mte (^aUcgc of J^griculture At QJornEll MntOEraitH IGibrarg Cornell university Ubrary HF 5353.L3 Talking business. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013984491 LANGUAGE FOR MEN OF AFFAIRS Volume I — Talking Business, John Mantle Clapp. Volume II — Business Writing, James Melvin Lee, Editor. LANGUAGE FOR MEN OF AFFAIRS Volume I TALKING BUSINESS By JOHN MANTLE CLAPP Lecturer on The Language of Business, New York University; formerly Professor of English, Lake Forest College; and Secre- tary of the Committee on American Speech NEW YORK THE RONALD PRESS COMPANY 1920 v,l Copyright, 1920, by The Ronald Press Company All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTORY TO "LANGUAGE FOR MEN OF AFFAIRS" Every transaction in the field of business — whether a trifling sale or the final agreement in a ten-million-dollar combination of interests — passes through an intensely criti- cal stage in which all depends upon how the individual ex- presses Ijimself, in writing or in the more delicate medium of speech. A moment's reflection must convince anyone of the absolute truth of this statement. Almost in the same thought follows the inevitable conclusion that anyone who expects to handle important affairs should prepare himself for putting his proposals through at this crucial point. It is a mistake to think that even the greatest and most logical courses of action will win acquiescence on the soundness of the proposition alone. Even in the business whose motto is that figures cannot lie, many a bank of imposing resources is gradually being caught up with by an institution whose balance sheets show much smaller figures, but whose directing officer has a warm hand-clasp and a human way of discussing finan- cial problems that make men bring their banking business to him. Every business man, whether he would or not, must be a salesman, and the medium of salesmanship is language, the world's code of signals. The opening paragraph of W. C. Brinton's standard treatise on " Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts " presents a strik- ing corroboration of this point from an acute and careful in- vestigator working in a line entirely distinct : iv INTRODUCTORY After a person has collected data and studies a proposi- tion with great care so that his own mind is made up as to the best solution for the problem, he is apt to feel that his work is about completed. Usually, however, when his own mind is made up, his task is only half done. The larger and more difficult part of the work is to convince the minds of others that the proposed solution is the best one — that all the recommendations are really necessary. Time after time it happens that some ignorant or presumptuous member of a committee or a board of directors will upset the carefully- thought-out plan of a man who knows the facts, simply be- cause the man with the facts cannot present his facts readily enough to overcome the opposition. It is often with im- potent exasperation that a person having the knowledge sees some fallacious conclusion accepted, or some wrong policy adopted, just because known facts cannot be marshalled and presented in such manner as to be effective. Business depends, we say, upon the swift and accurate working of the vast systems of communication and transpor- tation — on the mail service, the telegraph and telephone, the steamship and railway. But language, the means of communi- cation between man and man in daily life, is itself the basis of all these devices. It is the common carrier for all business. We speak of money as the medium of exchange, in terms of which all property values are measured and transfers de- termined. With equal truth we may say that the actual me- dium of human exchange is language, in which every human thought must be minted before it is intelligible to other people. A ready and full command of language is essential for the business man in two ways — 1. With respect to what might be called its high tension activity — its use in directing or influencing the views and conduct of other persons by means of reasoning and persuasion. 2. With respect to its low tension activity, in the convey- ance of plain information. INTRODUCTORY v The world has always recognized that mastery of language gives an individual power over the minds and actions of other men. But the cases we generally think of have to do with public affairs, or with recognized literary forms. The plays of William Shakespeare, we all recognize, composed for the rough theater crowd of sixteenth century London, have molded the ideals of our race, because of their supreme formulation of human thoughts and feelings. The messages and speeches of W'oodrow Wilson, presenting in deft phrase the dream of a new world, counted no less actually towards winning the war than did ^Marshal Foch at the head of the Allied armies. We need to realize the large part the same high-tension ac- tivity of language plays in the situations of common inter- course. Hardly a day passes in the business and personal life of every one of us but some matter in which we are concerned is turned towards success or failure according to the skill with which a letter is drafted or an interview directed. The tactful adjustment letter of the skilled correspondent not only turns away wrath but actually " sells " a peevish cus- tomer a principle of the house. The " ginger talk " of a dy- namic executive puts fresh energy into a tired or disgruntled subordinate. Only a hearty sentence or two, perhaps, in the course of a seemingly casual chat, but the manager who knozvs how has a sure advantage over the one who must rely on the inspiration of the occasion. The intelligently cheerful manner of an experienced physi- cian has a direct effect upon his patients. A genial, brisk greet- ing, a joke such as a well man would enjoy, a lightly uttered phrase of encouragement — and somehow the patient's pre- occupation with his own discomfort has gone, and he finds himself back in a normal attitude toward life. Even more potent, cumulatively, is the command of language in its low-tension activity, its use in conveying plain informa- tion. Every step of every business transaction may be facili- vi INTRODUCTORY tated or obstructed according to the distinctness with which the words are uttered, their fitness to the idea, the tactfulness of their arrangement. In many departments of business, it is not too much to say, the efficiency of operation may vary more than fifty per cent, according as the employees express them- selves plainly and readily in their ordinary intercourse. The fact is, nevertheless, that very few business men have given any systematic attention, hitherto, to language and its relation to their own success. In the first place, language is so close to us that we fail to appreciate either the need or the difficulty of conscious control, or, on the other hand, the pos- sibility of developing such control. We have not thought that skill in its use is something to be definitely studied by any man who aims at business success. The view of the ordinary man has been that command of language " comes by nature," like eating, walking, breathing; that any deficiencies in its use are made up in ordinary course in the public schools ; in short that the average man — you and I — talks and writes well enough. This notion is far from the fact. The forms in which lan- guage is used in the conduct of business operations may be roughly classified as follows : 1. Ordinary talk — conversation 2. Letters 3. Instructions and orders 4. Reports 5. House-organs 6. Speeches, addresses, lectures 7. Advertising copy and publicity material 8. Items and articles in newspapers, magazines, etc. Some of these forms are specialized to a greater or less degree. Others are used by everyone. INTRODUCTORY vii Not one man in ten, even of those who have to carry the responsibihties of a business, has ready and sure mastery of these language forms. Passing over for the moment the more speciahzed types, can one man in ten discuss a matter before a group of Hsteners clearly, interestingly, briefly, and so as to win assent? Are his letters good — direct, discreet, and win- ning? Most letters are a waste of good paper. Does his ordi- nary conversation with customers and associates hold attention, please, gain information, help his business run more smoothly? The chief executive of a great corporation remarked lately : " One of the chief difficulties of an executive is to induce his subordinates — and his associates — to say what they mean." Another reason for the business man's neglect of language is that few of us realize how much is involved in gaining com- mand of it. We think of it in terms of our childhood experi- ences with reading, writing, and grammar, but that is only the beginning. Command of language might be defined as the ability to present any given thought or suggestion-of-action to another person in such a way as to win agreement and co- operation. That would involve, whenever a man talks or writes, the power of taking clear account of — 1. The idea or suggestion to be conveyed 2. The person to be reached 3. The properties of the medium used. It would involve also such control of his faculties as would enable him to adapt his methods to the case in hand. Such power can come to mortal man only through systematic obser- vation and effort. Our code of signs has become in the course of ages extremely complex and elaborate. It is related in unexpected ways to our feelings, prejudices, and tastes. To use it effectively involves a knowledge, not merely of words and how to speak them dis- viii INTRODUCTORY tinctly and arrange them correctly and skilfully, but of the processes of human thinking, so that we may say what we wish in terms that will reach the other man. We pick up unconsciously in childhood a certain facility in the use of language. It is intimate, it is efficient so far as it goes, but it is limited and inexact. This early command of language must be corrected and enlarged by systematic study before we can trust it. The skill of the effective talker or the good letter-writer represents always a gift which has been developed by active and intelligent effort. Meanwhile, we fail to take into account the sinister fact that there are shrewd individuals in every circle who are doing this very thing in their various ways, learning to talk so as to please and influence people and then applying the same skill to the way they draft their letters, orders, publicity material, etc. A good many people — far more than is commonly sup- posed — object to the systematic study of methods of con- veying thought as positively harmful. " Skill in language," they say, " varies greatly. Some individuals possess it, others do not, but it cannot be taught. It is born with a man, like long legs, or blue eyes. The things which can be taught are only trifles, superficial tricks which do not matter. They are likely to hinder a man's power to communicate ideas because they tend to make the process affected, even if they do not lead to speciousness and trickery. Better the honest and sponta- neous statement of a man's thought, however halting." This view is misleading, because of its assumption that: 1. Honest use of language in talking or writing is neces- sarily spontaneous and unconscious. 2. Honesty can be recognized by its naturalness and sim- plicity of manner. 3. Dishonesty reveals itself in affectation and mannerisms. INTRODUCTORY jx The facts are on the contrary that: 1. Honesty of purpose in speaker or writer has no relation whatever to command of the medium in which his thought is expressed. 2. Command of language, like all artistic skill, escapes notice ; it can be traced only by its record of successes or " kills." The persons influenced by the skilful presentation of a matter rarely recognize the fact. They think that they " found it out for themselves " or " were convinced by the merits of the case." The part which the speaker or writer may have had in the transaction is soon forgotten. If they remember him at all, it is merely as a " man of unusual sense and judgment." This delusion on the part of the ordinary man has been the reliance of the clever demagogue for ages. Shakespeare makes Mark Antony in his superlatively clever piece of " pres- entation " play on this very string: " I am no orator, as Brutus is ; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend ; . . . . I only speak right on; " The few shrewd individuals who are training themselves in ihe command of language are continually profiting at the ex- pense of the rest of us, because they can utilize fully their natural powers. If only as a protection against the specious manipulation of language by other people, you yourself need to know language adequately. The language of business is a matter for adult study. It has to do with adult conditions and relationships. It cannot X INTRODUCTORY be adequately treated in the lower schools, even if school in- struction in the subject were always of good quality. Arith- metic can be studied in school but not accounting ; hygiene but not medicine ; physics but not engineering. In the same way, the rudiments of talk and writing may be mastered in school but not the special technique of the use of language in the situations of mature life. It should be added, besides, that the technique of language cannot be learned once for all, even by the adult. It requires periodical review in order to keep up with " the state of the art," just as physicians and other professional men follow closely their special journals. Careful and continued study of language by an adult is not in the least a confession of defective early training. It means rather that the man is systematically applying scientific management to the problems of his own daily intercourse. For the purposes of business, moreover, the point of view of the study must be that of the plain man. The innumer- able books which ha\e been written on the study of language have dealt with it usually from the point of view of the spe- cialist — of linguistic scholarship, of aesthetics, of the special interests of certain professions which are built directly on the use of language : those of the actor, the public speaker, or the professional author. The technique of all these specialists has been highly de\'eloped. The rules worked out long ago for acting and singing and for certain forms of professional oratory need little improvement. But, unfortunately, in far too many of these discussions language has been treated as if it were a thing for initiates only. It has not been considered from the point of \iew of the ordinary man — the man who has to direct his ordinary conversation wisely, to write letters, tu make a speech now and then, to write a special article, to appraise if not construct an advertisement. INTRODUCTORY xi The various modes or forms of language activity already enumerated have each their own definite technique. They exer- cise widely differing parts of the mind and call for different temperaments for success. Advertising copy is very different from the letter addressed to an individual ; conversation is very different from public speaking. Nevertheless all the different types are related, the basic principles are the same throughout. First-rate skill in the more elaborate forms de- pends chiefly on easy and resourceful command of the proc- esses which are involved in the most elementary. Writing and talking are very different, yet to write really well is impossible unless you have some command of talking to begin with. Spe- cialists who forget that, and go to work with their pens before they can command their tongues, fail to reach a high level in their own line of effort. In the same way, the three types of business writing found in correspondence, advertising copy, and professional reports, differ widely in point of view and spirit, but only the man who knows all three somewhat can practice any one with entire mastery. Furthermore, if you begin seriously to study any one part of the general subject you pass easily to interest in other branches of it, and you master the others with greater ease. The purpose of the volumes of this set is to treat the general subject of language with reference to the needs and wishes of the business man. The subject falls naturally into two divi- sions : 1. Elementary phases of language, those which come into most constant use either alone or combined in the more elaborate forms. 2. Specialized phases of language which are particularly featured in business, such as business correspondence, report writing, advertising copy, etc. xii INTRODUCTORY Or in other words into — 1. Talking Business 2. Business Writing. In the relations of business, as elsewhere, talk is used far more than writing. When we have an idea to convey we talk ; when we cannot talk or when we need to express our thought in some special way, we write. Talk should be studied first. The study of talk involves close consideration of the ele- mentary and universal phases of language, of the signs of the code themselves and of the principles governing the more sim- ple and frequent modes of their combination. These matters have been far too little studied in our schools or anywhere else, and thorough consideration of them as they are related to talk is directly and indirectly necessary for any man engaged in business. These same elementary matters are essential factors, how- ever, in even the most highly specialized forms of writing. Much current discussion of specialized forms suffers from lack of knowledge, on the part of those addressed, of the fun- damental processes which are involved. On the other hand, to take up these preliminaries again and again as they occur in connection with special forms means both duplication and one- sided treatment. They may be dealt with more comprehen- sively and satisfactorily in relation to the simpler forms of spoken language. There are, of course, elementary problems of written lan- guage, which would not present themselves in a discussion of spoken language however exhausti\'e. These may be disposed of, however, in comparatively little space, once the founda- tion has been laid in a comprehensive survey of speech. In treating the more specialized forms of written language the requirements are — INTRODUCTORY xiii 1. To present each not only with sufficient fullness but with authority. To this end it is advisable that each be handled by a man who has special knowledge of that one line. Inasmuch as the earlier steps, which all possess in common, have been discussed already, the treatment of the special branches may be made distinct and specific. 2. To maintain the ris^ht perspective of the interrelation of these special branches. This calls for the co-ordinat- ing activity of a general editor who is acquainted with the whole field. PREFACE This book treats human speech as a practical agency in business life. The first suggestion of it was given the author — then con- nected with the Committee on American Speech organized by the National Council of Teachers of English — by business men interested in salesmanship and management. Recent work with classes of business men has shown their quick response to instruction in speech, when it is definitely adjusted to business situations. Although the world's work is mainly carried on by means of spoken language, little systematic attention has been given, until recently, to making our method of communication accu- rate and efifective. Most persons have assumed that for ordi- nary purposes systematic training is not necessary — that we " talk well enough." Such study of the subject as we have had has been too much specialized. Philologists have investigated the history of forms and usages ; scientists and physicians the mechanism of the vocal apparatus ; actors and singers the esthetic possibili- ties of tone ; but each group of investigators has ignored the rest. Clever people have utilized the results of shrewd but one-sided observation in various practical ways, but have not been able to pass on their skill to others. We need to pool our knowledge, to remind the scholar of the requirements of active life and to make the technical information of singer or throat specialist available for the ordinary man. This book is based on the conviction that : xvi PREFACE 1. Intelligent command of the power of speech — skill that rests upon deliberate training — is required in every occupation. 2. Such skill can be developed by any man who so desires, not through any detached, special study, but through utilizing the opportunities of daily life. 3. Instruction that is to be permanently useful must be — (a) Based upon accurate knowledge of the physiological and psychological phenomena involved in ex- pressing thought in speech. (b) Formulated in simple but systematically planned exercises, linked up with the regular activities of a man's occupation. In this way right action be- comes eventually habitual and automatic. Training in language can be carried on with peculiar advan- tage in connection with the activities of business life. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to effective instruction in this subject is the temptation to affectation or pedantry. In the business world the test of actuality is always present. The first steps of the training work may be harder than in a less severely practical environment but the progress made is likely to be real. In the Training School for Teachers of Retail Selling, re- cently established at New York University by the department stores of New York, " The Language of Business, Written and Spoken," is one of the main lines of study. The influ- ence of the various courses in business English, public speak- ing, salesmanship, etc., appealing to business men, and of the many Americanization agencies bears in the same direction. Active support of the movement for systematic training is being furnished by the schools, notably by the National Coun- cil of Teachers of English through the Committee on Ameri- can Speech. The chairman of the committee is Dr. Clarence Stratton of the Central High School, St. Louis, and the secre- PREFACE XV 11 tary is Miss Claudia Crumpton of the Northwestern High School, Detroit. Part I of the present volume, The Real Problem — treats the psychology of speech. Talking Business is essentially a problem of reaching the "other man." Part II, The Machinery — explains the physiological basis, the machinery of tone and enunciation. Unless that is under intelligent control reliably good talk is impossible. Part III, Language — treats the fundamental problems of selection and arrangement of words, especially as involved in talk. Part IV, Conversation — Business Interviews — discusses the use of the power of speech in ordinary business situations. Part V, Public Speaking — Business Addresses — treats the more elaborate applications, increasingly demanded in modern life, when a man has to convey his thought to groups of listeners. For a brief list of books for further study see the Biblio- graphical Note in Volume II of this set. The discussion is necessarily brief. Any student who ap- plies the suggestions given will discover for himself much more than can be set down in any volume. He has a laboratory always at hand in the most common activities of life. If he will give systematic attention for even a few months to the matter of his own powers of communication he will largely increase his personal working capital, no matter what his occu- pation. Little has been explicitly said here of speech as an artistic medium. But it is a fact — a paradox — that thoroughly in- telligent command of language merely as the common carrier leads unconsciously but surely to appreciation and mastery of language as the medium of man's highest pleasure. XVlll PREFACE To enumerate all the persons in the school world and in the world of business to whose counsel and kindness the author is indebted in connection with this book would be impossible. Particular acknowledgment, however, must be made to the many gentlemen, prominent in American business life, who have permitted quotation from their utterances, public and private; to Mr. A. H. Billingsley and Mr. J. R. Wilson, Jr., of the National City Bank; to Mr. C. H. Rohrbach, Secretary of the Hydraulic Society; to Dr. Henry C. Ferris, Chairman of the Oral Hygiene Committee of the First District Dental Society of New York; to Dr. L. N. Andres, of the staff of the Manhattan Eye & Ear Hospital, whose chapter on the Vocal Organs represents the knowledge not merely of the medical specialist but of the trained musician ; to Mr. Wesley A. Stanger, of the Ediphone Company, and Mr. O. G. Van Campen, of the Yawman & Erbe Company, without whose active aid the chapters on Business Interviews could not have been written; most of all to Mr. Thomas Conyngton and his associates of the Ronald Press Company for their helpful and generous co-operation at every stage of the undertaking. John Mantle Clapp. New York, September i, 19 19. CONTENTS Part I — The Real Problem Chapter Page I Putting Your Mind on the Other Man . . 3 The Power of Communication The Abihty to Say What You Mean The Handicap of " Dumbness " The Secret of " Talking Business " A Problem of Transportation Monologue versus Talk Concentrate on the Listener A Chance for the Quiet Man Also Understand People and You Can Reach Them Talk to the Sailors What Is Required — Sense and Persistent Study Confidence — Use the Powers You Possess The Right Beginning Not Bluff, but Intelligent Effort Bluff Is Foolish The Power That Drives the Car — Enthusiasm The Work of This Book The Reward — and the Conditions Self -Consciousness A Sign of Potential Ability First-Aid Devices The One Sure Way Exercises II Putting Your Mind on the Other Man — How TO Do It . . . . . .18 Talking, a Problem of Transportation The Listener Is the Consignee Avoid Monologue The Talk That Fails Talking in His Sleep Why We Talk How We Talk The Tactful Approach The Apostolic Method Winning Out by Tact The Three Factors Watch Your Man What to See What to Hear The Mental Grasp Striking Fire xix XX CONTENTS Chapter Page Keep Yourself Out of the Picture The Ten Rules Fit Your Talk to the One Man The Cure for Weak Talk Telephone Talk How to be Natural How to Acquire Ease Natural Gifts The Men Who Talk Best Exercises Part II — The Machinery III Your Appearance . . 35 " Look Alive " Advancement Hindered or Helped by Manner " Keeping Open the Channels of Trade " Wrong Habits in Childhood Relation of Occupation to Manner and Bearing What a Portrait Painter Sees When You Talk or Listen — Pay Attention Sensitiveness of Facial Muscles The Listener's Response The " Stony Face " No Advantage True Control-Poise Controlling Your Muscles Do Not Slouch Do Not Fidget Mannerisms Make Us Ridiculous Physical Grace an Asset When Talking We Are on Exhibition Think About It The Only Sure Way — Automatic Control Muscles Strong and Supple Setting-Up Drill — Position Exercises The Cold Bath or Rub Exercises for Muscles of the Face The Habit of Correct Posture The Standing Position The Sitting Position The Power of Dramatic Expression Suggestions of Pose and Movement Use of Dramatic Suggestion in Business Utilize Your Own Power Intelligently See What You " Really Do " Expression Counts Even in Quiet Talk Read Aloud Apply Method to Common Talk Learning to be Natural Relation Between Face Muscles and Voice Foch's Speech in London Exercises Chapter IV CONTENTS XX i Page iGANs. By L. N. Andres, M.D. . • 59 Vocal Apparatus and General Health Influence of General Health on Vocal Organs The Mechanism of Speech Respiration Breathing In Breathing Out Involuntary Action of Vocal Apparatus Some Action Semi-Voluntary, Some Voluntary Description of Organs Nose Nasopharynx Soft Palate Pharynx Tonsils Mouth Cavity Tongue Epiglottis Larynx Trachea Hygiene Colds What to Do Smoking and Use of Intoxicating Liquors Drugs and Medicines Adenoids Diseased Tonsils Production of Tone Resonance — Tensity and Adjustability Enunciation Vovi'els Consonants Words Carrying Qualities of Sounds The Problem of Speech V Speaking Distinctly 78 Signals of the Speech Code Slip-Shod Utterance Standard and Colloquial Speech Indistinctness Due to Inadequate Training How the Sounds of Our Code Are Made Enunciation, a Matter of Muscle Action The Task of the Ear Different Sounds in Different Languages Improvement Through Forming Right Muscle Habits Entirely Practicable to Acquire Distinct Speech Making the Muscles Strong and Supple Individual Sounds — Consonants, Vovifels, and Diph- thongs Phonetic Symbols Classes of Sounds xxn Chapter CONTENTS Forming Lip Consonants Forming Lip and Teeth Sounds Importance of Tongue Forming Tongue Sounds — Touching the Tip Tongue Sounds — Tip Free The Troublesome " R " Sounds Made Farther Back Vowel Sounds — Do Not Confuse Them Differentiating According to Position of Tongue A Convenient " Scale " A Combination Exercise The Other Vowels Nests of Consonants Do Not Slur the Consonants Exercises Page VI Pronunciation . . . loi Pronunciation Generally Noticed — Why? Desire for Uniformity Difficulties of Codifying Varied Customs Pronunciation Always Changing Get a Good Dictionary — and Use It When Dictionaries Disagree — Using Your Judgment Standards of Speech Set by Custom Errors of Accent Errors of Substitution of Sound Minor Syllables Wise Moderation — A Sensitive Ear Dialect — What It Is Geographical Variations Origin of Geographical Variations Advantages and Disadvantages No Arbitrary Standard Possible in America Dialects Coming from " Hyphenate " English Advantages of Knowing Customs of Different Sections Some Typical Variations — "e" and "i" — Sounds The Sounds of " Short o," '' aw," " oo,'' etc. Diphthong Variations Consonant Variations Fewer No Short-and-Easy Road to Correct Pronunciation Train Your Ear — the Dictating Machine Phonetics — A Useful Book Exercises VII Grouping the Sounds . . . . . 122 Sound Patterns Constant " Adjustment " Different Standards for Formal and Colloquial Speech Mastering the Patterns — Essential for Talking Business The Factors Syllables — How They Differ CONTENTS xxiii Chapter P^ce Combining Syllables into Words and Phrases The Accent or Emphasis Syllable The Utility of Rhythm Managing Minor Syllables " Drum-Beat Sound-Patterns " Time Values Flexible Limits to Variation Importance of Sensitiveness to Time Values Time Values in Larger Groups — Prose Reading Aloud as an Aid How to Trace the Sound Patterns Clauses, Sentences, and Paragraphs An Accent-Point in Every Group Featuring the Main Point Principles of Grouping in Clauses and Sentences Good Clauses Are Light and " Lean " Smoothness Pauses Convenient Rules Exercises VIII A Good Voice . . 144 The Suggestive Power of the Voice The Voice a Help or a Hindrance Emotional Power of Tone A Good Voice Can Be Made Two Things to Do Application to Daily Life Quality and Flexibility Systematic Improvement Possible for Anyone Essential Facts as to Tone-Production Tuning the Instrument — Indirect Control Once Gained, Control Remains Steps in the Process Control of Breathing Breathing Exercises Exercises to Relax the Throat Muscles — Humming Practice Exercises Gently Exercises to Strengthen the Muscles Developing Automatic Action A Method of Checking-Up Exercises to Develop Quality of Vowels The Essential — Gentle Persistent Practice If Possible, Get Instruction in Singing Exercises IX Expressiveness OF Voice — Quality and Melody . 165 Modulation of Tone the Source of Charm Three Modes of Modulation Not Too Loud Volume a Matter of Proper Placing Quality XXIV »w^2 3. Vertical Section of Nose (Schematic) . . 64 4. Front to Back Section — Showing Mouth, Nose, Pharnxx, Epi- glottis 65 5. Section Through the Skull — Showing the " Vocal Tract " 66 6. Section Showing Compartments of the Larnyx — From Behind . 67 7. Section Showing Cartilages and Ligaments of Larnyx — From Behind . . . 68 8. Larnyx During (A) Inspiration, (B) Expiration, (C) Phonation 6g g. Trachea . . . . ... 70 10. Anterior Wall of the Pharnyx with Its Orifices — From Behind 75 11. Section Showing the Localization of Different Vowels and Con- sonants ... . . 76 12. Rising and Falling Inflection of the Voice 178 13. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Alba Johnson) . . 183 14. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from A. B. Garretson) . . 185 15. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Theodore Roosevelt) 186 16. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Cecil Gregg) 187 17. Sentence Melody (Paragraphs from Otto H. Kahn) 188 18. Course of Thought 293 19. Course of Thought in Business Interview . 293 20. Course of Thought in Business Interview 419 21. Course of Thought as Planned by Public Speaker . 419 TALKING BUSINESS PART I THE REAL PROBLEM CHAPTER I PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN The Power of Communication Whatever may be our business, one of the decisive factors in success is the way we talk, day after day, to the people with whom we have dealings. We do not, most of us, realize this fact. Talking is so much a matter of course that we fail to study it. We " learn to talk " in childhood merely by imitation and throughout li fe we continue to use our power of speech almost automatically. Once in a while we wake up, perhaps when we get angry, per- haps when we fall in love ! Then we talk straight at the other person, and what we say hits the mark; it " registers." But we do not realize what has happened, and we drop back usually into the old rut of ineffectiveness. The Ability to Say .What You Mean When you apply for a job, the way you talk, how you say what you have to say, and how you listen, have as much to do with your success as the " credentials " which you carry in your pocket. Nine times out of ten what an employer is seeking, even for a technical position, is not chiefly a specialist, but a man who has some knowledge of that special work and who has also the capacity to work well with those above and below him. Getting the job is only the beginning. It is only getting your cards. To hold the job down you must play your cards skilfully, hand after hand. If you are a salesman you must of course " know your 3 4 THE REAL PROBLEM line," but knowing your line is not what makes you a sales- man — it is the ability to tell your customers or prospects, one after the other, the thing which each of them needs to be told in order to convince him that he wants your goods. If you are a clerk or an inside man, even an accountant, your chance of reaching any large success depends not only upon a knowledge of department technique, but also on your power of pulling well in harness. You must know the de- partment technique thoroughly but you will never be picked for a department head unless you succeed in facilitating the work of other people above you, around you, and below you. To do that, you must be able not only to see what should be done but to tell it, to man after man, hour by hour, so that they all do it, and do it willingly. The Handicap of " Dumbness " You see men everywhere who are thought to " know their business," who seem in some respects bright and intelligent, even gifted, but who never get out of the crowd of routine drudges. Perhaps in some of the cases the reason is that they lack persistence, or are unreliable, or not straight. But in most cases it is simply that they cannot tell what they know, in the fullest sense of the word. They cannot " sell " them- selves and they are passed over when those who can carry responsibilities are being looked for. You see others walk right ahead; everybody seems to like them, trust them, open up to them. People say they have per- sonality — that they reveal their personality. But every per- son has personality, only most people never reveal it except to their families, or their pals. The tragedy of life is the waste of talent; talent that is stifled because men and women with personality never get waked up so they can use it. They go through life like walking machines, doing only what they are told to do by others. They remain slaves because they PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN 5 have never tapped the spring of original, intelHgent, creative wori<, never reahzed the power which is in every one of them. The Secret of " Talking Business " Learning to talk — in the big true sense of what the phrase means — is a sure way of discovering for yourself and re- vealing to others your own personality. It is a long process. You can continue it all your life. That is because you grow more interested the more you work at it. But you can begin to " cash in " the first day. The secret of productive talk can be told in seven words : Put Your Mind on the Other Man. Talking is not merely uttering words, not merely getting your thought out so that other people, if they take the trouble to study, can learn what you mean. It is getting your thought and feeling oz'cr to someone else. That involves a problem of transportation, of delivery. A Problem of Transportation Consideration of the other fellow is essential in all talk first, last, and all the time, just as it is in a business letter. You cannot safely take for granted that the other man will agree with what you say, or that he will understand, or even hear you distinctly. Unless you aim every statement at him, as you aim a ball when you throw it, you are not really talk- ing — you are only delivering a monologue — talking to your- self. This simple fact is almost always overlooked. Most peo- ple never discover it. Our teachers have misled us. They say that talk is ex- pressing yourself, formulating your own thought. That is only a part of the truth and taken by itself it leads in the wrong direction. The man who thinks first and chiefly of " expressing himself " is apt to develop habits of soliloquiz- 6 THE REAL PROBLEM ing, monologizing — apt to fall into self-consciousness and mannerisms. Monologue versus Talk Every small town has its " orator." He is regarded as the local master of eloquence. He figures on public occasions; he is the speaker on the Fourth of July and Flag Day, and at receptions to distinguished visitors. He is usually a lawyer. His addresses to the jury are greatly admired but his practice is not large, and he does not leave much to his family. In the same town there is nearly always another man, known for his ability to get things done. Perhaps he is a lawyer ; you go to him when you get into real trouble. Perhaps he is a banker, or merchant, influential in town affairs. He does not figure as a public speaker; he is not thought of as " eloquent." But when something important has to be arranged with a committee or individuals, he has to do it. That man is the real speaker. He knows how to reach people. Concentrate on the Listener If you want to talk so that people will do what you wish, concentrate on the other man. Don't open your mouth until you have something to say; then try to shoot your thought at the other man, in the way which will best reach him, not somebody else, but him. Don't brood over your idea while speaking; trust your brain to feed in the proper images and words, as you need them. Fix your chief attention upon the target. This has been the motto — consciously or unconsciously — of all men and women who have been successful in getting other people to understand them and do what they want and successful also in understanding what other people want. The more you attempt this— r the better you learn to read other people, and to reach them intelligently — the more you im- PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN 7 prove as a talker. Only you must never relax your care, never let yourself become conceited. When that happens you lose your skill, because then you are concentrating not on the other man but on yourself. A Chance for the Quiet Man Also Here is a chance for the shy, thoughtful, earnest man. Usually the people who do " talk well," who succeed in getting their personality over, are the frank, objective people, who plunge ahead on impulse. The shy man, conscientious, thoughtful, holds back because he is afraid — not afraid of the other man, but afraid of his ozvn standards, fearing to do the wrong thing, to be silly, or untactful. But if this thoughtful, shy man puts his mind on the other man, he will find himself on a par with those whom he has thought heretofore excellent talkers. He can very possibly excel the impulsive chap, because he can think better. His trouble is that he has been turning his mind in upon himself — instead of outu'ard, upon the people he must influence. Some time or other in the past, perhaps, he made the wrong move and was misunderstood or snubbed, and it hurt. As a result he " closed up " and now does not try to explain himself to others. We do not act so foolishly at home. There we make the effort to reach the other person. Talking Business with full effect involves learning to make this effort with everybody. They have a telephone phrase in England which is sugges- tive here. They speak of " putting you through " to a per- son. Many of us fail to persist when we try to talk to some one else until we " get through to him." Understand People and You Can Reach Them When you have learned to think in terms of other people you discover that lack of appreciation, or surliness, or dislike 8 THE REAL PROBLEM springs very often from misunderstanding. If you know the right approach you can say practically what you please, to any- body. Talk to the Sailors A young business man had been invited to a Y. M. C. A. canteen at a Navy camp to give a talk on salesmanship before the sailors. When he reached the big hall another man was speaking on foreign trade. The speaker's manner seemed queerly out of place. The ideas and utterance alike were correct, prim, slightly lady-like, as in a confidential lecture to the " faithful few " in a college elective course. Yet the 600 husky young sailors were listening intently. The " Y " director whispered to the salesmanship man, " They're listening too closely; just watch." The speaker ended with a polite little finale. There was a moment of silence. Then a big sailor near the front leisurely got up and said in a quiet but ominous voice, " Now, boys, all together." And the 600 gobs roared their opinion of the lecture : "Some Bull!" The speaker jumped as if he had been struck, grabbed his hat and dashed through the door. The audience had tasted blood and the salesmanship man was next. He stepped on the platform still laughing. "Well, boys," he said, " that fellow certainly beat it. I never saw a man make time like that." The crowd roared good-naturedly at the compliment. " But I want to tell you," he went on, " that my hat is way over there, and I don't know where my coat is. If you're going to give me the ' raspberry ' too, just tip me off before- hand or I can't equal his record." The crowd laughed again. Then he turned business-like. " Any of you boys been salesmen? Stand up! " PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN 9 Nobody moved. " Stand up ; don't be ashamed of it ! " One chap over at one side of the hall got up and growled sulkily, " I ain't ashamed of it." Four or five others stood up with him. The speaker turned his back on the rest and addressed those few. " Look here," he began. " I am going to talk salesman- ship to you fellows. If I hand you any ' bull,' you can give me the ' raspberry ' the same as that other chap. If not, keep still." He talked about half an hour. When he stopped, they be- gan to fire questions at him about how to get a job, and what lines to go into, and he answered briefly and frankly. After another half hour, he said, " Well, boys, I've got to make my train, so it's good-night," and turned away. As he was leaving, the big man down front called out, " Say, Mister, are you coming here again? " " Maybe," said the salesman, " next week." " Well, say, you needn't worry, we won't give you the ' raspberry.' " The salesmanship man was half-way down the aisle, but he wanted them to know he was still in command. He flashed back sharply — "If you fellows think you can slip anything over on me, just go to it." And the crowd cheered him all the way out. The first speaker delivered a monologue, the second put his mind on the men before him. What Is Required — Sense and Persistent Study Gaining command of the power of speech will take tirne. There is only one way — through close and continued study of human nature, analysis and improvement of your own en- dowment, and applying common sense energetically and in a lO THE REAL PROBLEM systematic way to the chances of daily Hfe. Anyone can do it. The skill is never inborn. It must always be developed through your own effort. You have already certain good points. 1. Perhaps you have a pleasant voice, clean-cut enuncia- tion, ready wit, an acute brain, sympathetic feelings, fluency, wide information. Only, they are not de- veloped, not co-ordinated. You cannot use them to effect. 2. Perhaps you are slow ; you are inclined to be timid and sensiti\'e ; you have a light voice, an indistinct ut- terance, etc. But you want to learn and you mean business. Whatever else you start with, if you have energy and sense, you have the essentials for improvement. You can fill in where you are weak. People who start with many advantages often remain medi- ocre. They do not improve because they do not harness their power. Sometimes the fluent man talks too much, sometimes the sympathetic man gushes, sometimes the man with a nice \oice comes to like showing off and the quick-witted man trusts to faking. But there is not a single grace or power mentioned in the flrst list which you cannot develop for your- self to a point where it will become a paying asset, if you use common sense and energy. Confidence — Use the Powers You Possess To begin the process you must utilize two powers which every man may have for the wishing : confidence, that is, trust in what you have already done and in your own determination ; and cnlhusiasvi, the power of doing a thing with all your might. First of all, do not underestimate or neglect the advantages PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN II you possess right now. Do not shirk the opportunities that present themselves in the line of your regular duty. The Right Beginning Here is a real-life story told in a class of business men this winter by a yeoman in the navy. He had just received his dis- charge and was leaving to take up a job. This is the story of how he got the job. He had a good record in chain-store work before entering the service but had always been a subordinate, a timid, intro- spective man. He had determined this time to try for a man- ager's position. " I selected very carefully," he said, " three places to visit. I had no luck at the first two. They looked at some of my letters but seemed little interested." At one place he got as far as the question of salary, and then suddenly became afraid, afraid that he could not get his discharge, afraid that he could not really carry the work of a manager. " Going down in the elevator," he said, " I wondered what those other men in the class would have done. At the next place I went to, I found three of the officers of the com- pany together: the president, treasurer, and secretary. I walked in and said : " ' Are you in a position to offer me a store that can do a business of $100,000 a year under my management at a salary of $5,000? ' They looked at me a moment and the secretary snapped out, ' I should say not.' " ' Very well,' I said, and turned to the door, ' I will not take your time. Good-morning, gentlemen.' " The president suddenly called me back. ' Hold on a min- ute, we've got a store that has been making $85,000; with the right man, it ought to go to $150,000. Who are you, any- way? ' 12 THE REAL PROBLEM " ' Well, of course, I have my references here,' I told him, ' but I don't care to show them unless you are in a position to talk business.' " ' Well, let's see them,' the president said. ' Sit down, maybe we can use you.' " The papers were all right. They found I knew the chain- store game. In less than an hour I was hired at the $5,000 figure to go to work as soon as I could get out of the service. " That was two weeks ago. I got my discharge today and leave for up-state tonight. But I wanted to tell you that I found you were right — just talk right out and you get a chance." Not Bluff, but Intelligent Effort Now this was partly luck. Not everybody could duplicate it. That young man will not duplicate it probably for many a day. The point of that story is that the young sailor used what he actually possessed, when the chance came within reach. He did not attempt anything strange or out of his line. He did not blufif. But he was fitted for that job and he had the confidence to try. Probably it was the fact that he had the enterprise to go after it, and the self-control to carry through the interview without getting flurried or making extravagant claims, which led those shrewd business men to feel that he could be trusted in a pinch. Bluff Is Foolish Do not be afraid to try, but do not forget that confidence must be founded on knowledge, not on bluff. Bluff will only lead you to attempt things which you cannot yet do ; you are bound to fail and be humiliated. Or, if you do push your way ahead for a while, if you are persistent and thick-skinned, PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN 13 you get yourself disliked and distrusted and never reach the big things. The men who are entrusted with large responsi- bilities have not merely confidence and courage, they have knowledge, tact, and judgment. Those qualities cannot be extemporized. They must be developed through the steady winning of limited objectives. But it is confidence in the power you have right now that starts you on each little ad- vance. Confidence will not drive the car but without it you cannot crank the engine. The Power That Drives the Car — Enthusiasm The power that drives the car is will, enthusiasm. That also is at your command now, whoever you are. Whatever you do, do it hard. As Theodore Roosevelt said, " Don't hit softly ! " But remember, enthusiasm is not blind energy. The young sailor of the story carefully selected the firms he would ap- proach. He knew what he proposed to do ; he had thought out his plans. Enthusiasm when guided by reflection and tact leads to success. Enthusiasm without tact makes only a bore. Lowell's words of Lincoln tell the secret. The supple-tempered will That bent, like perfect steel, to spring again and thrust. The Work of This Book The work outlined in this book involves gradually read- justing the point of view of your intercourse with other people, learning to see through their eyes in order to convey to them your thoughts. You will develop new habits, you will build up and co-ordinate intelligent, automatic action on the part of muscles which now function imperfectly. You will learn to speak distinctly at all times without having to think about it. You will develop a voice that will carry any 14 THE REAL PROBLEM message, in loud tones or soft, never grate unpleasantly on the people you wish to influence and never suggest weakness or languidness or affectation. You will gain control of manner and bearing so that no slouch or awkwardness will lead the other man to discount your efforts. You will learn the resources of language and the countless ways of putting words together to produce the exact effect you desire in a given case. One of the most successful salesmen of our times said lately of another man who had failed unexpectedly in a posi- tion of responsibility, " He does not know how to say the things he has to say so that they carry his meaning without making people sore." First you learn to talk to people one by one, then to a com- mittee, and then when occasion comes, to larger groups — per- haps large audiences. The Reward — and the Conditions The reward, if you carry it through, is great. The price is attention to every item of your daily intercourse with other people. Finally, remember to be yourself. Do not try to swallow unthinkingly all the various suggestions in this book. Talk- ing Business is a different affair for every individual. Study your own case and take what you need for yourself. Self-Consciousness A word here about what is called " stage fright," " self- consciousness," etc. Some persons are greatly troubled with this, particularly when they have to " get up and speak in public." There are indeed teachers of what is called " public speaking " who seem to exaggerate the seriousness of this feeling in order to gain credit for " curing " it. PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN T5 Now the truth is, the feehng of sudden discomfort when facing an audience or an individual is due to the fact that the speaker has never learned to put his mind on the other man. After a lifetime of soliloquizing, he has suddenly become aware bi an assembly of listeners to whom he must direct his talk. He cannot at once adjust himself to the different rela- tion — and he feels himself " scared stiff." A Sign of Potential Ability Self-consciousness is reaJly evidence of the speaker's re- sponsiveness of nature, of his sensitiveness to a situation. It is the very quality which, if rightly utiHzed and trained, will give him success in addressing audiences. A great many people in whom this quality is not strong merely get over the feeling of discomfort, and learn — un- fortunately — to soliloquize in front of an audience. That is why there is so little good public speaking. If you are one of the exceptional persons in whom so-called " self-consciousness " is strong you will probably soon learn, perhaps without fully realizing it, to concentrate on the group of listeners before you. In that case you are likely to develop, after experience, into one of the really good public speakers. If you do not learn to adjust yourself, if you fail to realize what the trouble is, you may get the entirely erroneous notion that you are hopeless, the victim of a peculiar malady, etc., and never dare open your mouth in public. First-Aid Devices There are many devices which you can use, if you are sud- denly smitten with stage-fright before an audience, small or large. They all come down to this: Don't try for the mo- ment to remember your speech, but say something, or do something at once, that will bring direct response from some of your hearers. Look straight at some one person down l6 THE REAL PROBLEM front and say the first thing that comes into your head — as you often do in private conversation. It may be a remark about the weather ; it may be an inquiry whether you are talk- ing loud enough. He will pretty certainly make some response by word, nod, or change of expression, and self-possession will return to you. If you get stuck again, do the same thing. In a sense it is like a driver cracking his whip ; it reminds you that you are the driver and the audience are subordinate to you. The One Sure Way But the one right way to get control of your self-conscious- ness, the method which always works, is to begin by studying conversation. Set yourself quietly to learn to concentrate on the listener, to look outward not inward, in all your daily talk. Once you have acquired that habit you will find little more trouble when you extend your conversing to include a group. If you want to learn to Talk Business, to one listener or many, the method of jumping first into deep water is the wrong one. Begin by paddling along the edge and get ac- customed to feeling the water; then gradually go deeper and you will find yourself floating and swimming before you know it. In plain words, begin applying the suggestions of the first chapters which follow to your most casual daily conversation. By the time it is necessary for you to talk to an audience — and no sensible man will talk in public unless it is necessary — ■ you will feel no discomfort. Exercises I. Jot down the names of several persons of your acquaintance who have (a) made unusual progress or (b) failed to advance; make a note of any characteristics of speech or manner which may have aided or hindered each of them. PUTTING YOUR MIND ON THE OTHER MAN 1 7 2. If you know of a case somewhat like that of the young sailor de- scribed on page 11, briefly describe the situation and analyze as closely as you can the causes for the speaker's success. 3. If you know of a case of success in handling a crowd as described on page 8, describe the situation and analyze the causes for success in that case. 4. Think of a case when you yourself " closed up " in conversation (see page 7); of another when you made an effort and ''got through. " Describe each situation. How could you have man- aged the matter better in the first case? 5. Make a list of your own characteristics — good or bad — as a talker, as if from the point of view of a stranger. 6. On the basis of the discussion thus far, construct a brief descrip- tion of what is meant by " putting your mind on the other man.'' CHAPTER II PUTTING YOUR MIND OX THE OTHER MAN — HOW TO DO IT Talking, a Problem of Transportation Talking is a problem of transportation — of conveying ideas from your mind to the mind of another person. Think of it as if you were sending an express package. You have these factors : The point of origin Yourself — the speaker The destination — the con- Your listener signee The package to be carried Your idea or message The road-way, line, circuit. The speech apparatus and the etc. medium of language The Listener Is the Consignee All the factors are essential. But the one which you must never for a moment forget is the consignee — the listener. Follow this rule: IVJuitcvcr you haz'c to say, wherever you are, adapt your message to the person you are addressing. That may seem a matter of course ; perhaps you think it is what you always do. Actually it is the rarest thing in the world. The prevailing defect of ordinary talk, the root of most other defects, is tactlessness, inattentiveness, clumsy in- directness in the way we present our idea. Most of us, most of the time, soliloquize. Avoid Monologue In nine-tenths of what most of us call talk our attention is fixed not on the listener but on our own idea. In our in- i8 HOW TO DO IT 19 formal conversation we are just thinking aloud in broken " cues," in sentences that are more or less incomplete or inco- herent, so that they have to be filled out in some way by the listener to make them intelligible. When we talk continuously for a few minutes, the product is in most instances merely a monologue. The sentences are complete and in a degree co- herent, but they grow one out of another; they have little re- lation to the response to our message, moment by moment, on the part of the man who is listening. The Talk That Fails Illustrations are all about us. Consider for example: The man who tells an " old story " to a group of bored acquaintances. The woman who repeats verbatim to her husband every evening her day's conversations with the neighbors. Her husband, who replies, when the lady's story slackens, with a verbatim report of his office conversations. Consider an experience of your own. Preoccupied with some business detail you approach an associate and blurt out a question. He, preoccupied also, is nettled by your brusque manner, and throws back a curt unsatisfactory reply. The result is that both of you waste time, later on, untangling the wholly unnecessary snarls which this tactless handling of the matter has led to. An enthusiastic teacher of music repeated to me nine times within six months a detailed preliminary explanation of his " method," though I could have passed an examination upon it, and wanted only the new developments. Talking in His Sleep The list of persons, young and old, ignorant and learned, humble and distinguished, who habitually deliver monologues 20 THE REAL PROBLEM when they suppose they are conversing, might be extended indefinitely. Perhaps you know the indistinctness and inco- herence of one who is " talking in his sleep." That is only the extreme form of thinking aloud. When we talk to our intimates — to the family — we slip into monologue because we take our lisfeners' attention for granted. When we have something important to say to a person we wish to impress we lose ourselves in the anxious effort to get the idea just right. In either case, the cause of our failure is that we disregard the procedure of getting an idea into another man's mind. Why We Talk If we were to classify the occasions of talk, the milHons of reasons which may move A to speak to B, we could group them all under a few general headings such as the following : 1. To ask information as to a matter of fact: "What time is it? " or advice as to conduct — " What should I do?" 2. To give information as to a matter of fact, either in response to inquiry or volunteered. 3. To prove the truth of an idea or generalization. 4. To " express " a " feeling " or fancy, or reflection, or to narrate an experience, the object being in any case to " relieve one's mind." 5. To stir some sort of feeling in the listener ; pity, sym- pathy, indignation, merriment, etc. 6. To give advice as to conduct, or to persuade another person to do something. 7. To resist advice or persuasion. Further, these seven items may be grouped again into three, as follows : HOW TO DO IT 21 Asking information, or giving it. Expressing feeling, or stirring it. Getting the other man to do something — or resisting his effort to make you do something. The bilHons of " speeches " and remarks uttered daily, whatever their subjects, and whether long or short, fall into one of these groups. Can you think of any that are not so included ? In all cases success in conveying your thought to the per- son you address depends largely upon aiming what you say at just that person. How to Talk When giving information you need to make sure that your words are distinct and loud enough for the occasion, that your tones are unobjectionable, that your statements are correct, definite, and complete. When expressing feeling you must sense the nature and the mood of the individual you are addressing; otherwise the " symptoms " of feeling which you display may not be such as he will understand. Most of all, when seeking to persuade a man to do some- thing — to enter on a course of action, or buy the goods you have to sell — you must all the time direct your talk with ref- erence to the considerations which have weight with him. In this book we are especially concerned with such " productive " talking. To " deliver your package," to get the action you desire, you must appeal to the right motive in each man's case. That calls for the constant exercise of tact. The Tactful Approach Tact, remember, has two elements. It means first that in dealing with other people we must adapt ourselves to their individuality — their knowledge, their tastes, their prejudices. 