of a sentence to be marked by suspension of voice. Archbishop W hateley's criticism upon Mr. Sheridan's method of punctuation. The proper suspension of the voice gives variety of tone, and relief to hearer and reader, and gives force to partixii CONTENTS.

Page cular words. Reading poetry. Grouping words in reading. Difference between a slow reader and a drawling reader. Extract from Morell's grammar showing the grammatitical grouping of words 113

Chapter XVI. Punch's opinion of an emphatic reader. Definition of emphasis. Illustrated by ordinary conversation. Meaning varied by the tone of voice. A good reader not a " tine reader. Some sentences difficult to read. Small words to be subordinated. Reading the Scriptures — Blunt's rule for. Necessity of entering into the feeling as well as meaning of an author. Reading must be a spontaneous effort 12.<

Chapter XVII. The perfection of art is nature. An art not learned at once. Absence of qualified teachers of elocution. Good critics at home. Educated Englishwomen generally good readers. Sir Walter Scott's definition of a good reader. The assistance which may be derived from a good criticism 138

Physiology of Speech. Speech an acquirement — not a gift. The mechanism of speech. The musical notes of the voice. Pitch of voice regulated by size of building. Quick and slow echoes. Difficulties arising from them. Probable origin of intoning. Speech probably a subject of study. The organ of speech. Speaking machines. Classification of alphabet. Complexity of action involved in speech. Fatigue of organs. Pauses in oratory — their duration and advantages. The pause in speaking analogous to pure white glass in old painted windows. Husting's speaking, or stump oratory. Rapid delivery of English orators. Stammering — its cause and gradual progress — Physiological explanation of. The falsetto 142

Appendix

Mr. Kingsbury's Letter on cultivation of the voice for reading 171

Letter from Lord , detailing his method of preparing

his maiden speech in Parliament 179

Anecdote illustrative of the power of natural speaking . 180

THE SPEAKEE AT HOME.

CHAPTER I.

" Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,

Which we ascribe to Heaven." — Shakespeare.

N audience of hearers is one thing, an audience of listeners is another. There is, perhaps, no class of men who have to realize this fact so often or so painfully as the younger clergy. A congregation gathered together to hear the words of one whose appeals and counsel have often before sent them away better and happier men is, from that very fact, a congregation of listeners ; but confront them with a smooth-faced youth of some four-and-twenty summers, and they become at once — the first stages of somnolence having been shown to be peculiarly sensitive of sound — hearers only in the most limited sense of the word.

Nor is it the younger clergy only who have to complain of this listlessness on the part of their hearers ; from the very nature of the case, it is an evil which every preacher has more or less to contend with. Men go to the public meeting, to the courts of law, or to the Houses of Parliament, with

B minds occupied with the subjects under discussion ; not so, however, with the congregations who gather Sunday after Sunday in our churches ; their minds are too often entirely preoccupied with subjects the very antipodes to those which are to be brought forward, and, therefore, the danger evidently is that their thoughts will still flow on uninterruptedly in the same channel.

There is a story told of a shipbuilder in one of our large seaport towns, who, after attending service on the Sunday morning, remarked that he had planned out the whole of a new vessel which he had to commence, and that he was much pleased with many improvements that had suggested themselves to his mind, during the uninterrupted half hour of the sermon. On his return, however, on the following Sunday, after having heard a stranger, on being asked how he had got on with his ship-building, he declared that he had not been able to lay a single plank !

The first thing we have to do, then, disguise the fact as we may, is to break off the attention of our hearers from the matters which previously engross their minds. The question is, How is this to be done ? Experience says that the system in vogue up to this time has signally failed, and that a large body of the most highly-educated men in the country are positively unable to obtain a patient hearing for half an hour a week, on a topic which, for power of enlisting the attention and sympathies of all classes has no equal.

Now the first requisite, that of gaining attention, is undoubtedly to be acquired by extempore speaking ; whether such speaking be good, bad, or indifferent, you cannot help listening. Let four persons be in a room together — A is talking to B, and C to D, and B wishes to hear what C is saying ; no matter what common-place A is talking, B cannot so entirely abstract his mind as to listen to C : this is ten-fold more the case in a public assembly, where hundreds are keeping silence for one man to speak.

One reason of this is well given in the following passage from Archbishop Whateley's Rhetoric.

" The audience are more sure that the thoughts that they hear expressed are the genuine emanation of the speaker's mind at the moment ; their attention and interest are excited by their sympathy with one whom they perceive to be carried forward solely by his own unaided and unremitted efforts, without having any book to refer to : they view him as a swimmer supported by his own exertions ; and in every such case, if the feat be well accomplished, the surmounting of the difficulty affords great gratification ; especially to those who are conscious that they could not do the same. And one proof that part of the pleasure conveyed does arise from this source is, that as the spectators of an exhibition of supposed unusual skill in swimming would instantly withdraw most of their interest and admiration, if they perceived that the performer was supported by corks, or the like, so would the feelings alter of the hearers of a supposed extemporaneous discourse, as soon as they should perceive or even suspect that the orator had it written down before him."

