網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

II. Means of Development

Now let us consider some more direct methods of securing self-confidence. Much that has been said in earlier chapters about thorough preparation for an address has an emphatic bearing upon this matter. Again, we gain confidence by becoming accustomed to expressing our thoughts in words. This can be done by frequent practice in writing, and especially in thoughtful conversation. Instead of being satisfied with laconic exchanges, we should cultivate the habit of developing ideas in our more leisurely talks with companions. We can gain confidence in expressing our thoughts also by thinking aloud in the privacy of our homes. It would probably be surprising to hear how many excellent sermons and speeches have been worked out with chairs and tables as uncomplaining practice audiences. Finally, the training par excellence for selfconfidence is actual appearance before audiences. Every chance to speak, whether in class-room, social gathering, club-room, or on formal occasion should be seized as an opportunity to develop that factor of power which confidence alone can give.

B. SINCERITY

The second personal quality requisite for effective speaking is sincerity. There are, to be sure,

certain subjects and occasions which permit levity of treatment. But in dealing with serious matters the speaker, as a rule, reaches the hearts and minds of his listeners only when he expresses his real thoughts and feelings. Insincerity, whether open, or hidden under an assumed earnestness, is ill-calculated to win for a speaker the esteem which counts so much to his advantage. We all despise anything which savors of hypocrisy, and we all like a straightforward man even if his views are opposed to our own. Often a speaker's very earnestness is in no small part responsible for an actual change of heart, to say nothing of a favorable hearing, on the part of antagonistic auditors. It is safe to say that under the influence of such earnestness as is displayed by men like Mr. Roosevelt many who come to scoff remain to pray.

This sincerity of which I am speaking is not a quality which can be put on like a surplice and removed at convenience. If it exists in a person, it exists as a part of the warp and woof of that person's character. Therefore, it must be cultivated in one's daily life. A man who habitually thinks of life as more or less of a joke, or who ordinarily talks as if nothing counted much is apt to give an impression of insincerity when he speaks in public. Another type of insincerity is represented by the person who gets, and deserves,

the comment, "Oh, he loves to hear himself talk.” That will not be said of the speaker who strives to understand and to sympathize broadly with the lives and activities of his fellowmen, and who appears before an audience with the same true sincerity which characterizes his habitual attitude.

C. CHARM

The third quality which should be cultivated by the speaker is charm, or magnetism. This, as was said of humor in the discussion of style, is an elusive quality to analyze, partly because with different individuals it manifests itself in such various kinds and degrees. Unquestionably a

speaker is fortunate if he is just naturally gifted with an attractive personality. But certain attributes can be cultivated which will lend no small degree of charm to the speaker.

I. Modesty

First, among these attributes, may be mentioned modesty or, if one pleases, the absence of anything suggestive of bluster, of self-assertiveness. Not infrequently a speaker by adopting an attitude of superiority or of domineering ruins his chances of winning an audience, irrespective of what he has to say. People are not well-disposed

toward the views of a man, however much he may know, who presumes to say, in effect, "You ignorant ones, listen to me who know it all." The attitude of the audience is not improved even if this sentiment is put in the more bland language of a Brutus: "Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear; believe me for mine honor, and have respect to mine honor that you may believe; censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses that you may the better judge." No, the audience respects self-confidence, as stated before, but it likes a self-confidence that has no dealings with self-assertiveness. Nor is the listener drawn to a speaker whose modesty savors of self-depreciation of the Uriah Heep type. In a word, the quality under consideration is best exemplified in the man whose words and manner bespeak a personality which neither offends by a display of superiority, nor disgusts by condescension.

II. Geniality

Quite as important as modesty is geniality. This quality radiates from the speaker and warms the audience into a feeling of accord with him. One occasionally hears a man who "captivates his listeners" even before he begins to speak. An expression of sympathetic and infectious goodhumor does the work. Admittedly this radiant

quality is difficult in the case of an immature speaker under the handicap of timidity, nervousness or poor preparation. But such a person can avoid the last-mentioned obstacle, and he will be helped by not taking himself too seriously, and by remembering what was said in the early pages about the good wishes and sympathy of the average audience for the speaker. At all events every speaker should cultivate geniality as a habit. The old saw, "Laugh and the World laughs with you," has been most profitably drafted into service by a great modern business corporation in the form, "The voice with the smile wins." This idea may well be taken to heart by the speaker. Severity has its place in speaking; anger has its place; so does sarcasm; but under ordinary circumstances cheerfulness, optimism, wholeheartedness are what make for charm.

It is difficult to convey the impression of a speaker's charm in mere type; the warmth with which the individual invests the words is lost. But as we read the works of a man like Washington Irving, let us say, we feel that he must have had a sunny, optimistic attitude toward life. Similarly, the reader will note in the following extract from a speech of Dr. John H. Finley to a class of college students graduating in February something of the brightness and warmth which makes for a charming personality.

« 上一頁繼續 »