22 THE REAL PROBLEM We must take the path which is easiest for the individual before us. The power to adapt ourselves is an acquired power. Children rarely have it. It develops slowly in most of us, not because we are selfish but because our attention is not directed systematically to the usefulness of this power of adaptation and to the methods of acquiring it. The Apostolic Method A long time ago a man conspicuous for tact — he was a missionary named Paul — described his own method as fol- lows : " I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." That is still the one sure way to get other people to do what you want. It does not mean to dissimulate or to misrepresent facts. It means : Don't try to butt through a wall; find the door! There are doors to e\er\' man's mind. When you want him to do something, be sure to present your suggestion from his point of view — take the " You " attitude — find the door. Then you can say whatever needs to be said in a way that will not offend him, that will hold his close attention. The time and thought which it takes to find that door are as essential a part of your job as what you finally say. Winning Out by Tact But tact means more than merely adapting yourself to the other man's individuality. It means influencing, controlling and utilizing that individuality. There is an old saying : " When two men ride on a horse, one must ride behind." In every business interview — indeed, in almost every human conversation — there is a contest of wills. It may take the form of a long and bitter debate, or merely of a friendly chat, but the trial of strength is always there. You want him to go your way, to think your thought ; he wants you to go his way — perhaps he merely wants to be left alone. Whether HOW TO DO IT 23 you force the fighting, or whether you hold back until he has opened the game and " led out his men," your object always is to win the conflict. That resolute deftness with which you resist his influence and before long enlist his individuality on your side of the contest, and get him to do what you want in spite of his first indifference or unwillingness, is tact. The Three Factors There are three things to bear in mind always. 1. Watch your man. 2. Keep yourself out of the picture. 3. Make a conscious effort to adapt your message to the individual. Watch Your Man First, watch the other man. A great many of the miscues in our talk would disappear if we merely remembered to pay attention to the person we are talking with. Every human being is constantly revealing his mental attitude, and his feel- ings, by numberless little changes of manner. Some of these symptoms or " weather signs " are noticed by all of us now and then ; many others escape attention because we have not the habit of watching. The discoveries of the Sherlock Holmeses of fiction and of real life turn mostly on things which any of us might have seen, if we had looked. Apply this suggestion in the case of the next man you talk with. Try to notice definitely his reaction to the conversation — not merely what he says but how his words are uttered, and how he looks and bears himself while talking, and while listen- ing. Do not stare at him, however; following the play of expres- sion about his eyes and mouth tells you much, but not every- thing. If you watch too narrowly you make him uneasy and nervous, so that he is not himself ; or perhaps if he thinks he 24 THE REAL PROBLEM is being watched he may be prompted to mislead you. Men whose duties bring them constantly under the scrutiny of anx- ious observers — judges, buyers, etc., often develop the de- fence of a coldly impassive face. You may talk for an hour to such a face and get no hint from it of what impression you are making. But it is possible to observe without staring. The young lady of the anecdote had learned that, when she said to her mother : " I believe Mr. Binks really means something." " Has he said anything? " " No, it's the way he looks at me when I am not looking at him." What to See Even more can be told from a man's posture and from the intonations of his voice, both his habitual mannerisms and the changes from moment to moment. If he sits or stands straight and erect, is it the trim, easy erectness of a man ha- bitually hale and active ? Is it pompousness? Is it temporary stiffness and constraint? If he is relaxed, is it the easy re- laxation of perfect bodily control, or physical weakness, or habitual slouch? If he fidgets about, drums on his chair, fingers articles on the table, gesticulates, strokes his face, it may be that he is trying to hide some special excitement, or merely that he is nervous by temperament and these are purely automatic movements. Notice such things. You may not always make the right diagnosis, but at least you are likely to " watch your step " when you talk. What to Hear Then there is the manner of utterance : fluent, laconic, list- less, noisy, hesitating, etc. Does he seem to pick his words cautiously, or pour them out? Are his sentences crisp and HOW TO DO IT 25 neatly turned, or hesitating, or do they come in jerks as if he were preoccupied? What about the voice itself — pleasant or harsh, gentle or noisy, the voice of one accustomed to have his own way, or of one who generally follows another's lead? Controlled and even tones imply sometimes culture, sometimes unusual intelli- gence and self-control. Changes of the tone in quality and pitch, and in the rate of utterance, are most useful as a sort of thermometer of your companion's interest in the conversa- tion. The Mental Grasp Some people hold up their end readily in conversation. Ex- perience helps you to distinguish whether their responsiveness is the eagerness of genuine interest, whether it is habitual civility, or whether they are trying to draw you out. Some people are passive. That may mean lack of interest, or it may mean dullness and slowness of thought, or merely that your companion is preoccupied or tired. An attitude that is apparently hostile may present no real hindrance. Nine times out of ten what appears to be dislike for your proposal, or for yourself, is merely a trick of your companion's manner — perhaps quite unconscious. A quick, positive nature is generally brusque. If you " lie down " he will march over you; but if you speak up like a man you have no trouble. On the other hand, habitual surliness of manner is often assumed as a defense by a nature at bottom rather slow and timid. Such "barking dogs " are not hard to deal with, if you are straightforward and plain, and not too much in a hurry. Striking Fire You should note especially significant changes in manner, posture, intonation. Somewhere, as the talk proceeds, you 26 THE REAL PROBLEM will strike a spark. When the listless tone becomes strong or shrill, or when the rapid, noisy tone becomes slow and quiet, his guard is down, and )Our chance has come. You should take note, by the way, whether his growing interest is re- sponsive to suggestions, pro or con, from you, or whether your words have merely started him on a course of his own, with the bit in his teeth. Keep Yourself Out of the Picture In order to watch your companion you must control your- self. ;\Iost of us forget that. Once we become interested ourseh'es in a conversation, we too often lose thought of our own manner, posture, and intonation, of the length of our own " speeches," and of the attitude we manifest toward the other man's " speeches " and ideas. The Ten Rules Learn these ten maxims if you want to be sure of your- self, so that you can listen effectively and ha\-e others listen to you ; 1. Don't fidget. If on your feet, stand up straight. If seated, sit still and keep your hands still. 2. Don't slouch. 3. Be alert and lively. Make things interesting. Hold up your end of the conversation, whatever the sub- ject. 4. Don't fuss over trifles. Don't keep your companion waiting \\hile you hunt through your memory for a fact, or a name. 5. But don't be in a hurry. You want his confidence. Don't crowd him. 6. Don't talk about yourself. Don't live over your pleas- ures or expound your troubles. 7. Don't talk too long at a time. Monologues are of lit- HOW TO DO IT 27 tie advantage in either friendship or business. Two or three sentences and then it is his turn. 8. Don't be tempted to " shine." Don't be too clever. Talking business is not a joy-ride. 9. Keep in the background and play up to him. Let him tell you things. One-half at least of your re- marks may well take the form of suggestions or in- quiries. 10. Don't be afraid that your own personality will not show. It shows in the way you steer the boat. Fit Your Talk to the One Man You are now ready to apply the last rule : Make a conscious effort to adapt your " message " to the indii'idnal witli ivhom you are. Wt may think of this in three ways : 1. Vary your juanner of speaking as to loudness, rate, in- flections, etc., with different people. The tone should always be clear and the words distinct, but the general effect ought to vary. Have more than one song. One hearty young sales manager of my acquaintance has a loud, bluff, jerky ut- terance that varies no more than a rooster's crow, whomever he is addressing. 2. Vary the " frame," the arrangement of your ideas. The order in which a thought first came to your own mind may not be natural to the man in front of you, nor yet the order in which you told it to some one else yesterday. You may have to present a serious matter lightly, or something which seems to you trivial, soberly. Vary the approach and the shading. All of us think most readily in specific terms: we grasp general statements by means of concrete illustrations. But the illustrations for a machinist are not those for a stenog- rapher. If the talk runs on some time, vary the treatment moment by moment, watch for danger signals, even on an open road, 28 THE REAL PROBLEM and don't tire your man. When you see you have made your point, stop ; it is not always wise to try to clinch it. 3. Akvays think ahead. When we read a page of print — the scientists have discovered — our eyes do not move straight along, word by word and letter by letter. They are constantly flashing ahead — like scout-boats with a convoy — and feel- ing out the next phrase or sentence. A good talker's mind does the same. He is thinking not only of \\hat is said, but of what is going to be said next, and after that. A financial " promoter " told me the other day of his afternoon's negotia- tions with a group of bankers and attorneys. He would say this thing to bring a certain response from A, and tliat in the hope of prompting B to come back in a few minutes with an- other response. It was a game of wits in which every man was listening and talking over several " wires " at once. Every good talker develops some such power. In the simplest dialogue you are following at least four thought- series at once. What you are saying. What he is saying. What you want him to think. What response his mind is making, step by step. The Cure for Weak Talk There is no one sure cure for ineffective talking. ]\Iany elements must be counted in. But the rule, " Put your mind on the other man," will set you on the road. Every one knows that when we " get interested " or " warmed up " we talk better, we talk more freely, spiritedly, and distinctly. We reveal and utilize our personality. When this happy con- dition develops, what we really get interested in is not our own idea, strictly, but the act of conveying' that idea to that listener. On most occasions we never get warmed up. Most of our " speeches " throughout the day comprise not more than two HOW TO DO IT 29 or three brief sentences, and we do not get cranked — we have no self-starting attachment. The habit of watching the hstener, which anyone can acquire, goes far toward supplying such an attachment. Try it systematically for two or three weeks and see what happens. You will find even trivial ques- tions and answers taking on fresh interest, like your first ad- ventures with a strange language in a foreign land. Telephone Talk Now for the first practical application. When we talk in the telephone we generally aim our remarks pretty well. Per- haps there is something in the act of sending words through the transmitter which holds our attention. The conversation, besides, costs money. At any rate, telephone talk is nearly always more direct, more concise, and better worded than our talk at other times. Try to use your " telephone manner " all day long whenever you open your lips to speak. You will discover before long that people seem more interested, they listen better. If you think you cannot trust your brain to feed the right words into your mouth, as you need them, wait a moment and run over mentally what you have to say. That will not hurt the effect of your remarks when they come. You will probably find that when you really concentrate on the other person the right words come more readily, providing, of course, that you have something to say. Otherwise, keep still. There will be other results. You use fewer words, which saves waste motion. And you unconsciously speak more dis- tinctly and expressively, as in a telephone conversation. How to be Natural But, you say, how can my talk be spontaneous if I must watch every move like this ? It is bound to be conscious and labored. The remedy would be worse than the disease ! There is no danger. Your common sense will take care 30 THE REAL PROBLEM of that. Talk must not be labored or artificial. But it cannot be haphazard if you are to use it. You must learn never to slouch in your mental attitude if you want to talk well. Besides, the close observation which we have traced here so slowly is not unnatural. It goes on in actual life with incredible swiftness, whenever you are alert and inter- ested. You must learn to be always alert, always " at atten- tion," even in an informal chat, as the soldier or gymnast must keep always fit. How to Acquire Ease And ease comes surely with practice and careful training, as surely as the crack Wildcat Division was developed out of undrilled mountaineers. It is all a matter of habit. No sin- gle act of will can enable a man to talk well on a particular occasion. The relation of talking — and listening — is too complex, and too close to us. Our own feelings are involved ; our judgment and conduct are affected. We must overcome lifelong habits and set up new habits which will control us without our thinking. Talking is bound to be largely a matter of momentary im- pulse. The secret of acquiring real command of your powers is to arrange conditions so that your impulses shall be the right ones. So long as you are able only to deliver set speeches, you cannot really utilize your powers either on the public platform or in conversational repartee. To be sure of yourself or im- pulse, you must develop habits of automatic action, of auto- matic response to the suggestion of the moment. Then nerves and muscles will do certain things without being told. You will watch other people and adapt your ways to theirs, scarcely realizing the fact, and your conscious brain will be free to fol- low the progress of the battle. To develop such habits you must master the machinery of transmission. HOW TO DO IT 31 Natural Gifts Different men apply the principles here described according to their different natures. Some have a special power of adapting themselves readily to others. They are genial and sympathetic by nature. They like all sorts of people, and other people open up to them because they are so friendly. With some men of this kind it is because they are soft metal, easily impressed by another personality, and quick to catch a cue. But if such a man can keep his head, and thiiilc. he can often accomplish a great deal just because he comes so close to the people he deals with. The Men Who Talk Best Others have the power of making people come to them. Some are "boulders;" they command attention even before they speak. Some are keen and profound thinkers. Some are judicial and fair, so that instinctively we trust them. Others, again, are original, whimsical. They prick our cu- riosity to see what they will do next. ^len of these group"; rouse our interest though they rarely get as close to us as the more sympathetic sort first mentioned. The men of any type who talk best, however, are always those who have acquired control of both receiving and trans- mitting apparatus. They are alert, yet not too eager. They listen easily and we feel that their talk is spontaneous and bears on the case at hand. To acquire such power you, too, must master — 1. The machinery of speech. 2. The ways of language. Exercises I. Keep a record for one day of your own conversations. How many in all ? How many instances of each of the 7 types noted on page 20? 3-2 THE REAL PROBLEM 2. Tell a "story" or incident to three different sorts of persons: (a) an intimate friend; (b) a casual acquaintance or a stranger; (c) a child. Make it interesting to each one of them. Note down afterward any differences in your manner towards each of them, and any differences in the response each one makes. 3. Call up someone by telephone and talk for a moment on some- thing — no matter what — in your careful "telephone manner." Then turn and converse for a moment with someone in the room. Then briefly note down — or ask an associate to do so — any differences in poise or manner. 4. Among the persons of your acquaintance note any who seem to have a particular skill in adapting themselves in manner or speech. How does this manifest itself with each of them? 5. Give instances, among your acquaintance of the 6 different types of talkers listed on page 31. PART II THE MACHINERY CHAPTER III YOUR APPEARANCE " Look Alive " Sailors ha\-e a phrase which expresses the first duty of the man who wants to get control of the machinery of transmitting thought — " Look alive ! " It implies : Be alert ; be ready for whatever has to be done, and show it. ^lany people go about habitually with absent manner and faces that are preoccupied, tense, or vacant. When they begin to speak, it is apt to be hesitatingly and in a mumbled tone which makes it hard for us to catch their meaning. Or they speak abruptly and roughly ; their remarks come to us as an interruption, and often prompt dislike. On the other hand, some people go about with faces that look as if they had something to say to us. They have their sign out. When they speak, they get attention at once. Advancement Hindered or Helped by Manner I know a man of really unusual energy and capacity who goes about generally with heavy features and blank expres- sion. When a big emergency comes he is quick and master- ful. But he misses a great many opportunities. He has been with a large concern for many years and has pushed slowly up. He told me lately that he would be far higher if he had only known how to loosen up. Another man of much less capacity has gone ahead about twice as fast. This man, when he talks to you, shows that he is putting his attention upon you. His face lights up when speaking, even in casual chat, as if an electric light were turned on inside. He has not so much that is worth saying 35 36 THE MACHINERY as the other man but what he says gets attention. It is easy for men hke that to develop skill in talk. They have already command of some of the nerves and muscles involved in the process of transmission. They can easily extend their con- trol. Oftentimes a man is put into a position where he has to meet people — perhaps to go out as a salesman, perhaps to di- rect other people in their work, or perhaps merely to act as scout, or to work as private secretary or assistant. He fails to make good or he merely creeps along without doing well. He feels his own inefficiency and worries about it. The cause primarily is his manner. He does not look in- terested in what he is doing. Hence, other people do not re- spond; they find it hard to talk to him. " Keeping Open the Channels of Trade " If you think of talk as some men do — merely as a neces- sary evil, you will not go far. A middle-aged ofifice manager entered a class in public speaking. He said, " I don't think much of this kind of thing, I never did care for it, but I've seen a lot of fellows lately getting ahead just because they had the gift of gab. They haven't much brains, but they seem somehow or other to get ahead of other people, and I have got to find out how to do it myself." Needless to say, the man who tries in that spirit makes little progress in mastering the secret of successful speech. A man like that when he talks repels other people. He seems to be grudging the time and effort he takes to reach them. Consequently other people don't want to be bothered by him. He defeats his own purpose. Success in business always involves, as old Baron Roths- child said long ago, " keeping open the channels of trade." To do business successfully with other people, you must be in touch with them. Before you can send the message, you must take down your own receiver. YOUR APPEARANCE 37 Wrong Habits in Childhood This wrong habit goes back usually to childhood. Many children are permitted by unwise parents to be careless. They grow up without paying attention to other people. They do their tasks timidly or stolidly. They do not look to see the effect on other people of what they do. They become timid, stolid, or abstracted adults. Other children are made ab- stracted, self-conscious or repressed by the nagging or the foolish sentimentality of their parents. They rebel against display and gush, and go to the opposite extreme. In either case the result is a habit of repression which is an inevitable hindrance in talking business. Relation of Occupation to Manner and Bearing If a man has any tendency in this direction of self-repres- sion or hstlessness certain kinds of work are likely to develop it, unless he is on his guard. 1. Positions of purely routine activity or positions where the work is not closely supervised. Office boys and attend- ants, trainmen, ticket-sellers, subordinate sales-people, have often somewhat indefinite duties. They should be alert and attentive. But their work is apt to seem unimportant to them; people ask them foolish questions until they get tired of answering, and — they are not closely supervised. If they have any natural tendency to laziness or if they lack ambition, they become careless. 2. Office positions. People who handle close and exacting work for hours often become silent and preoccupied. In a large concern .in Chicago, one of the department heads is a man of genuinely interesting and expressive personality, who talks extremely well, when he does talk. He is a young man, however, carrying large responsibility. Most of the time, he goes about in a preoccupied way with a face as blank as that 38 THE MACHINERY of an Egyptian mummy. It takes a moment or two to bring him down to earth when )'ou have a question to ask. 3. Executive positions. A man in executive work becomes cautious and restrained through his sense of responsibihty. Furthermore, people have to come to him, he is not — as a salesman is — constantly reminded of the need of adapting himself to others. Hence he misses many cues. He often gives the impression of lack of interest. He does not keep his sign out. Actually of course an executive has special need to be alert. He must be a dynamo, keeping other people active. If he appears apathetic or cold he will be always missing opportunities. What a Portrait Painter Sees A friend of mine who is a portrait painter says that in making his pictures he has come to study closely the lines of his sitters' faces. People of certain occupations have open faces, he says. People of some other occupations have closed faces. Teachers and lecturers, for example, whose work con- sists in explaining ideas to other people, have faces in which the lines of expression are strongly marked. On the other hand, he says, lawyers and business executives of certain types seem to have cultivated the art of concealing their thoughts, so that their faces are comparatively blank and closed. When You Talk or Listen — Pay Attention First of all, therefore, learn to be alert. When you listen, pay attention to the person you are with. Don't look away, don't play with your hands nor Avith the articles on the table, don't draw pictures meanwhile. We all think " We can listen just as well" — and perhaps we can. But we seem to the other person to be inattentive, and he does not want to talk to us. Look at your companion. Don't stare at him, of course. YOUR APPEARANCE 39 but follow closely the expression of his face. Furthermore, indicate by )Our own expression your agreement, doubt, or disagreement as his talk proceeds. You are almost certain to hold his attention, whoever he is, if you make your own face expressive while you are listening. Sensitiveness of Facial Muscles To do this, }'ou must cultivate sensitiveness of the facial muscles. A child talks all over — his face shows every change in his thought. He gets attention more readily than an adult — because his eager face attracts and interests. Adults are apt to have impassive and stony faces in ordinary talk. The muscles around the eyes and mouth are extremely re- sponsive to our feelings and moods, but with most of us con- centration on our special business sets these muscles into one fixed and tense position. They remain fixed all day. Some- times at night as you are going to sleep, you will notice the gradual relaxing of these tiny muscles around the eyes and mouth that maybe ha\'e not relaxed throughout the whole day. Most of our talk is in short speeches, of two or three sentences at most; generally in such short speeches we fail to relax sufficiently. The position of face muscles does not fit the ideas we are expressing at the moment. Too much of the time, besides, we are soliloquizing, not considering the other man, not trying to make our ideas interesting specially to him, and for this reason also the face remains set. The natural result is that the other man's attention is not " flagged." Instead he is repelled. The Listener's Response If you want to test the response of a companion to your own facial expression, try this experiment. Sometime, when talking, look away from your companion, and speak with quiet features, with eyes fixed on vacancy. You will find before 40 THE MACHINERY long that the other man will look away too. Very soon he is likely to show uneasiness, and find some pretext for ending the conversation. Years ago at college one of my instructors was a big, awk- ward, diffident man. He knew his subject but he could not bear to face the class. When he addressed a student, he was apt to look in the opposite direction, often out of the window. Naturally, students did not make much of a record in that class. Most men were bothered or worried by his apparent impassivity; he made them nervous. To-day the manner of that man is altogether dififerent. He has taken a prominent part in the community life, has learned to meet people easily and has become a successful and stim- ulating teacher. The " Stony Face " No Advantage Some persons deliberately cultivate an irrtpassive manner as a means of disconcerting the people they have to meet in business interviews. It is undoubtedly a good means of break- ing the attack of an unwelcome salesman. It is said to be the most difficult task for a salesman to " dominate " a listener who makes no response whatever. But it is a suicidal policy for yourself. In the first place, you do not get the best of what the other man has to give ; you send him away feeling uncomfortable and resentful. Moreover, if you do too much of this sort of thing you are sure to paralyze your own powers of expression. Whoever wins in that game, you lose, in the long run. An impassive mask is no real protection. When you really get excited you lose entire control of the muscles of expression and give yourself away all the more. A certain purchasing agent had one of these impassive countenances and talked usually in a manner almost void of expression. He had cul- tivated this rigid self-control because he had naturally a violent YOUR APPEARANCE 4 1 temper and was afraid of letting go. His method did not suc- ceed, however. Every now and then, his temper got the best of him and when it did, his control left him entirely. At such a time he talked furiously; his face worked so that you might think him to be out of his mind. People who knew his weak- ness used to play upon it and irritate him in one way or another until he " blew up." Then he revealed in his hasty and ex- cited talk far more than he would have done if he had not attempted the unnatural rigidity. True Control-Poise To seek control is right, but it must be gained in another way. True control is flexible control which varies with the cir- cumstances. Learn to relax your features. Let your response to the other man's ideas show. By paying attention to your listener and remembering to show your response you will gradually get rid of the " cigar-store-Indian face." On the other hand, do not be too eager or nervous. There was a slang phrase, a few years ago, which applies in this con- nection, the term " rubber neck." It was used of a person who was too eager — who lacked a proper sense of perspective in his personal demeanor. A certain man of my acquaintance is intelligent, reasonable, and really competent, but he is too re- sponsive. He takes up an idea so easily that a stranger is apt to think him either foolish or disingenuous. Another man in- cessantly nods his head. Another smiles monotonously. Controlling Your Muscles To talk business effectively, you need composure. Your appearance and manner should suggest competence, adequacy, strength. The quiet manner of many successful executives, of skilful physicians or other persons who have to handle nervous people, comes from the intelligent control of their muscles, not only of the face but of the entire body. 42 THE MACHINERY Do Not Slouch In the first place, do not slouch. Most of us do that nearly all the time. We do not stand erect. We stand on one foot, with bent knees, with hands in our pockets or on the hips. When we walk, we sway, or roll, or swagger. When seated, we relax too much, and sprawl back in our chairs. We lean on the furniture, we move about jerkily and needlessly. A com- mercial artist of my acquaintance, a highly intelligent man, wore out his welcome in the business houses where he had to sell his services, by his slouchy, careless bearing. Plis clothes were always good, and his linen clean, but his whole appearance was slipshod and queer. People could not believe that his mind was really orderly and reliable. Another man, a civil engineer, used to have to represent his organization before committees. He had a good mind and considerable power of expression but he seemed to have no command whatever over his body. His face was that of an intelligent wide-awake man. From his neck down, he looked slouchy and insignificant. He could not command attention and he had to give up that line of work. Do Not Fidget Do not fidget. Most of us do that also. There are few peo- ple A\ho ha\'e not the habit of stroking the face, moving the feet, playing with watch-chain or keys, tipping their chairs when seated, moving articles on the desk as they talk. A young real estate operator of my acquaintance has to meet people constantly, either individually in conversation or in talks before committees. He is an extremely alert, li\'eh' young man Init he seems unable to control his energy. AA'hen he talks, he cannot keep on the floor.. As soon as he gets in- terested, he rises on his toes, bends his knees, sways about — until you grow nervous watching him. Another man is a sales manager of prominence, a man per- YOUR APPEARANCE 43 sonally of dignity and influence. When he talks he straddles his legs, sways back and forth before his listeners, and is for- ever ramming his hands into his pockets, stroking his face and brushing his hair. He has never learned to control his energy and direct it all toward his one purpose. Mannerisms Make Us Ridiculous The worst of these mannerisms is that they are most marked when we are most interested in one subject. As soon as we lose conscious control, we are at their mercy. They make the listener feel that we lack poise. There- fore he is the less likely to follow our lead. Worse than that, they make us ridiculous. The body, whether we realize the fact or not, is a picture, a statue. When we talk, we are all the time the " illustrations " of our own story. If our ap- pearance is unseemly, the listener is constantly recei\'ing an unpleasant impression of us and therefore of our message. His eyes take in the ridiculous picture though he may not al- ways realize what is wrong. It happens very frequently that men who are really intelligent and worth listening to, are so nervous and uncouth in their movements that they provoke laughter no matter how earnest the}- are. I knew a man who had strong powers as a speaker and who was devoted to the cause of an extremely important reform, but who could not control his muscles when he talked. When he got up before people to speak of the subject which was near his heart, he made such a comical appearance that they always laughed. He kept trying for a long time because he was in earnest, but he had to give it up and leave the promotion of the cause he cared for to other people who had better control of themselves. Physical Grace an Asset On the other hand, if the body is rightly poised that fact contributes definitely to the listeners' interest and pleasure. 44 THE MACHINERY Officers and soldiers have taken a prominent part in the pub- lic campaigns for the Liberty Loans and other war activities. Their impressiveness has been largely due to their trim dig- nified bearing, regardless of what they had to say. A few years ago, I saw John L. Sullivan in a vaudeville act. He gave a talk and then a brief sparring exhibition. He was at that time an old man and almost corpulent in figure, but he was as light on his feet and as graceful in movement as a Russian dancer. In his boxing costume you would never have thought of him as a heavy man. A certain advertising man owes a large part of his success to his composed and impressive bearing and manner. There is nothing showy about it; his bearing is quiet and unassuming, but so erect, well poised, and agile that it is a pleasure to look at him. He has remarkable power when he addresses a com- mittee, simply because of that trim, quiet bearing. It is easy for people to believe that a man with such control of his per- sonality will be able to carry his clever ideas to a successful issue. When Talking We Are on Exhibition Business men have learned the importance of neat and proper dress. A man who wants to give a good impression must not go about unshaven, with shabby clothes, rusty shoes, soiled or broken collar, etc. But we destroy the effect of good clothes when we talk ; we forget ourselves and take awkward and fidgety attitudes. Thinking of the subject matter we for- get our appearance. The fact is, however, that we are peculiarly on parade when talking; we invite attention then most of all. This is evident when a man has to get up and address a company of people. The way he walks forward counts in the impression he makes. Every detail of dress, movement, and bearing counts. The same thing is true in conversation. The man who is nervous YOUR APPEARANCE 45 and awkward is always handicapped. His mannerisms dis- tract us and keep us from listening. But the man who fidgets, who is nervous, usually has the capacity of really effective talk. He has the excitability that can drive his thought across if he can only control his power. Nervousness of body is evidence of power of expression which is now running to waste. What he needs is to learn to keep still, to suppress needless movements. Control of body im- plies control of thought and will. Think About It What is to be done ? 1. Think about the matter, as often as you can. That will help somewhat. If you can remember while talking to stand straight, to be easy and graceful, all is well. 2. Keep yourself in good condition. Allow yourself plenty of time for sleep. Don't get run down. Be- fore an important interview relax; take a few mo- ments' rest. Don't go into it fagged out or excited from another interview. The sales manager of a large company said to me lately, " When I have an important conference at hand, it makes a difference how I feel. If I am tired, worried, all in, I make a bad impression. I try to get a good night's sleep or a brisk walk or a half hour's rest beforehand." The Only Sure Way — Automatic Control But that program is not sufficient. You cannot tell when an emergency will come; a business man must always be ready. More than that, it is practically impossible to " watch your step " constantly, throughout an entire interview or ad- dress. The more important the occasion the more likely you 46 THE MACHINERY are to become lost in the subject and forget entirely how you are looking and acting. The only sure way is to acquire automatic control which will continue when you are not thinking about it. This comes from habit. Habit is the most powerful force in our lives. It gets us into fixed lines of conduct which we follow without effort and which we cannot break away from. \\'e cannot improvise habit, but we can build it. Personal efficiency — civilization itself — rest largely upon deliberate, intelligent cultivation of the right habits. That is the principal require- ment in all the work that is outlined in this book. Talking business requires you to develop and co-ordinate habits which will lead to control of body a«d mind. Muscles Strong and Supple Therefore, make your body muscles supple and strong. With many people, the very opposite is the case. If we were all brought up in the open air, if we had good gymnastic train- ing from childhood, we should have good muscles, but most of us have not had that sort of bringing-up and besides we have acquired habits of slouching and fidgeting. When the war came, 25 per cent of the men examined, men in the age of greatest vigor, were rejected for physical defects. A large proportion of these defects were owing to lack of attention to the simplest rules of care of the body. Flat feet, even poor eyesight are largely due to neglect of right exercise and right posture in daily life. The first thing the army did for its rookies was to make their bodies strong and acti\e. We Americans have had an object lesson. After this, if we neglect physical training for our youth, we should be ashamed of ourselves. The physical drill which the army has given 3,000,000 young Americans is a splendid preparation for talking business. If you have had that, don't lose it. If you missed it, get it now for yourself. VOUR APPEARANCE 4; If you want to learn to look and talk your best whatever the emergency, form the following habits : Setting-Up Drill — Position Every morning take a few minutes of setting-up exercises. Here are those prescribed in the army. Notice that in all these exercises position — unless a different position is pre- scribed — will mean standing erect in what the army calls the " position of the soldier." 1. Heels on the same line and as near each other as the con- formation of the man permits. 2. Feet turned out equally and forming an angle of about 45"- 3. Knees straight without stiffness. 4. Hips level and drawn back slightly ; body erect and resting equally on hips; chest lifted and arched; shoulders square and falling equally. 5. Arms and hands hanging naturally, thumb along the seam of the trousers. 6. Head erect and squarely to the front, chin drawn in so that the axis of the head and neck is vertical ; eyes straight to the front. 7. Weight of the body resting equally upon the heels and balls of the feet. Exercises Everybody knows exercises for legs and arms. Only one of these, which specially aids co-ordination, is given here. Trunk exercises are more important, because they wake up the internal organs, improve digestion and so react on the health in general. Breathing ought always to be taken as the last exercise. I. Position : Stand erect, feet astride, arms stretched over- head, palms to front. Swing trunk forward and down, so that arms swing through legs. Come back to posi- tion. Continue 15 times. 48 THE MACHINERY 2. Position : Hands on hips. Bend the knees slowly, going all the way down and keeping the body erect. Rise quickly, lo times. 3. Position : Clasp hands over head. Bend sidewards, to the right, feeling the stretch in the left side. Back to position. Bend to left. Continue, right and left, 10 times. 4. Position: Hands on hips. Charge with the right foot forward and to the right, right knee bent, arms straight overhead. Bend forward so that fingers touch the ground. Back to charge. Back to position. Same to left. Continue, right and left, 10 times. 5. Right hand to shoulder, forearm vertical. Left hand same. Right arm vertical over head. Left. Right hand back to shoulder. Left. Right arm down. Left. Continue 15 times. The Cold Bath or Rub Together with this take a cold bath, plunge, or shower or at least a sponge-off, followed by a hard rub until your flesh tingles. That aids general vigor and is particularly useful in keeping your vocal apparatus in good condition. You are less likely to take cold ; you are less likely to be troubled with catarrh. It tends to make your voice muscles strong and your tone good. Exercises for Muscles of the Face Special exercises may be devised for developing and train- ing the muscles of the face and jaws. Such exercises are decidedly beneficial in a number of ways. They are used in dramatic schools, for example, as part of the training of the professional actor. There are excellent reasons, moreover, why they should be taught to all children in every school. For one thing, the dental profession has found that the practice of such exercises by children has an important bearing upon the development of the teeth and in- directly upon the general health. YOUR APPEARANCE 49 Here is a portion of the set of special exercises for the muscles of the face and jaws devised by Dr. Henry C. Ferris, Chairman of the Oral Hygiene Committee of the First District Dental Society of the State of New York. The object of this set is to overcome the lazy habits resultant from the present day diet of the masses. The immediate purpose is to teach the growing child to use the muscles of mastication, which in power are only second to those of the heart, and thereby stimulate the thyroid and salivary glands to perform their normal functions. With the use of a dynamometer it is found that a very wide range in the development of these muscles of children exists, and that the power of the hand grip parallels their development. 2. Place the ball of the first finger of each hand on cheek muscles over angle of the jaw; bring teeth together and then contract muscles, making fingers jump. This should be repeated with slow, concentrated effort. Re- peat 10 times. 3. Stand erect, with arms extended downward and back- ward; throw head as far back as possible, putting ten- sion on muscles of the neck. Close the teeth in normal contact, carrying the lower jaw forward with teeth over the uppers as far as possible, then back to contact. Re- peat 10 times. 4. Place first two fingers of each hand just below cheek bone, elevate the muscles in an effort to laugh, pulling down with the fingers at the same time. Repeat 10 times. 5. Close lips and puff cheeks full of air, then relax. Repeat 10 times. 6. Place first two fingers of each hand in outer corner of each eye just below eyebrow with downward pressure, elevate the muscles against this resistance. Repeat 10 times. Get some hard exercise every. day if you can arrange it and if possible out of doors. When you cannot get out doors, hand ball, basket ball, gymnasium practice two or three times 50 THE MACHINERY a week will add to your working capital. Whatever else you do get some brisk walking every day. This you can com- mand. Walking a mile or two will take only a few minutes and will get your lungs to functioning properly. You will find the value of it when you want to use your voice, no matter how quiet the conversation may be. The Habit of Correct Posture It is equally important to form the habit of good posture at all times — whether walking, standing, or sitting. This is perhaps the most important matter of all and the most neglected. It is not hard to hold yourself erect while exercising, but when standing still, in conversation or before an audience, we are all apt to relax. The soldier develops his trim bearing in a few weeks because they keep after him all day long. Do the same for yourself. The Standing Position The soldier's position, as described on page 47 is a little too stiff for common use. Do not carry the chest quite so far forward. And do not forget to grip the ground slightly with the toes at all times. This is most important. Most of us fail to do it and that throws out our entire position. To test your posture rise on the toes, stay there a moment and drop the heels slowly, keeping your weight on the toes. Keep that attitude all day long \\'henever you are on your feet, even when by yourself and when not talking. If you pet yourself while alone, )-ou are pretty sure to do the same when " under fire," no matter how important the interview. The Sitting Position That is just as true as regards posture while sitting. Much of the talking you do in business is while seated. If you are to keep from slouching or fidgeting, you must acquire control YOUR APPEARANCE 5 1 when by yourself. Sit up, even when alone. The chief rules for correct posture while seated are the following : 1. Sit back in your chair, not on the edge. 2. Keep both feet on the floor and grip sHghtly with the toes. 3. Keep your trunk straight, chest high, back straight, head back on shoulders. 4. If reading and away from a desk, hold the book up, not down on your knees. 5. If seated at a desk, have the chair the proper height for the length of your legs and the desk the proper height for the paper or book you are working on. 6. In writing, sit straight. Some people sit sideways, rest- ing on an elbow, or they hunch forward over the desk and squint along the lines as they write. All these little things, remember, go to make up your habitual posture. If you can control yourself when alone, you will have control automatically when you need it in public* The Power of Dramatic Expression What has been said thus far, is really only an introduction to what you may do in the matter of appearance, if you will put your mind on it. You can do more than merely show willingness to catch the other man's message, more than merely restrain your own machinery. The purpose of talking is to convey your thought to some- one else. Learn to reinforce the power of words by the power of dramatic expression. Learn to supplement the signals of the word-code by the signals of the code of looks, pose, and movement. Ideas are conveyed largely by suggestion ; not by detail " spelling out " of a message but by a flash, a picture. We flash an idea across and then " spell it out " in words to verify it. Life is too short to try to convey ideas through logical * Exercises for developing correct posture, and interesting data on the subiect, may be obtained trom the American Posture League, i Madison Avenue, New York. 52 THE MACHINERY methods alone. We must rely upon such methods now and then for the special occasions when we must be minutely ac- curate, but they are hard to understand or follow, and far inferior as a general method of communication to the lan- guage of suggestion. Now in the matter of suggestion looks and pose and movement count very largely. Suggestions of Pose and Movement We are all susceptible to the suggestion of carriage and movement, and in part we realize the fact. We recognize an acquaintance at a distance by his walk. Our interest in the " movies " comes largely from our interest in watching the expressions of the performers. We always like to watch a crowd. We find endless interest in guessing about the people in a car or a restaurant. Why is it that when we have some particular business with a man, we nearly always prefer to meet him face to face, espe- cially if it is a matter in which the other man's personality is involved? It is because we interpret a man's thought to a large extent from his looks and bearing. We want to see him and size him up and make sure what he means. Why not utilize this power of bodily suggestion in a con- structive way when we talk business? It is perfectly pos- sible. Everyone by nature has the power of expressing feel- ing. We think sometimes that this is a peculiar gift of the actor. The fact is merely that the actor is a person who has specially cultivated a power which all possess. We all feel the same joy and sorrow and fear and anger. We show those feelings in practically the same way. If that were not the fact, the actor would get no applause. What we approve in him is the fact that he represents feeling in the way we know other people express it. When we are excited, we ourselves express the same feeling, perhaps more vividly than it is ever seen upon the stage. YOUR APPEARANCE 53 Use of Dramatic Suggestion in Business There are many actors who are not on the stage. They are playing their part in business, conveying thought by sug- gestion of look, pose, and movement while selling goods, ad- justing complaints, carrying messages, directing work. Their talk appears frank and cordial and winning and yet they keep their own counsel. They do not gush, they do not overdo it, but they think behind their expressive manner as actively and coolly as the poker-face man thinks behind his mask. Such constructive use of the power of expression is not out of place in business. Nearly all business talk actually in- volves feeling. Something is at stake. You are selling your services to the other man. You are trying to make him un- derstand you, believe you, trust you. In doing that, the quickest methods are the best — the methods of suggestion. The sensible man will utilize as many lines of suggestion as possible, co-ordinating them harmoniously, using pose and movement just as he uses his voice. Many successful salesmen, and many personnel men in large organizations, men whose work consists in keeping other peo- ple " in line," have learned this power. The leading copy-writer of a certain large advertising or- ganization has this power very notably. For years, he has been trying to make his copy express fully the ideas of his patrons. He has learned to throw himself into each effort to compose. When he talks to you now, in casual chat, every look and word is vivid, like the talk of a good actor. But it is not exaggerated ; it is good conversation. Another man is the general agent of a big insurance com- pany, " a million dollar man." His business also is present- ing ideas to other people. In repose, the lines of his face are somewhat heavy, but in any conversation his face lights up and his manner varies with every delicate shift of thought. 54 THE MACHINERY Utilize Your Own Power Intelligently You have learned now to " accompany " the other man's statements with an expressive face. Do the same for your own statements. If you are making a strong assertion, if you are expressing doubt or surprise in your language, show it clearly in look, pose, and movement. In animated talk, remember we are alive all over — voice, look, pose and move- ment. In most talk we come short of this because the stim- ulus of the occasion is not strong enough to overcome our habits of inertia or slouch and we have not learned to apply intelligence consciously to the matter of bodily suggestion. The actor generally exaggerates. He has to do so to make his expression carry across the footlights, just as he has to make up his face. When an actor plays in a small theater, where the audience is near Ijy, he exaggerates much less. You should not exaggerate at all but you should not restrain the feeling that is suitable to the occasion. See What You " Really Do " Try to catch yourself sometime and see what you do when excited. After some lively dispute or interview, go off alone in front of a mirror and repeat as nearly as you can just what you said and just what the other man said in the dialogue. At first, no doubt, it will not come back very clearly but if j^ou talk right ahead, }'ou will to a large extent reproduce and li\-e over the scene. Then you can jtit what •\''0u have done, see what you look like when excited. Two mirrors in which you can see your- self not face to face but in profile, will be better than one. Notice how you look as you say a certain phrase. Repeat the phrase with the same look and see how the lines of the face shape themsehes as you say it. You can analyze that pose and expression and move your face into it deliberately. Actors do that as a matter of course when studying a part. YOUR APPEARANCE 55 Expression Counts Even in Quiet Talk Try the same thing with coiuersations which are not ex- citing, which are quiet. " Life," said President Wilson, once, " is not all running to a fire." Most business talk is in quiet tones, with apparently composed and even manner. But the opportunity for constructive use of the power of expression is perhaps greatest of all in such quiet talk. If you have trained )'our powers of expression you can convey the sugges- tion you wish by a single look. You may not be able to do this the first time but if you keep up the 'effort, you will get efifective command. There is a story of a famous old politician, Thurlow Weed, who culti- vated his memory by repeating to his wife in the evening all the doings of the day. How much it really helped his mem- ory is a question. It must have been hard on the lady. There is no doubt whatever, though, that by practice a man can re- call with great minuteness the exact words he has used in con- versation, and his look and manner as well. Read Aloud Now, take some passage from one of the speeches in this book. For example, the illustrations given in Chapter XXIV. Read them over in front of a mirror, glancing at yourself now and then. Do not exaggerate, or read theatrically. Just try to put yourself into the state of mind of the speaker and make the passage sound perfectly natural, as if you were making it up for yourself. Apply Method to Common Talk This practice will give you what may be called mental ex- perience; it will take you out of the rut of your special and personal way of talking. Try now to apply what you have learned from the reading to your own talk the next day and see if it fits. After a moment or so, of course, you will forget ; 56 THE MACHINERY you will become interested in the subject and return to your old manner. For a little while, however, you will have the conscious control which the actor has. Keep trying. In a few weeks you will become aware of how you are looking at some moment of the talk. At that point conscious control that you can utilize will begin for you. One of the foremost execu- tives in America trained himself in this very way. Learning to be Natural You may object that all this will make you artificial. That is not the fact — it is only utilizing your normal powers. You have cramped them hitherto by repression. Actually you are insincere nozc, in so far as you are trying to convey thought and feeling by an imperfect medium, over an imperfect " line." The right thing is to study yourself, study the way you talk when at your best. Then you will learn gradually to apply this knowledge in a constructive way whenever you talk busi- ness. Relation Between Face Muscles and Voice There is an additional reason for acquiring control of muscles of face and body, for anyone who wants to learn to talk. Control of one set of muscles " carries over," the psycholo- gist says, to other muscles. Distinct speech and clear and agreeable tone, we shall find, are largely matters of co-ordinat- ing various muscles and nerves. The muscles which are con- cerned are intimately related to those used in dramatic expres- sion, particularly those of the face. Some of the voice muscles, besides, are involuntary, not under direct control of the will. Therefore, by getting control of the muscles which govern the dramatic expression of face, and body, you make it far easier U> speak your words distinctly and well, and to use your voice to the best advantage. YOUR APPEARANCE 57 Foch's Speech in London No man of our time has qualified more distinctly as a man of action — not a "talker" merely — than Marshal Foch. In the following account, from an English newspaper, the Manchester Guardian, of his speech in London just after the war, one of the most significant points is his command and use of the power of dramatic suggestion : Marshal Foch spoke very simply, very colloquially, very much a soldier talking to his friends. He stood chest out, head well back, with one leg well forward, suggesting the elastic posture of a fencer as he moved slightly and regularly at the knee as though about to lunge. His main point was that he had done nothing. " The Boches attack. I said I would stop them. When they were stopped I attacked them. Well, every one did what he could, and after some time we were all attacking along the 400 miles of front — the French, the English, the Americans, the Belgians, and we all went for them.'' At that point the Marshal raised both his hands and pushed forward and downward with his hands and body in one movement. " Victory,'' he said, " is an inclined plane. We pushed them, all of us, and they simply had to retreat and retreat." He continued to make the slightly downward movement with his hands, moving elastically at the knee in unison. " And after that we simply kept pushing and pushing, and they went back, and we were simply on the point of getting " he waved his hands. " Then they asked for an armistice. They accepted all our conditions '' — shoulders, hands, and eyebrows went up. "Well !" The impression every one got was of the great shock it had been to the Marshal when the enemy surrendered. Exercises I. Among your acquaintances pick out a few persons remarkable for (a) alert manner, (b) dull and apathetic manner: To what 58 THE MACHINERY extent in each case is the person's manner to be attributed to his occupation ? 2. Do you know any persons (a) who have- faces that are too sensi- tive ; (b) who seem deliberately to affect the "stony face"? 3. What is the influence of your own work? Is your manner more or less alert and expressive than formerly? 4. Observe closely some acquaintances whose appearance and man- ner seem to you decidedly prepossessing; what can you notice, in connection with their ways of standing, sitting, walking, which contributes to the good impression? 5. Ask an associate to tell you of your own habits of posture, sitting and standing — whether you slouch or fidget, and what you do. 6. During at least one interview each day, make the effort to stand erect, heels together and hands at your sides. If the position seems specially awkward or difficult you probably have habits of slouching. 7. Observe some of your acquaintances who have power of dramatic suggestion, in conversation. Notice just what they do. 8. If you think you have no power of dramatic expression in conver- sation, ask an associate to (a) draw some sketches of you while talking eagerly, or (b) take some snap shots, or (c) note down and describe in words your manner. Later, before a mirror assume these poses deliberately; see if they feel natural; if they are graceful ; how they can be improved. CHAPTER IV THE VOCAL ORGANS By L. N. Andres, M. D. Vocal Apparatus and General Health The art and science of speaking depend primarily upon the functioning of the so-called respiratory tract, which includes the nose, throat, and lungs — or, in more precise terms, the nose, nasopharynx (the space back of the nose), pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi and lungs. Interference with the function of any organ composing this tract will lead to an impediment to the action not merely of the organ affected but of the entire tract. As the respiratory tract is closely united with all the other organs of the body, it becomes evident that disease or disturbance of any organ of respiration will sooner or later affect the general health of the individual. We all know the ravages of tuberculosis of the lungs upon the human race. In fact, any disease of the lungs will directly interfere with the state of health of the individual, leading as it does to the overtaxing of the heart's action, which in turn impedes the functioning of the kidneys, li\'er, spleen, and digestive apparatus. What is true of the lungs is also true of the nose, throat, larynx, trachea, etc. Each organ has a func- tion of its own, and is directly influencing the rest of the body. Influence of General Health on Vocal Organs On the other hand, every organ is influenced by the general state of health of the individual. This is very often observed by members of the medical profession. Patients frequently complain of sore throat, or of discharge from the nose, or of 59 6o THE MACHINERY " catching cold." The nose and throat are affected very shghtly — the real cause being found in disturbance of diges- tion. As.soon as the intestines are cleaned out, the sore throat or the " cold in the head " disappears. Therefore, it is abso- lutely essential for anyone who wishes to sing well or speak well to pay intelligent attention to his general health — as well as to the condition of the organs directly concerned in the ac- tion of speech. The Mechanism of Speech Speech, from a mechanical and physical standpoint, may be divided into three definite acts which are closely associated. 1. The production of the sound, which is an act of res- piration. 2. The reinforcement of the sound already produced — an act of resonance. 3. The modification of the sound thus produced and re- inforced — an act of enunciation by means of which the modified tone or sound is shaped into vowels, consonants, and words. Any interference with any portion of this important mech- anism will directly impede the action of the speech apparatus. Respiration The mechanism of respiration is directly concerned in the making of the sound. There are three definite stages : 1. The act of breathing in — or " inspiration." 2. The action of chemical change of the air already taken in — in the chest cavity. 3. The act of breathing out — or " expiration." The second stage is from the standpoint of the production of speech the least important. It is, besides, extremely com- plicated. Accordingly, its description may here be omitted. THE VOCAL ORGANS 6i Breathing In The air from the outside passes (see Figure i) through the nose, nasopharynx (or back of the nose) and pharynx, between the vocal cords, through the treachea and bronchi to the kings. •Iflferlor meatus Nasopharynx Soft palate Pharyni^ CEsophaJua BroncViial Tubes Figure i. Passage of Inspired Air Into Lung Breathing Out The air from the lungs is forced out from the chest cavities by a contraction of the chest muscles, the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles. From the lungs it passes into the trachea and then into the larynx, causing a vibration of the entire vocal cords (see page 69) which produces the so-called " fundamen- tal tone." The vibrations of this " fundamental " are accom- panied by a sympathetic vibration of parts of the vocal cords, giving rise to the so-called " over-tones." All these vibrations are carried upward to the mouth and nose and the air spaces of the head, which act like resonating chambers. The tone is there modified in " quality " according to the size and shape of these air spaces. The quality of the tone is peculiar to each individual and often varies in the same individual according to the condition of the resonating chambers at the time. 62 THE MACHINERY Involuntary Action of Vocal Apparatus Most of the actions of the vocal apparatus are involuntary : that is, they cannot be controlled by the will of the individual. In this respect they resemble the action of the digestive ap- paratus or the circulation apparatus. As soon as food is swal- lowed, the digestion goes on whether the individual wants or not. The circulation of the blood goes on and cannot be con- trolled or modified by the will. Some Action Semi-Voluntary, Some Voluntary Some actions of the vocal apparatus are partly voluntary and some are entirely voluntary — for example, the actions of closing or opening the mouth, moving the tongue, modify- Brairt f^. Figure 2. Vertical Section of the Nose — From Behind ing the shape of the lips, etc. The muscles of the tongue are specially important. It is upon the proper performance of these semi-voluntary and voluntary actions that the training of the future speaker and singer depends. Needless to say considerable improve- ment may be obtained by proper care and exercise. And as the vocal apparatus is very much influenced by the general health condition of the individual this should always be given prime consideration and attention. THE VOCAL ORGANS 63 The rule of one who wishes to learn to speak well should be: 1. Care of general health 2. Care of the vocal apparatus 3. Proper training and exercises. Description of Organs \Xe shall proceed now with a brief description of the organs directly concerned in the production of speech : The nose, nasopharynx, pharynx, tongue, mouth caxity, epiglottis, larynx, trachea, and lungs. Nose The nasal cavities are two more or less symmetrical cavities divided by a bony cartilaginous wall, known as the septum, and terminating in the common cavity of the nasopharynx. On its outer surface are found three bones — the inferior, middle, and superior turbinate bones. The spaces between these bones in the nasal cavity are called " meati : " superior, middle, and inferior. Breathing is carried on mostly through the inferior meatus and to some extent through the middle. These meati have an important influence upon the so-called " nasal reson- ance." The inferior turbinate bone is found in close relationship with the " maxillary sinus," the large open air space of the cheekbone. The middle turbinate bone covers the air-cells known as the " ethmoidal sinuses," which communicate above and in front with the " frontal sinus " — the air space over the eye- brows — and at the back with still another air space known as the " sphenoidal sinus." All these sinuses, air spaces, which are bony capsules — or shells — are of the utmost importance as the resonating cham- bers of the nose, head, and face. 64 THE MACHINERY The cavities of the nose are lined by a membrane, peculiarly well adapted for breathing purposes. Small hairs act as a sieve to prevent the dust particles of the air from getting into the lungs. The many folds (see Figure 3) are there for the purpose of warming the air — before it enters the lungs. The membranes contain glands which secrete a fluid that lubricates the cavities and also exerts a bacteriocidal action upon micro- SuperJor meatus ■Septum ■SuperiortMrbTnate .