All then, at first, is manifestly in favour of the extempore speaker ; he has a listening and anxiously expectant audience.

What, then, shall induce any one to forego such an advantage ? And what will induce even the members of a congregation themselves to say that they prefer to listen to a written sermon ?

First, for the speaker himself 1 — he says he has not sufficient fluency of language ; secondly, subject-matter is apt to fail him ; thirdly, he has not the power of arranging his ideas into a clear and convincing argument ; fourthly, he is apt to say that which after more mature reflection he would have omitted.

Many persons, who have never attempted to speak in public, decide that they have not sufficient fluency of language from the fact of their feeling a defect even in ordinary conversation. Now it may seem a curious assertion, but I believe that nearly all public speakers will affirm that they find it more difficult to express their ideas in one continuous flow of language in conversation than they do in a public address. Nay, many men have so felt their deficiency in attempting to explain their ideas to a single person previous to addressing a meeting, that it has been only the continued experience of this fact that has prevented their being disheartened by it. But this may be readily accounted for : — first, there is the additional stimulus arising from the sympathy of numbers ; there is the absolute necessity of not shoving any hesitation, and the acquired habit of giving up the expression you want, if it does not come to hand, and substituting some other, though much less forcible, in its stead ; again, in conversation men have generally to arrange their arguments as they go on ; new ideas are suggested or sought for whilst they speak ; they are not exactly decided what they want to say, nor are they familiar enough with their subject to have all the terms and expressions ready for use. Let them, however, be telling you something of which their whole mind is full, some piece of good news or some story of an injustice done to them, and there will be very little hesitation. Hence want of fluency in conversation, or in the first attempts at public speaking, is by no means prima facie evidence that a man will not eventually speak without the least hesitation.

Secondly, subject-matter is apt to fail the speaker.

This objection is perhaps the one which carries the greatest weight with it, and yet it may be shown, more than any other, to be based on a fallacy. It is founded on the supposition that the term extempore refers to matter as well as to language. The lawyer has seldom much difficulty in speaking, because he has always fresh facts and fresh arguments which have to be conveyed to his hearers. If the speaker neglect to store his mind with new ideas and new arguments, the surprise would be if his subject-matter did not fail him. He is expecting to do that which no other class of persons ever has been able to do or simple enough to attempt.

Another advantage of the mind being well stored with subject-matter is, that any slight hesitation or verbal inaccuracy is scarcely more observed than it would be in conversation ; and for this reason — that it does not indicate that a man is getting out of his depth, and at a loss what to say next; thus the hearer's mind is carried along by a connected argument, and it is only when that connection seems to be endangered, that any nervousness is likely to be felt for the speaker.

In answering the third objection, that the speaker has not the power of arranging his ideas into a clear and convincing argument, we must take into consideration the fact which experience amply bears out — that the majority of men are so educated, that, except on the most ordinary subjects, or on questions which have become matters of private or public discussion, they have no definite ideas at all; and it is only when they attempt to render their dim and shadowy conceptions sufficiently tangible to be grasped by the mind of another that they perceive any difficulty ; they then find that their outline of thought is often in itself very incomplete, and the details either refuse to arrange themselves in harmony with it, or are in some places wanting altogether.

If the truth of these remarks be admitted, it follows that some plan will have to be adopted by a speaker to overcome this difficulty, inasmuch as he cannot possibly convey to others that which he has not clearly conceived himself. He will, I think, be obliged to have recourse to writing. By this means he will at once unravel the tangled skeins of thought which may have been lying in a confused and useless mass in his mind. The first putting pen to paper will also be the signal for a host of new ideas to rally round him ; and, as he advances upon each division of his subject, fresh recruits will continually be pouring in — raw levies they may be, but requiring only care and subordination to constitute them valuable auxiliaries; camp followers and baggage there must be none ; all must be meant for service, " not yet mature" perhaps, " but matchless : " then, if the plan of the campaign be but skilfully laid, and execution be not wanting, not more surely would the exiled Prince, returning once more to claim his own, and, gathering strength at every step, advance to conquest, than would the orator, wielding at will the powers which his patience had disciplined, make all difficulties fly before the onward march of his resistless argument. If, on the contrary, whether despising his adversary or overconfident in himself, he advances prematurely to the conflict, discomfiture must inevitably be the consequence — a discomfiture not the less galling because it is to be attributed solely to the fact that he has, wantonly or presumptuously, neglected the only proper means of ensuring a different result.

The fourth objection, that a person will put forward much that maturer thought would have led him to suppress, can only arise from the abuse not the use of extempore speaking. If a man have acquired the power of keeping strictly to the subject-matter that he has prepared, it is only possible for him to commit verbal errors.

THE SPEAKER AT HOME.

Chapter II

" The wise and active conquer difficulties . By daring to attempt them ; sloth and folly Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard, And make the impossibility they fear." — Kowe.

fgg^HE first requisite for public speaking is the power of clothing thoughts previously conceived in appropriate language ; the second, the power of weaving together a succession of thoughts into a harmonious whole.

