his labor from day to day. Unless he can do this, the earnings from that day's labor are gone forever. Capital can defer its returns temporarily in the expectation of future profits, but labor cannot. If, therefore, fair wages and reasonable living conditions cannot otherwise be provided, dividends must be deferred or the industry abandoned. I believe that a corporation should be deemed to consist of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees; that the real interests of all are one, and that neither labor nor capital can permanently prosper unless the just rights of both are conserved." E. SUMMARY To sum up briefly, we have seen that the speaker's attitude should be characterized, first, by a watchfulness which enables him to take advantage of the visible effects of his words. This advantage, it was further observed, involves the speaker's ability to adjust his presentation to meet the varying responses of an audience. The second requisite is friendliness. The speaker was cautioned against the domineering attitude, which springs from a disputatious nature, or from the false idea that an audience can be coerced, or is unfortunately adopted as a mask for timidity. On the contrary, he was advised to use the quiet, frank expression of a well-wishing person in dis cussion with his friends and peers. A will to convince and persuade the audience was the next characteristic advocated. It was noted that the indifferent attitude would not accomplish the desired results, but that the speaker would be helped to achieve his aims by a constant underlying determination to carry his audience with him. Helpfulness, the final factor of the attitude in question, was presented as a quality which is no less beneficial to the speaker than to the auditors. The undesirable results of aiming at self-glorification were pointed out, and the speaker was advised to profit by forgetting himself in a desire to help those addressed. As an aid in accomplishing this end most effectively, he was urged to cultivate broad sympathies with those who for various reasons hold views differing from his own. CHAPTER XII CONCLUSION The final word of advice is-practice! Speak at every opportunity! If your situation does not allow frequent chances, make them by joining a club, class, social, business or professional association which will afford occasions for applying the principles advocated in the foregoing pages! A few specific suggestions relative to practice may be useful to those who are inexperienced. In the first place, careful investigation and organization, as set forth in the chapter on preparation, are always requisite. In the second place, it is best to talk on relatively easy subjects at first, preferably those which can be developed in greater part by narration or description, such as personal experiences, scenes, pictures, plots of plays or novels, biographies, or historical accounts. If exposition or argument is undertaken, the topic should not be a complex one, but rather an exposition of a simple machine, structure, or process, or an argument on a local or otherwise familiar proposition. Thirdly, the inexperienced speaker should not try to build up or revise his method of speaking by an attempt to follow all the advice at once. It is better to work first, let us say, for a clear purpose, definite points, solidity of elaboration, and fairness of attitude toward the subject; then for unity, coherence, clearness and force; next for attractiveness in composition; then for flexibility of response to the reactions of the audience. By this time, or perhaps before, the speaker will be sufficiently free on the platform to make his personality felt. The above order of progress is not fixed, of course, but in advising some such gradual application of the essentials presented in the text, I write with a realization of what confusion would result from trying to direct the attention to a dozen different things at once. If the speaker uses the method proposed, he will find after a few careful trials that unity, coherence and clearness tend to become natural qualities of his expression. He can then give a part of his attention to attractiveness of style. When this becomes more or less spontaneous, he can devote himself more to the reactions of his audience, etc. A fourth suggestion is that the speaker refrain from trying to make a "hit." He should aim at a clear, sensible talk, not dry to be sure, but free from any striving after brilliancy, cleverness or profundity. These may come, perhaps, as a later development, but they are not of immediate concern. Finally, and emphatically, the student should begin right by trusting only to a simple outline (preferably memorized), such as was illustrated in the chapter on preparation. Even hesitation, breaks, weakness of phrasing, in the early efforts, are better than elaborate notes carried in the hand. Once the habit of depending on a "speaker's crutch" is formed, it is extremely difficult to become an effective practical speaker. A set of notes is undoubtedly a barrier between speaker and audience. So, as Hamlet said to the players, "Pray you, avoid it." Printed in the United States of America |