<. ,-,, ^ ,^ , , ..^oMiddle turbinate Middle meatusTSM H J^ Inferior meatus ' A t » "Vf Inftrior turbrnate Figure 3. Vertical Section of Nose (Schematic) organisms entering the nose from the outside air. In other words, the nose is adapted not only for breathing, smelling, and resonating purposes but it is the great protector again-^t infection from the outside. This is the reason why mouth breathing is injurious to health. One who breathes through the mouth misses the great protection that nasal breathing offers. Nasopharynx Behind the nose is one of the largest cavities in the head, known as the nasopharynx. It connects the nose with the pharynx, and on its sides are the openings of the eustachian tubes, which lead into the ears, thus establishing communication between nose, throat, and ears. The size of this cavity, and its importance with reference to tone-production, are not often realized by the layman. In the nasopharynx are located also the tissues known as adenoids (see page 73). They sometimes become enlarged, so as to obstruct the cavity, a condition which is not only in- jurious to the health in various ways but which, of course, interferes with speech. THE VOCAL ORGANS 65 Soft Palate The soft palate is a movable, valve-like fold attached to the hard palate. It splits laterally to form the " tonsilar fossa " and hangs down in front at the " uvula." The function of the soft palate is to open and close the cavity of the nasopharynx by its contraction or elevation. During swallowing the soft palate spreads out and closes the naso- pharynx, thus preventing food from entering the nose. The actions of the soft palate are of utmost importance to the speaker and singer, since by connecting the cavities of the pharynx and mouth and nose all these cavities blend into one, thus forming one large resonating chamber. Pharynx The pharnyx is located behind the mouth cavity and below the nasopharynx. It belongs to both digestive and respiratory tracts. Tonsils The tonsils are found in the so-called tonsilar fossa between the two " pillars " on the sides of the back part of the throat. Middle turbinate &^#l____ Frontal sinus ._• 1. ^'V ir^^^^ji^Sphenoidal sinus Inferior turbinate -vjB^ ^~C_J^^^ Eustachian tube /jiJW ^^--p—I^^J^Nl^^a.-- N a s o p h a r y h X ^^^^^^^"^^'"^^^V A ^ Adenoids ' Hsrd .-'^-Y \ y \4=f= — So-fH: palate palate (nVjlTT^-W^ — pharynx Epi^l OttiS Figure 4. Front to Back Section — Showing Month, Nose, Pharynx, Epiglottis When in normal state the tonsils serve a definite purpose, se- creting a substance that lubricates the pharnyx. This sub- stance is also a protective agent against outside infection by 66 THE 'MACHINERY exerting a bacteriocidal action against micro-organisms enter- ing the mouth cavity. The tonsils are the great " protector " of this cross-road between the digesti\'e and respiratory tracts. Frontal sinus Sphenoid y^ 3inus Adenoids Hard palate -Tons! I ■1on_^u ■Epiglottis ■Vocal cords Figure 5. Section Through the Skull — Showing the "Vocal Tract" Mouth Cavity The mouth cavity is usually obliterated by the tongue, which lies against the palate. But \\'hen the mouth is opened by will, or as a result of obstruction of the nose, this cavity is bounded by the palate above, the tongue below, the cheeks and dental arches — the gums and teeth — in front and on the side, and the pharynx between. The size of the mouth cavity varies .c^reatly, depending upon the lowering of the jaw, or the flat- tening of the tongue. The mouth cavity is the great resonating chamber of the Iiead. Most of the vowels and consonants are created there. One may say, without exaggeration, that the art of speech depends upon one's ability to use the moiitli resonance zvliilc J-ringing into play other resonances. Or, in other words, the THE VOCAL ORGANS 67 problem of speaking resolves itself into the ability to create one caznty out of tlic entire vocal tract by uniting tlie larynx, pharynx, mouth, nasopharynx, and nose, and the ability to bring into play at leill any particular resonance for any par- ticular purpose. Tongue The tongue is a mass of muscular tissue, very mobile, and covered w^ith mucous membrane. During speaking the tongue is flattened out. It is attached to the hyoid bone (see Figure 6) to which is also attached the epiglottis. For this rea- EpiVlottis H^oid bone Aryteno' epiOtoitidean' •^ fold Cushion of. epiglottis Thyroid cartilage False vcKial cord Laryngeal, sinus True vocal cord Thyro- arytenoid, nnuscle Cricoid cartila^* Figure 6. Section Showing Compartments of the Larjmx. From Behind son any movement of the tongue is accompanied by a corre- sponding movement of the epiglottis. This is of great im- portance during the act of swallowing, when the movement of the tongue brings about a folding of the epiglottis over the vocal cords (which are at the same time elevated and closed). The tongue is directly connected with the palate by the pharynx, and from the standpoint of speech the tongue is of 68 THE MACHINERY Utmost importance since most of the vowels and consonants are formed by its aid. Epiglottis The epiglottis is a saddle-shaped cartilage, placed directly behind the tongue and in front of the larynx. Its function is to protect the larynx from food entering during swallowing by bending over the elevated and closed vocal cords. I had the opportunity of observing the action of swallowing and the changes in the position of the larynx of a French soldier whose wound exposed the larynx to outside view. Every time he swallowed the vocal cords would move up and close tightly and at the same time the epiglottis would fold over them and the food would follow over the epiglottis into the esophagus and disappear. Immediately afterward the epigloittis would straighten up again, the larynx would descend, and the vocal cords reopen. During phonation — that is, when tone is produced in the larynx — -the epiglottis assumes an upright position, thus con- necting the larynx with the pharynx. Hyoid bone Cartilage tritfcea r/| Thyro-epidlottideBn ligament Superior- cOrrlu of^ thyroid cartllade Cartilage oPSantorift] Arytenoid cartilage Muscular process oT arLjtenoid cartilarfe Inferfor cornu of thyroid cart-ila^e Figure 7. Section Showing Cartilages and Ligaments of Larynx. From Behind THE VOCAL ORGANS 69 Larynx The larynx is the upper portion of the air passage leading from the lungs, and specially adapted for the production of voice. It opens above into the pharynx ; below, it is continu- ous with the wind pipe or trachea. Epirfiolt; A Vocal cords flratenoWs B Afijtenolds Figure 8. Larynx During (A) Inspiration, (B) Expiration, (C) Phonation The walls of the larynx are constructed in a very compli- cated manner. The framework is composed of several car- tilages, connected at certain points by joints and elastic mem- branes. Two elastic cords, stretching from the front to the back wall of the larynx, form the " true vocal cords." The cords \'ary in size and length in different individuals, and ac- cording to sex and age — the average length in the male is about 2.2 millimeters (four-fifths of an inch) ; in the female 17 millimeters (four-fifths of an inch). They are usually thin- ner in front than behind. A number of muscles are present. These operate upon the cartilages of the larynx, and thereby not only bring about changes in the relati\'e position of the cords, but also produce different degrees of tension in them. One most important change of position is a sideways move- ment about the point of their attachment in front. These lateral movements " close " or " open " the cords — that is to say, bring them together or separate them. During inspira- tion the cords are open while during expiration they are closed. During vocalization, which is an act of expiration, they are not only closed but become extremely tense — almost as hard as the vibrating string of a violin — and vibrate. 70 THE MACHINERY Trachea The trachea or wind pipe is a wide tube kept permanently open by a series of cartilaginous, non-collapsible rings, incom- plete behind, the rear wall being composed of membrane and TliLjroid cartl I a^e Cricoid cartilage Traclnea Figure g. Trachea muscular tissue — somewhat resembling a tube made of solid material in front and rubber behind. Hygiene It is obvious that in order to function properly the organs of speech must be in a relatively good state of health. Colds " Colds " are the dread of the singer and public speaker, and justly so, because they interfere directly with the organs of speech. Very often they are caused by some diseased con- dition in the nose. When a person constantly has a " cold " in the head, when his sinuses are infected and instead of being clear are full of suppurative matter, it is evident that he cannot use to the best advantage the resonating chambers of the nose. We are all well acquainted with the peculiar tone of voice that people assume when their nose is " stuffed." These constant colds may be caused by some deformity or diseased condition within the cavity of the nasal fossse. The THE VOCAL ORGANS 71 septum may be thick and pushed to one side. This may not only obstruct and interfere with proper breathing but also cause a congestion on that side which leads later on to sup- puration. Or the " colds " may be due to abnormal size of one of the turbinate bones or to infected and diseased sinuses. If a person suffers from repeated colds in the head, if his nose is stuffed up, if he has continuous discharge from the nose — with or without headaches — he should by all means consult a nose and throat specialist. The " cold " may be due to some chronic gastro-intestinal condition, when the products of digestion lie in the stomach for many days, stagnate, and undergo decomposition and cause a general autointoxication — poisoning the entire sys- tem — including the organs of the head. We often hear the term used : " Trouble in the stomach, felt in the nose and throat." It may be due to overeating — most people eat too much, and eat too spicy food. It may be due to excessive use of alcohol or to the use of drugs. It may be due to a general run down condition — to anemia, diabetes, etc. In any of these cases, as in those first mentioned, the causes should be thoroughly investigated and by the best possible med- ical men. " Nothing is too good for your health " should be the motto. Saving in this case may be a cause of deep regret in the future. What to Do As a rule, when you " catch cold " you should take a cathar- tic — such as castor oil ; cut down on your food and follow a light diet; use a few drops of argvrol ("20%, freshly pre- pared) in the nose twice daily; and rest in bed. If these sim- ple remedies do not help, see a competent physician. 72 THE MACHINERY If you have a sore throat, again take a mild cathartic, cut down on the diet, and use a mild gargle such as Dobell's for a few days (not longer since it contains carbolic acid). If you are hoarse, stop using the voice immediately (when one is hoarse the larynx is always affected), and give it a complete rest. Take also a mild cathartic and an inhalation of Tr. Benzoin Comp. (one teaspoonful in a pint of water). Do not talk or sing with an inflamed larnyx. This is of utmost im- portance. We do not walk when our knee is sore. We should not talk when our larynx is inflamed. AMien these simple measures do not help consult a reliable laryngologist. Smoking and Use of Intoxicating Liquors Moderate smoking does not do any harm ; excessive smok- ing is injurious. Light wines and a glass of beer once in a while will do no harm, providing the individual has no tendency to liver or gas- tric disease, or arteriosclerosis. Alcohol in large quantities is injurious to the general health as well as to the organs of vocal production. Drugs and Medicines Drugs and medicines of any kind should be used only upon the ordcy of a physician — and for a specific reason — and then destroyed. These drugs, while useful in a given condition, are unquestionably harmful when the condition is removed. The careless, promiscuous use of a drug which did the work " two years ago " and has remained in the closet since then should be prohibited. The drug has without any ques- tion undergone decomposition and will be dangerous to the one who is using it, inasmuch as it has become a different chem- ical compound. THE VOCAL ORGANS 73 Adenoids Adenoids are tissues resembling the tonsils, which are lo- cated in the nasopharynx. The function of the adenoids in the nasopharynx is the same as that of the tonsils in the throat, namely, to protect it from infection. They often become greatly enlarged, however, and then become a source of trou- ble, particularly with children. W'hen the nasopharynx is closed up by adenoids the nasal breathing is interfered with. One result is a peculiar quality of tone which greatly hinders effective speech. More than that, adenoids are dangerous to the general health. They in- terfere with physical growth and with mental development. They usually become infected and spread the infection to the ears — most cases of mastoiditis being due to infected ade- noids. They also infect the sinuses of the head. It is a common occurrence in medical practice to observe an acute infection of the mastoids and sinuses clear up upon re- moval of the adenoids. Diseased Tonsils Not all tonsils should be removed. As has been explained on page 65 tonsils are necessary as a protection of the mouth cavity at the great cross-roads of the respiratory and the gas- tro-intestinal tracts. They also lubricate the pharynx. But when'the tonsils become so large and congested that they inter- fere with breathing they should be removed. Particularly when they become infected so that instead of protecting the " cross-roads " they spread infection to all the different organs that communicate with the pharynx, the tonsils should come out. Diseased tonsils interfere with the proper lubrication of the throat, causing dryness and coughing. It has been proved, moreover, beyond reasonable doubt, that diseased tonsils are in some way associated with produc- 74 THE MACHINERY tion of heart disease in children and rheumatism in both chil- dren and adults. One often sees rheumatic pain disappear when the tonsils are removed. Production of Tone \\'e have studied so far the working mechanism of the voice. We ha\e noted the construction and the function of the organs. We ha\'e Ijriefly re\'ie\ved the effects which result from inter- ference with the function of any one of these organs upon the production of speech. We shall now briefly trace the course of the sound after it has been produced by the vocal cords and modified by the res- onating chambers and see how it is shaped into vowels and con- sonants. Resonance — Tensity and Adjustability To start with, let us state that the sound, when being pro- duced, passes organs that are either composed of hard tissues — bone or cartilage — or of tissues which during the act of sound-production become tense and rigid and therefore do not interfere with the resonating quality of the sound pro- duced. (See Fig. lo. ) The sound is produced by the vibra- tion of the vocal cords, which when tensed are as hard, almost, as metal. The epiglottis (standing up) is of cartilage — hard tissue. The muscles of the pharynx contract to an extreme degree. The hard palate, the teeth, and the dental arches are composed of bone. The uvula practically disappears. The soft palate contracts and is rigid. The air-spaces in the nose are surrounded by bony capsules and the nasal cavities are de- fined by bones — the turbinates. The vocal organs ha\'e the capacity of almost infinitely deli- cate modification in shape, these changes being brought about by muscular activity, but once a given form is assumed the apparatus becomes tense. THE VOCAL ORGANS 75 Enunciation The sound, while in the mouth cavit)-, is constantly being- modified by changes in the shape of the cavity — which is formed, as has been noted, by the jaw, palate, dental arches, cheeks, lips, and tongue. Each sound, whether vowel or con- sonant, requires invariably, zchcncvcr produced, a certain defi- nite position of the organs concerned. Cavity of Eustachian tube Septum turbinate Inferior turbinated boos Epi^lottii Superior aperture of larynx fop of cricoid cartilage Figure lo. Anterior Wall of the Pharynx With Its Orifices. From Behind Vowels In forming the vowels the sound is modified without being interrupted, by changes in the general shape of the mouth as well as in the position of lips and tongue. Vowels may be clear or dull, nasal, throaty, husky, etc., according to what resonance is used chiefly : that of the nose, mouth, or larynx. In fact, one may produce soundless voivcls by merely modify- 76 THE MACHINERY ing the shape of the mouth cavity through movements of the Hps and tongue. It is the abihty of the mouth cavity to modify its form in thousands of ways which produces the extreme diversity of the vocal qualities of speech. Figure II. Section Showing the Localization of Different Vowels and Consonants Consonants Consonants are produced by checking or interrupting the tone through pressing the lips or tongue against some part of the wall of the mouth. Some are made with the lips : p, h, m, w; some with the lips and teeth : /, v; some with the tongue against the front portion of the hard palate : f, d, n; some with the tongue against the palate at various points further back : I, r, z, y, k, g, etc. Words The combinations of consonants and vowels constitute spoken words. It is the proper placement of the sound and the right utilization of the reinforcements of resonance that de- termine whether the spoken word will have a fine or a coarse quality; whether it will be heard at a certain distance or will not " carry." THE VOCAL ORGANS 'J'] Carrying Qualities of Sounds The carrying qualities of sounds vary. Certain vowels carry farther than others. The same is true of consonants. The vowels o, u, and the consonants m, n, ng, are the least carrying sounds, being normally audible at a distance of about 6 meters or yards when the ordinary conversational tone is used. The vowels (a as in ask), i (as in bit) and / (as in high), and the consonants h, p, f, z\ t, d, z, g, k are heard at a distance of about 20 meters or yards when such a tone is used. The Problem of Speech Taking into consideration all that has been said, the whole problem of speaking, so far as its mechanics are concerned, resolves itself into the following points : 1. One must be able to use to the best advantage all the resonating chambers. 2. One must develop a set of exercises that will : (a) Eliminate harsh, unpleasant tones, bringing out the best and finest quality which the given voice possesses. (b) Develop by exercise the carrying quality of the spoken words, realizing that some sounds carry better than others. CHAPTER V SPEAKING DISTINCTLY Signals of the Speech Code Speech is the process of conveying thought by a code of sound signals; that is, by sounds that are grouped and com- bined in a continuous series. Unless these various sounds are made accurately one by one and unless they are properly put together, the message is not intelligible. Most of us make our signals poorly ; and our indistinctness keeps causing delay and confusion. Notice the people you meet. How many of them speak their words clearly so that you catch the full meaning with- out "asking over?" Is your own utterance always per- fectly plain? Are you often given the wrong number when telephoning? When a New Yorker asks for John 2400 and gets Bryant 2400 it may not be the operator's fault. Try it and you may be surprised to find how much alike these phrases sound, if your utterance is a little careless. The guards on the New York " L " shorten Cortlandt Street to something like " Cor'a S'ee." In the Subway you hear Gra-a-a Cen!" for Grand Central and " Se'un-Nee Secun-Nee " for Seventy-Second Street. Slip-Shod Utterance Not long ago I overheard the following dialogue between two well-dressed young men, native Americans, on Fifth Avenue : "Dj' see 'ut?" " Naw ! Wasser marrer? " " E pinched 'm." 78 SPEAKIXG DISTINCTLY 79 Do you often make such substitutions as the following in uttering common words? wuz uv fer yuh kin ketch 'un or 'nd ole fine pore histry gummunt cer'n'ly mou'n'n uhsoom b'lieve or buhlieve eeficient ingaged perfer hunderd p'lice gud doody goin arnachist for was of for you can catch and old find poor history government certainly mountain assume believe efficient engaged prefer hundred police good duty going anarchist What about such combinations as these? I saw 'im for We beat'em S'matter? Whattydid I saw him We beat them What's the matter? What he did Standard and Colloquial Speech Now it is important to note that these substitutions are not all on the same plane. Some are downright errors, like arna- chist, hunderd, p'lice, gummunt. Many, however, are due to 8o THE MACHINERY imperfect functioning of our speech-apparatus in rapid, light utterance. Many persons say wu::, iiv, fer. etc., in rapid in- formal talk who would never do so when exact interpretation is important. Some careful students of language have pointed out that we actually recognize different levels of speech. That is, instead of the two categories of correct and incorrect, we use three categories, as follows : Careful or standard speech. Colloquial speech. Careless or slovenly speech. To use invariably the standard speech, to say always with painful correctness li^as, of, for would be generally felt to be too fastidious. In utterance, as in dress and manner a sensi- ble man will be neither slovenly nor over-precise. Few of us, however, are in any danger of being too precise. W't are constantly impelled to push too far the liberties we take with the customs of standard utterance. This at least we may be sure of. If we wish to speak with the maximum of effective- ness, if we wish to convey our meaning most fully, and with least effort on the part of our listener, we should try to come as near as possible to the level of standard speech. \\t may safely take liberties with the rules only if we understand how the sounds of the code are made, and ha\'e ready command of the speech apparatus. Indistinctness Due to Inadequate Training Indistinctness is partly due to carelessness, failure to aim at the other man. The chief cause houever, is that we have none of us been thoroughly trained to use our speech ma- chinery with accuracy. When the " L " guard, instead of soliloquizing, " talks to the passenger farthest away," — as the traction company bids him — he can say Cortlandt Street as plainly as anyone. But the guard ought not to have to think SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 8 1 about his utterance consciously. Distinct speech should be automatic, like the movements of a typist's fingers on the key- board. But practically none of us have been given any adequate instruction in what is actually an extremely complicated proc- ess. Imagine a green hand set down at a switchboard to work the telephone apparatus by main strength and awkwardness. Anyone who so desires, however, can remedy the trouble for himself in a few months. Once we master a few plain points of technique — we ought all to have been taught them as chil- dren — our speech becomes distinct automatically. After that we do not have to think about it. How the Sounds of Our Code Are Made The code of signals used in the English language as spoken in America comprises nearly fifty different sounds, produced by an elaborate set of muscle adjustments ; l\v changes in the shape of the mouth — as Dr. Andres has pointed out in Chap- ter IV — through movements of the muscles of tongue, lips, and cheeks. Observe that this statement refers to the sounds themselves, not to the letters of our alphabet, 26 in number, which represent these sounds to the eye according to our badly mixed-up system of spelling. In studying the sounds we need a set of symbols more complete and exact than the letters of the alphabet. We may use, for the sake of convenience, the set of 49 symbols found in the Standard Dictionary. Enunciation, a Matter of Muscle Action Now the most important fact about learning to speak dis- tinctly is that it is a matter of muscle action. It is therefore a matter that can be made absolutely exact. People generally do not as yet realize this. The pronunciation rules of va- rious dictionaries are inexact at best, but the enunciation rules worked out by phoneticians are as definite and certain of re- 82 THE MACHINERY suits as those for typewriter fingering. If you want to speak- distinctly the one thing you have to do is to train the sense of touch, or more exactly what the scientists call the kinesthetic sense, the sense of muscular movement. If you move certain muscles in a certain way you get a certain sound, otherwise you do not — for example : 1. When sounding the word good, the lips are puckered and pushed slightly forward. When sounding the word get the lips are drawn back in a half smile. Many people say good with their lips in position for get and wonder why they are not understood. 2. In sounding the word little, the middle of the word — the most essential part — - is made by pressing the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth just be- hind the teeth, which stops the column of tone and results in two sound-groups, or syllables. Many people fail to press the tongue tightly or shut off the tone ; the result they get is something like li'ul. Consider the multiplication of such errors — resulting from combining the 49 different code-sounds in rapid talk. At any moment we may make a wrong muscle-action or we may make the right action so feebly that it is virtually wrong. The Task of the Ear The listener's ear has the burden of " reading" this rapid, indefinite, vocalized shorthand and instantly interpreting it. We must not make that task too hard. Attention to the process of producing the signals lightens the strain on the listener's ear. It trains our own ears, besides, so that we can interpret more sensitively and surely what other people say to us. As regards enunciation, however, the sense of hearing is of only secondary importance. As a matter of fact, thousands of SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 83 deaf mutes are today being taught through muscle-training to make the various sounds of the code with almost perfect accuracy. Different Sounds in Different Languages The 49 sounds used in our language are by no means all that can be produced by the speech muscles. Every language, in- deed, has a different set of sounds, resulting from different muscle movements. There are sounds in Chinese which are said to be altogether different from any sound in the languages of Europe or America. The French language even, so closely related to our own, has only one or two sounds that are ex- actly like those used in English. There are two inferences to be drawn from this fact. In the first place, it accounts for the difficulty which foreigners or their children have in speaking English accurately. They nearly always carry over into their English some muscle ac- tion which is peculiar to their own mother tongue, and they produce consonants and vowels which are not English. To get rid of the foreign accent they must learn the muscle ac- tions of the English language. In the second place, it shows us that if we want to learn our own language with precision, the one right way is to learn accurately the particular muscle actions which are used in good American-English. Improvement through Forming Right Muscle Habits But very few of us are taught the individual code sounds of our own language accurately. We pick them up uncon- sciously in early childhood from the people around us. If the speech of these associates is careless or peculiar, we acquire unconsciously their defects, which often cling to us through- out life. Many of us attempt later on to improve our pronunciation 84 THE MACHINERY of certain words which are called to our attention, but we rarely succeed because we try to work through the ear or through the eye, through spelling. What we really need is training which will give us automatic command of our mouth muscles, just as the piano-player gets command of his fingers so that they cannot go wrong whether he is watching them or not. Entirely Practicable to Acquire Distinct Speech Do you think that impracticable? It is not. You can mas- ter the sounds of English in a few months' time if you go about it systematically, no matter whether you are young or old, whether )'ou are native born or foreign born. The pro- cedure is as follows : 1. Analyze the muscle movements connected with our 49 sounds so that you understand them and know how they feel. 2. Practice for a while certain definite exercises which will set up the right muscle habits. 3. Apply the principles of these exercises in your daily talk, watching always the sense of touch rather than of hearing. Gradually you will think of the matter more often and at last the right habit will become automatic. Your sense of hearing will not help you much at first, because you do not realize what you hear. After a while it will become more sensitive and then it will be of use. Making the Muscles Strong and Supple In order to speak plainly the mouth muscles, those of jaws, lips, and tongue, must be strong and supple so that they will act with the easy precision of a pianist's fingers. These mus- cles are strong enough for any demand. The grip of the jaws is powerful enough to support your entire weight. That SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 85 is a stunt often used by acrobats. The tongue muscles are also strong. Lay your finger across the under surface of your tongue and press backward and you will find out for yourself, ^lake a sling with a handkerchief and try suspending some article from your tongue. A man of my acquaintance can hold a 7-pound flat-iron in this way. \A'hat our mouth muscles lack usually is suppleness; they do not act quickly and precisely. The special exercises for the facial muscles given in Chapter III will aid greatly here. The following suggestions will also help. 1. Relax the lip muscles. In nearly every person of nervous or determined nature, the lips are kept tense all day long and relaxed only in sleep. Many people speak habitually with lips too far drawn back — in the position of a in a^ ; their jaws move up and down like those of a ventriloquist's mannikin. To cure this fault, place your thumb and finger at the corners of the mouth and press them gently. The circular muscle around the mouth, called the sphincter, is apt to be pulled. out of shape by the resolute set of your lips; pressure with thumb and finger permits the lips to act more naturally. Now repeat : We wish we were where Willie went. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Now take your hand away and repeat the same words. Keep the lips loose. Make up other series for yourself. Try to keep the lips nar- roii'cr in all your talk. For more than half of the sounds it will be a help. 2. Keep the tongue as far forward in the mouth as you can get it. Many people hold it habitually too far back or too low. As a result their speech sounds as 86 THE MACHINERY if they had " a hot potato in their mouth." When the tongue is not in use — when you are silent — let it rest against the front teeth. This one rule alone, you will find, will do much to make your speech plainer. Individual Sounds — Consonants, Vowels, and Diphthongs For convenience we may use the list of sounds which is given in the Standard Dictionary — following the recom- mendation of the National Education Association — but with one addition, that of zcli as in luliat. The consonants, p, g, n. t, z, etc., as noted in Chapter IV are sounds in which the column of tone issuing through the throat is checked or interrupted by closing the lips or by pressing the tongue against the walls of the mouth. There are twenty- five such sounds in the list here given. The von'els, a, c. o, etc., are sounds in which the column of tone is modified in quality through changes of the position of tongue, lips, and cheeks, but not interrupted. In the following list we have nineteen separate vowel sounds. Altogether, therefore, we make use of forty-four separate sounds in our language as spoken in America. It is customary, however, to include with these forty-four sounds fi\'e others which, in the above list, are given as doul)le- vowels or diphthongs. Strictly speaking these are not indi- vidual sounds, but blends of two separate vowels. Including them with the others we have a total of forty-nine. Phonetic Symbols The 26 letters of the alphabet are insufficient to identify the 49 actual sounds, and accordingly the language scholars who make our dictionaries have to work out new symbols : those of the Standard Dictionary are here printed in the third column. SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 87 Consonants Symbol I. b as in be, rub b 2. d ' " do, did d 3- f ' " fee, laugh f 4- g ' " get, ghost e 5- ng ' " sing, singer D 6. h ' " hit, hello, he h 7- J ' " jaw, urge j 8. ch ' " chew, batch di 9. k ' " key, back, cow k 10. 1 ' " let, able 1 II. m ' " met, prism n 12. n ' " net, fasten n 13- P ' " pea, help P 14. r ' " red, flour r 15. s ' " sit, rice s 16. sh ' " ship, chute ^ 17. t ' " tea, dipped I 18. th ' " thin A 19. th ' " this, that ft 20. V ' ' " vow, of V 21. w ' ' " wet w 22. wh ' " what, which hw 23- y " yet y 24. z ' " zest z 25. zh " azure, pleasure 3 Two of the sounds of this Hst are really double sounds : ;' is really a combination of d and ch; ch is a combination of t and sh. Vowels (Single) Sym I. a as in bat, cap a 2. a bare, fare a 3- a artistic, cartoon a 4. a art, father a 5- a glass, past a 6. e set, ten ,e 7. a, ay , ai, ey-e. ee bay, bail, veil, danger e 8. i bit, bid ) 9. e marine, lean I 88 THE MACHINERY Vowels (Single) ^ )iym 10. i ' ability, city 1 II. ' rotation, Bohemian 12. ' boat, note 13. ' august', hot, cod, bog e 14. aw ' Au'gust, author, awl, call B 15. 00 ' rule, rude u 16. 00 ' push, pull u 17. u ' but, cud u 18. u ' burn, learn Q 19. a, 0, u " ' ' sen-a-tor, president a Vowels (Double, or Diphthongs) 1. i^ah-)-ee as in aisle, rigfht 2. ou, ow^ah-|-oo " " now, vow 3. oi^aw-)-ee " " avoid, choice 4. u^i-|-oQ " " curator, duration 5. u=ee+oo " " cute, dew Symbol ai QU ei lu m Classes of Sounds The consonant sounds fall into the following types accord ing to the muscle actions required in producing them : 1. Made with the lips — p, b, in. z^', z^Ii. 2. Made with the Hps and teeth — f, z: 3. Made with the tongue and teeth — th (as in think), th (as in there). 4. Made with the tongue, tip pressed against roof of mouth — t, d, n, I, ch, j. 5. Made with tongue, tip not touching roof of mouth — s, sh, c, cli. r, y, h. 6. Made with middle of tongue against roof — ■ k, g, ng. Forming Lip Consonants To make the lip consonants, observe these rules : Press the lips tight together for a little longer than you are accustomed to. SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 89 Push the lips slightly forward. Localize the sensation in the center of the lips in front of the upper front teeth. Many people use their upper lip hardly at all. Hold a mirror before your mouth and see whether you move the lips — both of them — in the following exercises : Sound As if if were put p-p-put big b-b-big many m-m-many would w-w-would what hw-hw-hwat The last sound nil would be better represented Ijv lizv as it was formerly written. To produce it blow the air out sharply as you pucker the lips for the w. Forming Lip and Teeth Sounds The lip and teeth sounds, f, v. offer little difficulty. 1. Press the lower lip against the upper front teeth. Do not use the upper lip at all. 2. Localize the sensation at the front teeth and hold the position a little longer than you are accustomed to. Sound As if it zcere fit f-f-fit very v-v-very vivid v-v-viv-\'id In making the sounds of these groups, move the lips con- stantly and firmly, but not too explosively and do not use too much breath. Importance of Tongue It is the tongue consonants, especially d, t, th, s, c, I. and r which cause most of our indistinctness. The tongue is in go THE MACHINERY more senses than one an unruly member. Most of us hold it habitually too far back in the mouth ; we hold it too tense and stiff, or too loose, for a given sound ; or fail to press it tightly against the teeth ; we fail to locate the sensation in the tip. That first quarter-inch of the tongue is in truth the " essen- tial point '' in the matter of distinctness. It ought to be as sen- sitive and firm as a violinist's finger. Point it hke a pencil, touching the roof of the mouth just behind the front upper teeth, and your speech is pretty sure to be distinct. This applies especially to the sounds like t, n, I, etc. In making these, the sides of the tongue are anchored against the back of the teeth, then when the tip touches the front of the roof at various points the breath is dammed up and the tone is interrupted. Forming Tongue Sounds — Touching the Tip For tJi (as in think) and th (as in that), the pointed tongue tip ought to be touched lightly to the bottom of the front upper teeth. Do not push it out or protrude it, but don't fail to touch the teeth. For t, d, /, 11, ch, j, the tongue tip should be pressed against the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth. In t, the tone is shut off entirely. In d some of the tone vibrations come through, as you will discover if you repeat; t-d. t-d, t-d. ( Here and in other consonant drills in this chapter you should learn to make the consonant sound without adding a vowel. This exercise does not call for tc, dc, tc, de, etc., but for the consonant action alone — t-d, t-d, t-d.) In / and n more of the tone vibrations come through. Re- peat : t-d-I, t-d-I. t-d-l, t-d-n, t-d-n, t-d-n. The sounds indicated by ch and / are compounds composed respectively of t-sh and (/-,"/;. Child ^ t -\- shild; joy = d -\- zhoy. SPEAKIKG DISTINCTLY 91 In making n the tone vibrations pass out through the nose. The following exercise will show this ; while repeating nc-nc-nc-nc, close the nostrils with your thumb and finger and you get dc-dc'dc-dc. In making / the .tip of the tongue is touched an instant to the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth, then dropped. Most of us Americans make this sound very badly compared with other peoples, because we touch the roof too far back and fail to use the tip. Repeat this exercise, moving the tongue tip as little as possible : th-l, tli-l, th-l. Now repeat quickly these words: lily, little, lily, little, lily. See how clear cut and sharp the I's are. X'ow to see how not to do it: Touch the roof about one- half way back using not the tip but the middle of the tongue and say: /;7_v. little, lily, little. Vou find that the I's. as well as the t's are blurred and almost inaudible. Wlien you try to slap the whole breadth of the tongue against the roof, in the middle of the mouth, as nmny Englishmen do with raila'ay and allright, or as most Americans do with lily, it is impossible to make the sound distinct. You can't mo\e the tongue fast enough. Tongue Sounds — Tip Free In making sounds of the third group, s, sh, z. zh, r, and y. the sides of the tongue are held against the upper teeth, but the tip does not touch. The sounds i- and sh are sharp hisses, the breath being forced in a whisper between the tongue and the upper teeth. The sound of s is easy to make, yet it is very often not made. Listen to people about you and notice the many holes in their speech where the s is not sounded at all. The reason is that when 5 is made too loud it is unpleasant; being a whisper it sounds much louder in one's own head than outside ; as a re- sult we often soften it too much. Repeat these sounds : 92 THE MACHINERY smile s-smile steam s-steam spoil s-spoil listen lis-sen The buzzing sounds of z and zh are produced with the tongue in the positions of s and sh respectively. They are pleasant sounds, but they also are apt to be made too lightly. Repeat the following : buzzing buzz-zzing saves save-z-z business biz-zness The Troublesome " R " According to the spelling of our language the sound of ;• would seem to be one of the most frequent of the consonants. That inference would be incorrect according to modern prac- tice in both England and America. The muscle action for r is more complex than that for any other consonant and as a result the sound is uttered in many different ways in America and is \er)' often omitted entirely. Perhaps the best suggestion that can be made would be somewhat as follows. The sound of r may be produced by curling back the tip of the tongue and flipping or snapping it forward. You can acquire the tongue action more easily if you begin by placing an /; made very lightly before the r. Try such an exercise as this: hri-hri-riiig; h)'i-hri-i'ich; Iira- Jira-nit. Then omit the h : ri-ri-ring; ri-ri-rich; ra-ra-rat. Once you have identified the sensation of curling the tongue, the h, which is mere " scaffolding," may be omitted. In sounding y the tongue is merely pointed and shoved for- ward and down. Repeat: yc-yc-yet; yoo-yoo-yoii: yah-yali- yah. If you accent the last syllable each time you will readily SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 93 identify the muscle action. The sound of /i stands in a class by itself in that it calls for no change in the position of the mouth muscles. It is merely a quick puff of breath from the throat. Sounds Made Farther Back The sounds of the last group, k, g, and ng, are made by touching the center of the tongue, not the tip, against a point in the roof a little farther back than for t, d, etc. Make the sounds as far forward as you can. When you place them far- ther back than necessary, it is hard to utter them quickly, es- pecially g and ng. That is the main reason why so many of us say goin , coiiiin', waiting bein\ etc., although we " know bet- ter." Vowel Sounds — Do Not Confuse Them The vowel sounds of English require as much care as the consonants, but the difficulties are of a different nature. With consonants, the essential is to make every sound sharp-edged. With vowels, the essential is not to confuse one sound with another. If you are not careful the vowels of minor syllables all tend to lapse into the colorless sound of iih. In differentiating vowel sounds, three factors come into play: 1. The position of the tongue; whether high or low in mouth. 2. The position of the lips ; whether drawn back, open, puckered, etc. 3. The position of the lower jaw ; how far dropped, and whether the mouth is opened wide or not. Differentiating According to Position of Tongue The position of the tongue gives the most practical basis for arrangement. The reason why most of us confuse and blur 94 THE MACHINERY our vowels is that we have no definite basis of differentiating; but if you follow the arrangement here given, especially if you use a mirror and notice closely the action of your tongue, you get a clear comprehension of the whole matter. Be careful to place the tongue properly for the first vowel of the series; then all you have to do is lower it a little as indicated for each one and you can soon identify all the other positions — just as a violinist learns the proper places for his fingers on the strings. A Convenient " Scale " For convenience, suppose we rearrange the list of vowels on pages 87 and 88 so as to begin with the sound of e, as in he, meat, niaeJune, follow this with the other sounds of c, and those of a, and close with those of azv, 0, and 00. This list of steps may look formidable. Take it up first in simpler form, noting merely 8 sounds as follows : e as in meat 1 e a ah aw o 00 mit met mat mah maw mow moo For the first sound, hold a mirror before )our mouth and put your tongue as near the roof of the mouth as you can get it — just a slit between — and repeat: nieat-iiieat-iiieaf; eat-eat-eat ; ee-ee-ee. Draw the lips well back at the sides. For the next sound, repeat: mit-iiiif-iiiit: it-it-it ; i-i-i. The tongue is not quite so high as in ee and the lips not quite so wide. For the next, repeat: niet-inet-iuct; et-et-et; e-e-e. The tongue is a little lower and the lips less wide. SPEAKIXG DISTINCTLY 95 For the next, repeat: mat-mat-mat; at-at-at; a-a-a. The tongue is nearly level; the lips are made oblong; the jaw is dropped slightly. For the next, repeat : mah-mah-inah . ah-ah-ah. The tongue is slightly below level ; the lips rounded ; the jaw dropped, so that the mouth is what is called " wide open." For the next, repeat: mazv-mazn'-inarc ; azi'-aTv-aiv. The tongue is more hollowed ; the lips are rounded ; the mouth not quite so wide open. For the next, repeat: moh-moh-inoh; oh-oh-oh. The tongue is much hollowed and the lips somewhat puckered and pushed forward. Finally: moo-moo-moo ; 00-00-00, with the tongue lying at the bottom of the mouth and the lips puckered tight, as in whistling. A Combination Exercise Now go straight through the series of exercises, fixing at- tention chiefly on the regular shift in the position of the tongue : ee — ee — ee i — i — i e — e — e a — a — a ah — ah — ah aw — aw — aw o — o — o 00 00 00 Finally sound the eight vowels once each in a single series ; ei, i, e, a, ah, aiv. 0, 00. Once you have identified the eight sounds you can drop the first two exercises and practice only on this last one. If you practice this simple vowel scale, say twenty times a day for iwo weeks, doing exactly what you have here been told, it will lay the foundation of the habit of accurate utterance of vowels. 95 THE MACHINERY The habit will steadily grow more sure and ready. Then you will begin to find yourself applying it in talk. You will begin to notice the slips in the speech of the people about you, which you never observed before. That, in turn, will react to make your own speech unconsciously more discriminating. Finally, in a few weeks' time, your ear will begin to direct consciously the movements of tongue and lips as you make the various vowels, and after that progress will be rapid. The Other Vowels After you have mastered these sounds, you can fill in the 1 1 intermediate vowels, as given in the list on page 87. It is especially in these intermediate vowels that the English lan- guage differs from other European languages. In French, Italian, etc., the vowel sounds are few and sharply differen- tiated. In English we have many and the discriminations are delicate. If you really want to learn to speak " like a human being," make it a habit to run through this " scale " of 19 single vowels every day of your life — just as a piano-player does his five- finger exercises. After the i of mit, comes a lighter form of the same sound which occurs in subordinate syllables only. After the e of ^nct, comes a longer form of the same sound which occurs before r and which we represent in our spelling by some combination of a as in : air, pare, bear. After the (7 of mat, come three other o sounds; namely: those found in idea, ask and artistic — all of them quicker and lighter forms of the open ah. After the ah, comes the colorless " neutral " vowel, iih, as in up. You hear it when a child says mama indistinctly, somewhat like mummer. The tongue is hollowed a little. It is perhaps the easiest sound to utter. After this comes a longer form of the same sound, used in her, turn, first, earth. Before the sound of aw, in maw, comes a quicker, lighter SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 97 form with the tongue not quite so low, which is used in not, pot, odd, dog. Before the o of woe, conies a quicker sound used in un- accented syllables, as in obey. Before the 00 of pool, comes a quicker and lighter form used in good, book. After the single vowels are mastered, the double vowels are easy. Each of these consists of two single vowels run swiftly together so that they practically blend, as follows : light, aisle, Hy. (the sound commonly called " long i ") = ah + ee. out, doii'ii, round = ah + 00. duration (the sound commonly called " long u " as found in minor syllables) = i + 00. due, feud, duty (the sound called " long u " as found in accented syllables) ^ i + 00. oil, hoy = aw + i. Nests of Consonants It is especially important to have the mouth muscles strong and supple when speaking English, because of its many conso- nants and particularly its nests of consonants, as for example, in those four words : its nests of consonants. In some lan- guages, Italian for example, or Japanese, it is extremely rare for more than two consonants to occur together. The follow- ing are typical Italian words : elisir, fiiori, corporeale. The following are typical Japanese words : Yokohama, jiu- jitsu, hara kiri. Whereas in English, we have thousands of words like : breadths, strengths, sixteenths, tests, instruct. And once you begin to build words together, the bunches of consonants multi- ply. Note, for example, the underscored letters in this sen- tence, representing such groups of consonants. 98 THE MACHINERY Now speaking our consonants indistinctly is one of the be- setting sins of us Americans. People tell you that it is im- possible to speak both plainly and quickly in a language filled with consonants ; but that is not true. Americans do not talk so fast as the other English-speaking peoples — English, Scotch, or Irish — only less plainly. We drawl — that is, we hold on to our vowels and make our consonants too feebly. Consonants offer no hindrance at all if you know how to utter them. Do Not Slur the Consonants Moreover it is the consonants which form the back-bone of our language, which make it the most beautiful as well as the most vigorous and varied of the great languages. The nests of consonants are apt to pile up at the junction-points of a sentence, at places which should be emphasized for the sense. If you speak them indistinctly, the whole passage becomes colorless. But press them firmly, as the old-fashioned " Read- ers " used to tell us to treat the proverbial nettle, and they give no trouble. The rule as to dealing with bunches of consonants is this ; Squeeze the first one tight and hold it till the second is ready — as a pianist holds one finger down till the next finger is read\'. " Hold it till." " Five breadths of silk." " Eight twel fths. " This action has two results. 1. It dams up the breath by holding back the first conso- nant, and when the breath is released there is extra pozver to force out the following sounds. 2. It sets the muscles acting vigorously: that effect con- tinues and helps to carve out the consonants which follow. SPEAKING DISTINCTLY 99 This is something in which \ou can school yourself syste- matically. Take a few lines in the newspaper — any lines — and underscore the consonants which come together. For example : " Private rebates, cut prices, special commissions, have been much mitigated. The conditions today are better to an almost infinite extent than before the consolidations of the trust era." Then read the passage so as to make these consonants clear. If you cannot read it aloud, silent reading with the eyes will do something. Do this every day, with a few lines; in two weeks' time it will start the habit of noticing consonants and that will lead to adjustment of them as yon go. For a time your speech will be somewhat artificial. It will seem much more artificial to you, however, than to anyone else. Keep on. You must pass through that stage. In a few months at farthest the artificiality will pass off, and after that your speech will be easy and accurate, without your having to think about it, all your life long. Exercises Here are a few suggestions for systematic enunciation drill : I. Spend five minutes cTcry day for a month in — (a) Practicing some of the exercises given here for the vari- ous consonants and vowels. (b) Practicing " patter " sentences such as the following, featur- ing single sounds or particular groups. Make up other sentences of the kind for yourself. "Peeping before, prohibitive problems develop." " Breezes are blowing big billows about the bay." "Why whisper, when warbling will win everywhere?" " Where to beware and why on the wide White Way." " Tiptoeing daintily down to dine." lOO THE MACHINERY " Latterly Lola eludes all lessons alike." " Richer yet wretched they rise and rashly race." "She sells sea shells; shall he sell sea shells?" 2. Spend another five minutes daily in applying these rules as you read the paper, or the street-car cards, for example: (a) Underscore with a pencil all the lip sounds in four or five lines of print; read the passage aloud and exaggerate those sounds. Do the same thing another day with one group of the tongue sounds, or with some of the vowels, etc. (b) Read two or three sentences trying to make all the sounds accurately. You will not satisfy yourself for a time, but it is first-rate practice. 3. Begin at once to apply these rules whenever you open your mouth to speak. At first you will not remember them more than a minute at a time, but before long those minutes will multiply. A card on your desk marked " Distinctness " or " Speak plainly " or " Watch the muscles " will help, but you had better alter the word- ing of the card once a week or you will cease to notice it. CHAPTER VI PRONUNCIATION Pronunciation Generally Noticed — Why? The sounds of our code must not only be made clearly, but they must be differentiated uniformly; that is the subject cov- ered by Pronunciation. We might define correct pronuncia- tion as uttering the sounds of the language with their standard- ized values, according to current usage in the community in which we live. Many persons are fastidious about correct pronunciation who pay little attention to other points of speech. For ex- ample : if a man telling a story to some acquaintances, or a speaker addressing an audience, pronounces a familiar word in a strange way, half the company, perhaps, will notice it. Ask them about the speaker's intonation, or his sentence struc- ture, and they cannot tell you. Those things affected them without being consciously noticed. It may at first seem strange that people who do not con- sciously notice the clearness of a companion's enunciation or the way he uses his voice should notice the exact shading or accent of his words. The reason is that the pronunciation is the identifying feature of the code signal. If the outline of the signal is correct, even though faint, the signal can be recog- nized; the word is intelligible. But if the outline is different from what we are accustomed to, no matter how clear-cut it is, the signal cannot be recognized. Desire for Uniformity Our command of the standard pronunciation of words cur- rent among our associates has much to do with their estimate lOI I02 THE MACHINERY of our intelligence and education. Sometimes this is carried too far. Some people waste valuable time in disputing over " puzzle " words — whether squalor, for example, should be squaylor or squahlor, though the truth is no one need use the word at all. Others have " pet " words which ha\'e in some way been brought specially to their attention and they judge a stranger largely by the way he sounds these words. For instance, one man whom I know is particular about the word biography. He is sure that the first syllable should be sounded Hke hy. never like be, although many careful speakers sound it in the latter way ; in England be is the accepted usage. Many persons are careful to pronounce the vowel in words like ask, bath, class with the exact sound represented on page 87, yet sound the word idea as if it were idcar. \A'e are not wrong in attaching so much importance to pro- nunciation. Where we are wrong is in disregarding eituncia- tion. To seek correct pronunciation before you have trained your ear to notice minute differences of sounds, and your muscles to produce easily the sounds which you wish to make, is to attempt the impossible. Once you have mas- tered enunciation, pronunciation becomes far less for- midable. Difficulties of Codifying Varied Customs Mastery of pronunciation is difficult because, unlike enuncia- tion, pronunciation cannot be reduced to a set of definite rules. The English language as we have it today has been built up from many sources, affected by innumerable influences. Current custom, in pronunciation, is e\en more complicated and varying than the railway freight schedules before the war. General rules and principles have been drawn up — you will find them at the beginning of a dictionary or in such books as Phyfe's " 1800 Words Often Mispronounced," Vizetelly's " Desk Book of 25,000 Words Frequently Mis- PRONUNCIATION I03 pronounced," etc., but there are a great many words which must be learned one by one. Pronunciation Always Changing Furthermore, pronunciation is always changing. Fashions come and pass away. Some )ears ago muscinn was accented on the first S}!lable mi'isctim. Th'e word interesting was ac- cented on the third s)'llable, interesting. The vowel sound of deaf is now sounded like the e in get. but a generation ago it was generally sounded like the e in reef. The first a in az'iator was sounded, a few years ago, by the few persons who used the word at all, like the a in sa:'e; today, millions of Americans use the word and sound that a as in had. Get a Good Dictionary — and Use It The first step in the study of pronunciation is to get a good dictionary and form the habit of referring to it con- stantly. Notice the speech of the people you meet. When you catch a pronunciation that sounds strange to you, look it up in the dictionary. If you find that it has dictionary authority behind it, adopt it, and use the word two or three times in conversation to fix it in memory. The two dictionaries most widely used in America today are Webster's New International (The iNIerriam Co., Spring- field, Mass.) and the Standard (Funk and A\'agnalls, New York). Smaller forms of these are published — quite suffi- cient for purposes of pronunciation study: Webster's Col- legiate Dictionary, and the Standard Desk Dictionary. Either is good. ■When Dictionaries Disagree — Using Your Judgment If you can do so, have both dictionaries at hand — per- haps the unabridged form of one and the smaller form of the other, or perhaps both in the smaller size. There are I04 THE MACHINERY many words — one writer says 2,000 or more — as to the pronunciation of which the dictionaries disagree. This is due to the complexity and variety of custom. It is impossible in any dictionary to take account of all the variations. As the users of a dictionary desire some uniform guide, the edi- torial staff have to work out general principles and apply them as consistently as they can, but another group of editors may decide differently. When the authorities disagree you must use your own judgment. To follow the custom of the persons among your acquaintances who talk best is a safe rule. Standards of Speech Set by Custom " The standards of correct speech," says Professor Krapp of Columbia University, in his " Modern English," " must be found, therefore, not in the printed or written form of language, but in the normal, natural conversation of daily life. . Consciously or unconsciously every speaker fol- lows the customs or rules of his own special group ; for him these are the laws of his language. . Now, what a speaker of today is chiefly concerned to know is what the laws or rules of his own present day speech, of his own group, shall be. To determine this there is only one means, and that is observa- tion. " He must turn and examine the speech, the li\'ing speech of those persons with whom he is thrown in contact, with such added help as he may get from books and dictionaries in extending the field of his observation. In case of a doubt- ful pronunciation, he must determine what group of speakers he will unite himself with, that is, the customs of what speakers he will imitate or follow. . . . The choice of the group with which he will unite himself then lies in his own hands, and, other things being equal, will usually be in favor of the culti- vated speech." PRONUNCIATION lOS Errors of Accent The errors which are made in pronunciation are of two kinds. In the first place, the errors which we are apt to notice in the language of our associates are very often mis- takes in accent. We are troubled when they say explicable for explicable; peremptory for peremptory; oasis for oasis, etc. Yet there are wide differences in the custom of careful speakers in the matter of accent. There are two general principles regarding it in our lan- guage as at present spoken. 1. The accent is usually on the first part of a word : fraternize inexplicable In some other languages the accent usually falls to- ward the end of a word. That is true in French, — so far as there is a word accent. For example, inexplicable. 2. When the same word is used both as verb and as noun or adjective it is the custom in English to accent the noun or adjective on the first syllable, but the verb on the last syllable. For example : An incline but I incline The accent but To accent A compound but To compound These principles have exceptions, however. As an adjec- tive the word consummate is usually accented on the second syllable ; as a verb, on the first syllable. Errors of Substitution of Sound In the second place, the error may consist in using the wrong sound in some part of the word. Such substitutions are of two chief kinds : I06 THE MACHINERY 1. Sometimes there is a shift of the order of sounds, as in : childern for children hunderd for hundred perfect for protect These are owing to carelessness. 