In the outset, then, we shall find that some men have greater difficulties to contend with than others. For instance, the man, some eight or ten years of whose life has been spent in studying the classics, will have gained an accurate and almost instinctive perception of the various shades of meaning expressed by nearly synonymous words; and mdre than this, a continual habit of translating classical authors will have given him not only a ready command of words, but an aptitude for arranging them, so as best to convey his meaning.* For those who

* " The future orator must, by long study and repeated compositions of a finished kind, handle and turn all expressions of language, various constructions of sentences, and endless combinations of words, until they have become supple and welltrained instruments of the mind, giving him no longer any have not had this previous training, perhaps the most useful exercise will be to take up a book, and, choosing out words or expressions from it, to vary and modify them ; e. g. I wish — intend — purpose — think of — meditate — my desire, intention, or wish, is — my inclination leads me. Or again : hatred — dislike — loathing — disgust — aversion — distaste — disinclination to — objection to — prejudice against — antipathy to, &c. It may seem a childish exercise, but is none the less useful for that.

Having secured the use of the right words, we then want them put in their right places in the sentence. This nothing but continual practice will effect ; an expression which in itself involves the idea of private study, not of public exhibition.

The question arises, How is one to practise speaking with no one to speak to ? It may be answered by another question, How can a man learn singing with no one to sing to ? Even by singing to himself: — so a man may speak to himself.

The best speakers tell us to abstract our minds from the individuals of the mass of people before us. Some even would conceive them to be so many blocks of wood ; and surely, therefore, tables and chairs will stand for an audience under these circumstances.

The next question is, What to speak about? Take up the first book that comes to hand, the more simple it is the better ; after reading a passage carefully through two or three times, close the book and give your own version of it.

trouble while actually speaking, and accommodating themselves unresistingly to the slightest guidance of his thought." M. BAUTAIN on Extempore Speaking.

It would be well to choose narrative in preference to argument to begin with, because, without calling the thinking powers into action, it gives the mind a clue quite sufficient to prevent it rambling. Besides, there is not the same feeling of unreality in narrating a fact that there is in actually addressing an imaginary audience. A more important point than some men may conceive ; as there will at first be an almost invincible repugnance, in many minds, to do anything which at the time seems so totally unreal ; anything of which, in fact, a man fancies he should be ashamed if any one intruded suddenly into the room in which he was speaking.

I shall now dwell upon some of the difficulties which will meet the speaker at the outset. First and foremost, he will be apt to get into the middle of a sentence and then find himself utterly unable to complete it grammatically. Under these circumstances he will probably be inclined to adopt one of two alternatives, either he will go on and finish it in the best way he can,* putting grammar for the time on one side, or he will go back and begin the whole sentence again. The objection to the first plan is, that he will get into a fluent, but loose slovenly way of speaking, which will be much more readily formed than got rid of; and to the second, that he will acquire a habit of hesitation and uncertainty, which would make any man intolerable to listen to.

In addressing an audience, a speaker must adopt

* " Nevertheless, when once you have begun, you must rigidly beware of retreating by any break in the thought or in the sentence. You must go on daringly to the end, even though you take refuge in some unauthorized turn of expression or some incorrectness of language." — M. Bautain on Extempore Speaking.

one- or other of these plans of getting out of such a difficulty ; but in practice it will be as well to remember the old adage, that " prevention is better than cure." With this view the student may begin by reading so small a portion of the narrative that he will necessarily adopt as nearly as possible the construction of the author ; after which, by taking several sentences together, this similarity of order and expression, though still apparent, will become less marked.

Thus, simple as the process may appear, the first lesson will have been taken in that accuracy of thought and expression which is generally supposed attainable only by our most gifted speakers, and not by them until after many years of comparative failure.

I need hardly point out the works best suited for this kind of practice ; my only suggestion is, that a man should select such authors as he may desire to become acquainted with, so that, even if he should fail in making any progress as a speaker, his time will not have been wasted. Thus a university man with some examination pending would probably select works bearing on the history of his subjects. The theological student would take up Robertson or Milman, Blunt's " History of the Reformation," or some such work ; and I question if he will find any plan give him a more accurate knowledge of a subject than the one here suggested.

Having by this means acquired some facility in giving expression to his ideas, the student would begin to take longer portions at a time, to render into his own words. Having carefully studied, say the greater part of a chapter of some work, he would write out a few notes, and speak from them ; they should be written out with care, and well studied, so as to form a sort of memoria tecknica y always present before the mind's eye of the speaker.

I have thus far considered only the case of a man who should adopt this system by himself. I need hardly say how great an advantage and stimulus it would be for two or three to pursue some such plan together, or, at least, occasionally to compare notes and offer the suggestions of their own experience. The more fault each found with the other, the better ; no man notices his own peculiarities, however glaring they may appear to others, or, if he does, the chances are he looks upon them as anything but faults ; anything, however, which can be remarked upon, one way or the other, is always bad ; the mere fact of its having excited attention proves it — for the simple reason, that thesubjectis whataspeaker has toimpress upon his audience ; and it is only at the expense of his subject that he can direct attention to himself.