2. The usual case is that of giving one or more of the vowels or consonants a sound which is different from the standard — the code. The cases of this sort are too varied to be readily classified. A num- ber of them are due to carelessness, to imperfect enunciation, particularly of subordinate syllables. Minor Syllables The treatment of minor syllables is one of the two chief difficulties in regard to pronunciation. The point already noted (page 80) regarding the different Iczrls of current speech is important. A few persons try to make their speech conform exactly to pronunciation as shown by spelling and indorsed by the dictionary. This is to be not only too precise, but actually incorrect. The speech is often truer to facts of the language development and use than is the spelling. The custom of the mass of the people according to which they soften the edges of minor syllables in rapid and unemphatic utterance is a deep- seated characteristic of our language. " Eye-pronunciation " is sometimes pushed so far as to become labored, artificial. That is not good for talking business. But very few of us are in any danger on that score. Our constant temptation is to relax too much and to let our col- loquial manner slip down into carelessness. Ordinary talk, whether addressed to a company of people or to an individual, is a thing of practical utility. The more clean-cut the code-signs the fewer the errors and delays. In PRONUNCIATION 107 talking business the sensible man will avoid fastidiousness, but will keep his colloquial speech as. close as possible to what is recognized as standard speech. The effect on the morale of speaker and listener is also to be considered. Trim, clean- cut speech goes \\ith neat and becoming dress, erect posture, careful manners, in giving the impression of adequacy, self- command, and poise. Wise Moderation — a Sensitive Ear For example : Careful speakers will usually discriminate in the opening syllable of a word, between : -il al— el- ac — ex CO — com de — des — dis e — ef en — in po — pos pro — pros, etc., n allow ; ellipse ; elude ; illusion ' accept ; except ' coma ; comma ' design ; despise ; discretion ' evade ; efficient, not eeficient ' engage, not ingage ' po-sition, but possession ' pro-scribe ; pros-ecute In the closing syllable of a word, between : ar — or al — el — il — le ed — id ess — ise est — ist et— it ard — ord ert — ort n calendar ; donor final ; model ; council parted ; acid tigress ; promise interest ; organist velvet; summit hazard ; record concert ; effort muddle On the other hand, we should probably not be too solici- tous about such sounds as the following: a in agree; adorn he in before; because Nor should we lose our time trying to differentiate between the closing sounds of : I08 THE MACHINERY confidants and confidence tenant and student insurance and dependence sluggard and upward There can be no hard and fast rule about these minor sylla- bles. A quick ear and command of enunciation will enable you to follow the best practice of the people with whom you wish to associate. Dialect — What It Is Probably the chief difficulty in connection with pronuncia- tion relates to problems of dialect. Dialect may be defined as the special modification of the vocabulary and sounds of a language shown in its use by the people of a particular local- ity, race, or social group. Here we are concerned merely with difference of sound. The differences of vocabulary in the United States are not of great significance, at least for our present purpose in this book. " The truth is," say the editors of the Standard Dictionary, " that we all speak dialect." The pronunciation which each of us uses habitually, and on the whole unconsciously, is nearly always the one we picked up unconsciously in child- hood from the persons around us. This is more or less modi- fied later on by school instruction, by change of en\ironment, by changes of fashion, and by our own self-criticism, but on the whole, it remains with us. Now this habitual speech varies more or less according as we live in New England, in New York City, in the South, in the Middle West, etc. Not all the residents in a locality talk alike — you will hear New Englanders who talk like Chicagoans and vice versa — but the custom of each region is unmistakable. For example, a word which has been on all our lips of late is war. I have heard it sounded by Easterners of careful speech as if rhym- ing with for; by Alabamans, also careful in speech, almost as PRONUNCIATION 109 if rhyming with zvoe; by people from Utah, also careful, as rhyming frankly with far. Geographical Variations All parts of our country accept the authority of the great dictionaries — Standard, \Vebster's, and Century — as mark- ing the proper pronunciation of our words. Practically, how- ever, the dictionary descriptions of the sounds are interpreted differently in different localities. We might express the fact, roughly, by saying that the residents of a particular locality, or perhaps a particular race- group, " open their mouths " in a slightly different way. The verbal descriptions of the various sounds which the diction- aries give, careful as they are, are understood differently in different localities, according to the pronunciation customs of each region. When you criticise Jones's pronunciation it is rarely his utterance of one of the long or strange words of the language which you refer to ; those he is likely to utter much as you do. It is the way he speaks the familiar terms which we all learned in childhood. You talk of his Eastern, or Western, or Southern, or Northern, or perhaps his " foreign " accent. What you mean is that his way of uttering the words of common speech is unlike the way in which you and those around you speak. If you were to move to his part of the country, Jones and his friends would make much the same sort of criticism of your own speech. Which is right? The dictionary descriptions of sounds are expressed in terms of the eye merely. Some day we shall have exact rec- ords for the ear, on the phonograph, or by means of some simi- lar device. Then we can be more sure of getting close to the sound-standards which all of us now think we are following. Then we shall be more clearly aware of actual dialect differ- ences, and people of different regions can succeed better in no THE MACHINERY adjusting their pronunciation to a common standard, so far as they desire to do so. Origin of Geographical Variations These differences are due partly to isolation of the sec- tions of our country, present or past, and resulting influences of climate and social ways. But they are due even more, perhaps, to differences more or less wide in the speech of the first settlers of the different regions. Different regions -of the British Isles vary widely even now in their common speech. Centuries ago those differences were greater. Certain regions of the present United States were settled largely from certain sections of the old country and still show indications of the early influences. These have produced, in conjunction with the climate and local ways, the prevailing characteristics of the speech of New Englanders, New Yorkers, Southerners, Westerners, etc. These characteristics are much less marked, of course, in persons who have traveled widely, or been other- wise influenced by the speech of other regions, and in those who have given special study to the matter of speech. Advantages and Disadvantages It would probably not be desirable to eliminate these differ- ences entirely, even if that were possible. Some features of the special utterance of various sections make for attractive- ness and expressiveness of speech. But if you wish to talk business effectively it is well not to have these special char- acteristics too prominent in your utterance. A young salesman said to me lately : " I'm from the South and proud of it. But I'd like to tone down my accent a little. It wastes time when I want to talk business with a man to have him say at once, ' You're from the South, aren't you? ' and start telling me about the trip he made to North Carolina last winter." PRONUNCIATION III The same thing has been said to me in New York by men from Xew England, from the Middle West, from Canada, etc. In the \Vest, New Yorkers have spoken of their own difficulty in fitting into the life of the Illinois town where they had set- tled, because of their " New York accent." The difficulty is even more marked in the case of persons of foreign origin. One man, high in New York financial circles, deliberately set about, at the age of 56, the task of eliminating the strong " foreign accent " which he had retained. The ideal — it is not beyond realization — is such modifica- tion of your native pronunciation habits as will enable you to associate with people of any section without forcing on their notice the fact that you were born in the East, or West, or South, or in a certain foreign country. No Arbitrary Standard Possible in America In France, and in Germany, they have definitely prescribed official standards of pronunciation, drawn up by commitf,ees of scholars under authority of the government, and observed, for example, in the official theaters. In America we have no official standard, nor are we likely e\'er to have. No section can claim the right to set it. Our standard must grow up slowly, by gradual approximation of the practice of all sec- tions. But as people of all sections improve in their command of enunciation — as they travel more and as education in- creases — the differences tend to lessen. If you were to hear cultivated men from Boston, New York, Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, California, Halifax, Vancouver, etc., etc., talking together, you would probably recognize differences but they would be comparatively slight. Dialects Coming from " Hyphenate " English In recent years another set of American dialects has grown up, namely, those found among immigrants from non-English 112 THE MACHINERY speaking countries. These now form a large part of our population and they have once more brought the influence of other languages to bear upon our current speech. For ex- ample, in some parts of the country we have the thickened sound of d, or v for t and / in such words as beautiful, bite, duty. You will hear these sounded in some parts of the Middle West as beaudivul, bide, doody. The peculiarities of these later dialects are in one way more troublesome than those of the older series, all of which were derived from English. The mother tongues of our new citizens differ widely from English, and accordingly the muscle actions and resulting sounds are correspondingly dif- ferent from standard American custom. Yet on the whole these later dialects are less troublesome because they are less persistent. The people from one European country are not massed but are scattered through the population. ^.loreover, there is no deliberate effort to perpetuate these languages. Foreigners, and especially their children, want to learn Eng- lish. The children acquire the prevailing accent of the locality where they live and in two generations most non-English speech peculiarities have disappeared. For example, I have heard little Italian children in Boston talking with the unmis- takable Boston accent; in New York they talk like New Yorkers ; in Birmingham, hke other Alabamans. The process of assimilation can be quickened by a study of enunciation. A foreigner who masters the individual sounds of our language code, and who studies his dictionary con- stantly, can before long get rid of most of his un-English dialect peculiarities and speak good standard English. Advantages of Knowing Customs of Different Sections We may or may not wish to tone down such localisms or peculiarities as may exist in our own speech. For all of us, however, it is well to know in what points the standard PRONUNCIATION 1 13 sounds as described in the dictionaries are specially modified in each section. A few of these special modifications are here noted. To list all of the dialect variations found in Ameri- can speech, particularly those of more recent growth, would be quite impracticable within the limits of our space. In one schoolroom, for example, twenty-nine different dialects have been noticed. Some Typical Variations — " e " and " i " — Sounds The sound of ce as in creek, clique. In America there is a considerable tendency to approximate this sound to that of short i. Especially in the West we find creek pronounced crick; clique is click, etc. In New York the " long e " sound before r is nowadays often changed to the " short e " of get. For instance, Oz-cr here is Oz'cr Iieli (very quickly). The sound of i in it. This sound is often given with a slow drawl, almost as if m were added. For example, till, give, it will be sounded as fi-ull, gi-m'c, i-ut. This error is not con- fined to one section though it is more common in the West and North. The South seems to be freer from it. The sound of short e in pet. This is subject to the same drawling impulse just noted. For example, yes and get are apt to be given as ye-us and ge-ut, etc. A great many people sound the short e before r with lips and tongue in the relaxed position of short it in up, turning zrry, for example, into vurry. They say abroad that if a man tells you he is an American it is pretty certain that he is lying; the genuine American calls himself an Amtnaferial, reinvest, un- intelligibility. Usually the emphasis syllable represents the essential ele- GROUPING THE SOUNDS 1 29 ment 01 the word's meaning. The minor syllables represent what might be called the modifying elements. This is not al- ways the case, however. For example we may take the word deprecate, where we should expect the emphasis on the second syllable, as it is in depreciate, a related word from the same group. As we saw in Chapter V, the placing of the accent is an im- portant element of correct pronunciation of words. With re- gard to phrases, or even longer series of words, the same principle of accent or emphasis applies. Try to speak the following without accenting any word above the rest. It is difficult to do and the result sounds unnatural : We-are-glad-to-have-our-boys-home-once-more-from-the- f ront-and-back-on-the-j ob. In speaking that series of words, we should instinctively put an emphasis or accent on glad, boys, home, front, back, job. The Utility of Rhythm The reason for marking the accent place is not merely to call attention to syllables which are important for the sense. It is easier for our muscles to produce a series of sounds if we can alternate loud tones with soft tones, that is to say, strong muscle efforts with light ones. That is in accordance with the principle of action and reaction, of rhythm, which is found in all muscular activity. The instinct for rhythm is part of our make-up ; our ears are adjusted to it. When we listen to a clock the sounds are actually : tick-tick-tick-tick, etc. But what our ears give us is a series of groups, two sylla- bles, either : tick-tick ; tick-tick tick-tick ; tick-tick 130 THE MACHINERY One of the first rules, therefore, for speaking words and phrases distinctly is this : Think of the word or phrase as a pattern of sounds — or rather muscle movements — some- what as in a drum rhythm; then mark the accent syllable strongly, and build the other syllables around that. For ex- ample : " Watch your step " would be ; " What can I do for you ? " would be: -1-----? Managing Minor Syllables The minor syllables of a word or phrase, which are apt to belong to Class (b) on page 127, may be spoken much more easily if you lean them up against the main syllable. If you make a " trailer " syllable for instance with exhaust steam, fit it in as the muscles are recoiling from the accent syllable, it is easily made distinct — for example, in such a word as de- precatory, history, library. If you stress sharply the first syllable, where the accent falls, you can fit the other syllables in easily and have them distinct. After or before a strong muscular effort it is actually easier to make one or two slight efforts than to stop short. It is not easy to utter one syllable by itself. That is probably one reason for the frequency of what are called pet names : Katie for Kate, Billie for Bill, Johnny for John. The muscles are in action ; their action tends to overrun the limit of the single syllable ; it is easier to go on than to stop. Therefore in all your speech utilize that instant of the recoil of the mus- cles; put your mouth just in the position for the trailer sylla- ble and you make it distinctly and almost without effort. . It is much the same with the syllable that precedes a strong one. The newsboy precedes the word extra — the e.v is a dif- ficult sound to make loudly — with oh or zvo so that his cry sounds like wo-extree. In the telephone it is difficult to sound correctly one-syllable names like Pratt. Cook, or Lane, but Mr. Pratt, John Cook, etc., can be spoken easily. GROUPING THE SOUNDS I31 " Drum-Beat Sound-Patterns " Think of the pattern of the word as if it were the rhythm of a drum beat. Tap it out on the table with your fingers, if you want to. Once you reahze clearly the rliyiliin of the word — or phrase — )ou will find that the tongue muscles will supply the proper number of movements without slurring any of them. For example : In a two-syllabled word you have --, as in father, or - —, as in before. In a three-syllabled word you have - — , as in opening, ---, as in together, — -, as in disappear. In a four-syllabled word you have , as in deprecat- ing;-— , as in depreciate; '-—, as in intermit- tent; — , as in nei'ertheless. In a five-syllabled word you have , as in ez'cry- body; - — , as in intelligible; — — — , as in homogeneous; — -, as in uninterrupted. You rarely find a word of five syllables accented on the last syllable. We are all apt to slur or telescope our long words, par- ticularly if the syllables which are not accented are in them- selves difficult to sound, if they belong to Class (b) on page 127. For example, such words as : principle, government, espe- cially, particularly, application, irrez'crence, preparedness. The longer the word the heavier should be the stress on the accent syllable. Our troubles with such words as those just mentioned come largely from failing to hit the chief syllable hard enough. Not more than two minor syllables can be readily uttered with one accent syllable. Words of several syllables have usually a secondary accent. For example : wiinterriipted, nevertheless, unintelUgibility. 132 THE MACHINERY Time Values Flexible The second factor involved in speaking groups of sounds distinctly, which is fully as important as accent, is that of the adjustment of time values. The muscle movements required for our 49 sounds take varying lengths of time to make cor- rectly. This variety of time length of individual sounds pro- duces wide variety in the time length of the syllables into which the sounds are combined. In combining syllables into words, phrases, and larger groups, we have, therefore, a continual delicate problem of adjustment. We need to remember ; 1. The original time value of the individual syllable. For example: arm, higJi, strict, judge, are always longer than : tip, the, ac-, ir-. 2. When syllables are combined into words and larger groups, their individual values are always more or less modified; the accent lengthens the syllable. For example : the sounds oh and hey are of about the same length taken separately, but in obey the hey is longer. In the same way, the syllables art and tist are about equal taken separately, but in artistic the tist is longer. Limits to Variation But there are limits to these variations which the careful speaker always observes. Suppose we indicate the time ratios between syllables by figures: r, i^, 2, etc. Notice the time formulas for the following words. In city, mother, the time formula is i-i, but in country, father, the time formula is 2-1. In district, export, the formula is 2-2. Many people neglect this matter of the actual time length of the syllables and we hear: citce, mother-r, lihertee. When we put three syllables together one of the minor GROUPING THE SOUNDS 133 syllables is nearly always shortened and the accent syllable made longer. Thus in a three-syllabled word we hardly ever have the formula i-i-i, but i>^-j4-i in various arrange- ments. For example, in opening the formula is ij/2-3^-1 ; in together it is i-i^^-^; in interrupt i-^-iJ^. For words of four syllables or more the principle of uneven length applies in the same way. estimable 2-1 -i-i indescribable 1-1-2-1-1 uninterruptedly 1-1-1-2-1-1 Importance of Sensitiveness to Time Values This ratio which governs the distribution of time among a series of syllables, is one of the most important factors in speech. In John McCormack's beautiful phonograph record of " The long, long trail," you have: " Old ree-membrances are throng-ingg Through my memo-ree " The ineino-rec is owing to the rhythm of the music, of course, but the rce-mcmhrances is bad spacing by the singer. The long words are not the most troublesome if you get the rhythm pattern clearly in mind and remember that the longer the word the heavier the accent, and the longer the time given to the accent syllable. The chief trouble comes with the words of two syllables. You will be tempted to say: Ut-tull, 1-2; trou-hull, 1-2; tempt-edd, 1-2. That is one of the re- sults of our habit of drawling. It seriously hampers the clearness and intelligibility of our talk. Time Values in Larger Groups — Prose Notice the time distribution in these sentences from Presi- dent Wilson's War Message : 134 THE MACHINERY I 2 112 2 11 lYz y2 1 T 2 The world must be made | safe for democracy. | Its peace I I 2 j^ Yi 1 I 2y2 Yz I ^ , V' Vz 1 V2 yi must be planted | upon the trusted foundations | of political ij^ Vi I 2 I 1212 12 1122 liberty. | We have no selfish ends to sefve. | We desire no 21 2121 I I I V2 iVz Vl I I I conquest, no dominion. | We seek no indemnities for our- 2 I ii}4Hii J I Vi Yz I I I'A Vz 1 I I selves, I no material compensation for the sacrifices | we 1 212 2 I I 2 I I 1% Yz I I I shall freely make. | We are but one of the champions of the 2 I 12 I I I lYi Y2 ^ I I rights of mankind. | We shall be satisfied | when those 2 II 2112 11211 1Y2 rights have been made as secure | as the faith and the free- Yz I I 1Y2 Y2 1 2 I dom of the nation can make them. Or in these from Theodore Roosevelt's address on the " Strenuous Life " seventeen years earher : I lYi Y2 1 1Y2 Y2 ^ 2 12 II H I Y2 2 I The twentieth century looms before us big with the fate of 2 121 ij^i I 21211 -> 21 2 many nations. If we stand idly by, if we seek merely swol- I 21 211212 II 2 Y2 Y2 len, slothful ease, and ignoble peace, if we shrink from the 2 ij^ I Yi 2 I 2 I 1}/$ 1/5 I I hard contests where men must win at hazard of their lives V2 Y^ Y2 2 1 1Y2 Y2 I ' I I Y2 Y2 I and at the risk of all they hold dear, then the bolder and 21 2 ]/i Yz 212 I 1 ^Yz Y2 I 2 stronger peoples will pass us by, and will wm for themselves I iii}4^ii 2 lyi Y2 I I 212 the domination of the world. Let us therefore boldly face I 2_ I 2 1Y2 Yi 1 iij4 IIJ4H 2 I i^^^i the life of strife, resolute to do our duty well and manfully; 1Y2 Y2 I Y2 Y2 2 1Y2 Y2 I I 2 I -> 1Y2 Y2 I resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and word; resolute II I 1Y2 Y2 I 2 I 2 2 I i^ 1/$ I I 2 to be both honest and brave, to serve high ideals, yet to use i}4 ^ I I I practical methods. Reading Aloud as an Aid The sure way to master the adjustment of time values of the sounds of speech is to practice reading aloud. In the sentences of good writers the sounds are fitted together with GROUPING THE SOUNDS 135 careful regard for time adjustment, so that they flow rhythmi- cally, and feature the right points of the idea. Spend five min- utes daily for two weeks in anal}-zing the sound-patterns in a group of sentences in the paper, or in a magazine. You will learn what you can learn in no other way about managing the elements of language. It is the best possible foundation for the study of words and of composition. Especially practice reading poetry aloud. Poetry is a kind of music. It is built throughout on the principle of time ad- justment. Study a few stanzas such as the following from Dana Bur- nett's " Jilarching Song." Read the poem so as to bring out all the meaning and all the feeling which it expresses. First fix the " swing " in your mind, by reading it straight through for the sense, as if it were prose. You need not try to make it rhythmical ; the rhythm is there, just bring out the sense. When Pershing's men go marching, marching, into Picardy — With their steel aslant in the smilight and their great gray hawks a-wing And their wagons rumbling after them like thunder in the Spring — Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp Till the earth is shaken — Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp Till the dead towns waken ! And flowers fall, and shouts arise from Chaumont to the sea — When Pershing's men go marching, marching, into Picardy. Women of France, do you see them pass to the battle in the North? And do you stand in the doorways now as when your own went forth? Then smile to them, and call to them and mark how brave they fare Upon the road to Picardy that only youth may dare ! Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp. Foot and horse and caisson — Tramp, tramp, tramp, tramp. Such is Freedom's passion — 136 THE MACHINERY And oh, take heart ye weary souls that stand along the Lys For the New World is marching, marching, into Picardy ! How to Trace the Sound Patterns You will notice that you have here two verses, the first one of three lines, the second of four, each followed by a refrain. Reading straight through aloud for the sense, and rather fast — the time of a cjuick stride — you will find that : 1. In each line of the verses there are seven accent sylla- bles. The short lines which begin the refrain are really half-lines, combining into seven-accent lines. The pause in the sense which is provided at the end of each seven-accent line takes almost exactly the time of another accent group, or " measure," as for example : When I Pershing's | men go | marching, | marching, | into Picard|y — With their | steel a|slant in the | sunlight | and their | great gray | hawks a | wing. . 2. You have really therefore a block of lines of eight measures each with the eighth measure silent — a very common marching rhythm. 3. Nearly all the emphasis syllables are sounds such as stand out clearly (see page 128). If you space out the sentences, as you have done with the prose sen- tences above, you will realize how ingeniously the time is distributed — long syllables and short ones so packed as to suggest the steady stride of quick- marching men. Try such analysis of other poems, either vigorous and stir- ring ones like this, or quieter and more meditative ones. Gradually you will find that your informal talk is being modi- GROUPING THE SOUNDS 1 37 fied by your new sensitiveness to time-values. Nothing will do so much to give your speech smoothness, precision, and style. Mastery of these qualities in your conversation is the best possible foundation for eas)- command of your powers when you have to speak in public. Clauses, Sentences, and Paragraphs The same principles of accent and of time distribution apply equally in uttering clauses and sentences. Remember, we con- tinually recognize the code signals as making up words and phrases, and at the same time as making up clauses and sentences. A clause is defined in the Standard Dictionary as : " A sen- tence that enters as a subordinate part into a compound or complex sentence." The line of distinction between a clause and a phrase is not perfectly clear. A sentence is defined in the Standard as: "A related group of words containing a subject and a predicate with their modifiers expressing a complete thought." Sometimes a sentence consists of a single clause ; sometimes it has many clauses. A paragraph is a group of sentences giving a fuller de\'el- opment of one general idea. An Accent-Point in Every Group Notice first that there is a center of emphasis, what might be called an accent-point in every clause, sentence, and para- graph, just as there is an accent in a word or phrase. The accent-point of a sentence extends usually over several words — perhaps an entire clause — all of which are emphasized. The accent-point of a paragraph may extend over an entire sentence. One of the word accents becomes the accent-point of the clause. If it is in the chief clause of the sentence it becomes 138 THE MACHINERY also the focus or the accent-point of the sentence ; if in the chief sentence of the paragraph it becomes the focus or the accent-point of the entire paragraph. Of course there are exceptions : clauses and sentences which have two heads so to speak, and paragraphs which do not come to a climax any- where, just as there are some mountains with several equal peaks. Then, too, the grammatical definition of a phrase or a clause will not always hold here, where we are considering meaning, logical importance. In the following, from an address by George Creel, I have indicated : The phrase accents (') and grouping (|). The clause accents (") and grouping (||). The accent-points of the sentences ('"). The accent-point of the paragraph (""). The accent-point is placed in each case over the most em- phatic word. rf I' I It has been said | that America is not-one-people, 1 1 that Americans are not-a-race. | ] Yet blood ties, | after all, | are not the closest ties, 1 1 and the bonds | that bind strongest | are those | that we tie of-our-own choice, j | Kinship is no mere matter | of birth | or race | or language, 1 1 but a deeper something | that springs from similarity-of-ideas — ideals, — and aspirations. 1 1 And in this sense ] America is-one- people, 1 1 Americans are-a-race, 1 1 for our fathers | had the same-passion-for-freedom, 1 1 and the sons | have the same- faith and a common-heritage. Featuring the Main Point You will notice, as the groups are massed together, that while the few chief accents are intensified and made louder. GROUPING THE SOUNDS 139 the minor accents become lighter than if each clause, phrase, or word stood alone. For example, try saying each clause as if it were an independent sentence without anything be- fore or after, of course omitting " that " and such words. You will then not be able to slur any part, but you will not have any climax at all. Principles of Grouping in Clauses and Sentences The variety of sound-patterns which may be worked out in sentences and paragraphs is almost infinite. A sentence may fall only five words or it may run to more than a hun- dred. If it gives an efifect of completeness and unity it may be a good sentence for the occasion. Paragraphs in the same way may take a wide variety of form. You may have a series of short single-clause sentences giving a staccato effect. You may have a series of long sentences each containing sev- eral clauses, giving a smooth rolling effect. A group of two or three long" sentences punctuated by a single short one, gives a striking eiTfe.ct of precision. In Chapters XIII and XXIV you will find "examples /)f other patterns. Good Clauses Are Light and " Lean " Theoretically, the length and the structure of a clause, sentence, or paragraph are determined by the thought you have to express. Practically, however, there is always the limitation of ease of utterance. This applies particularly to clauses. A clause is usually spoken on one breath. If you examine the clauses in the speeches which are printed in this book you will find that they rarely exceed twenty syllables and rarely fall below ten syllables in length. Syllables give a better basis for estimating than do words — which may be long or short. In the following from Secretary Lane's ad- dress at Pittsburgh on July 4, 1918, the clauses average only twelve syllables. I40 THE MACHINERY Americanism is not internationalism. It is an intensified nationalism, because through this Nation mankind is to be served. Americanism is an ordered system. It is a growth and a right to grow. Americanism is not a belief in the quick-turned trick, but the expression of what free men can do, whose energies are guided by purpose, by thought, and by physical and moral courage. Americanism is not cyn- icism, Americanism is faith. Americanism is not indiffer- ence, Americanism is purpose. Americanism is not a belief in the mysterious working of a slothful fate but is a supreme belief in the mysteries wrought by work and will.* In the following, from the address by Mr. Balfour, in the American House of Representatives, IMay 5, 1917, the clauses average 14 syllables. We all feel the greatness of this hour; but I think to none of us can it come home so closely as to one who, like myself, has been for 43 years in the service of a free assembly like your own. I rejoice to think that a member — a very old member, I am sorry to say — of the British House of Com- mons has been received here to-day by this great sister as- sembly with such kindness as you have shown to me and to my friends. . . We all, I think, feel instinctively that this is one of the great movements in the history of the world, and that what is now happening on both sides of the Atlantic represents the drawing together of great and free peoples for mutual pro- tection against the aggression of military despotism. Smoothness If you examine the two passages you discover that length is not the only point in clause construction. Smoothness, that is, the ease of uttering the succession of sounds, counts also. The clauses in Mr. Balfour's speech are easier to speak than those in Secretary Lane's. The syllables which compose them are easily sounded and run smoothly together. Secretary * Reprinted by permission from " The American Spirit " by Franklin K. Lane. Copyriglit, 1917, by Frederick A. Stokes Company. GROUPING THE SOUNDS 141 Lane's speech would have to be spoken with greater muscular effort to be as distinct as Mr. Balfour's. Both are good; the purposes are different. Notice the staccato effect of the series of short, abrupt units in the first passage and the easy flow of the more varied patterns in the second. Examine the following passages and note the comparative length and smoothness of the clauses; and the various forms of sentence patterns. One is by an advertising man, the other by a lawyer. John Wanamaker buys a page in four or five New York papers, in which he conducts a Httle paper of his own. Does he list a bunch of prices? No, he sets it up in bold type with an editorial column, drops in a note about the weather. If he talks about French china dinner-sets, he does not tell what a wonderful man Wanamaker is in getting these sets from a fellow who couldn't pay for them, but he does tell the won- derful things those French china dinner-sets can do for the table of the house-wife. He puts the '' man of the house " experience into that column. He has heard some housewife talk of her dinner service. He puts this experience into that column. He doesn't talk of chinaware as a buyer for a de- partment store would talk to a department head, but he talks about it as one woman would talk to another. — E. St. Elmo Lewis, Detroit, Michigan. So soon as you get beyond those things which most nations are willing, and all should be willing, to leave to The Hague or other like tribunals, and when you get down to things which vitally matter, I for one doubt if any self-respecting nation should enter such an Alliance unless it stands ready to accept the inevitable consequences of seeing its destiny de- termined by other minds and other interests. Does our nation so stand ready? It should be perfectly sure that it does before it says yes. The ease of getting into such a situation should mislead no one as to the ease of withdrawing from it and from the consequences of having entered it. 142 THE MACHINERY Agreements, as we lawyers know, are made in haste and repented at leisure — are broken equally as often if not oft- ener than they are kept, and are quite as likely to be the be- ginning of trouble as the ending of it. — Lindley M. Garri- son, New York State Bar Assoc, Brooklyn, January 12, 1917. Pauses The matter of time adjustment applies to sentences and paragraphs as truly as to words and phrases. In sentences and paragraphs, however, another element enters into the ad- justment of time. That is the matter of pauses or silences. After nearly every phrase or clause you pause an instant, per- haps merely to take breath, perhaps to mark off the thought. Some thoughts run straight on from the preceding thought; others require a delay, sometimes as long as it takes to speak the clause, to allow the idea to be fully grasped. How you allot the proper time for these various pauses, neither too much nor too little in each case, constitutes one of the most important factors in speaking distinctly. I once heard a phonograph record of a French conversation which formed a part of a course of lessons in French. The pronunciation was excellent, yet the total effect was utterly unlike actual French talk. The fact is, the lesson was a little too long for the capacity of the disk, and the instructor had evidently crowded successive sentences together without al- lowing for sufficient pause. Now, while French talk is al- ways cjuick in utterance, the pauses of various lengths are just as essential a part of it as they are of -English talk. The re- sult was that the perspective of the conversation was wrong and the whole effect incorrect and misleading. Many of us commit the same fault in our own talk, par- ticularly when delivering a public address and when talking hurriedly in excited conversation. The result invariably is in- effectiveness. The old motto, " The more haste the less speed," applies here as elsewhere. GROUPING THE SOUNDS I43 Convenient Rules In speaking a sentence or paragraph your task is to bring out the entire thought. You must not only feature the main point, but you must build the other points around it as you do the minor syllables around the accent syllable of a word. You must make the minor portions at once subordinate and distinct. Therefore observe the following rules : 1. Find the main clause; stress its accent word strongly and allow time enough to make it all clear. 2. Allow the proper time to the minor clauses, making them both distinct and subordinate. 3. Allow for pauses of suitable length between successive sentences and clauses, and in some cases before and after important phrases or words. Exercises 1. When you overhear some conversation on the car, in a restaurant, etc., take notice just what words actually reach your ears; jot these down and see if you can supply the others. 2. See if you can catch the over-emphasized " I " in the talk of any one of your acquaintances. In his case is it due to conceit, to self-consciousness, or to slovness of language or thought? See if you catch any other over-emphasized words. 3. Examine the extracts from Lewis, page 141, and Balfour, page 140: how many syllables of Class (a) (see page 127) in each; how many of Class (c) ? 4. Mark the accent points and time adjustment in some familiar phrases, for example, the oral forms used in stores (see page 258, Chapter XII). 5. Jot down a few sentences of your own casual talk; note the accent points and time adjustment. See if you can make the sentences more effective by altering emphasis or spacing. 6. Examine closely the time adjustment of the first stanza of the poem on page 135; notice how the syllables are fitted together in each line. CHAPTER VIII A GOOD VOICE The Suggestive Power of the Voice The expressiveness of the voice itself — the tone — is prob- ably the most powerful single agency in speech. It has prob- ably more to do than anything else with making us like or dislike the speaker. In most cases that after all is what de- cides our reaction to his ideas. This is a strong statement. But we learn as we live longer that we are all influenced as much through our sensations and emotions as through our reason. Now speech affects our feel- ings by the sound, entirely apart from the thought it conveys. If the voice is agreeable and is modulated in a way that is ap- propriate to the ideas uttered, we are impressed favorably in spite of ourselves. We are made to feel more or less definitely the likableness, reliability, strength, honesty, etc., of the speaker. If the voice is harsh or crude, or strained or anemic, it is somehow harder for us to accept the speaker's sugges- tions no matter how well-worded his ideas may be. The Voice a Help or a Hindrance The head of a certain university was a remarkably efficient executive — alert, absolutely fair and patient, as well as a scholar of wide and fine culture. He was besides one of the kindest of men. Yet though he accomplished a great deal for the institution he did not really make good. He never quite won either his associates on the faculty or the students. For one thing he had a harsh, strident voice, which gave the suggestion, whatever he was saying, of nervousness and strain. 144 A GOOD VOICE • 145 It seemed utterly out of keeping with the rest of the man, and it made everybody round him nervous. They could not open up to him. They were even unjustly suspicious of him. Another university president has made a notable success in a difficult place. He, also, is patient and industrious, and a careful though not gifted scholar; otherwise he is markedly inferior to the other man intellectually and personally. But he has a voice which is as easy and restful as that of the other man was tense; that has been, actually, one of the chief factors in his success. A number of years ago a boy from a little western college entered a big law-office in New York. H» worked hard at the law and also got into politics. At a surprisingly early age he had not only risen to a major partnership in the firm but had become a responsible figure in national politics. He was keen, energetic, reliable, shrewd in judging men, and he had a remarkably magnetic personality. His voice, in particular, was clear, ringing, commanding, and, as one man expressed it recently, optimistic. It was easy for him to win people's liking and trust. Emotional Power of Tone The meaning of speech is conveyed by words, by means of clear-cut enunciation, but the suggestions, the implications come through the tone. Tone gives the element of color to speech. The function of enunciation is mainly intellectual. But distinct enunciation without suitable coloring in the tone is dry and cold. We hear this " dry " quality in the sound of mechanical " announcers " used in some railway stations and hotels. We hear it in the speech of a deaf-mute who has re- ceived training merely in enunciation, and occasionally in that of a person of dry and precise nature. The function of tone, on the other hand, is emotional. It produces effects of pleasure upon learned and ignorant alike, 146 THE MACHJXERY even in a foreign language with which the hstener is unac- quainted. Almost invariably you iind that men and women who are markedly successful in getting others to do what they want have \oices that are pleasing and expressive in conversa- tion. A Good Voice Can be Made Many persons, while recognizing that a good voice is an asset, think that it is altogether a gift, that one person is born with a good voice, another not. Very often a man supposes himself hopelessly handicapped. The truth is, tlft voice is peculiarly d thing which is made. Anyone can develop a good voice, so far as its use in speech is concerned ; singing takes more time and more direction from a teacher. A man may do this whatever his occupation, or his store of book education, e\en if he has never tried be- fore, even if he thinks he has no ear for music, even if he is forty years old, or more. What is required is : 1. The right mental attitude. 2. Definite muscle training — easily carried through with patience — ■ which establishes physical control. There is hardly anyone whose tone is not good, beautiful, expressive, nozv and then. Persons who are rough, crude, and even insincere will occasionally under power of strong, hon- est feeling produce sweet and expressive tone. The strong feeling at such times overpowers the "inhibitions" — hind- rances — of bad physical habit or wrong mental attitude, which ordinarily interfere with the working of the vocal ap- paratus. Moreover, anything which makes the ear more sensitive and the vocal apparatus more free and nimble, will at the same time always make the tone expressive, even without direct attention to tone-cxpressweness. A GOOD VOICE 147 In an extremely busy office a young woman was given charge of the telephone switchboard because of exceptional quickness and tact. She had little experience but she was determined to make good. One remarkable result, after a few months, was the improvement in the girl's voice. The constant use of the quiet telephone tone transformed the quality and inflections of her voice in ordinary conversation. Two Things to Do Voice, as Dr. Andres has explained in Chapter IV, is a mechanical phenomenon. Air is blown from the lungs across the vocal cords, thus producing sound ; this is enlarged and modified by resonance. In every act of talking or singing, we are really playing on an instrument. We should see that the instrument is in good condition, and we should improve our way of playing on it. There are thus two phases of tone-efifectiveness : 1. " Health "of the tone. Using the physical mechanism properly, without obstruction or muscle-strain, so as to produce the maximum efficiency of the " organ." 2. Expressiveness of tone. Modification as to quantity, quality, and pitch so as to convey the particular sug- gestion which is desired for a particular idea. Comparatively few persons realize the possibilities of either aspect of tone, or utilize them. These few may be grouped in two classes : I. Professional singers, actors, and public speakers. Such persons cultivate " beautiful tone " and exploit their voices like instruments. The tone of profes- sional voice-users is often stronger and fuller than is suitable for conversation. It is rich and beautiful but at the same time it is often more limited as to 148 THE MACHINERY expressiveness than a good conversational tone needs to be. 2. Persons whose business compels them to consider and humor the feelings and moods, the foibles, vanity, etc., of their "customers" — nearly always give more or less attention to the expressive powers of tone. Some salesmen do this. Nearly all physi- cians and nurses do it — also personal attendants such as servants, barbers, waiters. The voices of such persons, however, are apt to lack the founda- tion of a right method of actual production of the tone. Application to Daily Life In the talk of ordinary life we should seek, first, general pleasing Cjuality, and, second, the widest range of expressive modifications of the tone, or modulations. The modulations of talk must be delicate, subtle, not showy. They must fit into the general usage of our environment. Yet within these same limits of ever)'day usage there are endless possibilities of tone- suggestion, which few persons realize. This matter of the voice is vtvy closely parallel to the mat- ter of appearance and bearing, discussed in Chapter III. The trouble with most of us is that we are not sufficiently alive at every instant. Our talk is too often soliloquy, and hence is not expressive. Many persons have a tone which is merelv dull, which varies only a little from moment to moment, and which is only slightly expressive. Many others have a tone which is anemic, feeble, or languid, or one which is unpleas- antly sharp, nervous, tense. Some persons are more vivacious and "sprightly" — more alive than the rest of us — and their tone is more expressive. Only, if a talker is too vivacious, if the tone varies too sharply and too vehemently, we think him ill-balanced, or affected, be- A GOOD VOICE 149 cause we feel him to be moved too much by the thing he is talking of. That is a difference between Anglo-Saxons and Latins in the matter of tone-variation in speech — and between Ameri- cans and English. Expressive tone-variation is no less con- stant among Americans than among Italians, French, or Eng- lish, but it is on a smaller scale ; it is somewhat more delicate. Quality and Flexibility ^^l^at is needed to make a voice useful, remember, is not volume, but quality, and what is called flexibility. Anyone has enough voice for any conversation and for most platform talk, providing the quality is right and the enunciation good, ^loreover, intelligent work for quality and flexibility inevitably develops volume, in time. The exercises already given in connection with Chapters III, V, VI, and VII will of them- selves aid in getting your voice into better condition. Here is one definitely practical suggestion for evcr\'day talk : No matter how much in earnest you are, or how much in a hurrjr, don't be noisy. Haz'c your enunciation clear-cut. but keep your tones soft in quality, as you do zcJien yon use the telephone. If you make that a rule it will go far toward keep- ing you out of trouble and giving you useful command of your ■' instrument " in ordinary speech, even if you do no more. Systematic Improvement Possible for Anyone But you can do a great deal more. The voice can be de- liberately culti\-ated and improved by anyone of sense and persistence even without special instruction, and in the ordinary course of his daily occupation. The characteristics which can be consciously developed in this way are such as can be utilized directly and indirectly in ordinary business activities. For ordinary conversational speaking the process will not take long, and will show results in six months or a year at most. 150 THE MACHIXERY It can be carried on at any age, so long as the student is healthy, and pliable. Essential Facts as to Tone-Production Examine again the description of the vocal apparatus by Dr. Andres, in Chapter IV. You will observe certain points that are especially important just here: 1. The voice-producing apparatus consists of (a) the larynx, the vocal cords and the muscles operating them; (b) the cavities of the throat, pharynx, mouth, nose, and sinuses of the head. Good tone comes from the harmonious action of all of these. 2. The sound produced by the vocal cords is not simple but complex — not a single tone, like a bird's note, but a chord, a harmonic blend of several tones. This is because the vocal cords vibrate not only in their entirety, but also in parts, like the strings of a piano or violin. 3. The vibrations of the cords in their entirety give what is called the " fundamental " of the tone, which is the actual note or pitch of the sound. The vibrations of portions of the cords gi\'e \\hat are called the " over- tones," or " harmonics," of the sound. These are higher in pitch according to certain mathematical pro- portions. Tone in which the fundamental is rela- tively weak sounds thin ; tone in which the overtones are few, or relatively too weak, sounds coarse, or dull. 4. The vibrations, or air-waves, which are started by the vocal cords, are repeated, multiplied, in the cavities of throat and head — just as the vibrations of the strings of a violin are repeated and multiplied in the violin-box — and they are made thereby many times louder than the original sound produced in the larynx. When the tone-box of an instrument — whether A GOOD VOICE 151 clarionet, violin, or human throat — is properly shaped and in normal condition, it gives maximum and proper resonance to the tone; if the shape or con- dition of the box is altered, the tone is injured. Try to play on a dented cornet and you will discover what I mean. 5. Now the musical instrument is made of wood or metal. Its surface is hard — or it would not be resonant. Its contour is fixed and unvarying. The human voice-box is living tissue, a tube formed of bones, cartilages, and membranes woven together by many muscles. The surface of this li\'ing tube becomes ex- traordinaril}- tense and rigid during sound-produc- tion — as Dr. Andres has pointed out, page 74, thereby securing resonance. But the organs con- cerned have also a marvelous power of adjustment and alteration of shape. Their contour is constantly being modified here or there according to the action of various muscles. Thus the possibility of diminution or change in the quality of the human tone is very great. If any of the muscles con- cerned pull in the wrong way the result is impaired tone. At the same time, this almost infinite flexibility of the human tone-box gives almost infinite superiority of the human voice over any mechanical instrument. The same human throat can make many kinds of sounds, within the limits of effective resonance. Tuning the Instrument — Indirect Control A series of delicate, subtle, complex adjustments is con- stantly going on while one is talking or singing, every altera- tion affecting to some extent the " blend " or harmony of the tone. These adjustments are normally made automatically under the influence of varying emotions or mental states. For 152 THE MACHINERY example, a state of fear, gayety, awe, eager determination, melanchoh', etc., modifying in some way the action of the res- onating cavities, produces a special harmony or blend of tone. The complexity of this muscle-system which operates the human tone-box makes direct conscious control impossible. The apparatus is adjusted by Nature to work right. It gets snarled up, or out of order, in most of us, through some bad habit or other, perhaps as a result of some ailment of the nose or throat, and it may perhaps remain permanently out of order. Since most of its mechanism is "involuntary" it cannot be reached effecti\-ely by direct volition. But — and here is the whole point in training the voice — it is possible to get con- trol of certain kcy-iniisdcs, through properly devised exer- cises, and thereby harmonize the whole apparatus. Once Gained, Control Remains Furthermore, once harmony is really established, it lasts. It may be interrupted now and then, by strain due to illness, or to undue effort, but it returns more easily than it was gained at first. To find a voice which is injured beyond repair and restoration is extremely rare, so far as its use in conversation or public speaking is concerned. Steps in the Process The steps in the process of making a good voice are three : 1. Relaxation of all muscles concerned in voice production. 2. Acquiring the habit of using the voice alwa)'S — in talk or song — gently, and without strain. 3. Practice of co-ordinating exercises which bring event- ually steadiness and power. To describe in print exercises which have to do with sensa- tions so delicate as those involved in the use of the voice is not easy. If, however, you will follow closely the directions A GOOD VOICE 153 here given, and invariably practice carefully — not perfunc- torily — you can do much even without the aid of a special instructor. Control of Breathing The first thing is to get control of your breathing, the power which produces all tone. Most of us are very careless about that ; we breathe very badly, except at night when we are fast asleep. There are two points to observe : 1. Take breath in through the nose, invariahly , as Dr. Andres has advised. Mouth-breathing is bad in va- rious ways. Moreover, the action of drawing in the breath through the nose is apt to relax the muscles of the mouth and throat, permitting them to sink into the position of repose. A fresh vocal impulse finds them " unsnarled " and more likely to be co-ordinated rightly in new combinations. 2. Use constantly, as you breathe, the muscles of the abdo- men and the sides of the trunk. Many persons do not " support " the tone from the waist and hence fail to get sufficient power; hence they strain the muscles of the throat and produce tones which are harsh and unpleasant. The harsh voices often heard in persons of gentle and kindly nature are not infrequently due to such insufficient breath-power. Notice here two points. In the first place, the amount of breath required for producing even a loud tone is not great. There is no use in filling the lungs to their capacity and blow- ing all that air through the larynx. That is likely only to make some of the muscles improperly tense, and impede the production or the reinforcement of the sound-vibrations set up by the swing of the vocal cords. In the second place, what is all-important is the control of 154 THE MACHINERY the breath, the rate and steadiness with which it is fed into the larynx. You must get the big muscles of the trunk to act- ing gently but steadily. After a while this action becomes habitual, unconscious, all day long. Only after that habit is accjuired can you hope for good use of the voice in either speaking or singing. Incidentally you will find, when you have acquired it, that the habit will do much to improve and sta- bilize your general health. Breathing Exercises You have sccu a dog bark, when he puts his " heart into it ! " ^'ou know ho^\■ his chest jerks inward as he emits each " tone." He is forcing the air across the instrument in his throat. That is, in very crude form, what we human beings do, in all our speech and song. Wc first draw the air in by expanding the body at the waist, then drive it out by contract- ing the trunk muscles. Only, we must expel the air gently and gradually — hardly e\er in fierce jerks as in the case of our friend the dog. Use these exercises : 1. Lying flat on your back — no pillow beneath your head — breathe deeply in and out ten times. Lay your hand on your body just below the end of the breast-bone and you will feel the trunk expand as the breath is drawn in, and con- tract as it is breathed out. 2. Now, in the same position, breathe deeply in and out as before but this time count aloud onc-two-thrcc-foiir-iivc on each breath as you drive it out. After each "five ' breathe in again slowly but without straining, until the lungs are well filled. As you utter the words you \vill feel the muscles gradually contracting under your hand, forcing out the air — somewhat as when you squeeze the end of a tube of paint. Repeat the exercise ten times. If you tried this for the first time in another position you might not get it right but when lying on the back and breathing deeply you are bound to get the proper action. A GOOD VOICE 155 3. Standing on your feet, repeat No. 2 another ten times holding your hand on your chest as before. Having already identified the sensation you can reproduce it while on your feet. 4. Repeat the exercise but instead of counting speak a short sentence — as many words as you can easily manage — contracting the muscles slightly to drive out each word. For example : " This is the way to do it." " When in the course of human events . ." " Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party. . . " Utter as many words on each breath as you can manage easily, but no more. Feel a definite contraction of the mus- cles on each word, indeed, on each syl-la-ble of a long word. A long sentence, like the third of the list above, may be di- vided. Take the breath in again at the pause. 5. Read aloud a short passage, first noting the breathing places — which are usually at the ends of clauses — and then sounding each section on one breath with a definite contrac- tion of the muscles for each word. For example: " When the last gun of the present war in Europe shall have been fired — and the negotiations for peace shall be begun — certain conditions will be insisted upon by the vic- tors — ■ which are sure to be revolutionary — • and which will constitute a new epoch in our civilization. — There will be an end of militarism. . . Read in the same way one of the passages in Chapter XXIV, or a bit from a newspaper. Continue this sort of practice until it comes easy to you. Apply the same deliberate method to your ordinary talk, whenever you can remember. That is what is essential. The exercises given above are only preparatory. For a while at first you will often forget, but keep trying and you will de- velop the habit of this regular steady breathing. By and b\- you will gain a sort of automatic sense of the play of the breathing muscles — gentle, but constant and firm, with every word and nearly every syllable.' You may talk as fast or as IS6 THE MACHINERY slowly as you like : only get the breath under each word. That of itself will make your voice better — more solid and more agreeable. Exercises to Relax the Throat Muscles — Humming Next you must learn to relax the muscles which directly produce the tone, and get them to acting gently and harmon- iously. Most people use these muscles always jerkily and with strain. Learn to hum. With mouth closed, but jaws not clenched, let the tongue lie perfectly loose in the mouth, rather far forward, resting the tip lightly against the lower teeth. Using the pitch of your ordinary talk, repeat the syllable vic-mc-inc, etc., rather quickly, perhaps once or twice a second and very gently. It should be just a murmur, barely audible. Hold the m longer than in ordinary speech — mm; also the c; thus, mm-ee. Re- peat three, four, or five times, running all together — viiiiee- jumce-mmcc-vunee. Use the slightest amount of breath-pres- sure you can ; no sensation whatever in the throat. In making the m part the lips slightly but keep the jaws loose. You will feel a vibration at the lips, in the nose, and perhaps back of the nose in the nasopharynx. Practice Exercises Gently If you feel any strain, tenseness, even a vibration, in the throat, you are doing the exercise wrongly. Stop and begin again. If you try to make it louder than a murmur, for the first week or two, there is almost certain to be a strain in the throat. Moie than that, the exercise is meant to be soft, always. You should keep it up, all your life long, at odd mo- ments ; it is a perpetual tonic for the voice. But never do it loudly. When we try to hum loudly, the vocal apparatus is almost always used wrongly, no matter how fully we have mastered the soft hum. A GOOD VOICE 157 After you have fully identified the sensation of the soft hum, make it more quickly, sounding perhaps ten, fifteen, or twenty more of the inc's in a string together. But always at the slightest strain or tension in the throat, stop, and begin again. When you can do this exercise surely and easily — perhaps after a week, perhaps after two, three, or four weeks — the time will vary with individuals, and you must get this first step right before going on — then blend ni-e with other vowel combinations, niin-ee, nun-ah, iiim-cc, iniii-ali, etc. Use in the same way the other vowels of the list on pages 87 and 88. For a time begin every group with me, pass into the other syllables and end with me. The essential matter is to carry over the sensation which you feel in me-me-vie into the other vowel syllables. Then try the other vowels without the iiie, beginning just ma-ma-ma, mo-ino-mo, etc. Every now and then come back to me, to keep yourself right. Then work in the consonants, combined into syllables, words, and phrases : using at first the lip-consonants — p, b, V, f, zv, zvh — then gradually the others. At first your me-me-me should be confined pretty constantly to one or two tones, about the middle of your voice. After a while try other pitches, higher and lower. When you begin saying phrases you will probably find yourself intoning or chanting on one pitch. After a while try to give the inflec- tion, the pitch-changes of ordinary talk. You will find it use- ful to chart out roughly the cadence, the " melody " of simple phrases, as suggested in Chapter IX. If these exercises are practiced faithfully, at odd moments through the day, then applied intelligently to the words and phrases of ordinary speech, they will aid greatly in freeing you from the habit of tense, hard action of your voice muscles, which is almost universal. 158 THE MACHINERY Exercises to Strengthen the Muscles Another set of exercises is very useful to give volume, power to the voice. The object of this second set of exer- cises is to furnish a proper leverage for the complex muscle apparatus which produces tone, by strengthening certain tongue muscles which are apt to be weak. For the first of them a small hand mirror is necessary. Let the tongue lie in the mouth in the same position as for hum- ming, rather forward and entirely relaxed, the mouth slightly open, so that you can see in the hand-mirror the relaxed soft palate at the back of the mouth, and the top of the tongue. Then without raising the soft palate, let the back of the tongue collapse, sink suddenly down and up again. You know, perhaps, how the tongue drops down sometimes when a spoon, or probe, is laid by a physician on your tongue, when you are having your throat examined. The action of this exercise somewhat resembles that, except that this action is entirely easy, unforced. Only the back of the tongue moves. The front two inches or so (the portion in front of the soft palate) must remain quiet and relaxed. The soft palate must not move, or the neck muscles. The larynx should move as little as possible. With the mirror you can see as to the front of the tongue, and the soft palate. The larynx can be watched by placing the fingers on the front of the two upper cartilages, the Adam's-apple and the next lower one. The Adam's-apple will move and should move, but not the lower one. This action — dropping the back of the tongue — is at first hard to do rightly; it is difficult to keep the front of the tongue " out of the play " — that is — entirely relaxed and quiet ; dif- ficult to drop the back of the tongue without at the same time raising the soft palate; difficult to drop the back of the tongue at all — it is apt, at first, to stififen and resist. In a few davs, though, you will begin to get the muscles under control and A GOOD VOICE 159 gradually you will grow expert. The action of the rear of the tongue in dropping is a little like the beginning of yawning, or even of gagging; the back of the tongue is dozvn. as it is in those actions, and in the shape of a trough, the sides of the tongue highest, — the middle portion lowest. This exercise is designed to isolate and exercise gently a certain pair of muscles — the hyo-glossal muscles — which are apt to be too weak, and which when strengthened by this silent exercise give the necessary leverage to make the vocal apparatus work well automatically. For this exercise you must use the mirror constantly, per- haps during several months. If you try to do it by fcclinij only, you are almost certain to go wrong. Keep a little hand glass in your pocket, for odd moments when alone. Practice not over two or three minutes at a time at first, as the muscles soon grow tired, or confused. You will do better to stop, let them relax, and then try again. Developing Automatic Action Bear in mind, however, in connection with this exercise, that the action of the vocal muscles in singing and in speech is entirely automatic. If the apparatus is properly adjusted, geared-iip, tuned, your tones \\\\\ be good, but you cannot pro- duce good tones by any direct voluntarv muscle action. A position with the back of the tongue slightly dropped, though not consciously held doi^'n, seems to cause the apparatus to pro- duce good tones — tones which are resonant, sweet, clear, and steady. The second exercise of this set applies the first exercise to actual tone-producing. With the tongue relaxed, lying rather forward in the mouth, as before, place your little finger in your mouth, nail upward, under the front of the tongue, rest- ing against one side of the V-shaped muscle which runs along the under side of the tongue from the tip. Don't press; just l60 THE MACHINERY let the finger lie there. Now talk, or sing, a few syllables — dropping the back of the tongue slightly as you do it. Use patter sentences, such as those at the end of Chapter V, or perhaps merely count aloud: one-two-tJircc-fonr-fivc-six-sevcn, etc. The utterances will be very indistinct, of course — with the finger in the mouth. A Method of Checking-Up You will perhaps feel a little pressure, throb, or kick dozvn- zcard upon your finger from that little V-shaped tongue-muscle. That is literally a tangible evidence that you are making the tone rightl}'. The V-shaped muscle has no direct part in the \-oice-producing system, but it connects with the muscles at the back of the tongue which are used, and its little throb or kick is a sort of echo transmitted from those other muscles. When you feci that throb you may take it as evidence that the \'oice-producing muscles are playing together properl}-. Practice talking or singing a few minutes daily, with the finger under the tongue, and it will help fix the right habit of muscle- action. Exercises to Develop Quality of Vowels Here, finally, is a series of exercises to develop directly the proper quality of vowels. These exercises are particularly difficult to describe satisfactorily in print. They require close and sensitive care. It is all-important to get the right quality for the vowel a; otherwise you may miss the whole benefit of the muscle action. An exercise to place the tone forward in the mouth and overcome the unpleasant " nasality " which is extremely com- mon : I. Open the mouth in the position for the vowel of ask, dance, past, as described on page 87. The sound, remember, is about midway between the vowel usually heard in bat and A GOOD VOICE l6l that heard in art. In this position the tongue is wide and flat, and the lips and cheeks are drawn up in a smile, showing the upper front teeth. Remember to keep this position throughout, as you pass to the vowel of bet, and then to that of bit, pronouncing each sound quickly, shortly, and lightly : a — a — a e — e — e i — i - a — e- a — e- Repeat the exercise ten times. The object of this exercise is to bring the cavities of the nose and mouth together — by causing retraction of the soft palate. The sound is felt in the nasopharynx. If it is felt in the nose, it should be excluded by holding the nostrils lightly with thumb and finger ; there should be no nasal quality. A second object of the exercise is to give the vowels of short e and short i the same quality as the a of ask. These other vowels remain recognizably different in value but they are given a more open and clear quality. 2. Now repeat in the same way the vowel of ask, dance, past, and then carry the same quality to the vowels of ah, aw, as in go, and oo as in book. Keep the same smiling posi- tion as in the preceding exercise : a — ah — aw a — ah — o a — ah — o — 00 a — e — i — ah — aw — oh — oo Repeat the exercise ten times. The object of the following exercise is to supplement the preceding one and to co-ordinate the action of the pharynx and the larynx, by controlling the tongue muscles. 3. With the mouth in the same smiling position as before, repeat the same series of vowels, but prefix a sharp h sound : 1 62 THE MACHINERY Ela — ha — ha He — he — he (Not the word lie, remember, but the sound of ■' short e " as in bet.) Hi — hi — hi (The "short i" of bit.) Ha — he — hi — ho — hoo The effort to produce the short hght h should be felt at the waist as explained in the discussion of breathing, page 154. The Essential — Gentle Persistent Practice Bear in mind that all the exercises described in this chapter must be practiced gently; otherwise some part of the apparatus may work in the wrong way. After your voice has been tuned up you can talk as loudly as you need — when you do need — but meantime go easy. With a good tone, you always feel a vibration : 1. In the chest (that gives you a sort of reminder of your breathing method). 2. In the cavity behind the nose. 3. In the front of the face, chiefly between the mouth and nose. The lower jaw should always be loose. Many Americans talk with rigid jaw, which means tension, strain, harsh tone. The muscles around the mouth, the muscles which encircle the lips, etc., must be kept loose. They are compressed in earnest thought, in active exercise of the will, etc. Like the muscles round the eye, noted in Chapter III, they are often kept tense all day. That produces inevitably harshness of tone, as well as imperfect articulation. And remember, sing your tones, always, in all talk. That is, give them the quiet, sustained resonance which you use in easy singing. The telephone is a great help in checking-up on your tones ; most people use better tone into the telephone than at other times. Use your telephone voice all day. You must continue the exercises for a long time — for A GOOD VOICE 163 months, for years. You cannot merely learn them with your brain and at once change your manner. What is involved is readjusting the way your apparatus works — growing a new set of habits. You must e.xpect, moreover, to continue the ex- ercises after you have gained improvement, in order to keep in condition, like a rioliiiist. But you will enjoy the practice, once you are master of the exercises, as a gymnast enjoys using his jnuscles, enjoying the refreshment the action brings. And you are certain to im- prove, whoever you are. If Possible, Get Instruction in Singing Finally, by 'all means, if you can possiibly manage it, go to a good teacher — a teacher of singing, and take some lessons. Whether you think you are " musical " or not does not matter ; you have an instrument to be put in order, and the process is the same, in fundamentals, whether you want to learn to sing or merely to "talk like a human being." If you can do so, study with a good teacher how to breathe, to relax the mus- cles, to form the vowels and " place " the tone. A year's les- sons will do a great deal for you, and even a few months will help. That is a directly profitable investment for any man who is to be a salesman, or to direct in any way the activities of other people. But bear in mind that no teacher can do more than start you on the road. Learning to use your own voice is an inti- mate and subtle thing. You have to do the work for yourself, through intelligent study of your own powers. Exercises 1. Jot down the names of several persons of your acquaintance whose voices are particularly pleasant or unpleasant. Analyze in what way each of them affects your feelings. 2. Using the breathing exercise, page 154, count in a loud voice, One 164 THE MACHINERY Two, Three, contracting the waist muscles strongly on each word and emphasizing the Three. Breathe in again and repeat with One, Two, Three, Four; then One, Two, Three, Four, Five — and so on up to Ten. 3. Now read aloud the first three paragraphs by Mr. Schwab, page 505, observing similarly the rules for breathing but using the muscles gently, (a) Mark in advance the places to pause for breath, (b) Before each breath group breathe in, then speak the words of that group on one breath, with a slight emphasis on the final word. The first time the passage may sound jerky; repeat two or three times until it sounds smooth. 4. Observe the persons with whom you happen to converse today. Estimate their mood, feeling, etc., from the tone. 5. Read aloud paragraph 22 of the passage by Mr. Johnson, page 183, (Chapter IX) and note the changes in the quality of your tone, to fit the meaning. 6. In your own conversation today try to give the tone a slightly sits- taincd or singing quality, while keeping it entirely conversa- tional. CHAPTER IX EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE — QUALITY AND MELODY Modulation of Tone the Source of Charm \\^hat gives the human voice its power of charm is its con- stant change; it is always in motion. That ceaseless move- ment of itself holds attention — just as our eyes are at- tracted to the changing form of the ripple at the edge of a large body of water, to the play of flames in a grate, etc. The sound changes of a good voice in animated, spontaneous speech produce melodies, besides, richly pleasing tD the ear. No exceptional voice endowment is needed to give expres- siveness and charm ; any voice has the possibility. Your in- born powers must be systematically developed, however, through the right kind of practice. This in turn presupposes intelligent analysis of the ideas and f-eelings which you wish to express and of the possibilities of the voice machinery. Study of the significance of modnjlations of tone and their effects in grouping and shading ideas in speech — 1. Gives familiarity with many voice patterns. 2. Aids and trains our taste in choosing and blending these patterns. Three Modes of Modulation The changes in the sound of the voice are of three chief kinds : 1. Volume, loudness. 2. Quality. 3. Pitch. 165 l66 THE MACHINERY The matter of speed, or rate of utterance of sounds, has been already considered in Chapter VII. It is not really a function of tone at all, but of enunciation. You can get all variations of rhythm, all changes of speed, with unvarying tone, as on a drum. Not Too Loud Loudness or volume is a matter of relati\e conditions, of the size of the room, and the circumstances of the conversation. Many people talk too loudly. The tone should be strong enough to reach the listener easily, so that he can hear without effort; no stronger. Some people talk too loudly because they have big voices and have not learned to control them. A young man who has become rather successful as a public lecturer, called to see me once at a club. He had a big, rough "platform" voice which he had never tamed to conversa- tional limits. We sat at first in the big Lounge \\'here twenty- five or more of the members were chatting quietly in little groups, but his big voice rolled through the room and every- body looked up in amazement. I suggested that the place was a little too public, and we had better move. We went from one room to another of the big club building — his voice everywhere booming out like a fog-horn. At last we arrived at the squash court out on the roof and there he talked. That man had been given instruction in the use of the voice but it had not " taken." A year or so ago on the way north from Alabama — with its quiet speech — the central figure of the conversation in the smoking compartment of a sleeper was a gentleman from Cincinnati, with one of those deep rich voices that seem made for an opera basso. The talk was interesting and friendly in every way, yet when at last he said " good-night " the rest of us were physically fagged. The incessant throb of the big EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 167 tones in the tiny room, pleasant as they were, was a strain on the nerves. Tones that are too soft are as bad as those which are too loud. Some persons of diffident, reflective or cautious nature speak in almost toneless murmur that keeps you continually " on your toes " to catch what they say. Volume a Matter of Proper Placing There is the matter of change of vplume — loud to quiet, quiet to loud. Some people pound along with voices un\ary- ingly loud, or soft. Others make frequent violent changes — soft one minute, noisy the next. Either practice reveals lack of control. In good talk the variation in volume is constant but moderate and delicate. Many people are led to talk in loud, strained tones by the noisy conditions of modern life, our noisy conveyances of busi- ness and pleasure, our noisy factories, and offices, and school- rooms. This emphasizes the importance of learning to " place the tone." A rightly placed tone, with clear enunciation, car- ries without yelling, even in the New York subway. A per- fectly " tuned " voice, such as that of Edith Wynne Matthie- son, seems always to be right at your ear, yet never louder than is needed. Quality The matter of volume of tone is in truth intimately related to that of quality of tone, which itself is perhaps the most important element in the expressiveness of the voice. It is a thing which is felt, and to some extent taken into account by practically every one, and which is noticed more or less con- sciously by a good many in the countless practical decisions of daily intercourse. To study the subject closely is a complex and baffling mat- ter — people have been dabbling with it for many ages but in l68 THE MACHINERY a scattered and unsystematic way, so that their results are stiU unsatisfactory. Certainly, within the limits of the present book, we can do no more than touch a few high spots. Nevertheless, in talking business nothing is more im- mediately and incessantly important, both when you speak and when you listen, than close perception and ready command of the play of quality of tone. Your Individual Tone The nature of a man shows in the quality of his tone. In the first place every voice, as Dr. Andres has pointed out in Chapter IV, is individual, different from every other; the resonances are combined in a slightly different way. This is due to : 1. The physical make-up. Members of a family usually have voices more or less alike. In the telephone we can often tell that it is one of the Joneses talking, be- fore we are sure whether it is John or Jim, Mary or Kate. 2. The temperament — or, rather perhaps, the prevailing mood of the individual, which leads to the habitual use of certain resonance-combinations — whether or not the individual is himself aware of it. Thus you can often guess a man's or woman's character and prevailing mood, from the quality of the voice. The quality of the tone often shows, to a quick ear, traits or tend- encies that the person tries otherwise to conceal. But anyone can tell some things for himself, if he will use his powers of observation with care and not generalize rashly. Charm of Personality Shows in Tone Efficiency, magnetism, charm of personality make them- selves known through the quality of the tone. This was the EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 169 case, for instance, with the New York lawyer referred to in the previous chapter; it was his "optimistic" voice which to a large degree smoothed his path. The same thing has been strikingly shown in the case of Charles M. Schwab. A story is told of a certain proposition which Mr. Schwab pre- sented to a firm of bankers, both orally and, word for word the same, in writing. When the bankers read it for themselves they doubted; when it was interpreted by his voice they be- lieved in it. Defect of Personality Also On the other hand, if the tone of a man's voice habitually suggests a mood of trouble, physical weakness, bad temper, depression, etc., that fact lessens his efficiency in whatever he tries to do. The man in charge of the educational work of one promi- nent organization is a hard worker, wholly devoted to his duties. But the queer, dry, timid, zvorricd tone of his voice, almost like that of a human hen with ducklings, suggests in- evitably that he is trying to swing a job that is too big for him. When once in a great while you catch him out of his official harness his tone is utterly different — long ago, before he car- ried responsibilities, he must have been a merry boy. The tense, sharp tone of overworked school-teachers, super- visors, or foremen, however competent in general they may be, often kills their usefulness to pupils or subordinates. The Voice Varies from Moment to Moment More than that, the quality of the individual's tone varies also from time to time. We have seen that the vocal passage is in continual delicate alteration, in response to various shad- ings of feeling. Every such little change, bringing the va- rious resonances into slightly different play, gives a delicate modification of the quality. You can tell in a moment, usually. 170 THE MACHINERY the mood John Jones is in when he telephones : cheerful or angry, tired, hurt, business-like, disgusted, amused — and often his physical condition : tired or ill, or hearty and full of energy. The most matter-of-fact business man uses a different qual- ity of tone according to the various persons he addresses dur- ing the day: customers, good and bad; employees of different grades ; acquaintances, etc. One Saturday afternoon, when an e)'e-doctor had put " drops " in my eyes, I sat for a couple of hours in a busy barber-shop in a small city. I began then to realize the extent of this variation of tone-quality in everyday business talk, as I listened to the way the barbers talked to one another, and to their various customers — most of them old acquaintances ; one or two strangers. Quality Varies with Feeling Once in a while, you meet a person whose tone is unvary- ing in quality. Such a voice is unnatural, like an enameled face. It implies either abnormal dullness or placidity, or else abnormal self-control, secretiveness, perhaps slyness, of nature. Hurry, indecision, doubt, rough determination, spontaneous courage, eagerness, anxiety, fear, boastfulness, arrogance, un- reflecting gayety, and so on, through all shades of the emo- tions to which all flesh is heir — they have different tone qualities, which all of us more or less subconsciously feel and interpret. Few persons try to analyze their impressions into conscious identification of the peculiar quality characteristics of the various emotions and moods. Fewer yet succeed in the attempt — the formula is so subtly varying, according to the indkddual. The old books on Elocution, for example, printed quotations from prose and poetry under such headings as " Se- lections Indicative of Serenity, Beauty, Love." Think of the varieties of moods and emotion-waves under " Beauty ! " or the far greater number under " Love! " EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 171 Systematic Study of " Quality " The significance of the quality of tone has been too little studied by people who have the responsibility of dealing with or directing others. The subject is baffling and elusive, but much might be done — for example, by a good personnel de- partment — through the systematic collection and study of data within the organization. The telephone often reveals characteristic qualities in a voice. One employment official makes a point, when possible, of hearing the voice of a candi- date over the wire, as well as in face to face conversation. Dictating machine records offer another resource hitherto undeveloped. In the New York Clinic for Speech Defects on East 37th Street, where they are doing remarkable work in the scientific study of defective speech, they make constant use of dictating machine records. If you have a machine get a number of your friends to talk into it; then study their records and try to imitate their varying quality. Indirect Improvement of Your Own Voice One thing is clear. The more you study tone quality in the speech of other people, the more your own ear becomes sensitized, and the effect passes over to your own voice. Moreover, the better control you develop over the " placing " of your voice, as explained in Chapter VIII, the more such variations in quality come under your conscious direction. That means, of course, to some extent the power to conceal, to veil actual emotion. The power of concealment, however, can rarely be carried far in ordinary talk ; it requires usually deliberate effort, and in talk our conscious attention must be chiefly on the matter of what we are saying. But after all the power to conceal your feelings is far less important than the power to indicate them rightly when you desire, and to avoid giving the wrong suggestion. 172 THE MACHINERY Melody — Pitch Changes Continuous Pitch changes are going on in the voice of any living per- son all the time. A complete monotone is practically un- known. Approximate monotone is a sign of a diseased con- dition of body or mind. Variations .in pitch 1. Help to show the logical relations of the thought. 2. Help to indicate the nature and degree of feeling. This is done subconsciously, but intelligent command of pitch changes may be developed by anyone. Modulations of pitch must be perceived and measured by the ear. To get conscious control of them in your own speech, your own ear must be made sensitive. The process may be aided very greatly by means of records and graphs addressed to the eyes. Three Phases of Subject There are three phases of the study of pitch : 1. General pitch. 2. Inflection, the pitch changes occurring on single words or phrases. 3. Melody, the pitch changes extending over sentences and longer groups. General Pitch Listen to the people about you, noting merely the pitch modulations, and you will realize that some talk in very deep tones, some in tones that are high and shrill, the greater num- ber in medium tones. Sit down at a piano and strike the seventeenth white note on the keyboard, counting from the left-hand side of the piano, and try to sing or speak that same tone. Then strike suc- cessively the seven white notes farther to the right and try to sing or speak in the same tones. That group of eight EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 173 tones represents what is called an octave. If you look at the piano you will find that the entire range of keys covers a little over seven such octaves. The human voice has an outside limit of three octaves. Very few voices actually extend over two octaves. In con- versation, we use hardly more than one octave — appro.xi- mately the one you have just sounded. The female voice has about the same extent of range as that of the male but it is pitched one octave higher. The high tenor in the male voice and the low alto of the female voice somewhat overlap. The Right Pitch — or Wrong — for You If you listen further, you will realize that many people use the wrong general pitch, just as they wear the wrong colors and clothes of the wrong 'cut. Some persons talk in a tone which is too high and shrill. When we get excited or nerv- ous, we are all apt to jump unconsciously to a high pitch. On the whole, most Americans use too high a pitch. Some people, on the other hand, talk in a pitch which is too . low for their voices. This comes in some cases from re- sistance to the impulse just mentioned of talking nervousl)-. It comes in other cases from the vague feeling which some men have that a high-pitched voice may seem effeminate. The fact is, if you talk in a pitch which is too low, you can- not make yourself clear, you cannot navigate. You should discover and use your own proper pitch. Try the humming exercises of Chapter VIII at various points up and down the scale. At some point the hum will come most easily and strongly, the tone will float out in the room — there is your pitch. Try to talk usually at about that level. High Pitch and Low — Their Uses If your voice is naturally high, try merely to take out the shrill, sharp, strained qualities. Caruso's voice is a high 174 THE MACHINERY tenor but does not seem high because it is so full and easy. The low voice should cultivate clearness and crisp enuncia- tion, using particularly the vowel exercises of Chapter VIII. With big, rumbling, low voices the outlines of the sound groups are apt to be indistinct, though perfectly audible. Nearly all our talking is done in the middle part of the voice, wherever that may be. When the feeling is stronger than usual, when the ideas are more strange or more difficult to express, we pass to a higher or lower level according to the nature of the thought or feeling involved. In general, it may be said that a pitch which is relatively high for the speaker is associated with tensity of nervous condition, and that a pitch which is relatively low for the speaker is associated with ease or relaxation of nervous condition. Feelings in which excitement is a dominant element — whether nervous gaiety and eagerness or anxiety and vehement asser- tion — somehow impel us to use the upper part of our voices. For example, the following from Harold Begbie's poem on " Verdun " : She is a wall of brass : You shall not pass ! Y^ou shall not pass ! Spring up like summer grass, Surge at her mass on mass. Still shall you break like glass. Splinter and break like shivered glass, But pass? You shall not pass ! German, you shall not, shall not pass. God's hand has written on the wall of brass. You shall not pass ! You shall not pass ! Ideas representing feelings of grim determination, gravity, thoughtfulness, sadness, responsibility, and also those repre- senting hearty, jolly merriment impel us to use a lower and deeper tone. For example, from a poem by Mr. Charles Buxton Going: EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 175 The Huns stripped off my own green gown And left me stark and bare; My sons, they spread a red robe down And wrapped me in it there. The garb they brought was red as blood — The robe was red as flame ; They wrapped me in it where I stood And took away my shame. In talking to superiors and in order to give the impression of crispness, incisiveness, accurac}' of statement, you should use properly a somewhat higher pitch. In talking to subordinates, correcting them, etc., you should use generally a lower tone. For praise and constructive sug- gestions, the higher tone may be tfSed. In controversy or debate, we are constantly impelled to use the high pitch; and if we are not careful, the voice becomes shrill and hard. Therefore, in any discussion' or argument, keep your voice down. When beginning a public address, es- pecially in a large place, use a moderately low pitch. If you find that you are talking in too high a pitch, stop and take two or three deep breaths. That relaxes the tension of the muscles of tongue and throat and enables you to change. Delicacy of Discrimination What is more important for purposes of expression than the actual range of pitch is delicacy of discrimination. Here the human voice has a marvelous power. The discriminations which it can make are almost endless. Few of us are con- sciously aware of this power, but all of us use it unconsciously when we are really dominated by an emotion and are there- fore tuned up. Moreover, anyone with ordinary intelligence, taste, and patience can obtain conscious command of it. Many people think they have no ear for music, no sense of pitch changes, but people who are really tone-deaf are very 1/6 THE MACHINERY few. Apparent deficiency in the sense of pitch is generally due merely to lack of development. Training the Ear There are two ways to develop sense of pitch : 1. Singing. Get into the way of singing, not loudly but lightly, easily. Use your singing as a sort of gym- nastics and as a source of pleasure for yourself. In a few months your ear will grow more sensitive and you will catch more exactly the varying tones in other people's voices and in your own. 2. Deliberately analyzing pitch changes : both inflections and melody, by means of records of various kinds as suggested below. To test the power of pitch discrimination, strike that same note on the piano, the seventeenth white note from the left- hand of the keyboard. Sound it with your own voice. Then strike the next higher white note; sound that. Now try to sing, or speak, in bctzcccn these two tones, as many distinct shades or intervals of tone as you can. On the piano there is a single black note between, which represents one interval, but with a little practice your ear will distinguish and your voice produce perhaps two or even three slightly different shades of tone, between the white and the black note on the piano. That is to say, supposing your conversational voice should extend over one octave as has been said, the tones which you can produce within that octave will be perhaps three times the seven represented by the white notes on the piano. Now the total number of combinations or arrangements which may be produced by means of twenty-one distinct tones, is very large, and it gives the possibility of constantly varied modula- tions. EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 177 In many persons this delicacy of modulation is stifled be- cause of wrong tone production. If you yell, you cannot modulate the pitch. Much so-called public speaking is only yelling. Much conversational talk is only yelling. As soon as you learn to " place " your tones properly as explained in Chapter A'lII, your voice will of itself begin to vary more delicately in pitch. Then you can profitably begin the definite analysis of inflections. Inflections — Direction The movements of the voice upward and downward ac- company both single words or phrases and sentences and longer groups. The movements with words and phrases we call inflections. Inflection is built upon contrast. The voice moves upward or downward in order to attract attention. These changes have been analyzed and to a considerable extent standardized. 1. An incomplete thought, a mere series of words, moves upward. For example : Brown, my old pal — 2. A complete thought moves downward. For example : Brown has returned. 3. But in any statement which extends over several words, the voice must first go up in order to make a sufficient fall at the end. For example : Brown, my old pal who has been serving in France, has returned. 4. A question may be regarded as half of a statement. A question, therefore, moves up. But a lengthy ques- tion sometimes moves downward at first, to get a start. For example : "If you could see the definite results of the Victory Loan, the soldiers restored to health and put on 178 THE MACHINERY their feet, the increased prosperity for the coun- try — would you not help ? " Degree The degree of intensity of the feeUng expressed is shown by the degree to which the voice moves upward or downward. When highly excited the voice may sweep upward or down- ward an octave or even more, on a single word or two. When the excitement is slight, the variation in pitch is very gradual. W^hen the son of the house is wanted for an errand his mother calls mildly " John-ny," the second syllable sliding up- wards perhaps a single "tone" (the distance between two ■zv/iifc notes on the piano). If he fails to respond she repeats the call, a little impatiently, and louder, " John-Xy," the sec- ond syllable running up anywhere from a " third " to a " fifth '' (from three to five white notes). If he still remains inat- tentive she gives a call which is probably much louder, " John- XEE," the second syllable running up an " octave " or even more. So with the falling inflection. If you make a statement with no special earnestness the voice will slide down perhaps a single " tone." As your earnestness increases the drop will lengthen proportionately. The beginning of the slide is started higher in proportion as the end runs low. For example : " It isn't right. I don't like it ! I won't stand it ! ! " 3 Figure 12. Rising and Falling Inflection of the Voice " Majors " and " Minors " One phase of the matter of degree of inflection is of very practical importance. That is the distinction between what EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 1 79 are called in music " iMajor " intervals, or inflections, and what are called " Minor " intervals, or inflections. Only a rough suggestion can be given here but even that will mean an increase in practical efficiency. Represent the seventeenth white note from the left-hand of the piano keyboard by the letter " C." Then repre- sent the seven next higher white notes by the letters " D," " E," " F," " G," " A" and " B." (Those are the names ac- tually attached to these notes in music. ) Represent the black notes occurring among these seven white ones as follows : " C sharp," " D sharp," " F sharp," " G sharp," " A sharp." Now strike the following series and listen carefully to the inflections, intervals, which are produced : C-D, C-E, C-F, C-G. C-A, C-B. Then strike in the same way, the following series : C-C sharp, C-D sharp, C-F sharp, C-G sharp, C-A sharp. Repeat the two series, first one, then the other, two or three times and listen carefully. You will notice a real difference • between the two sets of intervals, inflections. The first series, C-D, C-E, etc., consists almost entirely of what are called " major " intervals. The intervals of the second set, C-C sharp, C-D sharp, etc., have a sound which is somehow incom- plete — it is peculiarly plainti\e or queer — as compared to the hearty " solid " intervals of the other set : C-D, C-E, etc. This second set consists almost entirely of "minor'' inter- vals. The tones of the major intervals bear mathematical relations to each other which are comparati\ely simple: but the tones of minor intervals bear mathematical relations to each other which are complex, fractional, and they sound in- complete. The sensation produced is somewhat like that you feel when one step in a flight of stairs is longer or shorter than the others. l8o THE MACHINERY Avoid Inappropriate Minor Inflections The practical bearing of this point hes here. Most of the talk of ordinary life is uttered in major intervals; that is, in inflections of the length represented, in a general way, by the distances between the white notes on the piano. The minor intervals, or inflections, are used only when the speaker is tired, physically weak, unhappy, or frightened, or in some other abnormal state. The abnormal condition need not be unpleasant, but it is in some way queer and peculiar. But many speakers, from faulty breathing or tone-placing, or some other defect of control of their machinery, unknow- ingly use minor intervals where the meaning of their thought does not call for them. That may happen either in public speaking or in conversation. It gives their speaking a queer plaintive quality, almost a whine. Many persons have this fault who are totally unaware of it. In talk which is not wholly spontaneous, talk which sounds self-conscious, the speaker is apt to be using unknowingly these minor inflec- tions. But the human ear, whether the person to whom it is at- tached is educated or not, infallibly detects incorrect tone col- oring; it is far more sure than the conscious reason. If you speak with this minor quality, your eft'ectiveness is hindered. It is more difficult for you to influence favorably the mind and the feelings of your listener. Your voice sounds queer, though he may not know at all zvhat is wrong. Look into this matter of major and minor inflections enough to make sure that you are not using minors where you do not mean to. Complexes of Inflection We have been speaking of inflection as related to single words or phrases. The moment we put words together, the complexity of these changes of pitch multiplies very greatly. Furthermore, nearly always the inflection is repeated with in- EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE l8l creasing emphasis on successive words of a statement or ques- tion. For example : 1. What! Do you mean to tell me that old fool is at it again ? 2. Look here, you go right down there this minute. Tell him we've got to have it. More than this, few thoughts are simple. In most thoughts there is some qualification or hedging. You say one thing and suggest another. Now when there is a mixture of feel- ing there is a compromise or complication of inflection. At such time minor inflections appear. For example, you might have a complication indicating doubt as in : " Brown spoke also, to be sure." This implies some " but " clause such as " but he did not say anything important." In uttering those six words the voice sweeps up and down, then up and then partially down. The variety of such complexes of inflection is endless. It is these, and the way they are woven in the fabric of con- tinuous talk, which give speech its constantly varying interest. If we could tell what the other person is going to say, how he is going to say it, how the feeling is going to shift, we might not be interested to keep listening. Sentence Tunes Now the series of inflections which makes up an entire statement or thought constitutes a Uine, a melody. We are more apt to use the word " tune " in connection with singing, but the fact is there are tunes in all speech, in every sentence. You cannot have a sentence without a tune. Every paragraph has its tune. The entire speech or address has its own elab- orate tune or melody. We may not recognize these consciously but they are there l82 THE MACHINERY and can be found by examination. The study of them is one of the most important steps in learning to use the voice. It is not merely endlessly fascinating but it gives definite and practical results. All you need is patience and care and you can pick out the tunes in the talk you hear. Or you can tell from the printed page the melody of the sentences and para- graphs as they would be spoken. This matter can be made surprisingly delinite. Here is another and very great advantage, for anyone who wishes to learn to talk effectively, in using a dictating machine. You can record your o'a'ii actual and unconscious melodies. You can then reproduce and study them. Studying Speech Tunes — Dictating Machines The records of a dictating machine wear out, it is true, after a few repetitions. That does not matter greatly. The point is, you become aware of the melody in your voice that is going on all the time. Once your mind has been turned to that fact and you have some suggestion as to how you actually use your voice, you can apply conscious intelligence to a mat- ter which has hitherto been left largely to rather vague " im- pressions." Perhaps the most valuable result of the study of melody by means of a dictating machine or otherwise is that you learn to cease stifling the melodies continually being started by the impulse of the thought or feeling. You learn to yield your- self to the suggestion of the thoughts and feelings of the oc- casion. In the following passage, the general course of the voice upward and downward has been indicated, as it sounds to the ear when you repeat the passage to bring out the plain sense. Observe that every sentence has a definite direction, a recog- nizable movement. Observe, secondly, that the passage is a plain, straightforward discussion of a business topic. (The EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 183 numbers and letters here interpolated in the text correspond to those in the diagram.)* Figure 13. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Alba Johnson) [i] Just before [a] the signing of the armistice, that is [b] for the current year, [c] war appropriationa exceeded 24I/2 billion dollars, or an amount [d] something like half of the total national income. [2] It is [a] a fundamental prop- osition of public finance [b] that expenditures must be planned first, and [c] means devised later to provide for them. [3] Had [a] war expenditures continued to advance for a period of time, a very serious problem might have arisen, that of [b] cutting into the funds necessary not only for [c] additions and betterments to our industrial equipment and curtailing of new enterprise, but indeed [d] of trenching upon the capital replacement as well as the [e] human main- tenance fund of the nation. [4] That situation was happily averted. [5] The problem we are [a] facing is one of ad- justing our policy of pubHc finance for [b] " successful and confident business reconstruction." [6] Our problem [a] is not now that of cutting business to the bone, but of [b] stim- ulating business development at home [c] and over seas. [7] A [a] readjustment policy of public finance should com- prehend [b] additions and betterments to existing business as well as [c] the encouragement of new business enterprise. [8] What are the essential points of such a policy? — Alba B. Johnson, Atlantic City, Dec. 4, 1918. Variety and Subtlety of Speech Melody Perhaps no two persons would agree entirely as to the proper melody of the passage here given, but on the whole most people, probably, would agree as to the general outline. That is the point to consider. In singing, melody has been conventionalized and standardized ; the voice moves in singing * The numbers given in the passages correspond to those given in the diagram placed above each passage. They denote the beginning of a sentence. The letters denote clauses and correspond to the climax of the successive waves on the diagram. 184 THE MACHINERY according to definitely marked steps or tone intervals. In speech, melody is free ; the voice moves in any way, by all sorts of steps and slides. The melody of speech is consequently far more varied and subtle than that of song. Often Entirely Spontaneous Some persons think that melody is mainly a product of con- scious art, deliberate conscious effort. That is a serious mis- take. The most beautiful and charming melodies are often entirely spontaneous and unconscious. You will hear them from the lips of persons who are entirely without special voice training, under the stimulus of strong and sincere feeling. For example : Not long since, I heard a talk by a Nor- wegian ship-captain who has been for some years in this country, on the life of the sailor and the need of taking boys at an early age and training them for the sea. He had spent his life on the ocean and had a wide knowledge of what he was talking about. He had not had much practice as a speaker, but he was full of his subject and he had a strongly imaginative nature. His talk was one continuous and charm- ing melody from beginning to end and it was entirely spon- taneous. He was fully dominated by the idea and feeling. Controlling Feeling Indirectly n we could control feeling directly we might control and manage melody more easily. We cannot control feeling di- rectly but we can indirectly induce it by adjusting the condi- tions of feeling, that is to say, by providing the proper stim- ulus or the proper stage-setting for a certain feeling. Every one knows how this principle applies in the matter of quality of tone. Smile and you are likely to produce the tone which goes with cheerfulness and gayety. Scowl and you are likely to produce a tone of anger or gloom. For practical purposes we may say this: if you remove so EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 185 far as possible the inhibitions which cramp spontaneous mani- festation of feeling you may trust to the influences of cir- cumstances to develop suitable melodies in the voice. Put Yourself in the Right Condition That is the proper way to utilize the rules and methods of technique. Do not try to control yourself directly but put yourself in the right condition. Then you can calculate defi- nitely on results, on the natural reaction of your personality to the conditions which you have anticipated. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred you will get the result you wish. The study of the melody of talk is deeply illuminating with regard to the clearness of the speaker's thought, with regard to his consistency of feeling, and to a very decided degree with regard to his sincerity, that is to say, the degree to which he is dominated by his central thought. I. Analyzing Melody — Principal Waves of Thought The way to apply these principles in studying the melody of a passage is by finding the main sweep of the thought therein. Is the sentence, or series of sentences, a downright statement or a question ? Determine that and you have fixed the main sweep of the passage. It will all follow this one general direction. For example in the following passage : Figure 14. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from A. B. Garretson) [i] You have been [a] told how the great body of the workers hate the brotherhoods because [b] they have taken the money that the others ought to have had. [2] Don't you believe it. [3] They look to the [a] brotherhoods and to the unions, to the [b] brotherhoods in railway service and to 1 86 THE MACHINERY the other unions in other pursuits, to blaze [c] the way, that by comparison [d] they may gain a portion at least and even- tually as great [e] benefits as come to those who are organ- ized. [4] The men who are [a] unorganized, the great [b] body of them in labor, are not [c] unorganized because they dislike organization. [5] It is because [a] they realize [b] they would have to [c] do what the [d] railroad employes did. [6] I have lived the [a] history of railway labor or- ganization and it doesn't [b] take any casting back of my memory to know when the mere [c] knowledge of the fact that the man had joined [d] one of these four brotherhoods [e] meant his discharge. — A. B. Garretson, The Economic Club of New York, Dec. 11, 1916, p. 50. This is on the whole a series of downright assertions. They increase in intensity but they all develop the thought ex- pressed in the fourth and fifth sentences. Here is another, an extract from the last message of Theo- dore Roosevelt, read at a public meeting which he was too ill to attend. Notice the sharp up and down course of the voice, through the lines of earnest statements. Figure 15. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Theodore Roosevelt) [i] There must be [a] no sagging back in the fight for Americanism merely because [b] the war is over. [2] There are [a] plenty of persons who have already made the assertion that they believe the American people have a short memory and that they [b] intend to revive all the foreign associations which most [c] directly interfere with the complete Americanization of our people. [3] Our principle in this matter should be absolutely simple. [4] In the first place, we [a] should insist that if the immi- grant [b] who comes here does in good [c] faith become an EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 187 American and [d] assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an [e] exact equality with everyone else, for it is an [f] outrage to [g] discriminate against any such man be- cause of [h] creed or birthplace or origin. [5] But this is [a] predicated upon the man's becoming in [b] very fact an [c] American and nothing but [d] an American. [6] If he tries [a] to keep segregated with men of his own origin and [b] separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing [c] his part as an [d] American. [7] There can be no [a] divided allegiance at [b] all. [8] \\e have room [a] for but one flag, the [b] American flag, and this excludes [c] the red flag, which symbolizes [d] all wars against liberalism and civilization, just as much as [e] it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to [f] which we are hostile. [9] ^^'e have room for but [a] one language here and that is the [b] English language, for we intend to see that the [c] crucible turns our people out as Ameri- cans, of [d] American nationality, and not as [e] dwellers in a polyglot boardinghouse ; and we have room for but [f] one soul loyalty, and [g] that is loyalty to the [h] American people. 2. Subordinate Waves of Thought Note secondly, the subordinate waves of thought within the main sweep. The following, from an informal discussion in the Taylor Society, is on the whole a question, culminating in the sweep of the short closing sentence. But the feature of the passage is the long series of intermediate thoughts, beginning with the third sentence, which gives the humorous setting for this question. 3 Figure 16. Sentence Melody (Paragraph from Cecil Gregg) [i] In today's discussion, you have talked only of the man- ager, the workman and the social scientist. [2] Is there not 1 88 THE MACHINERY another person, perhaps of no more importance, but whom it would be well not absolutely to forget? [3] Some [a] time ago, when you [b] gentlemen were in the habit of calling on Sunday night, you may [b] remember that while you were waiting you [c] found on the center table a little book containing Charles Dana Gibson's drawings on the Adventures of Mr. Pip. [4] Mr. Gibson has a [a] fac- ulty for illustrating the ordinary American life which most of us have led — where [b] the ladies naturally take the pre- dominant part; and [c] caricatured Mr. Pip as having the attitude of a human earth worm. [5] Mr. Charles Darwin, [a] of course, has said something fairly favorable to the earth worm, and the little [b] work that it does in a quiet and unassuming way. [6] And it is [a] only in that attitude of Mr. Pip, that I most modestly — [b] not as a practical business man as you have explained the meaning of the term today, but [c] more as a theoretical man — have [d] sug- gested and asked the question this afternoon — just in [e] that earth-wormy manner: \\'here [f] does the stockholder get off? — Cecil Gregg, in a discussion at a meeting of the Taylor Society, March, 1917. In the following, from an address by Otto H. Kahn, notice that within the main sweeps are definitely marked minor waves, developing; subordinate thoughts. Figure 17. Sentence Melody (Paragraphs from Otto H. Kahn) [i] I suppose [a] most of us when we [b] were twenty knew of a [c] short-cut to the millennium and were [d] impatient, [e] resentful and rather [f] contemptuous of those whose [g] fossilized prejudices or [h] selfishness, as we re- EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE 189 garded them, prevented that [i] short-cut from becoming the [j] high road of humanity. [2] Now that \vc are [a] older, though we know that our eyes will not [b] behold the millennium, we should still like the nearest possible [c] approach to it, but we have [d] learned that no short-cut [e] leads there and that anybody who claims to have [f] found one is either an [g] impostor or self-deceived. [3] We have seen into what an abyss of despair and dis- grace and suffering the self-constituted fanatical or corrupt guides to the millennium have plunged the people of Russia who followed them confidingly. [4] The individualism we believe in gives incentive to every man to put forth his best effort, while at the same time it recognizes fully the right and duty of the State to im- pose upon business reasonable supervision, restraints, and regulations, to take measures destined to raise the general level of popular well-being, to protect particularly those least able to protect themselves, to prevent exploitation and op- pression of the weak by the strong and to debar privileged and unfair or socially harmful practices. [5] And we further believe that in addition to, and over and above the limitations imposed by the State, there are re- straints which a man's conscience should impose upon his actions in affairs. [6] Just as we heed the " still, small voice " of conscience in our personal conduct, so must we hearken to it and be con- trolled by it in our relations to Society and the State. [7] It is not enough to be " law-honest " or " money-hon- est," and the obligation to make his actions square with the dictates of his " social conscience " increases in force and ex- tent in proportion as a man's success and opportunities in- crease. [8] I believe I am asserting no unjustified claim when I say that the recognition of the place due to the '' social con- science " is getting to be more and more developed in the business community. — Otto H. Kahn, The Menace of Pa- ternalism, American Bankers' Association, Chicago, Septem- ber 27, 1918. I90 THE MACHINERY 3. Differentiating Emphasis Points The emphasis points are usually differentiated in pitch. Read over one of the passages just given and try to block it out for yourself in detail, on a long sheet of paper. Make a narrow roll of paper about three or four inches wide by past- ing strips together. Then write the passage in a continuous line on your narrow slip of paper. Then, above or below the words you can trace a continuous line, to show the successive rise and fall of the voice. It takes a little patience, but you can sec, and analyze at your leisure, the melody-pattern of the en- tire passage. No two people would agree as to the details of the movement of the voice ; you would not agree with yourself in different moods. But on the whole you can get a great deal of practical assistance from this simple exercise. In plotting the curve of the melody in this way, note the pitch of the emphasis words in each sentence. You will prob- ably find, when your ear has become a little trained, that hardly any two of the emphatic words fall upon exactly the same pitch level. 4. Minor Waves Affected by Main Wave The minor divisions or waves of thought are somewhat modified in their inflections by the main sweep. For example : If you have a single sentence of downright statement in the middle of a passage which is on the whole a series of ques- tions, even the statement will be modified by the upward sweep of the passage. And, vice versa, if you have a question in the middle of a series of statements which are strongly down- right, the question will have less of an upward sweep than if it stood alone. Value of Analysis — Reveals Voice Action Now, what practical value has such melody analysis in talk- ing business? Its purpose is to enable you to get a line upon EXPRESSIVENESS OF VOICE H)l what you are actually doing all the time, when your voice is acting normally. Consider this fact! If you are soliloquiz- ing, because of preoccupation or tenseness of some sort, your voice will not \ary in any such manner. It will run along in a monotonous way. When the feeling of the occasion grips you so that you are fully " in the play " your voice will move somewhat as these diagrams suggest. So far as you have ready command of enunciation and tone placing the melody will be freer and more consistent, but even if you lack such control of enunciation and tone placing you will do something of the sort, provided you arc doiiiiiiafcd by the feeling you are trying to convey. Control of Mechanics — Freedom of Impulse Remember what has been said already, that your listeners can tell — whether or not they know anything about control, or analysis, or beauty of tone, whether they are cultivated or just plain folks — they can tell by your voice idiethcr you arc really in earnest. Remember, finally, that the more command you have of all these points of mechanics, the freer your apparatus is to carry out every impulse of the moment. The more fully these im- pulses are recorded in changes of your \'oice, alike in volume, quality, and melody, the more power of suggestion you have in conveying your ideas to the person you wish to reach. Exercises 1. Observe the voices of the persons you converse with — their gen- eral pitch — high, medium, low. Are there any who seem to be using the wrong pitch ? 2. Observe the inflection of the persons you chance to talk with : See if you can connect the degree of rise or fall with certain meanings or feelings. 192 THE MACHINERY 3. Read aloud the passage by Mr. Garretson (p. 185) using a high pitch then using a low pitch ; which seems more suitable ? Do the same with the passage by Judge Gary (page 267). 4. Read aloud paragraphs 16-21 of the passage by Mr. Kahn (p. 493). Try to plot out the pitch changes, according to the forms given in this chapter. 5. Try to record, plot out the melody of a bit of conversation, either one in which you take part, one that you overhear, or a pas- sage from a play. PART III LANGUAGE CHAPTER X THE VOCABULARY OF TALK Command of Language Requires Thought Reliable command of language, finding and putting together effectively the words and phrases which are the containers or carriers of your thought, never becomes automatic, as does command of the voice machinery. It will always require alert attention. But even here habit counts. Talk that interests and influences other people comes only out of a full mind. You must have something to say that is worth hearing. That implies the habit of obscn'ation, of no- ticing closely whatever life brings before your eyes, and also the habit of thought, of reflection upon all this until you per- ceive relationships and influences which are true, fresh, and important. But many a man whose mind is stored with the results of obseivation and reflection, whose ideas are definite and per- haps original, has no skill in clothing those ideas. Perhaps it is fluency he lacks, so that his talk is always fragmentary. Perhaps it is precision, or vividness, or variety. His discourse is indefinite, or dull, although he is personally interesting and vivacious, because he does not know the possibilities and the limitations of the medium — language — in which he must work. Two Phases of Study of Language for Speech The study of language in this connection has two phases : 1. Principles of selection of words and phrases. 2. Principles of effectively combining and arranging words in sentences and larger units of thought. 195 196 LANGUAGE Many people do not know what words they use. When the impulse moves them, they open their mouths and speak, al- most as a dog barks. The idea of choosing words for the occasion — as a golfer chooses his clubs, for example — never occurs to them. They learned in childhood almost uncon- sciously a number of words and phrases. They use these un- consciously at all times alike. Your Vocabulary — the Words You Know Now words are signals of a code; every one with a different meaning. How many are there in your own private code- book, your vocabulary? You need an assortment which will enable you to send any message you desire, accurately and quickly. Have you ever taken an actual inventory of the words you know, the words you use ? There is no better way of beginning the actual study of language. Here you will find it convenient to get one of the little vest- pocket dictionaries that sell for 35 cents or so. The first exercise is this. Run through it and check with a pencil every word yon knoiv. Don't stop to think ; just check quickly those you recognize at first glance. Perhaps you will recog- nize only a few on each page ; perhaps you will find yourself checking nearly all of them. Never mind, go through with it to the end of the alphabet. You can do that in the dead time on the train, or trolley, or subway. It may take you several days, but it will be time well spent. When you finish, figure the total. That will represent the maximum of your personal signal code, at present. The New York Times of March 18, 1917, prints a letter from "A. P- H.," who says that he "had a college training and several years' newspaper experience, and is ' now a plain working farmer.' " He tells how he made actual count of all the words he knew, exclusive of proper names. The number was 22,937. THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 197 The Words You Use Now comes a more important part of the inventory. . Run through the dictionary again, but this time check tlie words you iisc habitually in cvcry-day conversation^ Be careful about this count. Do not include those you use now and then, but only such as occur spontaneously day after day. The result, I think, will surprise you. One man of my acquaintance, of rather wide reading and studious habits, whose work consists largely of talking with people, found by actual count that his own " e very-day working vocabulary" included 1,587 words. A report just issued by the Committee of Unskilled Labor and Americanization of the National Association of Corporation Schools gives a " Proposed General Vocabulary for Foreign- born Use." It contains 1,000 words. The fact is, with any of us, the words which we use every day are only a small proportion of those we know. We may have a bowing acquaintance with as many as 15,000 or 20,000. We are not likely to use habitually much over 2,000. Enlarging Your Vocabulary the Wrong Way How many words are there in the language? The un- abridged dictionaries contain nearly 500,000; Webster's Col- legiate Dictionary contains 97,000; the Standard Desk Dic- tionary contains 80,000. Your first thought may be: "If I am to be able to talk well I need a larger stock of words." That is probably the case, but the question is, what is the best way to enlarge your stock ? Some well-meaning people have a quick and easy way of improvement. Study the dictionary, they say. Read a page of it every day and familiarize yourself with the words you do not know. A still better plan, they say, is to learn " one new word a day ! " Before you go to bed at night read a page of the dictionary; pick out one word which strikes your attention as expressive. Learn it. Next day work it into 198 LANGUAGE your conversation. Thus you will enlarge your supply of expressive words and your conversation and powers of public address will be correspondingly improved. " Great writers," they tell you, like " Kipling and Harold Bell Wright and Ma- bel Howard Urner," study the dictionary constantly. This is not the best method. The mere number of words which a man has domesticated does not much matter. Some people collect words as others collect postage stamps. It is a harmless amusement but it does not make them able to talk well, even if they use their words correctly. Many people who are fond of big words are apt to get them mixed up, like Mrs. Malaprop, the good lady in the old play, who tells how she has been " declining on the sofa pursuing the dic- tionary." " Pursuing " the dictionary with its half-million words — Mrs. Malaprop meant perusing, no doubt, and re- clining — ■ is likely to be a futile chase. Many Words Not Current Coin Only a small proportion of the words in the language are really legal tender for ordinary talk or writing. Among the half-million there is a vast number of archaic or obsolete words. They were used in former times — in common speech, in formal writing, in legal records, etc. They must still be recorded somewhere for the purpose of occasional ref- erence, but they are utterly dead. There is, secondly, a vast number of local words — dialect words used in some part of England, Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc. Finally, there is a number — still more vast, probably — of technical terms, of words used in some spe- cial science, or profession, or business : chemistry and physics, zoology and botany, law, medicine, theology, engineering, and all the hundreds of branches of modern business. But even omitting these three classes, the number of words in the langua-ge which might be used to express your thought, THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 199 is Still enormous. The first comprehensive dictionary of the English language was published in 1755 by Dr. Samuel John- son. It contained about 40,000 words. The language has grown since then. Even if we were to eliminate from our present unabridged dictionary the hundreds of thousands of obsolete, local, and technical terms, there would remain at least twice as many words as Johnson's dictionary contained. In enlarging and improving your working vocabulary the ques- tion of selection is the most important point. Your Listener's Terminal Facilities Your words are to be conveyors of your thought to other people. They must not only formulate the thought exactly but be such as will convey it without loss or delay to the other man. The vital question for you is that of the other man's terminal facilities. Unless you use the words he knows you are only soliloquizing. You can be sure of one thing, the other man's vocabulary is a good deal like your own. He, too, recognizes a great many more words than he uses habitually. Probably the words of his habitual stock are not very different from those of your own. The other man is, of course, a varying quan- tity. He may have an unusually wide acquaintance; he may have read much or traveled much. You need to be able to talk to dififerent kinds of people, and the office manager's vo- cabulary is a great deal wider than the shipping clerk's. But with almost any man, the fact is that most of his actual think- ing is done with probably not much more than a thousand or twelve hundred words. The more use you make of the words most familiar to him, the more readily will you be under- stood, the more your talk will come close to him. A better plan, therefore, than " one new word a day " would be: Try always to put your thoughts into the every- day vocabulary of the ordinary man. So far as you can 200 LANGUAGE carry that out, that is the thing to do. Men who succeed by- talking to other people, salesmen, politicians, the most popular lecturers, do it. So do the most popular short-story writers. Lincoln did something like it. Theodore Roosevelt in our own day, Benjamin Franklin a hundred and fifty years ago, are other examples. Many Words Commonly Used Not Serviceable In following out this plan, however, another difficulty pre- sents itself. Not all of the words that are familiar to you, or to anybody else, are suitable for careful- talking. Some of them are not exact ; others will not make an agreeable impres- sion upon the listener. You need to examine again your stock of habitual words. Errors of Grammar A good many people are in the habit of using incorrect expressions, vulgarisms, like : " He ain't " or " I seen." Many of us pick up such errors of " grammar " in child- hood. Our associates speak incorrectly. Our school instruc- tion is inefficient in that point — perhaps the teachers them- selves are not always careful. The teachers, for instance, whom the Little Red Schoolhouse of former days could com- mand had not received sufficient training — their enthusiasm and devotion did much for the children but could not remove errors of idiom to which they were themselves subject. What is more important, in America it has been almost " bad form" to speak correctly. Children have this feehng; also adolescents and even grown-ups. In the fear of appearing fussy or fastidious we have all become careless. This is wrong. We have learned to wash our hands, brush our teeth, keep our clothes neat. We have not yet learned that correct speech is also a duty of the man who wants to do business effi- ciently. In England, Scotland, and Ireland they are ahead of THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 201 US. Even among the less educated people there you hear far fewer errors in idiom than in America. They use localisms, and slang, but aiii'f, hadn't zvcnt, I sccii him, haz'cii't saw, are less frequent than with us. If you are troubled with these errors in idiom, what can you do? \\''atch yourself. It takes some people a long time to get rid of them. Others succeed very quickly. Learning to watch the other man, which leads you surely to listen to your- self, will make the long efifort easier. If you are in the habit of soliloquizing you may never get rid of these slips in idiom. Two suggestions : 1. Make a list of these errors in your own speech. Watch yourself. When you catch an error, or when an ac- quaintance tells you of one, note it down. Put it upon your dresser or on your desk, under the glass. 2. When you read a magazine, a book, a circular, a news- paper make yourself read carefully, closely, noting the wording. Lawyers and teachers are freer from these slips in idiom than men in other callings because their business trains them in noticing zcords. The habit of concentrating on the other man will of itself tend strongly to remove these errors. Every step toward gain- ing conscious command of enunciation and of voice helps also : it increases your subconscious watchfulness. You may now and then forget, in the rare moments when you forget your- self, but those will be few. Localisms Perhaps you are fortunate enough to be free from this bad habit, but probably some of the words which are habitual to you are localisms. They are understood by people in your circle, or your part of the country, but they would not convey the same meaning to strangers. For example, if you were an 202 LANGUAGE American in England you would probably find yourself say- ing the word " guess " a number of times a day. Every time the word would seem strange to the English people about you. On the other hand, an Englishman in America when he jostles someone in a crowd is likely to say, " Sorry," where the American would say " Excuse me " or " Beg pardon." Slang There is a stock of words which are in the air, which we all know and which most of us use somewhat in common talk, but which are not in the dictionary, not at least with the meanings that are current. I mean slang. Slang, like the poor, is always with us. Year by year a few of these terms prove so useful that they graduate into respectable society, so to speak, and before long appear in the dictionary as regular words, but the over- whelming majority are displaced in a few years by newer coinages and forgotten. Some good souls tell you to avoid every slang word as you do the devil from whom it comes. That is foolish. There are slang terms in every age which have an expressiveness all their own. Shakespeare's plays in the sixteenth century were full of slang. So with Dickens' no\'els. \A'hat other com- bination of words would convey the meaning of " Beat it " so powerfully and briefly? Current language would be poorer if we lacked the term "nut" to describe a certain variety of human nuisance. In one sense, our American fondness for slang is an evidence of originality and quickness of mind. We do not like to say the same thing over and over in just the same terms. For some talking, as we shall see, such exact standardization is a good thing, but we do not take to it by nature. When we tell a story, for instance, we vary the form a little with every THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 203 repetition. In the same way, we like to find new ways of expressing familiar ideas. Besides, if you are to talk effec- tively to other people, with most of whom slang forms a large part of their small habitual stock of words, you are decidedly handicapped if you are forbidden all use of it, on occasions zvlioi it actually aids expressiveness. Why Slang Is Harmful The objections to slang are these : 1. It does not convey the exact thought. The slang term is not in the dictionary. The listener cannot check up your meaning. If he does not know the fashion of the moment, he misunderstands you. 2. It stunts your command of real words. As I said, slang sometimes is an evidence of originality of mind, but many people use slang terms as mere sub- stitutes for thinking. A friend meets you on the street and asks you how you are getting along. " Fine," you say. "And how's the family?" " Fine." " What do you think of the President's mes- sage? " " Fine," and so on. 3. It suggests to your listener that you are not careful in your thinking. Thus its effect is like that of indis- tinct utterance, slouchy position, or slovenly dress. That is perhaps the worst effect of all in business talk. It hurts your credit. This is a safe rule : Use a slang phrase now and then when it means just what you want to say, as you would use any other word, but do not think in slang. Do not use a slang 204 LANGUAGE term when there are accepted words, good EngHsh words, just as strong and terse and famihar, which will carry your meaning. Worn-Out Phrases There is another class of expressions w'hich is to be avoided more resolutely perhaps than even slang: the words and phrases that are being used so much, in current fashion, that they become worn out, hackneyed. A few years ago Bert Leston Taylor — " B. L. T." — who runs the " Line'O'Type " column in the Chicago Tribune — began printing a list of such phrases which he said very properly ought to be sent to the "cannery." Somewhat later Charles G. Ross, in an excellent little book on " The Writing of News," * listed some 350 terms under the appropriate name of Newspaper Bromides which the sensible man should avoid. Here is a portion of that list : angry mob arch culprit beautiful and accomplished better half hairbreadth escape host of friends hungry flames immaculate linen beyond peradventure of a doubt late lamented bolt from a clear sky carnival of crime checkered career conspicuous by his absence crisp ten-dollar bill day of reckoning divine passion downy couch eked out a bare existence evening repast fair sex festive occasion for it was none other than he fragrant Havana goes without saying great beyond * By permission of Henry Holt & Co. made good his escape natty suit nick of time nipped in the bud one fine day pillar of the church prepossessing appearance put in an appearance rash act ripe old age rooted to the spot shook like a leaf snug income stood aghast sustained an injury tidy sum THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 205 tiny tots vale of tears tonsorial parlor waxed eloquent to the bitter end wee sma' hours under cover of the darkness white as a sheet Worse Than Slang These " bromides," you observe, are not slang. Some of them at least are perfectly good English. They have become viilgar merely because they have been used too much. But their effect is like that of slang, in that they have come to be merely counters, chips, " token-language," substitutes for thought. Moreover, the stock-phrase habit is not confined to the illiterate or flippant. Many excellent persons who relig- iously avoid slang use the stock-phrase constantly. Instead of clothing an idea in words that fit, however unpretentious, they are content to throw round its shoulders some verbal " hand-me-down," some bit of this tattered finery which comes to their minds at the moment as it might to that of a million other people. In talking business, beware of the hackneyed phrase, as you beware of cheap jewelry. And remember that you must be always vigilant. The number of such expressions is continually growing. Year by year more words and phrases are seized on and run to death by current fashion. The editors of America: A Catholic Re- view of the Week remarked lately : Any discerning reader of the magazines and papers of the day no doubt could readily make a long list of incessantly re- peated words and phrases which weary or annoy him. For instance, the late war and the present Peace Conference have rendered so banal such terms as camouflage, strategy, propaganda, reconstruction, and self-determination, and ex- pressions like " doing one's bit," " going over the top " and " carrying on," that not the least blessing of a lasting peace will be the gradual obsolescence of those phrases. A cynical librarian writes that his favorite aversions just now are the words intensive, co-ordinate, and along the lines of. The so- 206 LANGUAGE cial-worker rampant has long made the words efficiency, up- lift and service things to be shunned by all lovers of religion, pure and undefiled, a blase novel-reader has confessed pub- licly that the very sight of the terms poignant, dainty, reac- tion, " kiddies," and strenuous, and particularly the words sense and intrigue used as verbs now fills her heart with des- perate rage. Technical Terms Finally, you have undoubtedly among your familiar words many technical terms which are used in your particular calling but which are not readily understood by people in other lines of work. These are not reliable conveyors of your thought. A number of young bank clerks of my acquaintance were asked to prepare addresses on different phases of banking, for delivery before general audiences at Y. M. C. A. forums, etc. They had plenty to say that was both instructive and inter- esting, but at the first attempt their talks were almost unintelli- gible, so peppered with technical terms and phrases known only to bankers that the outsider could not get the sense. An example is given in the following from an account of the handling of loans. The name of each borrower to whom a loan is made — whether a time loan, a demand broker's loan or a demand loan — or from whom interest and commission is collected is listed on forms prepared for that purpose. In handling participations, our apportionment is entered under the respective heading on the Loans Made Sheet, but the full amount of " Interest Collected " is credited under the caption " Interest '' and then a single ticket is made for inter- est due the other participants. This amount is debited to Interest account on the General Ledger and the participants are credited on single tickets with their respective amounts. A Form of Pedantry Everybody has the experience now and then of consulting a physician and being lectured as to his condition in words THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 207 quite beyond his understanding. At last he says, " Now, doc- tor, what does all that mean ? " Then his adviser comes dow n to earth and explains himself in a few simple terms which he might have used at first. Everybody has had the experience of going to church and hearing a clergyman, who six days of the week talks simply and entertainingly and in the language of other people, try to explain a point of doctrine in language which is entirely re- moved from the ordinary listener's understanding. We call that fault " talking over the heads of the audience." We say that ministers and teachers and lawyers, who err in this way, are pedantic. The fact is, practically everyone of us is pedantic in the same way when he talks or writes about his own particular job. If you are going to put your thoughts in the words that are familiar to other people you must dis- card from your working vocabulary those special terms in which much of your own thinking is done. Use Plain, Homely Words If you have to discard the words of these three classes what will you put in their places? You must choose from among the words which are known to you but not in your habitual use those which come nearest to the words of common life. Find words which are pretty well known to yourself, and, so far as you can tell, to your listener, although not habitual with either of you, words which will not seem strange, will not have to be introduced. How will you find them ? Familiar Words that You Have Neglected Well, for one thing, you will find them in the dictionary. Those " great writers " who are constantly studying the dic- tionary are looking for words of this kind. If you were to take your vest-pocket dictionary again and run through that list of words you first checked, the words, namely, which you 2o8 LANGUAGE recognize although you do not habitually use them, you could probably find a thousand words or more of this intermediate type. They are words which you sometimes use or which you can readily imagine yourself using even in casual talk. It would be a very good exercise at this stage of your study to make out a list of this kind, carefully scrutinizing each word before you admit it. That would enlarge very considerably your available reserve. Listen to Actual Talk But there are better ways. The " great writers " and the men and women who are skilful and interesting in conversa- tion draw chiefly from life itself. They listen to people talk- ing. What makes them successful writers and talkers, after all, is not mere knowledge of books but first of all. knowledge of life, of human nature, and secondly, shrewd and sound re- flection thereon. When they consult the dictionary they are merely verifying what they have picked up from life. Their knowledge of the ways of real people is their test and standard of judging. Imitate them. First of all, listen to people, all the time. When you hear a word that seems expressive and fairly familiar, note it down. Everybody carries some little vest-pocket note-book. Jot down the new word there. When you get a chance, look up its credit standing in the dictionary. It mav be slang, it may be marked as local or peculiar, it may be a perfectly good word which you have overlooked. You will not find " one word a day " by this method. You will be lucky if you find one a week. But those that do come will be genuinely useful and the practice will have another valuable result. No matter how many or few words you pick up it will do more than any- thing else to make you sensitive to words, even in casual talk, and your own speech will grow steadily more effective. THE VOCABULARY OF TALK Jixj Read Writers Who Reach the People In the second place, read the writers who reach " the people " today — the Saturday Bz'cning Post writers and those in the American MagaKiiic, System, etc. Notice the way in which they use their words, the combinations they make out of them. The ordinary man in using his own stock of familiar terms falls into monotony. You notice that in common, casual con- versation. If you read a stenographers report of testimony in a law case, or the hearings before a committee, you find the same monotony. Skilful writers and talkers learn to use this common stock with constantly fresh effects. Judge Brandeis — a Master of Simple Language Here is part of what Louis D. Brandeis said once before the Committee of the House of Representatives on Interstate Commerce when he was advocating price regulation by the manufacturer. Justice Brandeis has the power, even in a committee hearing, to phrase his thought as crisply as a good magazine writer. Nobody questions my right to fix lo cents as the price and to say that I will always stick by lo cents no matter what the change in the market is, whether wheat goes up or down ; no matter whether labor goes up or down. My business pros- pers because people want my bread and like the way I present it to the public. The guarantee of my name on it is worth something to them. Although dealers offer other bread for 8 cents a loaf, they buy mine. My business grows and there are people in other parts of the city who want my bread. After undertaking to deliver it for a while in other parts of the city with my own wagon, I conclude that it will be better to establish branches. I establish five such branches and I adhere to the lo-cent price. No human being questions my right to fix 10 cents as the price at those 5 branches just as it is my right to fix that price for goods sold at my bakery. It takes considerable capital to establish those branches, but I have saved money enough for that purpose. Then there 2IO LANGUAGE comes a wider demand for my bread from neighboring cities. I am not able to establish more branches, so I undertake to secure so-called agencies — dealers who will sell my bread on commission. I establish five such agencies, and still I adhere to lO cents as the price at which my bread must be sold. Everybody admits my right to do this under the law. That is, my rights are the same in respect to fixing lo cents as the selling price, whether I sell from my bakery, from a branch, or from an agency. But, if I lack the capital or or- ganizing ability to establish branches or agencies, or prefer to retail my bread generally through dealers, the right then to insist upon the standard selling price is questioned. If I should say, " No, I will sell not only to a restricted number of people but to anybody in this whole part of the country who chooses to deal in my bread and I will let anybody sell my bread who wants to do so. But anybody who wishes to sell it, who will pay me my price of 7^ cents a loaf, and will agree to retail it at 10 cents a loaf can have my bread on equal terms." Then, the law comes in and says, according to the majority decision of the Supreme Court, it cannot be done. And the court in saying it cannot be done does not apply any underlying'principle of law, but expresses merely its opinion that such agreements are against public policy and that it believes Congress intended to prohibit them when it enacted the Sherman law. I submit most respectfully that this is a most erroneous supposition, that there is nothing against the public interest in allowing me to make such an agreement with retail dealers, since if I had money enough I could accomplish the same result by establishing any num- ber of agencies all over the country. Plain, Familiar Words Live On You will get even more benefit from writers of other times who also have reached the people. Read Lincoln's speeches and letters, then read Benjamin Franklin's " Autobiography," his letters, and then go farther back still to Defoe's " Robin- son Crusoe," to Bunyan and his " Pilgrim's Progress," and farther still, to the English Bible. You will discover that THE VOCABULARY OF TALK 211 for all these years the main stock of familiar words remains much the same. Slang and Special Terms Pass Away Slang phrases spring up, and flourish, and die in a few years. Here, for instance, is a list of slang phrases of a gen- eration ago. How many of them are current today ? main squeeze Charleyboy century lollypaloozer " strong for " some one like sixty in soak in the soup straight goods kicking up a rumpus •' jolly " some one break away waltz up to Kickapoo lulu spellbinder give me the laugh sockdologer tumble rubberneck dead on cheese it I should smile my name's Dennis chestnuts boodle skidoo hot stuff Here are some words that the war has brought into every- day speech. How many have come to stay ? camouflage Boche barrage dud doughboy shell-shock gob rookie buddy tank profiteer soviet slacker tin hat Hun cootie In the same way, the technical terms of every business and profession change with new forms of business practice. So with the " literary " words found in writings of criticism or 213 LANGUAGE scholarship. The literary writings of Defoe's time are very different from those of today, but the words of talk and of the writing that is nearest to talk are used age after age by the great body of people. These are the words for you to cultivate. The Oxford Dictionary One dictionary with which you should by all means get ac- quainted is the New English Dictionary — commonly known as the " Oxford Dictionary " — which you will find in a pub- lic library. It will fill ten big volumes and is not yet quite complete. What makes it so large is that it gives actually the history, you might say the biography, of words ; that is to say, under every word is a list of illustrative sentences for the whole period of the use of the word in the language. These extend, some of them, from tweh^e hundred years back down to the present time. Nothing will do you more good in the way of developing a sense of the effective, short, familiar word than to check up whenever you can by the big Oxford Dictionary. When you have collected from reading, and from conversa- tion, ten or a dozen words which seem to be useful and fairly well known, drop in at the library and look up their credit standing in this big dictionary. Run through the illustrative extracts for each word and see what changes have occurred in its meaning, whether it is still in good and regular stand- ing in the latest extracts given. Words, like everything else, live and flourish and decay. You can find no better guiding principle of selection than that of Alexander Pope, the famous poet of two hundred years ago, one of the most successful writers of his own day in reaching the people : " Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." THE VOCABULARY OV TALK _' I 3 Special Words for Your Special Business Besides these words that you use every day for all comers you need also a supply of technical terms for use in your par- ticular business. Moreover, every man has his own private interests or hobbies and he has occasion to use another sort of words in connection with these. You need not take much trouble about providing technical words. The routine of busi- ness will teach you those anyway. As for your special in- terests, it is a good plan to keep up by regularly looking through one or two periodicals devoted to each specialty, or by talking to people who are interested in it. One man of my acquaint- ance, vice-president of one of the leading banks of the country, has a fluent knowledge of eight languages. He makes time in his daily program for a conversation of from fifteen to thirty minutes in one or more of these languages, merely to keep his vocabulary in ready command. Developing a Sure Taste As you grow older, and listen to other people, and read, your knowledge of words grows richer and more sure. By and by you find that you do not need so often to consult the dictionary. Even for words that are strange to you, you ac- quire a taste somewhat like that of an experienced buyer, so that even when a new article is presented you can make a pretty fair guess as to its probable standing. You not only develop a sense of what words are admissible and useful in general, but — which is more to the point — you acquire a sense of the right word for the place. Exercises I. Look over a few pages of a dictionary and note: (a) The words you do not know, (b) those you know but rarely use, (c) those you use constantly. 214 LANGUAGE 2. Note the gramma-tical errors which you hear in conversation dur- ing the next few days. Are they varied in character or are a few errors often repeated? 3. Make a Hst of the slang terms you hear tomorrow in conversation. Try to set down a familiar word or phrase of good EngHsh as equivalent for each of them. 4. Do the same with " worn-out phrases." 5. Jot down technical terms used in general conversation by various acquaintances in other lines of business. 6. Make a list as complete as possible of the technical terms of your own business. Opposite each of them set down an equivalent expression, a single word or a phrase, which would be generally understood by outsiders. 7. Make a record, as suggested on page 208, of the " familiar " but " new " words which come to you in conversation from reading. Keep the list for some time, for several weeks at least. CHAPTER XI THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE Suiting the Word to the Occasion Finding the right word for the place — finding the plug which fits into the hole in the other man's mind — is a task that is never finished. You are all the time learning more about it. Year by year it grows more interesting, the more you know of people, and of the suggestiveness of language. Some years ago I heard an address by the field agent of an industrial school. As a popular presentation of a cause, it was almost perfect. It was full of specific information, ar- ranged so that you followed easily, and brightened at the right points by bits of humor. The speaker made such an impression that he was persuaded, somewhat reluctantly, to return a few days later for a second address in another part of the city. Most of his first audience went over to hear him again. But they heard the same address, the same points, the same jokes. He had only one song. A year later an industrial engineer came to the establish- ment of a friend of mine, where I was visiting, to address the sales force. He talked in the evening to an audience of one hundred and thirty salesmen. Next day at lunch he talked to a group of the executives. That evening he came to the house of the vice-president for dinner, and later gave a lecture on some of his travel experiences to an invited company of friends of his host. I heard him talk five times in the 24 hours and it might almost have been five different men. Even his language varied with his audience. That man had the right word for the place. 21S 2l6 LANGUAGE The Power Must Be Cultivated Command of words and power to vary them comes with practice, with experience of life, with age. Notice the lan- guage of an old man whose business has involved making things clear to people and who has kept young in spirit — the informal chat of an old doctor, an old lawyer, an old clergyman or teacher, of one who has long been personnel man in a big organization, or executive of a labor union. The words of such men are full of meat; they have more than the one tune. Anyone can acquire this power. You have only to begin, to lay the foundation of the habit of watchfulness, and your sense for the right word develops infallibly. Using Words Responsibly First and always, you must develop a sense of responsibility in using words. If we give our signals carelessly the messages are not clear to others and we stunt our own power of dis- crimination. The motto of St. Paul applies to words: " All are lawful but all do not edify." You must learn to know not only the exact meanings of the words you use, but also their associations and suggestions. Some words and phrases are blunt and homely, as in the following from old John Bunyan : Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadfull fall ; and with that. Christian's sword flew out of his hand. Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee now. And with that he had almost pressed him to death; so that Chris- tian began to despair of life: but as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching of his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man. Christian nimbly stretched out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, " Rejoice not gainst me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise;" and THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 217 with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back. . . . Some are dignified and elaborate, as in this from Edmund Burke : It is not enough in a situation of trust in the common- weahh, that a man means well to his country; it is not enough that in his single person he never did an evil act, but always voted according to his conscience, and even ha- rangued against every design which he apprehended to be prejudicial to the interests of his country. This innoxious and ineffectual character, that seems formed upon a plan of apology and disculpation, falls miserably short of the mark of public duty. That duty demands and requires that what is right should not only be made known, but made prevalent ; that what is evil should not only be detected, but defeated. When the public man omits to put himself in a situation of doing his duty with effect, it is an omission that frustrates the purposes of his trust almost as much as if he had for- mally betrayed it. Study Synonyms To be able to find the right word for the place you must learn to listen critically, and read, and consider. Here the big Oxford Dictionary will help incalculably. You learn in its columns the life-history of the words that strike your fancy, and you can guess what sort of society they will suit. You can learn the same thing, to some extent, from a book of synonyms, such as Putnam's " W^ord Book " (L. A. Flem- ming), which is handy but does not give the opposites of a word, or " English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions " (J. C. Fernald), which gives examples of the different uses of a word, its opposites, and the prepositions that are used with it. More complete works, and therefore not so easily used, are the "Standard Thesaurus" (C. O. S. Mawson), which is a revision of the well-known Roget, and, most thorough-going of all, the " Thesaurus of the English Lan- 2l8 LANGUAGE guage," which has some of the features of a dictionary (F. A. Alarch). Synonyms are words which have the same general mean- ing but with different shadings. The errors we make in speaking a foreign language come often from using the wrong synonym. Here is a letter from a Japanese gentleman. The writer is unmistakably a man both courteous and cultivated. The air of oddity in his letter comes from the use of a few terms in a sense or in a construction slightly different from what is current among us : New York, — , 1919. INIr. , Dear Sir, I take pleasure to state that I have been one of favorite readers of your publications, and over which while my stay in Japan well acquainted with your company's name through our bookstore " Maruzen." ... I believe that I can express my utmost satisfaction as being always familiar with your store and getting various new publications with which I have not yet provided my home library. Taking this chance, I would exceeding like to have an opportunity to pay you my sincere respects and to receive your valuable advice for my future studies, as I am especially interested with the horticulture and farm management. If you kindly accord with my earnest desire, I would like to have your appointment stating the time which is con- venient to you. Enclosed herewith my name card which I believe would probably serve to show you my position and occupation in Japan. Thanking in advance for your generous acceptance of my hearty wishes, I am. Yours faithfully, % & Co., City. THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 219 Here is a group of words all of which convey the idea of a thing done, of accomplishment. The custom of the language has given each of them a slightly different \alue. achievement movement action operation deed performance effect proceeding execution work exploit The Habit of Noting Relationships As you read, and listen, and note down words, investigate also their relationships in your synonym book. Do not hurry, or make it a task. You are enlisted, as the old phrase runs, not for a campaign but for the war, for life. Develop the habit of turning every few days to your synonym book — or to the Oxford Dictionary — with a group of words to be checked up. You will not remember all you learn about them, but gradually your knowledge will grow reliable and compre- hensive. Incidentally, you will cure yourself of a fault to which we are all subject, of confusing words. The word infer, for ex- ample, means to deduce an idea from facts or other ideas. The word imply has a meaning that is almost opposite, namely, to cause another person to make such a deduction. Many people use infer when they mean imply. A book of synonyms has usually a list of what are called antonyms, or opposites, which you will find a useful supplement for your study. Avoid Artificial Correctness But beware of artificial " correctness " or fussiness. As you grow interested in looking up words, you are in danger of forgetting that words were made for man. Many highly edu- 220 LANGUAGE cated people lose touch with common life, so correct that it is stiff and unnatural. Their language is Formal and Colloquial Language It has been pointed out already that we have in a sense two languages, the standard or " literary " language of formal writing and formal talk, and the colloquial language of com- mon intercourse. Professor Slater of the University of Rochester puts this very clearly in his " Freshman Rhetoric." * There exist side by side in the language pairs of words of which the one is never heard in conversation, and the other is seldom used in formal writing. A few examples of these two distinct vocabularies may be given in 'parallel columns: Formal English Colloquial English obtain, procure get prepare get ready correct, satisfactory all right brief short weary tired ill sick weep cry rise get up retire go to bed cleanse clean complete finish, get through journalist newspaper man propel drive depart leave, go away reside live return come back, get back upon on since, inasmuch as because, on account of discontinue, cease stop, quit resume take up, go back to desire, wish want frugal economical ' Copyrighted by D. C. Heath & Co. and used here by permission of publishers. THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 221 Professor Slater notes that while the forms of nouns and pronouns in colloquial English are identical with those in lit- erary English, the \'erb shows many differences. Among these the contractions of the pronouns and of the adverb " not " with auxiliary verbs are familiar to all: I'm, you're, we've, they've, you'll, she'll, he'd, they'd, aren't, don't, sha'n't, mayn't, mightn't, hadn't, oughtn't. He cites, among others, the following sentences to illustrate these differences : Formal: Although the compensation is larger, his expenses are heavier. Colloquial : He gets more money, but he has to spend more. Formal: Since his age is sufficient (or. His age being suf- ficient) to entitle him to a pension, he expects to retire at the completion of the present task. Colloquial : He's already old enough to draw a pension ; so he's going to quit when he gets through with this job. Formal : Mr. Madison, whose opinions are well known, is the only opposing candidate. Colloquial : Mr. Madison is the only opposing candidate, and everybody knows what his opinions are. Many persons, misled by the wrong sort of education, ac- tually think the plain words of the colloquial language are " common," and not suitable for " educated " people at any time. A young lady — a college graduate — showed me lately a new book by a professor of English, containing the phrase " get used to " and expressed her astonishment. I did not at first know what she meant. " Why," she said, " surely an educated person would say " become accustomed to ! " The fact is, " get used to " is about as good English as you could possibly find, whereas " become accustomed to " is for most persons, " educated " or otherwise, a much less natural 222 LANGUAGE expression. We are all accustomed to it, in our reading, but we do not often use it in our talk. Colloquial Language Your Rule The rule for a talker is beyond question : Keep away from " literary " language. Vulgarisms, localisms, etc., you will omit, as Chapter X advised. Aside from that, all your talk should be as near as possible to the colloquial language of common life. Mr. Balfour is not only a public man of long experience, but a ripe and accurate scholar, and a writer of distinction in the highly technical field of philosophy. There are few men more cultivated and scholarly. His address of 800 words in the House of Representatives, however, contains only seven that might not occur in the informal chat of any ordinarily intelligent man. A Letter of Horace Walpole's Here is a bit from a letter — nearly two hundred years old now — ■ by Horace \\''alpole, one of the most highbred and ar- tistic men of his age. It might be an acquaintance of our own chatting about his last week-end. Arlington Street, Dec. 23, 1742. I have had no letter from you this fortnight, and I have heard nothing this month ; judge how fit I am to write. I hope it is not another mark of growing old; but, I do as- sure you, my writing begins to leave me. Don't be fright- ened ! I don't mean this as an introduction towards having done with you — I will write to you to the very stump of my pen, and as Pope says, " Squeeze out the last dull droppings of my sense." But I declare, it is hard to sit spinning one's brains by the fireside without having heard the least thing to set one's hand a-going. I am so put to it for something to say, that I would make a memorandum of the most improbable lie that THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 223 could be invented by a viscountess-dowager; as the old Duchess of Rutland does when she is told of some strange casualty, " Lucy, child, step into the next room and set that down,'' — "Lord, Madam!" says Lady Lucy, "it can't be true! " "Oh, no matter, child; it will do for news into the country next post." A Letter of Lincoln's Here is a letter from Abraham Lincoln to John D. Johnston. January 2, 185 1. Dear Johnston, Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little you have said to me, " ^\'e can get along very well now; " but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now, this can only happen by some defect in your conduct. What that defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you have done a good day's work in any one day. You do not very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it. This habit of use- lessly wasting time is the whole difficulty ; it is vastly import- ant to you, and still more so to your children, that you should break the habit. It is more important to them, because they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in. You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is, that you shall go to work " tooth and nail," for somebody who will give you money for it. Let father and your boys take charge of things at home, prepare for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get: and, to secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you, that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either in money or as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your 224 LANGUAGE work. In this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or the lead mines, or the gold mines in California, but I mean for you to go at it for the best wages you can get close to home in Coles County. Now, if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in heaven for seventy or eighty dollars. Then you value your place in heaven very cheap, for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work. You say if I will furnish you the money you will deed me the land, and, if you don't pay the money back, you will deliver possession. Nonsense ! If you can't now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eighty times eighty dollars to you. It would be hard to find better sense, or better use of Eng- lish, than that. Simple words, arranged in easy and colloquial groupings will convey practically any meaning you desire. Good talkers cultivate exactness, but they keep away from pompousness, pretentiousness, and ornament. Conciseness — " Presentive " and " Symbolic " Words The next rule is that of conciseness. When you send a telegram you pack a great deal into ten words ; you leave out the words that do not count. An English writer, years ago, grouped words into two classes : Presentive words and Symbolic words. Presentive words convey definite ideas. They consist of nouns and verbs — except auxiliary verbs — most adjectives, and many ad- verbs: Iioiisc. aeroplane, swim, reflect, bitter, incorrect, largely, openly, etc. Symbolic words merely indicate relationship among ideas. THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 225 Symbolic words include pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, some adjectives, adverbs, and auxiliary verbs. These carry no fixed meaning; their meaning varies according to their con- nection. The word " you '' means something different with every speaker. So of into, from, and, hon'C'Vcr, some, soon; the exact meaning of any of these must be gained from the words around it. In the following extract from an address by Secretary Red- field on Highzvays, the presentive words have been set in italics : From that are a number of inferences. The public au- thorities have got to be sufficiently educated to make a good thing possible. They have got to learn, as many a farmer has to learn, that the }nost costly thing in the world is a bad road; that as compared with seal-skin furs and platinum, mud is far more costly an item; and that there is no such evidence of a muddy state of mijid in a community as a muddy state of highzvays in the community. They go together — mental and physical mud. Now, let us sec whether our idea is false or true in its ap- plication. The Hudson River has by it six tracks of rail- road. The fleet of I'csscls upon the Hudson River was never as great, never so uei^' or ivell equipped as to-day. The ves- sel with the largest passenger capacity, or at least second largest {6,000 persons), is in operation on that river. The freight carried on the river amounts to over 8,000,000 tons a year by water. I /m^ a factory at Troy because I could get by water express service at freight rates, loading machines on the boat in the evening and have them delivered in A/^fw yoryfe the ne.rf morning, while to .ffei/' the same material by railroad to A^fw Forfe would require three to /jz^e rfay.s by In telegrams we use chiefly presentive words. In poetry, in much advertising copy — the car cards, for instance — their proportion is high. In ordinary talk the symbolic words are more numerous — 60 per cent or more usually — the. and, were, he, because, whiere, did, etc., recur so frequently. 226 LANGUAGE In careless talk we are apt to use too many symbolic words. Here is a bit from the stenographic report of a business man's talk before a congressional committee. A party appeared before you, as I learned from the news- papers some time since, and said that the matter of making up, or I might better say overcharging, on certain other goods to make up deficits made by the cut price on certain advertised goods was not a matter of practice- in the trade. I wish to say to you, gentlemen, that that is not true. In the affairs of our own business, for instance, we run the busi- ness, or we subdivide the business, into certain departments, and as one department is found to produce a lesser profit than is necessary to take care of fixed charges, we are invari- ably obliged to raise the profit on other departments. If the speaker had had to put that into a telegram — at his own expense — he could have sard something like this : Statement that overcharging to balance cut prices is not practiced in trade is not true. I do it. Neither Too Many Nor Too Few Now it would be wrong to try to talk in telegraph language — that would be too compact for easy understanding. The symbolic words which fasten ideas together are as necessary as the nouns and verbs which carry the thought. But good talkers lean toward conciseness. They learn to reduce the deadweight of connectives in their sentences, even in informal chat. The more of that you can do, the better. In a boarding house in London, a young .'\merican student, as he came down to breakfast, remarked to the waiter : " You haven't seen a copy of the newspaper around here anvwhere this morning, have you?" A few minutes later an English- man came in and said: "Bring me the paper." Both men were entirely courteous, but the Englishman had learned to eliminate unnecessary words. THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE Zi-J Short Words and Long Are you to use short words or long, in your talk ? Use both kinds, as occasion prompts, but mostly short ones. The words of colloquial language are nearly all short. The various ef- fects of short words and long call for further explanation. Short words are more easily understood, and stronger. Long words are more dignified, more exact, and more con- cise. Nearly all short words are simple in meaning. They name familiar things. \\^e feel at ease with them, because we have heard them in common talk all our lives. Long words have more or less complex, elaborate, finely discriminated meanings, and they are associated with moods of study, or mental effort. A long word is a compound of two or more ideas. Some- times it is a blend of two separate words, for example : Hydroplane = hydro (water) + plane (flat) Ophthalmoscope = ophthalmo (eye) + scope (view) Simpler cases are : Schoolmaster; highland; storehouse ; railroad More usually there is but one central idea, but this has been modified by successive layers of prefixes or endings until the present word is a pile of syllables expressing a single precise and limited meaning. For example : Uninterruptedly : I. The stem is — nipt — from the Latin word break. 2. inter — a Latin preposition meaning fcehs/^t'M (break- between). 3. ed — the ending which makes the participle. 4. un — an old English prefix meaning not, which gives the opposite meaning to the word interrupted. 5. ly — the suffix, or ending, which makes an adverb. 228 LANGUAGE Disadvantageoiis : 1. Stem — advant — from Latin from before. 2. age — quality of, making a noun. 3. ous — having, making an adjective. 4. dis — down from, negatives the whole. Apprehension: 1 . Stem — Jiciid — hold or get. 2. [ire — before. 3. ap — or ad, towards. 4. sion — act or quality of. Short Words Are Strong and Familiar Long words are nearly always book words. They have been developed in response to the needs of exact thinking and for- mal writing. They carry with them the air of the lawyers office, the scholar's study, the scientist's laboratory. As re- gards strength the difference might be expressed as follows ; The polysyllabic long word presents an idea with sonorous impressiveness — but the short word has punch ! Short words can be spoken with quick jerky emphasis. Liar is stronger than prevaricator Shame Hate Talk Sin Pay humiliation detestation disquisition unrighteousness remuneration We normally revert to short words in moments of intense excitement. They are more deeply rooted in our being; the long words, learned later, slip from memory when we are deeply stirred. When a person uses long words in the heat of excitement the incongruity strikes us at once. At a meet- ing of the Modern Language Association, I once heard a THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 229 professor of philology say in the course of a stormy discus- sion: " I am — er — passionately — er — interested in the — er — prosecution of this investigation." He was really greatly excited. But his remark seemed merely funny. If he could have said : " I'm going to the bottom of this thing," other people would have recognized his feeling. Unfortunately, he could not possibly have used those short words. Long words had come to be almost instinctive with him. A more typical case is found in the story, by O. Henry, I think, of two young business men, suburban neighbors. One of them dabbled, on the side, in psychology ; he was a prac- tical man, taciturn and inclined to cynicism. The other was emotional and talkative, an idealist, and his side interest was writing" poetry. They got home from the city one Friday afternoon, full of an improvised plan for a week-end trip for themselves and their wives, to find that the ladies had unex- pectedly departed with a former college girl-friend for a week- end reunion in town. The practical man's denunciation was elaborate and eloquent. The poet could only repeat, " Don't it beat hell, Jim ! Don't it beat hell ! " Other things being equal, a word of one syllable is better, has more picture power, and more driz'c than one that is longer. Try telling a story, writing a letter, working up a little speech, using only short words, words all of one syllable. If you have not thought of it you ivill he surprised to see ivhat a wide range of choice you have, and how far you can go, if you use your wits. Long Words More Exact This exercise will show you, moreover, the limitations of short words. Manifestly, they are less exact. For any state- 230 LANGUAGE ment that has to be precise, the long words are better. A few long words will express an idea accurately so that it will bear close scrutiny; if you try to say the same thing in short words you need a much larger number. For example : Here is a bit from a work on the Income Tax Law : The allocation of profits for capital expenditures should be considered a temporary appropriation thereof only, as by raising further fixed capital to provide for these expendi- tures the profits so set aside become again available for dis- tribution. The allocation may at any time be made per- manent by converting it into stock by means of a stock dividend. Try to express the same idea in short and familiar words ! More than that, our ears are accustomed to a sprinkling of longer words. A long row of short words is apt to seem bare and flat. Mix the kinds. The occasional long word not only tends to give exactness but stands out on the page with bril- liancy. Have Your Words Graphic The talk of many people is dull, because the words they use lack picture power. They forget to concentrate on the listener. They do not try to make him sec what they are tell- ing. Whatever words they use are full of meaning to thcni- selves, because of their background of personal experience, but to other people whose experience has been different, the words are cold. This is the trouble with technical words especially, but it comes e\'en with plain words. W'ith people who talk well, there will be one or more words in every sentence that give you a little pleasurable shock, just enough to jog attention, or to throw a fresh light on the sub- ject. The talk of such people is always interesting, both easy to listen to and easy to understand, no matter how common- place the subject may be. For example : THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 231 They put out a cracker and they advertise it, and it be- comes nationally known; but they have got to get down pretty close in their manufacturing cost ; they have got to make a pretty close fight or other manufacturers will spring up all over the country. Concrete Terms Whenever possible, use specific, concrete words rather than those which are general or abstract. For example : Machine gun is better than weapon W'ilHam Johnson " " " a prominent merchant Ten thousand dollars " " " a large sum The advantage of using definite, specific terms, of giving the facts, as concretely as possible, is shown by the practice in the newspapers. Almost every day the New York Ez'ening Post tells the story of some poor family in need of help in this fashion : John Dolan is unable to work, being confined to bed by rheumatism. His wife has just recovered from influenza. There is a nine year old girl, a boy of two, and a baby. The savings of the family have been used up by doctor's bills. Contributions may be sent to the Post. All our thinking is based on the specific objects, actions, facts which come to our own notice. We classify these and make generalizations upon them. We file away the individual fact in a general " folder " in our mental filing cabinet. When you tell me something in general terms I have to con- sult my file, get out the proper folder, and run over the indi- vidual items to see just what it is you refer to, before I really understand you. If my mental file is not well arranged — as probably it is not — my difficulty is increased. If the idea is unfamiliar I may have difficulty; there may be only a few " papers " in that folder, perhaps even no folder. When you tell me the same thing in specific terms, this long 232 LANGUAGE process of verification is eliminated. I can give you an answer at once. The best talkers cast their thought in specific terms. Figurative Terms Figurative words and phrases ■ — those which present the thought by means of a fanciful comparison, a picture of some kind — are generally useful. The ad\'ertising pages of any magazine will show you examples such as these : A steel-trap memory. Will your motor truck be an orphan? Photograph a face on your mind. It picks your pocket while you look on. If that motor drew wages. Words and phrases that present an idea in terms of the senses : sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, are easiest of all to understand: a soft joh, a sweet girl, a black mark, a loud tic. Sound Suggestions Words and phrases that have sound suggestions are ex- tremely useful. Words like: splash, bang, ■cc/n"^, sweep, roar, tivittcr, squeal, moan, bumping, stumbling, bouncing, quiver- ing, palpitating, etc. There are more such words in common language than we think, writers of poetry use them a great deal. So do adver- tising copy men. For example: zvhirring belts, a grinding in the engine. There is a far greater number of cases of indirect sound suggestion. If you are telling of something soft, easy, gentle, pleasant, use words composed largely of the smooth sounds noted on pages 126 and 127. These lines contain a number of consonants that cannot be uttered loudly (/, s, t, th) and a number of smooth consonants (/, 7t', m, n, r) : THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 233 " Her voice was ever soft, Gentle and low — an excellent thing in woman." Other such words are: smootli, pleasing, balmy, flozu, home, faith. The ease of enunciation helps to suggest the general mood of ease, quiet, relaxation, which the passage means to convey. For a similar reason, if you are telling something that is rough, painful, wearisome, difficult, use words containing many harsh and difficult sounds. For example : " But none of us practically have been given any adequate instruction in what is actually an extremely complicated process." " In a tragic hour like this, when civilization seems threat- ened to be engulfed in the waters of desolation, our emotions almost forbid us to turn our thoughts to aught else than to the issue which is to determine how history shall be privileged or required to chronicle the story of the world." This matter of sound suggestiveness is one of the most in- teresting phases of the use of words. Such skill as Mr. Bal- four's or Mr. Kahn's, or Judge Gary's cannot possibly be gained quickly. It represents a sure and ripened taste. But if you work for it — once you ha\'e gained a fair command of the vocal machinery — improvement will be certain and steady. Not Too Graphic — Don't Show-Off ! One caution, as to the matter of graphic wording: Don't overdo it. It is only too easy to get so interested in the means as to lose sight of the end. People who have learned to use specific terms, figurative terms, terms that are sugges- tive in sound, etc., are, unfortunately, apt to make too much of the device. When a word or phrase draws too much attention it hurts 234 LANGUAGE the thought. It makes your Hstener think you affected or foolish. Finally, Do Not Talk Too Much And this leads to another caution, the most important of all, for the man or woman who wants to talk well and effec- tively. Use as few words as possible. The temptation of facility is to talk too much. Everyone knows people who would be delightful talkers, if they could learn the virtue of moderation. We are actually afraid to get them started. On the other hand : A " man of few words " is often a master of words. In a conference, sometimes, where most of the company talk eagerly and at length, one of these silent men will come out suddenly with a few crisp, pregnant sen- tences which sum up the whole discussion — and the thing is settled. Command of an engine means the power to slow down, and shut it off, no less than to drive it at full speed. Your one aim in talking is to transmit your message. Every need- less word is so much dead weight, and the charges must be paid by the sender.' If you make it a habit to use no more words than necessary, "you will find yourself impelled to choose words which have picturing power, and punch. Exercises 1. Jot down the names of some persons of your acquaintance who are unusually interesting, or unusually dull, in conversation. What do you observe as to each man's command of language, its limited or varied range? 2. Note in the conversation of your acquaintance, in your daily mail, etc., instances of words slightly inexact or unsuitable, as in the letter on page 218. THE RIGHT WORD FOR THE PLACE 235 3. Enlarge the list of colloquial and formal equivalents given on page 220. 4. Among the letters, circulars, memos, etc., which come to you in the next few days note one or two which have simplicity, direct- ness, and expressiveness ; compare these closely with the letters from \\'alpole and Lincoln, pages 222 and 223. 5. Take another letter, circular, etc., which seems particularly wordy, and recast it more concisely. 6. Replace the long words in the passage by Secretary Lane, page 140, with short ones; what difference in effect? 7. \^'atch for striking instances in conversation, or in your reading, of words that are specific and concrete, figurative, expressive in sound, etc. Continue this list for several weeks, and notice its range. CHAPTER XII COMPOSITION — PLANNING SENTENCES Patterns of Thought We do not hear single sounds; we hear sound-patterns. What our minds take note of is patterns of thought. The single words represent only fragments of thought; it is only as they are grouped into clauses, sentences, etc., that they mean anything definite. How to build up these patterns of thought is the most important point in conveying ideas. You can double the force of words by the way you put them to- gether. You can kill a good thought by clumsy arrangement. For example : The New York Telephone Company struck out a capital phrase with " The voice with the smile wins." But the same concern headed a large newspaper advertisement, " Are you a Telephone Directory Advertiser? " If you read the headline and were not such an advertiser you would im- mediately answer " No " and pass on. The question they really meant to ask was, " \A^hy Are You Not a Telephone Directory Advertiser?" Thousands of books have been written to teach people how to combine words effectively when they write. In recent days newspaper men, advertising copy-writers, " correspond- ents " in progressive offices, have given the matter close study as it applies to business writing. Notice the grouping of words in advertising slogans and " car cards." Notice the spacing of advertisements and the layout of the paragraphs of a business letter. All successful business writers know how to combine words into patterns. Writing is an outgrowth of talk, yet in talk itself the " pat- tern " idea has so far been only slightly worked out. Anyone 236 PLANNING SENTENCES 237 can recognize the skill that is involved in building the clever " dialogue " in stories and plays. Few of us realize that we can apply the same sort of skill ourselves when talking busi- ness. W'e can apply it either in conversation, which is broken talk, or in public speaking, which is continuous talk. Actually, with most of us the grouping of our words in talk is determined without conscious effort. In short groups, that is in sentences, it is determined partly by custom — we speak sentences that are about like those other people use ; or by impulse — we say what we think of at the moment. In long groups, in the case of public speaking, the ar- rangement is determined by the speaker's own logical sense. In the case of conversation, it is determined largely by the listener's interruptions. If you think that we naturally arrange our talk consciously, just recall these facts: Our confusion when asked to repeat a conversation ex- actly; we can remember the sense but not usually just how each statement was worded. Our hesitation, unless we are specially trained, when asked to dictate to a stenographer or a machine. We are secretly afraid that our ordinary arrangement of words is not correct enough or expressive enough to bear scrutiny. Applying the Pattern Idea to Talk A few clever people, however, do apply conscious intelli- gence to this matter. We have all heard tactful persons con- duct a telephone conversation, or open an interview with a prospect, or receive and direct an applicant, and have felt that there was method in the length and arrangement of their 238 LANGUAGE sentences, their pauses, their changes of emphasis. These people have no magic secret. Others could do the same. The fact is, while this matter of composition as applied to talk has been little discussed it gives the quickest results, for the intelligent mature mind, of any part of the problem of talking business. Improvement depends here on clear and ready thinking rather than on the slow formation of habits. When an intelligent man applies his business brain definitely and systematically to the matter of composition, he gets re- sults at once. Short Groups — Sentences The subject of composition has two phases: the patterns of sentences, and the patterns of paragraphs and larger groups of the thought. Here we take up sentence patterns. Consideration of sentences as patterns of thought has three chief phases : Grammatical correctness Proportion, or emphasis Directness of statement Grammatical Correctness There are certain customs of the language — the laws of grammar — for the form and arrangement of the words and phrases which make up a sentence. When these customs are followed, the sentence is accepted as of standard form; it is grammatically correct. When we fail to observe them, in writing or speech, our sentences are unintelligible. With most intelligent persons these laws of grammar are very nearly automatic, in spontaneous talk. If we just talk naturally our sentences are usually grammatically correct, and we are likely to say what we mean. Our errors come mostly because we try to improve upon our habitual way of talking without knowing how to do it. The result is often an incongruous PLANNING SENTENCES 239 mixture. The jackdaw in the peacock's feathers is an ab- surd figure, though in his own rig he is a trim Httle bird. The Laws of Grammar Some of the laws of grammar, as they apply especially to talk, may here be summarized, very briefl}', as in the fol- lowing : 1. The words which make up our language code have dif- ferent functions : (a) Some are names of objects or ideas — house, man, liberty, Pershing, Chicago; these are called nouns. (b) Some words express action: transmit, exist, approxi- imate; these are called verbs. (c) Some words in various ways describe, color, or help to identify the ideas conveyed by nouns and verbs: ( 1 ) Some are adjectives, which describe nouns : large, nervous, unconstrained. General, American. (2) Some are adverbs, which describe verbs and also adjectives: szoiftly, easily, zvcll, up. (3) A few words serve to represent, or hold the place of nouns. These are called pronouns : /, they, we. Other pronouns are virtually adjectives in function : his, mine. (d) Some words serve merely to indicate relationship be- tween other words, or between ideas ; these are con- junctions : and, although, because; and prepositions : z^i'lth, from, into. 2. The same word may sometimes be used in various ways — as either noun or adjective; we may say: A general state- ment, or the General; as either pronoun or adjective: that man, or the man that; as either preposition or adverb : down the street, or he went down. 240 LANGUAGE 3. The functions of single words may be performed also by phrases composed of words of different sorts, much as in the business world a corporation may perform the functions of an individual. Thus grammarians have discriminated noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases and adverb phrases. 4. Some words vary in form according to the shade of meaning desired : (a) Nouns have different forms to- express a singular or a plural idea : man ■ — • men house — houses (b) Verbs have different forms to express: ( 1 ) Difference in the person or object concerned in the action : I go • — he goes — they go. (2) Difference in the time of the action: I go — / went — / liaz'e gone — / might have gone. 5. To make a statement, a sentence, we must have always a noun or a noun phrase — which is called the subject of the sentence — and a verb, or verb phrase — which is called the predicate. For example : Paris was saved. 6. Nearly always the sentence includes also other words, describing or modifying the meaning of either subject or predi- cate or both, and indicating more precisely their relationship. Sometimes a large number of words are added for this pur- pose. For example : Paris, the beautiful capital of France, was saved from the Huns at the Marne by the devotion and skill of the French army. 7. To make the statement — the sentence — clear, we must PLANNING SENTENCES 241 use the appropriate form of words which have different forms. For example: I saw not I seen; I go not I goes 8. In any language, EngHsh, French, Latin, Japanese, etc., the words of a sentence are expected to be arranged, ac- cording to their function, in a certain order. That is the ele- mental, basic sentence pattern for the language. All persons with whom that language is the mother tongue instinctively follow it in spontaneous talk. They are expected to follow it also in the most elaborate writing. They may vary this order for some special reason, but it is the elemental pattern. For our own language the normal order is: (a) Subject — noun or noun phrase. (b) Predicate — verb or verb phrase. When the sentence is fuller the order may be slightly dis- guised, appearing for instance as follows : (a) Modifier of subject (b) Subject (c) Modifier of predicate (d) Predicate As in: The nciv salesman soon gained business. 9. When two or more statements are joined into one large statement, when, that is, we have a sentence made up of two, three, or more clauses, certain points of agreement of form must be observed, to make the meaning clear. (a) The time form of subordinate verbs must be appro- priate to the time of the verb of the main clause. For example, do not say : I intended to have gone tomorrow, but I intended to go tomorrow. 242 LANGUAGE (b) The proper pronoun must be used in referring to nouns and noun phrases. For example, do not say : Every employee is interested in their own affairs, but Every employee is interested in his own affairs. lo. The parts of a sentence made up of two or more clauses may bear various definite relations to each other. The follow- ing formulas, for example, are used constantly in the most informal talk as well as informal writing: (a) When two or more clauses of equal importance are combined — what is called a compound sentence: (i) X is true and Y is true. (2) X is true ^JMf Y is not true. (b) Where two or more clauses are combined, one of which is of chief importance — what is called a complex sentence: ( I ) X is true if Z is true. (2) X is true because Z is true. (3) X is true although Z is true. In talk we usually put the minor clause, represented in the above formulas by Z, after the principal clause represented by X. In writing we often arrange them in the other way. For example, we might say in conversation : The weather has been pleasant today, although it looked stormy last night. In writing it would probably be arranged : Although it looked stormy last night, the weather has been pleasant today. Of Special Importance — Observing the " Normal Order " So far as grammatical correctness is concerned, in both writing and speech, the chief difficulty comes in observing the PLANNING SENTENCES 243 principle of the normal order of words. In the brief sen- tences of ordinary talk, we observe this principle automatically, even when we make mistakes in the forms of words. In writ- ing or in continuous talk, when we tend to use longer sentences, we often find difficulty. A word or phrase may often be such as to connect in thought with two or more elements of the sentence; if we do not place it with care we may set up unexpectedly a short circuit. For example : " It is said that Lincoln wrote his famous speech while riding to Gettysburg on a scrap of brown paper." " These verses were written by an old gentleman who has long lain in his grave for his own amusement." Both in writing and in speech we often vary deliberately from the normal order. By moving words out of their order we secure special emphasis. But we must take care to avoid grammatical complications. For example, we might have in writing : At the Marne, by the devotion and skill of the French army, the beautiful capital of France, Paris, was saved from the Huns. Or even : Saved from the Huns at the Marne was Paris, the beautiful capital of France, by the devotion and skill of the French army. The talk of educated persons, who have studied writing more or less, is apt to show a strong tendency to such inver- sion of the normal order. This inversion is sometimes use- ful, but on the whole it is to be avoided in ordinary talk. It interferes with the most important quality of good speech, namely, directness. 244 LANGUAGE Proportion — Featuring the Main Thought A good sentence is not merely grammatically correct; it is so arranged, so hung, as to bring out properly the main thought. In every sentence, no matter how long, there is a main idea, which focusses at one point and which may be termed the core or peak of the sentence. The other parts are sub- sidiary to this ; they are trailers. Or we might say that the core of a sentence is surrounded by packing, as a bit of china is packed in a lot of straw. The core of the sentence may come at the beginning. For example ; Is a nation at peace with us whose ambassador asks from his country money with which to influence our Congress, as was shown by the recent Bernstorff cable to his government? It may come at the middle. For example : If we win the war that will be worth something to us even if we do not save much in cash. It may come at the end. For example : The company we represent has its regulation apprentice- ship school in the matter of tool-making, but in the case of a technical plant, where the men are 60 or 70 per cent good tool-makers, wc sometimes forget the older men. Or it may be divided, part in one place, part further on. For example : History will tell the storj' of the great war just as the newspapers are telling it today. Methods One large part of the problem of building sentences for clearness and effectiveness consists in : Having the core stand out clearly. Having the trailers intelligible but not in the way. PLANNING SENTENCES 245 Here are two sentences which secure these ends : If this is a fair statement of the investment problem you are now working out, it will be worth your while to check up carefully and see how completely the bonds we offer meet your requirements. Rhetoric, however, may still do much for emphasis in the oration both by the position given details and by phrasing in general, for any college student knows that whether an idea is placed at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence or paragraph it affects emphasis, and that the very phrasing of the thought may make it insignificant or memor- able. A few methods which are often used are — 1. Stating the core in words of sharp, clean-cut sound, and the trailers in smoother sound : Then will we not come to a position where the government will have to control the price of the product, just as the In- terstate Commerce Commission now fixes the railroad rates ? Of course, the personal equation is most important, and yet when you come to questions of selection the initial step in dealing with questions of human relations, is how can you perform that task adequately unless you know exactly what kind of a job is to be filled and what particular qualifications are needed. 2. Leading up to the core by means of climax: If I do not go back to the Midvale Steel Company with some good dope, and if you do not give me a story to back up our work here, some proof that this thing is an asset to that company, you will not receive the $100 fee for member- ship from the Midvale Steel Company next year. 3. Antithesis : Our country is not suffering from its inability to raise foodstuffs; it is suffering from its inability to distribute them. There is no convenient rule for using these methods. You learn only through study, experience, through watching your- 246 LANGUAGE self, listening to others, reading attentively. Gradually you develop a sense of arrangement, so that even in eager talk you arrange the parts of your sentences, almost automatically, in an effective order. Directness The special quality of good talk sentences is directness. Convey your thought by the shortest route, in a form which is as brief and easily intelligible as possible. Here is the chief point of difference, as to composition, between writing and speech. The reader may review again and again what he reads. An arrangement which is lengthy or odd may pique his attention and lead him to study the pas- sage closely, and so be actually more potent for the purpose in hand than a simpler and briefer arrangement. But the listener must understand at once. For him directness is an absolute requirement. There is the same difference between the writer and the speaker. The writer, like the reader, can try again. The speaker cannot. That is why a great deal of the excellent advice for building written sentences cannot be applied to talk. In writing, sentence construction is a matter of re- vision. Most of the advice in books tells you how to work over your sentences, and correct and improve them before you let them go. But with spoken sentences revision is im- possible. Any suggestions toward building good sentences in talk must be such as we can use at the moment of speak- ing. Directness calls for short sentences and for patterns simple grammatically and simple logically. When these are lacking, we find nearly always that the talk has one of three faults : 1. It is carelessly arranged. 2. It is heavy. 3. It is affected. PLANNING SENTENCES 247 I. The Fault of Careless Arrangement The most obvious fault of spontaneous common talk is that of carelessness, slovenly arrangement. It comes from soliloquizing, from failure to concentrate on the other man. ^^'e rely too much on utterance and voice and we fail to group the elements of the thought in the order which is easy for the listener to follow. Omitting Necessary Words We leave out necessary parts of the sentence. Examples of this fault appear in almost any careless conversation. Here is a sample of careless talk, from F. P. A.'s " Conning Tower " in the N'cw York Tribune: THE TRAIN TALKERS On the Congressional Limited " Seen this new show ? " "What show's that?" ■' ' The Better 'Ole.' " "The better what?" " ' 'Ole. ' The Better 'Ole.' ' The Better 'Ole.' " "'Ole?" " Sure. ' The Better 'Ole.' " "What's "Ole'?" "Hole. See? 'The Better Hole,' really. English. Leavin' off the H. Hole— 'Ole. See?" "Oh, 'The Better 'Ole,' eh?" " Sure. ' Better 'Ole.' " " No. I haven't seen it. What kind of a show is it? " "Kind of a war play — comedy — all that stuff. Great! " "That so?" " Sure. Kind of a war play, only not serious. Comedy. Great show." "That so?" " Sure. Darned funny. Kind of a war play, but funny at the same time." " Have to take that in, I guess." " Darned funny show." 248 LANGUAGE 2. Using Too Many Words We use too many words. Sometimes this takes the form of roundabout phrasing, as in the remark of the young Amer- ican already cited : You haven't seen a copy of the newspaper around here anywhere this morning, have you? Sometimes it takes the form of overloading our statements with meaningless phrases like " Sec," or " Listen," or, " Seems to vie," " So to speak," " In a sense," which take the edge off our thought. These phrases are due partly to the fact that we are not quite clear as to our own meaning and do not want to say a thing too positively, partly to our wish to clinch the listener's attention. With many o"f us these phrases have become habitual, and we use them actually without knowing it. 3. Parentheses In connected talk we interrupt our thought with long paren- theses. For example : That is why our organization requested — we have not al- ways been able to be represented at these gatherings, al- though we should have liked to do so; it was a matter of regret — but we desired to have some part assigned us in connection with the work of gathering the data. What the man w anted to say was something like this : To our regret our organization has not always been able to be represented at these gatherings. We requested, however, that we might be assigned some part of the work of gather- ing the data. But he did not have his thought clearly enough in mind to go straight to the point. This fault appears often in con- versation wliich is entirely careless. It appears still oftener when people who are generally careless are trying to be careful. They are unable to control themselves readily. PLANNING SENTENCES 249 4. Too Many " And's " and " But's " We tie together our long sentences by a clumsy succession of and's or but's. Children do this constantly; uneducated people do it; nearly all of us revert to the practice when we become excited. America is not falling down. America is going on and the departments at Washington may be making mistakes here and there, but as a whole, there is one purpose and one only, to do the job and to do it well. We have men there of large views, who are giving their time, many of them, for a dollar a year, and I want to say to you that if every man that is giving his time in Washington was suddenly to be dropped, you would know it by the lack of efficiency in Washington, and those men, I praise them, and I praise the workers throughout that are giving of their strength and of their spirit that America may go on and America may win. 5. Needless Repetition Worst of all, we repeat oursehes, we state a simple idea twice over or more. The more in earnest we are, the more prone we are to this error. For example : Wherein does a boy profit in going into an office to be- come a second-rate broker's clerk or a third-rate business man, or a sort of a half-way real estate dealer, or something like that where that same man was really intended to be a mechanic, and if he had gone into the shop he might have made a successful foreman or sub-foreman, or at least a highly trained mechanic who could earn as much or more money than he can earn in the profession or vocation he chose, just because the work is cleaner and more comfort- able physically? To say a thing once and leave it is difficult for most of us. Very often simple and uneducated people who think clearly about matters they have to deal with talk better in this respect than those \\ ho are better educated, because they just say what they want to say and do not worry. 250 LANGUAGE Looking Ahead This fault of careless arrang^ement can be overcome, how- e\'er, by anyone who will form the habit of putting his thoughts into definite words before speakins;- — or rather at the mo- ment of speaking. We do that when we are roused. Every- one has had the experience now and then of conducting a negotiation or handling a group of people in the right way; thinking quickly, seeing his road clear before him, and speak- ing with simplicity and directness. Most of the time, how- ever, we are a little sluggish, or lazy, or abstracted, and our minds do not function with precision. Often while saying one thing our minds are chiefly concerned with what we are going to say much further on, and we are scarcely aware of the words we are actually uttering. We need to develop the habit of giving each thought a definite " inspection " before we let it go. This is the one indispensable rule for the man who wants to plan his sentences in talk : Visualize each sentence as a whole before you begin it. Do not open your mouth until you know how the sentence is to close. The errors of carelessness just noted are chiefly owing to our failure to look ahead. An impulse moves us and we begin to speak before knowing just how we want to phrase our thought. We get half through the first clause, perhaps; then we pause to choose between two or three different words or constructions. Our voice apparatus has been set going; it is usually not under full control; and when we pause it pro- duces an inarticulate sound like cr-cr, and-cr, bitt-cr, generally without our knowing it. W'e go on with a jerk for another clause, perhaps, or part of a clause, and stop again. And so we flounder along. Anyone who listens to that sort of talk- ing is kept constantly on a strain. He has to piece together the items of the speaker's thought. He must determine what PLANNING SENTENCES 25 I the man means before he can consider what he thinks of the idea. The speaker has not done his part. Visualize Each Sentence in Advance \\'hen you read aloud you keep your eyes a few words ahead of your voice. Thus you sense what is coming and auto- matically prepare for it. It is entirely possible to do the same thing when you talk. You need not bring every word defi- nitely to mind before beginning to speak, but pick the word which is to close the sentence. If you have that one word in mind you can work directly toward it, just as you can walk through a dark passage if there is a light at the end. Here is a transcript of a little speech by a prominent in- surance man which I heard lately at an informal gathering. It was built up, I am told, in precisely this way, the speaker fix- ing certain words in mind and packing the sentences around them. For convenience, these key words are here set in itahcs : I am continually being asked by returning soldiers : What shall they do with their government insurance. My answer is always the same: Turn it into the permanent government policy. They have now war-time insurance. They get it at $8.00 per thousand. It is limited to $10,000 and runs for Hve years after the war. It is merely a temporary policy. After five years nothing for them. But the government has arranged a substitute policy which will take care of the soldiers all their lives. Therefore, tell the soldiers you meet to change -to a permanent policy. The government furnishes every kind of policy which is furnished by the private insurance companies. The cost is more than the war insurance, of course. But it is twenty per cent less than what the private companies would charge. The government does not charge for administration, taxes, or " contingencies " — like the recent " flu " epidemic. These 2S2 LANGUAGE are paid by the public treasury. This is all right. It is a recognition of the soldiers' services. A government insurance company has been formed. It has a huge business. They have about 4,000,000 policyhold- ers and over $^y,ooo,ooo,ooo insurance. That is a larger amount, in two years, than all the old line companies in the United States. They have selected as officials some of the best men in the private companies. They have kept it out of politics. Tell every soldier to change his war policy to the govern- ment's permanent poiicy. It will be a ba-d'ge of honor for him. I am asked sometimes what the private companies think of this plan. It is the best thing that ever happened for them. Every big company has more insurance on its books now than ever before. This plan of the government has popular- ized insurance. And it has raised the limit in people's minds from $1,000 to $10,000. The 'Value of Thinking Ahead When you build the sentences in that way they will flow more easily and logically. When you have spoken a com- plete sentence you may pause as long as you like, while planning the next — the listener has a definite picture in mind, and will wait patiently until you are ready to go on. A word of caution may perhaps be needed here. This is, of course, an exercise in thinking on your feet, not in nicui- ori::ing. You do not choose and memorize the key-words or phrases of the sentences before beginning to talk — that would be both difficult and futile; you just look ahead as you finish each sentence, to see where your step is to be placed. Short Sentences The habit of visualizing each thought beforehand in defi- nite words will lead you to speak in short sentences, each of them presenting in simple terms a single facet of the idea. PLANNING SENTENCES 253 That is the normal form for the sentences of talk, an indis- pensable condition of directness. In writing, long sentences are often necessary. The rela- tions of the \arious parts of the thought mubt be indicated entirely by de\ices of arrangement, and that often involves elaborate patterns. But in talk the relations of the thought are indicated largely by the delivery, by changes in tone, look, and manner. The words actually spoken need carry only the substance, the successive units of the thought arranged in simple patterns. Elaborate patterns in speech sentences result either from pedantry or from confusion of thought. Too often they indi- cate that the thoughts have been merely tumbled out at ran- dom, and pieced together on the spur of the moment by any sort of grammatical connection which the nervous or preoc- cupied speaker happened to think of. AVhatever mental effort the speaker expends in juggling his grammatical constructions leaves so much less for shaping and enforcing his thought. To repeat: Think your sentence through before you begin. Make each statement short. When )'ou do begin, go right through. Between sentences pause as long as you like. After a while you learn to visualize your thoughts more rapidly, the pauses between sentences become shorter, and your talk flows along just as easily and quickly as if you did not stop to think each sentence before speaking. You will find also that even the brief glance ahead will enable you to pick your words more effectively. Your speech will gain color and epigrammatic quality as well as clearness. The Fault of Heaviness In avoiding carelessness we must not fall into heaviness and pedantry. Most business talk is only partly spontaneous; it is in part consciously planned. That is true of the talk of dictated letters, for example, and of important interviews. 254 LANGUAGE Talk of this kind is prone to errors which grow out of our education itself. When trying to speak carefully we more or less consciously imitate written sentences and the result is we " talk like a book." In writing, the method often followed is to put down defi- nitely everything that is to be conveyed. The writer seeks to construct a solid roadway for his reader's mind. In the ef- fort to make his statements accurate, particularly if it is a matter of intellectual discrimination, the style of writing often becomes extremely elaborate and heavy. You find this fault in legal documents. You sometimes find it, unfortunately, even in text-books. Here is a passage from a treatise on com- position by a \'ery distinguished professor of English : In a very few words, I can now answer the question with which we started this part of our inquiry : Are not short sentences preferable to long? What long sentences are, and short, I leave to your common-sense; what anybody can per- ceive needs no definition. I refer to your common-sense, too, the obvious fact that monotonous adherence to any one form of sentence — or to any given line of conduct at all — is apt to be exquisitely annoying. But from what I have said, it should be clear that the longer a sentence is, the harder it is to make the sentence periodic, the more breaks there are apt to be in the sense. Very broadly speaking, the effect pro- duced by a style in which short periodic sentences predomi- nate is more satisfactory than that produced by a style full of long and loose ones, or of long ones whose periodicity is secured only by palpable artifice ; and this position I believe in a general way to be maintained by the historic develop- ment of English style during the last three centuries. Do Not Talk Like a Book In talk the mind progresses by leaps. The listener is given a series of stepping-stones. Each stone must be solid and lo- cated at the proper point for the next move, but it does not need to be closely connected with the last thing said. If all PLANNING SENTENCES 255 the minute connections are put in, your talk seems unnatural. Vou will seem to be monologizing or else to be repeating a pre- pared speech. The field agent of a certain philanthropic institution is a man of unusual shrewdness and mental acumen. Yet he makes a very bad impression on a stranger. He talks like a book. He seems to be fearfully long-winded, simply from the fact that he puts in all the connectives, all the minor " trailers " of his sentences which most of us omit in talk. This man talks, that is, just as he writes. His letters read easily enough, but the same things in spoken words sound un- natural. Study Good Advertising Copy There is one form of writing, however, which will help greatly in building good talk sentences — advertising copy. The statement may seem surprising at first. Advertising copy is worked over with utmost care. As with poetry, it takes often a long time to produce. A man may spend a week on an ad of two or three paragraphs. Talk, on the other hand, is a creation of the moment. But the sentences which the ad-man finally produces are talk sentences, as truly as the sentences of the dialogue which a good playwright works out. They are short, crisp, meaty, yet easy running. You can find no better models for your talk. Use the dead time on a car or train to analyze the ads which strike your own attention and see how their effect is produced. Men who can write copy well can usually talk with some of the same effectiveness of pattern. Study of the ads will familiarize your mind gradually with the pattern idea as applied to talking business. The sentences you frame in the moment of speaking will rarely be as good as those re- sulting from the toil of the expert copy-man, but they will have some of the same qualities of directness and drive. 356 LANGUAGE You have one vast advantage over the copy-writer. You aim at one listener, or one group, or company. The ad-man aims at the pubhc at large and at the typical man who is in- side of every member of the public. Besides, you see your listener, you are stimulated by his response word by vi^ord ; the spontaneous reaction of your nature will do for you, if you give it a chance, what the ad-man must do for himself by effort of imagination. The Worst Fault of All — Affectation Human nature, unfortunately, is so constituted that no sooner have we gained a certain degree of readiness and fluency than we are pretty certain to fall prey to another fault — the worst of all. W'e are tempted to shozu off. Once we have learned to make sentences that are short and pungent, we are tempted to make them too catchy. This fault is the one unpardonable sin, in talk. People may tolerate the inex- pert person who rambles and hesitates because he is obviously in earnest. They may respect the man who talks like a book when they see that after all he has something to say. But if they feel that a speaker is showing off they no longer re- spect him. " Oral Forms " In much of our routine talking we could save effort and increase efficiency by working out and using what may be called " oral forms." Every progressive business organization toda}- makes large use of " written forms " of all sorts for the routine reports of the employees. These written forms standardize official com- munications and make possible quick and exact records. The same thing could be done with much of the official talk. Much of anyone's talk consists of routine remarks: ques- tions and answers and statements. The substance varies with PLANNING SENTENCES 257 the occasion but the frame is much the same. Perhaps three- fifths of the conversation of any one person during a work- ing day is of this routine nature. Take, for example, the talk of employees of a store. Certain things have to be said over and over again to successive inquirers by : Elevator boys Reception clerks Telephone operators Floormen Salespeople Supervisors Any one of these persons could make up for himself set forms for the routine sentences which he must use hour by hour. It would not be difficult for the management to stand- ardize much of this official communication for various groups of employees. Substantially, the same thing has been done in the Army and Navy for official commands and responses. It is done to some extent in a number of different lines of business : Trainmen on railways, salespeople in shops, waiters and attendants in hotels are given set phrases to be used in their official talk with the public. Here are some specimens of the oral forms used in the Army : Sir, Lieutenant Smith reports to the Commanding Officer. Officers, center, march ! As skirmishers, guide right, march ! Sir, all present or accounted for. Sir, the guard is formed. Inspection, arms; port, arms; dismissed! Dismiss your companies. These are typical forms which long-distance operators of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company must use : New York is calling Mr. Walter Dillon. Can he be reached at another telephone? 258 LANGUAGE Where can he be reached in Pittsburgh? Thank you. Please hold the line. On your call to Albany, they do not expect Mr. Walter Dil- lon today, but he may be reached in Pittsburgh at the Fort Pitt Hotel. We will call you. That is all, thank you. These are forms sometimes prescribed for clerks answer- ing the telephones : This is Mr. A's office. Mr. A has stepped out of the office. Do you wish to leave any message? What name shall I give Mr. A? Here are some specimens of forms used in stores : What can I show you. Madam? Something in suits? Thank you. Where shall I send this? Is there anything else today? Value for Routine Talk In most cases, however, little or no instruction is given to the proper utterance of the forms now used in stores, etc. They should, of course, be spoken with accuracy and care if they are to be useful. So far as such oral forms can be worked out for the opera- tions of any business they will insure: 1. Distinctness. 2. Satisfactory tone and melody for the sentence. 3. Suitable words. 4. Clearness of thought. The habit of uttering one's routine talk in this precise man- ner will tend to affect the way one talks the rest of the time. The use of such oral forms would generally increase dis- PLANNING SENTENCES 259 tinctness and clear, crisp language in all business conversa- tion. Exercises 1. In conversation, or in the newspapers or letters you look over tomorrow, watch for the " normal order " in the sentences. How many departures from it do you note? 2. See if you can pick out " core '' and " trailers " in the sentences of letters or circulars; in those of conversation. 3. Ask an associate to keep a record of "needless phrases" (see page 248) in your conversation. Try to eliminate them entirely and see what results you get. 4. If you have access to a dictating machine, utilize it to try the ex- ercises in visualizing complete short sentences, as noted on page 251. Then put on the reproducer and examine the record. The more often you repeat this exercise the better. 5. If you try the visualizing exercise in conversation, jot down from memory — as soon as you have a chance — the successive key- words you chose, or the entire passage if you can recall it. 6. When you wish to be impressive or dignified, do you talk like a book? Do you try to "show off"? 7. Make up some oral forms (such as those noted on pages 257-8) which you might use yourself. CHAPTER XIII BUILDING LARGER GROUPS Groups of Sentences Sentences are themselves parts of larger patterns. In pub- lic speaking they fall into paragraphs and sections. Even in conversation they group themselves into " speeches," under- standing by " speech " here vi^hat you utter without pausing for a reply. The listener is always trying more or less consciously to grasp your idea as a whole. Therefore, try to mark the pat- tern of the idea which makes up each thought-group, so that the listener cannot miss it. A Free Field for Originality and Taste In grouping sentences your intelligence and taste have the freest possible field. Custom governs only slightly and auto- matic action not all. The persons, indeed, who apply con- scious planning to the matter, at least in conversation, are ex- tremely few. A good many, howe\er, apply more or less sub- consciously, through native tact, the principles which are here set down, and obtain effective results. The results would be more certain if they realized clearly what they have to do. In public speaking, especially when the occasion is some- what formal and when the speaker makes more or less care- ful preparation, the grouping of sentences is often affected by what the speaker knows about paragraph construction in writing. This, however, is not always a help, because the paragraphs of writing are apt to be longer and heavier than is suitable for talk, and apt to have too much inversion and artificial arrangement. Even as regards writing, moreover, 260 BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 261 less has been done for paragraph structure than for sentence structure. Better results come from working out the problem defi- nitely in terms of speech. You can learn much as you listen to people in conversation, by focussing attention on this spe- cial point. You can learn much, also, by analyzing speeches in printed form. In this chapter illustrations have been drawn largely from speeches delivered by men of affairs in connec- tion with war activities. Beware of Soliloquizing You must all the time be on your guard against soliloquiz- ing. The temptation to arrange ideas solely according to your own sense of their logical relations, to forget the limi- tations of the listener, reappears like the jimson weed in a garden, as soon as you relax your care. ]\Iany a man whose introduction is aimed straight at the audience before him re- laxes vigilance once he has got their attention, and walks on regardless of his listeners' restlessness. The primary rule for all talk must be borne in mind : adapt your message to the other man. With any series of statements in either conversation or public speaking, arranged according to a certain pattern, diffi- culties arise in two ways : 1. The pattern may be such that the listener fails to grasp the logical relation of the various statements. There are always problems of keeping to the point, of shading or emphasis, of connection. 2. The pattern may in some way affect unfavorably the listener's feelings or tastes, or he may be wearied by having too much presented to him at a time. There are problems, therefore, of manner, and of lightness of touch. 262 LANGUAGE Featuring the Main Point — the Core \\''hat was said in Chapter XII about " core " and " pack- ing " in sentence construction applies still more strikingly to larger groups. The things you really want to say in any in- terview or address are comparatively few. Most of the time has to be given to : 1. Getting the listener ready for these essential points. 2. Enforcing them. 3. Saying good-by. This filler material is necessary. Without it the essential points would not be comprehended in right perspective and relationship. What you would have would be merely an ex- tended telegram. The first problem in connection with the pattern is that of featuring the core of each idea so that it stands out and catches attention. Consider, for example, the pattern of a paragraph. On the printed page each paragraph is indented. A skilful reader by merely turning the pages and noting the openings of paragraphs can usually get a bird's-eye y\t\\ of the whole thought. In some books, like this one, sideheads on the mar- gin help to direct attention to the main points. You should make it easy, when you talk, for your com- panion to do something of the same kind as he listens. You want him to get it all, of course. But some persons never can get it all. They may be lazy; they may be too busy. Give them at least an outline map of the road. You can ac- complish this partly by management of the voice, and bv pauses. You need also to use striking, vivid words for the main thoughts. Especially you need to arrange the whole so that attention is naturally thrown upon what is most im- portant. BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 263 Key-Sentence at Beginning The natural place for the key-sentence — the core — of a paragraph is at the beginning. In good public speaking of the simple sort which we shall discuss in this book, that is the usual way for paragraphs to open. Furthermore, the first paragraph is apt to present the main idea — or one of the main ideas — of the entire speech. A X'ictory Loan speech, delivered to a motion picture audience, began as follows : " I am talking to you men who pay your bills! Not to the welchers, not to the spongers, but to, etc." The striking- words, snapped out crisply, caught the crowd as they were starting out. The following outline of a speech by Secretary Lane, de- livered before the Home Club of the Interior Department, in Washington, June 4, 191 7, illustrates the principle just stated. The opening paragraph and the opening sentence of each other paragraph are given below. WHY DO WE FIGHT GERMANY?* Tomorrow is registration day. It is the duty of all, their legal as well as their patriotic duty, to register if within the class called. There are some who have not clearly seen the reason for that call. To these I would speak a word. Why are we fighting Germany? The brief answer is that ours is a war of self-defence. . . . Then why are we in ? Because we could not keep out. . We talked in the language and in the spirit of good faith and sincerity, as honest men should talk, until we discovered that our talk was construed as cowardice. And so we came into this war for ourselves. It is a war to save America — to preserve self-respect. . . With this background of history and in this sense, then, we fight Germany — * Condensed by permission from " The American Spirit " by Franklin K. Lane, Copyright, J917, by Frederick A. Stokes Company. 264 LANGUAGE Because of Belgium. . . . Because of France. . . Because of England. . . Because of Russia — New Russia. . . . Because of other peoples, with their rising hope that the world may be freed from government by the sol- dier. We are fighting Germany because she sought to terrorize us and then to fool us. We still hear the piteous cries of children coming up out of the sea where the Lusitania went down. We saw the Sussex sunk, crowded with the sons and daughters of neutral nations. We saw ship after ship sent to the bottom. . We believed Germany's promise that she would respect the neutral flag and the rights of neutrals, and we held our anger and outrage in check. . . . We are fighting Germany because she violated our confi- dence. Paid German spies filled our cities. . We are fighting Germany because while we were yet her friends — the only great power tha't still held hands off — she sent the Zimmermann note. . . The nation that would do these things proclaims the gos- pel that government has no conscience. . We are fighting Germany because in this war feudalism is making its last stand against oncoming democracy. America speaks for the world in fighting Germany. Key-Sentence Later Sometimes you prefer not to present the main thought at first ; you need to get ready. This is more often the case in conversation, when you do not ivant to show the hstener too clearly where you are leading him, but rather to slide along to the essential point. Accordingly, you place the main thought perhaps in the middle of the paragraph, or section, or speech, as the case may be, perhaps at the close. You arrange and shape what precedes so as to throw the listener's attention along to this culminating point. BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 265 If the core is thus held off it should be emphasized when it does come by some special device. Perhaps by a specially striking or epigrammatic phrasing. Perhaps by prefacing a sort of warning or announcing sentence. Here is a passage from a discussion at a convention of the National Association of Corporation Schools : What Mr. Lewis said in the latter part of his remarks about the office being interested in the sales organization re- minds me of an experience I had a couple of weeks ago in connection with an establishment where they had formed an organization school. ... I addressed the sales convention of one of the large organizations manufacturing contractors' equipment. On the evening of the day when they had the convention they held a dinner, and to that dinner they invited the heads of the various departments and also the assistant managers, in order to tell the salesmen present the history of the organization and how the organization was working to help them. They called upon the traffic department, they called upon the purchasing department, they called upon the engineering department, on the office organization, and they called on an office boy, too, a youngster who made a mighty good talk, and the idea running through every, department of that organization was that their sole rea- son for existence was to help the selling organization. . . It docs seem to me that it is worth while in your organization to hook up to one single objective and let everybody think in the same terms, and then you can get the advantage of such planning and get from the president down to the office boy the cumulative effect of that singleness of effort you are all seeking for, and the advantages which will flow out of that concerted effort. The core of that passage is at the beginning of the long closing sentence. It would be better brought out if arranged somewhat as follows : The point I want to emphasise is that it is worth while in your organisation to hook up to one single objective and let everybody think in the same terms. Then you can get the 266 LANGUAGE full advantage of such planning. Then you get, from the president down to the office boy, etc. What method you take for special marking of the core sentence does not much matter. The point is to have the core unmistakable so that even a careless listener knows when you come to it. Unity As \ou develop your thought, be careful lest you jump the track. It is only too easy to ramble. In conversation, you ramble because the other man is always proffering sugges- tions, perhaps throwing a switch to sidetrack you. In con- nected address, you ramble because you are always under temptation to get interested in a minor matter — to stop and pick flowers instead of going forward. You may even swing to an entirely different subject. At an informal gathering lately a man of great ability and wide experience got to talking of the splendid record of the negro troops in the war. He was a Northerner, who had lived for.a time in the South, and more recently in California. His ideas were definite, thoughtful, and vividly presented. But unhappily he did not watch his step. He made a casual refer- ence, by way of comparison, to the Japanese, and before he knew it, he was entirely diverted from the subject he began with. What had started as a tribute to the negro turned into a lengthy criticism of Japanese labor as found in Cali- fornia. Arranging the Packing JMethods of arranging the packing, the filler sentences, of your paragraphs are innumerable. The occasion suggests them. Here the speaker's originality and taste have free sway. The following devices are constantly used : BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 267 Repetition The most obvious way of amplifying the key-thought is by repetition, stating it again from a different angle, or merely in different words. This is a device which every one of us uses incessantly. Without it we should be little understood. Many people, however, use repetition unskilfully. They merely say a thing over from the same point of view, almost in the same words. If we missed the point at first we are likely to miss it again. The skilful talker varies the state- ment as he repeats it, and thus the thought grows by the repeti- tion ; a different fact is presented each time. For example take the following passage from Judge Gary, Chairman of the United States Steel Corporation, in his State- ment of Conditions and Prospects, January 8, 19 17. And the employes are just as dependent upon the employer. The employes are made up of the unskilled laborers, not infrequently designated as common labor, so-called, and the administrative force. It is plain that the totally un- skilled laborers could make little progress in collective capac- ity if left to themselves. Without the assistance of others who are more or less trained and who are capable of initia- tive, design, construction, organization and administration, the unskilled would be helpless. It is also clear that the skilled laborer or the highly educated or experienced em- ployes could not without abundant capital accomplish pro- nounced success. Therefore, in their own interest, the em- ployes must fully comprehend their dependence upon their employers who provide the capital. Three-fold Repetition Men who have much explaining to do, particularly to listeners who may be slow of mind or inattentive, are apt to use a three-fold repetition, as follows : 1. A brief, clear statement of the point. 2. A longer statement, with more detail, and in other terms. 268 LANGUAGE 3. A repetition of the first statement, even more brief and emphatic. The theory is that the first statement serves merely to catch the wandering attention of the listeners ; the second tells them the idea ; the third fixes it in their minds. The following series of sentences will illustrate : 1. "Nothing is more essential to the man who wishes to climb in an organization than an alert sense of re- sponsibility to the business. 2. " To put in your full time at active work; to clean up thoroughly the job placed in your hands before pass- ing it along; to notice and remedy errors that come to your attention but which are not technically charge- able against you — these are little things but they win a man notice from his superiors. 3. " Being always on the job puts you in line for promo- tion." Climax \A'hen several thoughts come in a series it is well to ob- serve a climax arrangement, otherwise there will seem to be a drop in interest. The climax may be merely one of sound : short clauses or sentences followed by longer ones. Or it may be according to importance of thought. The following from an address by Mr. Nathan S. Smyth of the U. S. Em- ployment Service illustrates both characteristics ; The National Employment Service ranks among the prime governmental undertakings. It is not paternalistic nor a philanthropy. It is a thing that should exist in the best organized individual state. I cannot conceive of any undertaking that has in it more capacity for benefit, social and human and national. (Nat. Civ. Fed. Review, Jan. 25, 1919, p. 20.) BUILDING LARGER GROUPS j6g Specific Details The natural way to develop a general statement is by means of specific details. Here the point is to have the details repre- sentative and significant, not merely odd or catchy. Notice the following from an address by Dr. Charles Prosser, Di- rector of the Federal Vocational Educational Board, before the convention of the New York State Federation of Labor, 1918: Not all of these disabled men are dismemberment cases. Out of every thousand men that we will have to retrain, I should imagine it would be safe to say that one out of twenty will be a dismemberment case. The blind cases up to this time have been very small in number indeed. Five hundred out of 10,000 or 50 out of 1,000 are dismemberment cases. What is the matter with the rest of the fellows? They have contracted consumption from exposure "' over there," they have valvular heart trouble (regurgitation of the heart, I think the doctors call it), they have atrophied nerves and forearms that have to be brought back into place, they have all sorts of complications — sometimes an arm off and con- sumption : sometimes a leg off and heart trouble. The details should be sufficient in number to bring out the thought but there should not be too many. In the following, from another speech at a convention, the speaker keeps on too long; the details obscure the main point: It seems funny, Mr. Chairman, that just as soon as men believe that they have peculiar ideas of their own, they cast reflections upon men who are sometimes compelled to do things that the labor movement cannot refer to their constit- uents for final action. Under a referendum, Mr. Chairman, a man with a good clear character, with a good clear record, is attacked by a group of men that will tell you openly that they will not follow the dictates of the American Federation of Labor. I have fought the proposition in the Moulders' International Union. We don't need a referendum to kick our officers out. I say, my dear friends, from my experience 270 LANGUAGE I believe the referendum is detrimental to the interests of the trade union movement. I trust that we are broad enough to not, at this time, adopt the resolution for a referendum vote for election of officers for the State Federation. Contrast and Surprise One of the most frequently used devices is that of building thoughts in antithesis. Secretary Lane uses this very strik- ingly in the passage quoted on page 140. " America is not internationalism. America is na- tionalism. . . . America is not pacifism. America is courage, etc." Another form of the same method consists in following a series of statements with a single short sentence which brings the listener to attention with a jerk. The following passage taken from an address by Henry W. Farnam, at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, September 7, 191 7, is an example. There are others whose disintegrating tendencies we must strive to neutralize. Particularly dangerous are they who bring into our country the venom stored up from European antagonisms of the past. Such people do not deserve the protection and liberty which our government gives them. They are like rats crawling into our well-built house through the cellar to spread the plague of hatred and ill-will. No man and no group of men can succeed in the long run who are guided more by hate than by affection and interest. Hate is contrary to the principle of co-operation and reci- procity, on which our institutions are founded, and if we ex- clude contagious disease at Ellis Island, how much more should we exclude the poisons of the mind? Let us give an exclusive copyright on " Hymns of Hate " to the Huns. Parallel Construction These devices are aided by what is called parallel construc- tion. That means, phrasing in similar grammatical form BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 27 T things which are to be thought of together. Examples of this are found in nearly all the above extracts, or in those given in Chapter XXIV. The practice is almost universal in public speeches addressed to miscellaneous gatherings. Some Special Patterns — Secretary Lane Special patterns constantl}' suggest themselves in which these and other familiar formulas are combined in an original way. Here is one from a Liberty Loan address by Secretary Lane in Philadelphia, on October 18, 1917: The paragraph begins with an abrupt question. That is followed by four brief answers, framed in parallel construc- tion. Then follow two pairs of antitheses. The first sen- tence in each pair briefly presents a point ; the second sentence, long and eager, gives the answer. Why is the world against Germany? Germany does not know that the time of empires and emperors is past. She does not know that the day of arbitrary might has gone by. She will not play the Twentieth Century game under Twen- tieth Century rules. She asks for friendship, but she dishon- ors her friends by asking them to do things which they should not do. There was no country more willing to remain neutral than the Argentine Republic. Yet Germany's min- ister asks the Swedish minister to convey messages to Ger- many which outline a policy of ruthlessness upon the sea against that Republic which offends the sensibilities of mankind. You say to me that Germany was not hostile to the United States. How can any such statement be made in the face of the Zimmermann note, in which Germany, while we were still at peace with her, called upon Mexico as her friend to invade our territory, promising her as reward part of our own lands and attempting to induce her to involve Japan with her in war against us.* * Reprinted by permission from " The American Spirit " by Franklin K. Lane. Copyright, 1917, by Frederick A. Stokes Company. 272 LANGUAGE Assistant Secretary Roosevelt A different formula is illustrated in a Liberty Loan ad- dress by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roose- velt at Chautauqua, July 7, 19 17. In the extract here given the pattern is that of a swift pro- gression. There is first a series of items of fact; then a series of possible explanations, all of them shown to be inadequate; finally the true explanation, with a lengthy and earnest repeti- tion in the last sentence. Way back in 1903, not many people in this country were thinking about it, but our navy people, our navy secret serv- ice necessarily was keeping in touch with the activities, and the result was that a great many people on the inside in Washington were in touch with a propaganda working along new lines. There was something going on around us, but it was intangible. Occasionally we would find out the interesting fact that the German Government was paying so and so's salary down in Guatemala, or that the Deutsclier Bank had advanced the loan to take over a plantation at Porto Rico. It was insidious ; it was a terrible thing as each individual case went by; grouped together it could only mean one thing ; it was all too definite ; it meant a central control somewhere. It wasn't the natural development in trade merely, it went a whole lot deeper than that. It wasn't an expression of logical and legitimate expansion by the German people, its branches went higlier up than that, and we know today pretty well, especially in view of some of the intercepted messages from the German Foreign Office to Mexico and Japan, es- pecially in view of many other revelations that have come to us in Washington since the war began, we know that not more than one-half of all this activity was legitimate, we know that it was part of a well laid plan on the part of those who are running the German Government, a deep laid plot to put a strangle hold around the neck of the American people. There is absolutely no question, my friends, that if this war had not come about — there is absolutely no question BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 273 that if this war ends in favor of Germany, in favor of that government which has controlled things in Germany for many years, just so surely this country, you and I maybe, but our children surely, are going to have that noose around their necks pulled tight until we choke to death as a nation. Colonel William Barclay Parsons Here is a still more elaborate pattern, from an address by Colonel \\'illiam Barclay Parsons on " Engineers in National Defense," before the Boston City Club, February 8, 1916. First the topic is stated in a brief question. Next comes a description of our long coast line, and a detailed enumeration of the engineering work required in defending it. This is followed by a briefer remark on the requirements for a possible overseas expedition. Finally comes a detailed comparison of the size of our corps of engineers, at the time, with that of Great Britain just before the war. Have you ever stopped to consider what would be needed of engineers and how many there are in army service? Pic- ture to yourself for a moment our long frontier on the north and the other long one on the south, connected by the three great coast lines of the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. On these, something more than ten thou- sand miles, the only constructed obstacles to the entrance of a foreign foe are the few forts, some of them of no account, at the mouths of our principal harbors. In war the attack- ing force would not be so kind as to steer for Boston Light or to call at the quarantine station at the Narrows in New York Bay. There is absolutely nothing along our land fron- tiers, and nothing along our coasts except only at isolated spots, to check the advance or a landing of an army. If ever war should arise, and wars, you know, come suddenly, we would have to place mines in all our harbors ; to throw up earthworks along our coasts, and secondary lines to pro- vide for reserve defense in case a foothold on the shores should be forced ; to lay the foundations in concrete for heavy guns ; to build branch railways to isolated points on 274 LANGUAGE the coasts, for such points lacking transportation facilities, would be the most inviting for attack ; to build highways capable of standing up against heavy motor traffic, and to maintain and repair both the railways and the highways; to string telegraph and telephone lines and install wireless sta- tions; to make camps for large armies, with water supply, sewers and lights. These things and many others would have to be done, not at one or two places, but practically along our whole seaboards, for we could not tell where the enemy would strike. Should the war be one of offense, as for instance to main- tain the Monroe Doctrine, all these things would ha\e to be done at home, to prevent a diverting home thrust, and in addition we would have to send an overseas expeditionary force to construct suitable landing places for our troops in some Central or South American country already held by an enemy, and to build and maintain elaborate lines of trans- portation, besides carrying out military engineering works on a large scale. The Corps of Engineers of the army is as fine a body of engineers as has ever been organized. As to their compe- tence and skill there is, of course, no question. The only objection is that there is not enough of them. In numbers they would be wholly inadequate to meet the sudden demand. As an illustration, the Corps of Engineers at present consists, and it has never been so large, of 210 officers, of which one is a Brigadier General, and 14 Colonels. In 1912 the Royal Engineers of the British army consisted of one Field Marshal, 11 General officers, 14 Colonels-in-Chief and 60 Colonels, or 86 officers of rank of Colonel or higher, as compared with 15 in our army, and 1,007 officers less than that of Colonel, as compared with 195 here. You all know that when the stress of war came every department of the British army was found wholly inadequate in point of num- bers to meet the demand; and yet look at the great difference from the engineering point of view between Great Britain and this country, in favor of the former. In Great Britain permanent forts are erected at short distances along the coast, thoroughly guarding all points where attack would be feasible, and in addition to which England has had as her BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 275 first line her enormous navy. England had, therefore, no need to further defend her frontiers, and except for the campaign in GalHpoIi, her not large army was operating in a country already amply supplied with railways and with highways of the highest order, so that the work which fell upon her engineers was as nothing compared with the work that would devolve upon ours. Patterns of the Whole Discourse W'e have been thinking of the patterns of individual sen- tences and individual paragraphs or sections. Besides this, se\eral distinct types of construction have been worked out more or less consciously in the general handling of a continu- ous series of paragraphs. Conversational 1. The conversational form. This is the easy, light man- ner of actual chat. The sentences are longer or shorter ac- cording to the impulse of the moment. They are not specially compact and the v^fords are prevailingly colloquial. This is the type of structure to be used most of the time on every occasion, whether for conversation or . for public speaking. The more perfect your command of your vocal machinery and of the resources of language, the more variety and power you can obtain with this simple, natural style. For example, the address of Air. Balfour in the House of Representatives (see page 140) is a remarkable specimen of absolutely conver- sational manner and yet it reads as well as it must have sounded. It is as graceful and well turned as it is easy. Staccato 2. The staccato form. This is the quick, vehement, short- coupled manner used in eager assertion and argument, the debating manner. This is the manner to use for arousing an audience and pushing a point, as in the following extract from 2/6 LANGUAGE a Liberty Loan address by Secretary McAdoo to the ship- workers at Beaumont, Texas, April 15, 1918: Your chairman said one thing truly. There is not a dol- lar of wages paid to any of you men that does not come out of the Federal Treasury. I have to raise that money. How can I get it ? In two ways only : One by taxation, the other by bond issues. We do not get a sufficient amount from taxes to pay the wages of you men. We, therefore, have to sell bonds to the people of the United States, which simply means that the government borrows money from the people which it pays back at maturity with interest at 43/^ per cent per annum. This is better than putting your money in a savings bank or investing it in any other way. You are not asked to give this money to your government : you are asked merely to lend it to your government. When you save your money, you put it in a bank, as a rule, and then some smart and unprincipled fellow comes along and buncoes you by selling you some sort of a chromo which he says is a safe investment. I know how it is; I have been through the mill myself. But when Uncle Sam offers you an investment, he never buncoes you. When he sells you one of his bonds, it is as good as the money in your pocket. So if you lend your savings to Uncle Sam you won't lose them. After you have bought a government bond, do not let any- body tempt you to sell it and invest in something of ques- tionable value. Keep your money in the obligations of your own government and your principal and interest will be safe, and you will be helping your country to win this war. This is good advice to white and colored men alike. It should be borne in mind that this manner is easily over- done. You are apt to go too far for your audience. If you seem too excited, the law of human nature is that the audience will hang back. While talking fast, moreover, you are apt to forget to breathe deeply and to take care of your tones, so that before you know it you are giving the fatal suggestion of strain. That means an end to your command of the situa- tion. BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 277 Oratorical 3. The oratorical manner. Now and then toward the end of a speech a dramatic passage, with sweeping inflections and big sustained tones framed in long pauses, will nail down an important point and give you and the audience alike a benefi- cial thrill. The peroration of Webster's reply to Hayne is one of the most famous examples: \\'hen my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in Heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious union; on states dissevered, discordant, belligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched it may be in fraternal blood. . . . Do not be afraid to use this style now and then when the occasion warrants it, but a little is enough. Webster's great effort came at the end of a five-hour address, most of it purely conversational. A college student of my acquaintance once laced together this passage and the other tremendous perora- tion from Webster's 7th of March speech and made a twelve- minute declamation. His cracked boy's voice spouting those twelve-hundred words of rolling sentences was one of the fun- niest things I have ever heard. The following, from an address by Clarence Darrow, a dis- tinguished lawyer of Chicago, on November i, 19 17, illus- trates the use of this manner : I know too much of the history of Britain and the history of the United States, not to respect the greatness and inher- ent worth of England. For two hundred years she has been mistress of the sea; for seventy-five years at least, she has allowed every vessel and every pound of commerce to freely enter England from any nation on the earth ; and while she has been mistress of the waves she has protected and de- fended the freedom of the seas. I know that in spite of all her faults, England has stood for at least a hundred years as the world's greatest defender of the individual rights of men. It is not for America to condemn England from whom we 278 LANGUAGE drew our laws, our language, our institutions and the deep devotion for civil and religious liberty which have placed us amongst the freest people in the world. England, that en- tered this war, not for glory or for conquest, but to fight with France for the right to live upon the earth ; England, who has pledged her last dollar and all her sons to defend the world against a ruthless military power; England, whose mighty fleet through the summer heat and the winter cold, in the day and night, has silently patrolled all the seas of the earth and defended her liberties and ours, while we slept; England, today, is our ally. And he who in this war con- demns our allies, is guilty of moral treason to the United States. And what of Belgium? Where is the human heart that does not beat quicker at the thought of Belgium? Belgium, the Arnold Winkelreid of this great war; Belgium that met the invading German hosts and held their sabers fast in her bleeding heart until France and England could rally to save the liberties of man ! I had rather be the young King of Belgium, looking over a devastated empire with its ruined provinces, its burning cities, its stricken people, and know that I had kept the faith, than be the ruler of the greatest and richest nation on the earth. Laconic 4. The laconic manner. When you wish to be particularly impressi\-e, nothing is so powerful as a style of grave, slow, even, sententious remarks. In uttering such sentences the tone of the speaker's voice is steady but not loud. The enun- ciation is chiseled with special care ; the pitch variation is slight. The speaker merely utters one terse thought after another, marking each of them with specially long pauses. The style suggests to the listener how much the speaker knows ; how careful he is in choosing just the right thing to say; how glad we should be to be told the truth of the matter in such authori- tative form. That was the manner used by President Wilson in his stern BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 279 exposition of the " Fourteen Points " at the opening of the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign in the Fall of 1918. But this manner cannot be used unless there is something really im- portant at stake, and even then it must not be kept up too long. With regard to the general manner of composition as with regard to the building of sentences and paragraphs, the most important maxim is : Lean on your listener — your audience — -and follow carefully the reactions to your successive re- marks. The good talker knows the point he wants to reach. He makes a move in that direction. The listener reacts in some way by word or look. The speaker replies and makes a second move toward the goal, and so on. The progress is slower than if you merely thought straight through b\' your- self, but you are more likely to have your listener with you at the finish. Make the Pattern Easy to Follow AVhatever patterns you use in building paragraphs and larger blocks, beware of elaborateness, of heaviness, and make the pattern easy for the listener to grasp. For one thing, whether in conversation or in public speak- ing, beware of a long series of sentences of similar length or similar general form and cadence. It is not only tiring to the listener's ear but confusing — like a page of print without punctuation. Beware especially of a long series of positive statements. This fault we are all apt to commit in eager de- bate. We grow so interested in pressing our point that we speak too sharply and get on the listener's nerves. Waves of Thought When more than two or three sentences are spoken at a time they come commonly in zcaz'cs. After the third sentence, per- haps, comes a pause and then in a sort of " burst of confi- dence " there comes a fresh impulse as of a sudden new idea. 28o LANGUAGE It is often introduced with some phrase like " The fact is," or " To tell you the truth," or " You know," or " I tell you how it is." In conversation, at least, an unbroken series of sentences seems prearranged. People do not talk in such smooth sequence. The principle of grouping sentences ac- cording to the waves of thought fits in with the way in which we spontaneously talk. Groups Not Too Long Do not make your groups of sentences too long. We are always in danger of forgetting that the listener is less inter- ested in our topic than we are — he has neither our back- ground of knowledge nor our motive for dwelling on the sub- ject. He cannot hold his mind to the point so well as we can. We forget, also, that it is not necessary to give him all the grounds and reasons for what we are saying. We should give him only what he needs in order to grasp the point. Writers of business letters have realized the limitations of the business-man reader's attention. They make their para- graphs short — much shorter than those of books. Thev make the whole letter short also. They treat one subject only and dismiss that in as few words as possible. Apply that treatment to your talk and you will be more easily understood and more interesting. Make your blocks of sentences short. In conversation, when j'ou ha\e uttered three or four statements at most, stop. If what you have said is worth while, the other man will ask for more, or will make a comment that will give you a cue for continuing with a second short " speech." In public speaking you get the same result by pausing after every few sentences, perhaps slightly shifting your position. That gives the audience a chance to digest what you ha\e said. If it has been worth while they will be ready for more after the pause. If you go on too long at a time they are unable to grasp what you are saying. You BUILDING LARGER GROUPS 281 fail to build up in their minds a trend of thought sufficient to keep them actively listening. Once they become passive, their attention begins to wander. Groups Not Too Heavy — Illustrations Do not make your sentence groups too heavy. Merely hav- ing them short is not enough. Be careful that they are not too abstract in language, that there are not too many generaliza- tions piled together. People cannot think long in generaliza- tions. Experienced talkers lighten their talk with concrete illustrations and with stories. As these are easily grasped and entertaining, they serve both to rest the audience and to throw fuller light on the subject. Most lectures delivered to students are dry because the in- structor forgets the limitations of the students' " terminal facil- ities " and tries to tell too much at a time. But even the driest subjects may become fascinating if the lecturer adopts the open order of presentation, giving one thing at a time in sim- ple terms, not hurrying the listener, and pausing to give ex- amples. One of the most successful lectures ever produced is Dr. Russell Conwell's " Acres of Diamonds." He has delivered it thousands of times, in every part of the country and to all kinds of people. More than two-thirds of it consists of illus- trations, chiefly anecdotes. He gives a brief, clear explana- tion of a point and then illustrates with a story. The other day I heard two men in succession, both electrical experts, talk on the storage battery. The first man pounded straight through his rather difficult subject. He did not use technical language, but he did not pause to illustrate concretely. The audience lost the thread and ceased to listen. The second man was one of those fortunate individuals with an inborn sense of humor, and he had learned to " watch the other man." He paused at every turn for some concrete and interesting 282 LANGUAGE illustration. The audience listened with increasing attention to the end. An Automatic Sense of Arrangement If 3'ou put your mind on the matter you can develop an active sense of structure which will guide you at the moment of composition. Even in off-hand conversation you will be able to visualize your little conversational speech as a three- sentence pattern, a four-sentence pattern, etc. In connected talk }'ou will be able to direct your talk as definitelv as you guide a car : turning out here and there, slowing down where the going is bad, letting her out when you get an open road, and reaching )our destination on time. Anyone with care and patience can learn to build the patterns of his thought in some way like this. The results will pay. Exercises 1. Can you think of any of your acquaintances who seem to build their thought, when conversing, in definite paragraph blocks? To what extent do they place the paragraph key at the begin- ning ? 2. In the various extracts given in Chapter XXIV, note variety of paragraph pattern. 3. Note any cases of rambling (somewhat as on page 266) in serious conversation, on the part of your acquaintances. 4. Analyze, and work out the pattern of a paragraph or a group of paragraphs which seems to you well-built, in a newspaper or magazine, a letter or a circular. 5. Try to rewrite the paragraph or group of paragraphs, using an entirely dilTerent pattern. Can you improve the effect? 6. See if you can note, in an address or lecture which you chance to hear, any of the types of structure mentioned on pages 275-278. Can you identify any other types ? PART IV CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS CHAPTER XIV WHAT BUSINESS CONVERSATION IS The Purpose of Talk Is Practical Presuming that you have adequate command of the ma- chinery of speech and of the ways of language, now for the actual transmission of messages. What is the nature of the activity ? In the first place, the purpose of talk is nearly always prac- tical. Normal people are prompted to speech, not because they like to hear their own voices, but because they wish to get certain results. According to the situation their aim may be as explained in Chapter II to — 1. Gain information, or give it. 2. Convey feeling. 3. Induce another person to do something. We do not always consciously realize that the process is es- sentially a practical one, but that is the basis on which we act. There are abnormal people with whom talking is a sort of joy-riding, but they do not count for much in the business of life. Two Types of Talk In the second place, there are two distinct types or forms of talk — conversation and public speaking. That is, you may talk zvith an individual or with a small group of individuals or you may talk to a company or crowd of people together. The theory of conversation is that it is a conference of equals. The theory of public speaking is that it is the de- livery of a message or command. 285 286 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS Both forms of talk are useful. It is sometimes useful to deal with people in the mass ; pub- lic speaking does that. Its assertiveness, which operates on a group of listeners almost like electricity, often produces re- markable results in the way of stamping ideas upon the minds of others. Public speaking is useful for the first approach to a matter; it is not apt to arouse individual opposition. It is good also for clinching a matter that has been already explained and presented ; the speaker can utilize the influence of the crowd upon the individual. But public speaking is really a " derived " and " secondary " form of talk. The common type is conversation. That is universal ; almost a thing of instinct. All persons converse : learned and ignorant, wise and foolish, old and young, under infinitely varying conditions. The procedure of conversation is more intimate than that of public speaking, bringing you to close quarters with the man you are addressing. Because it is more intimate, its effects are usually deeper and more lasting. Conversation does the world's work. Public speaking is of use on certain occasions as a special re-enforcement of con- versation. The Procedure Differs The same man does not always succeed with both conver- sation and public speaking. This is largely because the methods of the two activities are different, and few people have any clear realization of just what are the essentials of either process. The technique of swimming cannot be ap- plied in playing golf, but once a man knows what he is doing, the same man can both swim well and play a good game of golf. In the same way a man can learn to speak well in public and to be effective in conversation; the essential thing is to know just what he is doing. WHAT BUSINESS CONVERSATION IS 287 The Nature of Conversation There are these facts about conversation : 1. Everyone practices it spontaneously and, with virtually no conscious effort. Everyone enjoys it. Public speaking, on the other hand, is an activity which most persons have to acquire by effort and which at first they do not enjoy. 2. Yet most of us underestimate the practical value of con- versation. We think that it requires no art and gives no tangible result. We do not associate either ef- fort or profit with it. 3. A few shrewd people do invest deliberate effort in con- versation and derive from it large returns. These people are sometimes found in business life, as either salesmen or managers: sometimes in social life, where they dis- tinguish themselves for tact and skill as entertainers. They do not as a rule tell the secret of their success. In fact it is very largely a matter of sub-conscious activity with them. Social Chat — Purpose : Entertainment There are two very different kinds of conversation. The first is social chat. In this, there is no definite purpose other than casual entertainment. Here is a typical instance of a very common sort of social conversation : Brown and Jones happen to be together. Brown happens to say something that occurs to him at the moment. Jones replies, perhaps without much reflection, with what happens to occur to him. Robinson happens to come up at this poJnt, hears what Jones has said, and throws in a chance remark of his own. The conversation may run on for some minutes or some hours without any of the party having any definite thought of whither the talk is tending. Such social chat may be entertaining and even brilliant. 288 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS The talk that goes on in a party of clever people at dinner, for example, or the talk that you used to get in the old-fashioned Pullman smoker — or the talk, often very shrewd and skilful, which went on around the stove in the old-time village " post- office." So far as the general subject of conversation has been dis- cussed in books, it is this social conversation — the play of clever people — which has been chiefly considered. Many writers, American, English, French, etc., have offered sug- gestions as to how to talk agreeably and entertainingly. A number of these suggestions has been collected in an interest- ing little book by Mr. Grenville Kleiser entitled " Talks on Talking." Interesting and Varied Some of the best conversation of this kind in America was that which went on two generations ago in Boston and Cam- bridge in the circle of Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Longfellow, Emerson, and their friends. You can get an idea of its range of topics and charm of manner in Dr. Holmes' book, " The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," and its sequels, " The Professor at the Breakfast Table " and " The Poet at the Breakfast Table." These books will repay your careful reading in connection with your own study. They are full of the wisdom of a wide knowledge of life. Dr. Holmes was himself a remarkably good talker in every way, and his books have much to say about this very matter of the art of conversation. How brilliant and skilful the talk of that circle \^•as may be seen in the following passage from the " Reminiscences " of Edwin Percy Whipple, a member of the circle, which have been recently published. \\'hipple describes a conversation in which Holmes, Lowell, and the historian Motley were the speakers : WHAT BUSINESS CONVERSATION IS 289 Motley laid down some proposition, which Holmes, of course, instantly doubted, and then Lowell plunged in, dif- fering both from Jilotley and Holmes. A triangular duel ensued, with an occasional ringing sentence thrown in by Judge Hoar. In ordinary discu^^ion one person is allowed to talk at least for a half or a quarter of a minute before his brother athletes rush in upon him with their replies; but in this debate all three talked at once, with a velocity of tongue which fully matched their velocity of thought. Still, in the incessant din of voices, every point made by one was replied to by another or ridiculed by a third, and was instantly fol- lowed by new statements, counter-statements, arguments and counter-arguments, hits and retorts, all germane to the mat- ter and all directed to a definite end. The curiosity of the contest was that neither of the combatants repeated anything that had once been thrown out of the controversy as irrele- vant, and that while speaking all together, the course of the discussion was as clear to the mind, as though there had been a minute's pause between statement and reply. The dis- cussion was finished in fifteen minutes ; if conducted under the ordinary rules of conversation, it would have lasted a couple of hours. Four Essentials The characteristics of social conversation are: 1. Give and take. It is never monologue. You sometimes meet a man who is called a " great conversationalist " and find that he is merely a lecturer. He monopolizes the talk. Some- thing sets him off and he launches into a harangue of ten or fifteen minutes. It is interesting now and then to listen to such a solo as you might to a phonograph record. But con- versation requires two or more speakers. 2. Knowledge of human nature and genuine interest in the other man. In a little restaurant down on the West Side I sat once near a party of French people, old and young — evi- dently several families gathered for some anniversary. They were plain working people, but their conversation was lively, 290 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS original, and skilful. The belle of the occasion was a woman sixty-five years old or so. She was very stout, she could never have been pretty, but she knew how to talk. Her voice was pleasant, what she had to say was clever and original, but what held my attention was the way she managed to draw all the others into the talk, keeping the whole party in the game. That w as good con\'ersation — we might ha\'e a great deal more of it. 3. Lightness of touch. Social conversation must be easy, must not go beyond the bounds of good-humor. If you push your point too far you are a bore, and people keep away from you. 4. Spontaneity and sincerity. You are interested by con- versation so far as you feel that you are " getting next " to your companions, learning what they really think. One of the greatest conversers of history was Dr. Samuel Johnson, the 1 8th century Englishman who made the first real dictionary. We possess a remarkable record of his talk in his " Life " by his friend James Boswell, who used to write down at night the exact words he heard the Doctor sa)'. Johnson was often rough in manner. He liked to dominate. But he was alert and honest. He took account of what others said and he said, himself, what he thought. After }'ou have become ac- quainted with Dr. Holmes' " Autocrat," buy a copy of Bos- well's " Life of Johnson " and read in it here and there. You will make a lifelong companion. Business Conversation — A Definite Object But social conversation, after all, is like heat lightning. It is interesting but there are no definite results. We are con- cerned with the other kind of conversation, that which is used as a definite factor in business. Business conversation is always directed conversation ; there is always a definite result in view on the part of one or WHAT BUSINESS CONVERSATION IS 29 1 more of the speakers. Very few persons have given syste- matic study to the matter, but the fact is that conversation can be utilized in a practical way and in any walk of life. It is a resource of endless power. The more intelligent you are, the more you can do with it. In the close and systematic competi- tion of modern life, no one can afford to neglect the power of conversation. Anyone can utilize it so far as he " has a mind." Essentials of Procedure ^\^hatever the circumstances of a business interview, its pro- cedure boils down to something either like this : Brown wants Jones to do something, buy something, lend his support to something. Brown meets Jones and presents his request. Jones resists, either from inertia or hostility — there is a wide range of possible attitudes here — but finally yields. Or like this : Jones asks Brown to do something. Brown resists and finally induces Jones to give up his at- tempt. Four Characteristics Observe here in either case four characteristics of the busi- ness interview : 1. A struggle of wills. You want your companion to go your way. He wants to be let alone, or else he wants you to go his way. One personality tries to dominate the other. 2. Active effort of mind. To persuade your companion to adopt your view, or to avoid adopting his view, you have to think, clearly and quickly. 2'ou desire. That often helps the accuracy of your speech while keeping you "humanly fallible" in the listeners' eyes. If you are too glib with figures and statistics your talk may ap- pear too " cut-and-dried," too much a prepared speech. No- body, even on a committee, likes to feel himself the object of a deliberately prepared assault; at least, if he feels that it in- creases his critical attitude. Accordingly, it is a good plan to be entirely informal and simple, to present your case merely in the way of chat. When you need exact data, you can say, " Let's see, I believe I have some facts on that point " and turn to your notes and read from them what is necessary. Then you can shut your note-book and continue the informal conversation manner. Thus you will disarm criticism. 378 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS The Experienced Jury Lawyer You can learn much regarding talking to a committee from watching an old lawyer's manner with a jury. You notice he repeats a great deal, often running over the same thing four or five times for the different types of men before him. On the other hand, the lawyer knows when to talk to the jury as a unit in the way one addresses an audience. Incidental Points It may be remarked that the make-up and organization of the committee and your own personal acquaintance with the members, while important factors, do not alter the funda- mental conditions. If you know the members of the committee individually, your task may be either harder or easier than if you were talking to strangers. It may be difficult for you to reach those special men. On the other hand, they may like you personally and may be more ready to listen to anything you say. If a committee has a good chairman, that may make mat- ters easier, inasmuch as he can save time and help you get your case before them, whereas, if he opposes you, it is harder to get going and harder to accomplish anything. If the chair- man however is inefficient — the case has been known — while it is undoubtedly harder for the speaker who is not skilful, yet even that situation may be advantageous if you know the game. You can come closer to the members as indi- viduals. Basis of Logical Arrangement Essential AA'hen addressing a committee, large or small, you meet especially the problem of orderly and logical arrangement of the ideas. This problem is vitally important, of course, in all talk, but TALK TO A COMMITTER 379 in conversation it is not often explicitly thought of. In con- versation you follow generally the other man's order of thought. In talk to a committee, as in talk to an audience, you are expected to follow, on the whole, your own order of thought. This difference involves a fundamental difference of pro- cedure. When talking to a group you cannot, we have no- ticed, adapt yourself entirely to any one individual's line of thinking. You must find a mean line for the group, a common road over which all can travel to the point you wish them to reach. That involves finding what is actually the logical relationship of the ideas you have to those who are present. Now there are two different methods of establishing a point, whether with an individual or a group. You may work by strict logic or you may work by persuasive suggestion. Very often the method of persuasion is actually your chief reliance. In addressing a committee, howe\'er, the form of argument must always be followed. Even in conversation people are not pleased if it is intimated that they decide im- portant matters according to persuasion. We all like to think that we act only after intellectually scrutinizing and weighing the proposition which is put before us. Moreover, in order that you may use with safety and ac- curacy the short-cuts of persuasion you need to have a clear grasp of the substantial logical basis of the matter. That involves careful analysis, which is a process of gradual clarifi- cation and correlation of your thought. Gradually you real- ize what are the essential points and what relations the minor points bear to these. When you must address a committee on a matter of im- portance you will nearly always find it wise to analyze and plan your case deliberately in advance. The methods of prep- aration and outlining suggested in connection with a public 380 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS address — Chapters XX an-d XXI — may well be applied here. Logical Material, Rightly Presented Whatever methods of analysis and preparation you may use in a given case you will find it necessary, if you are to face your committee with entire confidence, to — 1. Master the logical relations of your ideas. 2. Reduce these to the simplest and briefest series of steps or blocks. 3. Note carefully the relation o-f the various blocks, so that in the actual discussion you can transpose their order as there may be need. In the actual presentation of your case this preliminary logical order of the ideas will be adapted to the situation of the moment. You will begin your case with some word of introduction, perhaps with some personal reference which seems appropriate, perhaps with a joke. Or, you may get right at the subject. That is the best plan, to make your in- troduction start the game while tying up to the immediate situation. When time is limited, it is an excellent plan to think out in advance t\\o or three effective and short intro- ductions. It is most important to ha\e the introduction in the right key. For example, if you are presenting a matter which is difficult and complex, it is not usually desirable to warn the listeners at the beginning of its difficulty. That is apt to frighten them. You should not be too confident and cock- sure, but you should make it plain that however difficult the subject may be your handling of it is simple and clear. As the argument progresses, you will follow the proposed logical order so far as you can. You will deviate somewhat here and there, however, according to the needs or the wish TALK TO A COMMITTEE 38 1 of the members of the committee. You must never forget that you are talking not to " thinking machines " but to men. Your listeners may grow tired. They may at any moment be affected in an unexpected way by some minor point of language or manner, or by some outside happening. You must be ready for any such diversion, always modulating back to the plan you have laid out. It is often desirable to use certain forms of relief: stories, personal by-play, and other devices, for lightening the strain of a difficult presentation. The use of such relief material, however, has its dangers. You may only too easily be side- tracked, or fall into a tone of familiarity and informality that interferes with your general impression. At the end of your interview with a committee, whatever order you may have followed in the discussion, take time to run over your case briefly in what you know to be the logical order. That leaves with the listeners a clear little map of the whole case. The Ultimate Requirement — Tact Remember, finally, in all your talk, to stand out of the light! Do not let your " ego " be too prominent. It is too easy for us all, when we become interested in our case, and when the audience is listening quietly, to lose our heads and begin to " show off." That is fatal. You are there to present a matter in simple and straightforward terms. You must make your views fit in with those of your listeners. You must not take the tone of superior to subordinate, nor yet that of sub- ordinate to superior. You should seek rather the tone of the conference, of a person presenting an idea in simple straight- forward manner to other persons of equal rank. Talking to a committee calls for the exercise of every re- source of tact, skill in language, and command of personal technique which you have developed in connection with sales 382 CONVERSATION — BUSINESS INTERVIEWS talk, and through )'our experience as member of the organiza- tion, alike as superior and as subordinate. There is little chance for " hot air " in the intimate and intense contests of committee discussion, but there is constant opportunity and need for real power of suggestion. Exercises 1. Jot down a list of committees of various types before which you have appeared, or of which you have been a member. Can you recognize any essential differences in their methods of dispatch- ing business? 2. Note down, in connection with page 378, what might properly be expected of the chairman of a committee, with regard to the con- duct of " hearings." 3. Analyze briefly certain cases of talk to a committee which you have observed, in which the speaker's success — or failure — was due chiefly to his use or disregard of the arts of persuasion. 4. Analyze briefly certain cases in which the speaker's success — or failure — was due chiefly to his command or disregard of logu. 5. Make a list of persons of your acquaintance who seem to you par- ticularly effective before a committee. Trace the chief causes in each case. 6. Ask some associate or friend to note down for you his impressions of your own handling of a case before a committee. PART V PUBLIC SPEAKING— BUSINESS ADDRESSES CHAPTER XIX THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS The Business Address — A Part of Your Work You are likely to be called on now and then to speak in public in connection with your business activities. The calls may not develop until you have reached a point in the busi- ness where your responsibilities are large. On the other hand, even while still in a subordinate's position your work may require you to represent the house, or you may be drafted into service for some special occasion. For men in certain lines public speaking is virtually an essential. Public speaking is not a matter for volunteering but for the draft. The office should seek the man. But the man should be sufficiently ready so that he will not discredit the cause which he has the duty of representing. Mass-Production Applied to Talk Public speaking might be described as mass-production ap- plied to talk. It is in various ways more economical of time and labor than conversation. It is in some ways more pow- erful than conversation because it utilizes the croi^'d impidsc. The kind of public speaking we are dealing with here is a new development resulting from the new conditions — industrial and civic — of modern life. Applying mass-production to talk is no doubt as old a process as the human race itself. In former days, before printing, it was used for all kinds of communications. Mat- ters of importance to the community were explained orally by public officials and priests. The people were entertained by story-tellers. Local news, and even such advertising as 385 386 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES the business men of that day knew, was given out orally by the town crier and similar officials. When later on the people came to have a larger part in puljlic affairs, public speaking became an extremely important agency for doing the com- munity's political business. Recent Public Speaking Chiefly Ornamental Writing, which appeals to the eye, is better for conveying information than talk. You can re-read what is written and study it at your leisure. Printing is mass-production ap- plied to writing. When printing became cheap, it replaced public speaking for communicating information. During the nineteenth century, accordingly, the place which in older days had been filled after a fashion by public speaking was filled far more completely and adequately by books and magazines and newspapers, by advertising copy and business correspond- ence. As a result, the function of public speaking in recent generations has come to be little more than ornamental. Out- side of two or three professions — the law, the ministry, etc. — in which oral address is part of the professional routine, by far the greatest number of persons who have attained notice as public speakers during the last few generations have dealt chiefly in entertainments and " inspiration." The first image suggested by the term "public speaker " is likely to be that of the political spellbinder, the traveling evangelist, the Chautauqua lecturer, etc. Now public speaking of that sort lends itself easily to the exploitation of personal charm, to affectations of all kinds. One result has been that sensible, hard-headed people during recent generations ha\e come to have a very general distrust of public speaking. They have not believed in its encour- agement; personally they have shunned the reputation of being public speakers. Even in the professions which naturally present ideas by word of mouth, many of the more careful THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 387 and thoughtful practitioners have come to utiHze rather the form of writing. College professors write and read their lectures ; clergymen write and read their sermons. This atti- tude is illustrated by a remark of Kipling in A Diversity of Creatures: " When people take to talking as a business, any- thing may arise — anything except the facts in the case." The Business Address — Utility Within recent years, however, since the development of large-scale business, a remarkable shift has come. A new type of public speaking has sprung up directly connected with the activities of business. We may call it the business address. This is a very different affair from the ornamental public speaking of our fathers and grandfathers. This aims pri- marily to present facts simply and briefly, in order to obtain certain definite results. It is truly a business activity — just as is cost accounting or the work of the personnel department. It is this new form of public speaking with which we are here concerned. Modern business, like modern war, mobilizes the whole man. It is not enough to convey information. The feelings and the will of the working staff must be reached and harmonized and used for the good of the business. Various means of approach must be utilized. Direct Appeal In a matter of conduct, where the feelings and will of a large number of people are concerned, the most human and hearty and therefore dynamic approach can be made through the oral address. For example : I. Few persons receive as close and intimate understand- ing of a matter from reading as from listening. Most people, most of the " plain people," are ear- 388 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES minded. It takes a much larger amount of adver- tising copy than of face-to-face talk to produce a given effect with a number of people. 2. The crozvd impidse disposes the individual to a recep- tive attitude. He is influenced more strongly when he hears a thing in company with others than if he were listening by himself or reading to himself. Addresses Within the Organization The occasions for addresses of this sort are increasingly numerous and varied in modern business. They present themselves often in connection with the task of carrying on the work of the organization itself. Managers must secure the understanding and the support of their employees for house policies if those policies are to be carried out effectively. Throughout the organization, there is continual need for ex- plaining, consulting, obtaining the endorsement of associates, etc. For all this, writing is not sufficient. Circular letters and books of instruction cannot convey ideas with personal color and force as talk can do. The larger the organization be- comes and the more people that are involved in its workings, the more need that they shall sometimes meet the general and higher officers face to face. Occasions An active sales organization usually makes a feature of sales conventions, with addresses by the sales manager and other officers, and by salesmen. A factory of any size has its fore- men's meetings. Chain-store organizations have their regular meetings of store superintendents or managers. The social activities and welfare work furnish other oc- casions which bring together the members of the working staff. If there is a profit-sharing arrangement, or a bonus THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRI'SS 389 s_\stem, the entire body may gather at intervals for the dis- tribution of prizes. Where some form of representation in the management is in force, the number of occasions for meetings and the need of intelhgent discussion are correspondingly increased. Outside the Organization Business addresses of a somewhat different type are called for by what might be termed the diplomatic relations of a busi- ness house with its associates and competitors, and with the public. Men engaged in the same line of business meet fre- quently in conferences and conventions, to talk over matters of importance to the industry formally and informally. In the same way business men must occasionally discuss matters relating to the industry before the larger public — perhaps at informal gatherings, perhaps at meetings of commercial clubs or boards of trade, perhaps at mass meetings representing the community in general. For all this, clear and effective talk is necessary. A man who cannot present his ideas skilfully to other men gathered in his company is distinctly at a disadvantage. He knows it and the others know it. Much the same conditions apply to members of the va- rious professions : law, the ministry, medicine, engineering, etc. They apply also to members of labor unions and similar organizations. Civic Affairs — The Liberty Loans Moreover, the last few years have seen a remarkable devel- opment of something very similar in connection with the civic activities of the country. A feature of our national work in the war was the constant education of the public through brief direct speeches in " movie " theaters, on street corners, wherever people were gathered together. The work of the 390 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Four Minute Men, of the speakers for the Liberty Loans and War Charities, the instruction given orally to multitudes of people by representatives of the Food and Fuel commissions, etc., was a new thing in the world. The point to notice is that the work of these thousands of volunteer speakers was essentially that of making "business men's speeches." They were after immediate practical results; they had to present facts so as to be understood 'and utilized by their miscellaneous audiences. The need of public speaking of this practical kind is bound to increase in the near future, as the conditions of our in- dustrial and civic communities are shaping themselves. It is the duty of the man who wishes to be a useful member of his organization — and to be a good citizen — to do his part, not to push himself forward, but to make himself fit for such responsibilities as may come. Even, it may be added, if you rarely make speeches your- self, you will be a more reliable member of your organization and a better citizen if you know something of the nature and procedure of a business address. You can listen more intel- ligently, you are less likely to have things put over on you by clever faking — to which we are all susceptible. A New Type — New Rules The chief defect, however, ^A'ith the business address as thus far developed is not faking — it is roughness and incom- pleteness. i\ great many of the men who have to make such addresses do not yet know how to make full use of their opportunities. The rules of the new game have not yet been well analyzed ; the rules made for the old-fashioned, artificial sort of public speaking apply very little. The men who learned the old style with its flourishes may even be less competent to give business addresses than those who are entirely inexpe- rienced. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 391 Characteristics — Practical Aim Remember always that a business address has a definitely practical aim. It is delivered only because needed, in order to accomplish some particular result which could not be ac- complished so well by other means. It never " just happens," as is the case with much other public speaking. To be sure, the occasion may be apparently merely social; nevertheless the speeches — for example, the introductory and incidental remarks of a toastmaster or chairman — may have a definitely practical aim and may be planned carefully. A large number of New Yorkers coming from a certain foreign country had been organized in little societies accord- ing to the villages in the old country from which they had come. There was a lack of general unified feeling. The war brought a strong impulse to Americanization. As one means of furthering this movement a large social club was organized by members of several of the smaller societies, to which all were eligible. At the first meeting and dance of the social club, the Secretary made a little speech of welcome. In form that speech was light and easy. Actually, it was a most im- portant and carefully thought-out address. It was in fact a move toward the organization of a permanent general body to represent the whole community. It is to be noted that the object of a speech of this kind is always important. Otherwise conversation or writing would be used. Those responsible for a business address want to be sure of gaining their point. They cannot afford to leave it to chance. A clergyman or a lecturer can seek merely a general effect in addressing his audience. A man talking to the employees on the need of observing the new regulations of the Board of Health must be able to get definite results from his speech. Therefore the business address must not be allowed to run wild. There is danger when a man gets to talking that he will 392 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES say too much, or say things in the wrong way, and thus do more harm than good. In a business address the speaker should have steady control of his speech, like a surgeon's con- trol over his hands. Characteristics — Interest of Hearers The hearers have a direct personal interest in the matter under discussion. They may or may not realize that at first. If an officer of the company, for example, talks to employees about the wage scale, or the vacation scheme, they feel the importance of the matter, of course, and listen eagerly. They may not be able to " heckle " him, but if he makes a wrong move it is remembered and scored against him in the mind of every listener. A young officer from the Insurance Bureau of the govern- ment came to talk at a reconstruction hospital of difficulties developing in connection with the army insurance. He took the wrong tone with the soldiers. They asked questions, they heckled him, and he made a \'ery poor showing. An officer of the hospital, feeling that the effects of the address were likely to be distinctly bad, took hold when the stranger had finished and smoothed the matter out. He knew his men and knew how to talk to them. Sometimes the hearers may not at first realize their own in- terest. The personnel man of a large organization was talk- ing at a commercial club meeting in a small city about plans of his company to de\'elop a tract of land for workmen's houses, etc. The members listened at first with mild attention. Then they suddenly realized that the plan implied building up a new section of the town, a shift of population, of trolley travel, of the patronage of stores, etc. ; that it would affect real estate values all over town, and would aff^ect their own interests. What began as a quiet lecture became unexpectedly an excited debate. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 393 Characteristics — Always a Message In a business address, the message idea is particularly prom- inent. The speaker should clearly have a right to speak. He should be more than merely a " speaker." He should be a man who first of all knows the subject he is talking about, who has more or less definite responsibility in connection with it. The men who do best in business addresses are men of affairs who have standing by reason of their work and who make speeches when the occasion demands just as they take part in other activities of the business. Attitude Most Important One of the principal problems with a business address is that of attitude and mood. It is in part the problem of talk to a committee on a larger and looser scale. The speaker must use the right approach. He must sing in the right key. He must give the impression of clearness, honesty, reliability, and friendliness. Where this is not done, by the way, it is nearly always an act of omission on the part of the speaker or the management. The management means well but takes the wrong method. The cause nearly always is failure to give due attention to the audience. Not Like an Order Some things, we can readily see, must not be done. For one thing, the business address must not be dogmatic, must not sound like an order. Orders can be given out in some other way. You bring people together because you want to appeal to them personally. Not Coldly Intellectual For similar reasons, a business address must not be pre- sented in a coldly intellectual manner. Some executives are 394 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES doubtful about establishing any sort of personal relations. They are suspicious of what they regard as " mere talk." They like to get things into a form that is correct in method and system. When such a man addresses employees or trade associates, his manner is often as cold as a legal argument. That attitude of mind brings trouble even more surely than the attitude of arbitrariness. Plain people do not understand the coldly intellectual attitude of mind. They think that it conceals some kind of crookedness. Not Too Emotional On the other hand, the business address must keep away from sentimentality or gush. There is no place in it for either hot air or what the reporters sometimes call " sob stuff." The speaker should not talk much of " loyalty," or make bald appeals to sentiment. Any tendency to sentimentality makes his listeners suspect either his straightforwardness or his judg- ment. For example : A New York electrical contractor doing a large business became deeply interested in a new profit-sharing plan. He was popular with his employees and the plan was good in itself, but he spoiled his case by his emotional and over-enthusiastic manner of presenting it to the employees. They could not believe that what he had to say was good sense, because it was presented in so extravagant and emotional a manner. Be Genuine This does not mean at all to disregard emotion. Be genuine. If you are honestly interested in the people you are talking to, you will think of things to say which will be such as strike the proper chord with your listeners. The business address of today utilizes emotion, but links up emotion always with cool and trustworthy reasoning. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 395 Conversational Manner — Plain and Simple Business addresses should conform as nearly as possible to the manner of conversation. They should be definite, frank, friendly, and simple. One of Dr. Holmes's poems, picturing the troubles that came to a man who was too clever in his writing, concludes with the lines: " And since I never dare to write As funny as I can." The principle applies, with a difference, to the business ad- dress. It is better not to be too clever or brilliant. Such an address is dealing with realities; the indispensable quality is naturalness. From one point of view, the business address might be de- scribed as a conversation which is : 1. Loud enough for many hearers. 2. Expressed in the form of continuous talk. Language As to the language, little needs here to be added to what has been said in earlier chapters. The words of a business ad- dress should be somewhat less colloquial than those of con- versation. It is better to say, " I do not " and " You can- not " than "I don't" and "You can't." An occasional col- loquial phrase will give color but too many are unwise. The sentences may be either long or short. Too many short sentences give an effect which is jerky. The clauses should almost always be light. You cannot speak heavy clauses with- out using an elaborate and somewhat artificial delivery. The paragraphs or groups of sentences in a business ad- dress are usually longer than in conversation or in a business letter. Frequent stopping and starting is bad. Arrangement is most important. You should let the audience know at 396 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES every moment where they are going, what the relation is of this idea with those preceding and which is the most important. Questions and Pauses In order to keep your talk as near as possible to the man- ner of conversation punctuate it with questions, with pro- vocative remarks, and with pauses. The pauses give you a chance to listen to the audience, to feel its reaction to your ideas, the way it is taking things. They stimulate the listener to show his feelings by word, look, or manner. Pauses and questions suggest to the audience, besides, that you have con- trol of yourself. They show that you can stop your ma- chinery at will and adjust its workings. Put in, moreover, plenty of breathing spaces just to let the audience rest. After a serious passage put in a story; do not try to carry your listeners over too much ground at a time. If you make the traveling easy, you can take them anywhere. Like Good " Reason- Why " Copy There is a significant resemblance between the plain, direct style of good business addresses and that of good " reason- why " advertising copy. The aim of such copy is to discover the thought of the a^-erage reader and to state it for him in the terms which he would use. Good copv-Avriters do not try nowadays to be showy or catchy unless the article the-\' are presenting has no real talking point. Tobacco ads today are often mere " copy angle " stuff be- cause there is nothing more left to be said about tobacco. For example : " Good old Bull, It's pure." " .\sk dad, he knows." " "ii'our nose knows." " The self-made cigar." THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 397 But compare the following, the first reading section of a page announcement of a new advertising service in the New York Times: I realize the big possibilities of the Latin-American market, but how can I take advantage of them? This is the problem of many United States manufacturers. Their product is ideal for that market. The time is ripe for them to go after it. But they hesitate because they haven't the same accurate knowledge that has enabled them to sell successfully in the United States. There are obstacles to marketing our goods in Latin Amer- ica. But these obstacles can now be overcome. These coun- tries have 85,000,000 people. Of these, 40% are potential buyers of our products. The size and buying power of the market make it worth the while of the United States manufacturer to expend the necessary effort and money to overcome these obstacles. Among the United States products already enjoying good sales in this field are: Colgate's Toilet Articles, Scott's Emulsion, Sapolio, Win- chester Arms and Ammunition, Walk-Over Shoes, Singer Sewing Machines, Columbia Phonographs, Kodaks, Reming- ton and Corona typewriters, and a variety of makes of auto- mobiles, tires, and machinery of all sorts. It is a new market to many manufacturers. Such manu- facturers will have the advantage of being first in the field. It is a growing market which will yield increased sales in proportion as it is scientifically worked. The basis of a permanent and growing business is the same in Latin America as it is in the United States — Consumer Demand. How to create and stimulate consumer demand in Latin America need be a problem no longer for the United States manufacturer. The information needed to advertise and sell successfully in Latin America is now available. For the past year the Caldwell-Burnet Corporation has . 398 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Simplicity and Moderation The writer of this ad manages to say what the average manufacturer would think, in terms which he would use. Observe : 1. The moderation in the handling of the detail ideas. He begins by restating, in terms that are unhackneyed but plain, things which every one knows to be true. As he introduces new contentions they are eased in so quietly, in terms similarly simple and matter-of- fact, that they also are likely to be accepted without question. 2. The naturalness of the language. He conceals art and avoids all suspicion that he is trying to make a point. The sentences are entirely simple and direct, the same sort of sentences that anyone would frame with- out conscious effort in off-hand talk. Victory Loan Speeches Some of the most successful Victory Loan speeches had this quality of simplicity and naturalness. One of them after picturing the war efforts hitherto, after speaking of the gov- ernment's need of more money " to finish the job," the soldiers still over in France waiting to be brought back, etc., con- cluded : "We'll take up the bonds and say: 'Come on home, Pershing ! Come on home, boys ! We've got it all fixed up. We'll see that you get an even start on your new job! ' " In these Victory Loan speeches, as has been said, the situa- tion was practically the same as in the case of a business ad- dress. The speaker was presenting the case of an " organiza- tion " — the United States Government — to the rank and file of its stockholders, and asking endorsement and support. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 399 Not Lengthy — The Gist of a Matter A business address is necessarily a brief treatment of a subject. It cannot be a detailed treatment. Few such addresses extend over an hour. That is about as long as people can listen successfully. The usual time is much shorter, rarely more than twenty to thirty minutes. Now in an hour's speech a man cannot utter much more than 10,000 words — as many words as would fill thirty pages or so of this size. A speech of twenty to thirty minutes will contain only 4,000 to 5,000 words. On the other hand, a business report dealing with an important matter connected with the organization, may easily run to a hundred pages or more, and the report of a law case of any importance is longer yet. Your aim in a business address is not to present a matter to the audience for them to consider evidence and gradually formulate a conclusion. It is to give the gist of a matter, to obtain their approval or criticism of some general policy or some plan or method. Your address is an appeal either for an endorsement, a " mandate," or for participation in a course of action. That is, it is an appeal for trust. The formula of such an address when reduced to its elementary terms is this: My Friends : Here is a situation in which you are concerned. The elements involved are these and these. We have in mind to do this. What do you think of it? Will you help? It is manifest that the success of any such appeal rests on ful- filling three conditions. The audience must be persuaded : 1. That the statement presented is clear and intelligible. 2. That the speaker is honest, fair, and frank. 3. That the speaker and those he represents are competent; that the view they advocate shows acuteness of mind and soundness of judgment. 400 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES If the speaker leads the audience to believe these things, he wins, whether he talks two minutes or an hour. Details can be checked up and adjusted later, but unless he produces this impression, he fails. A Problem of Selection and Arrangement Now the first and second points noted above, the clearness of the statement, the friendliness and honesty of the speaker, are taken care of largely through personal technique and com- mand of language. But the audience's impression of the competence and adequacy of his view depends on whether he can give the essentials of his case in the brief limits of an ad- dress of not more than twenty or thirty minutes. That is, it is a problem of selection, of perspective; it is the same problem that the advertising man has to deal with. It is solved by applying the principles of advertising, namely, selection and arrangement. A business address must choose with care the strategic points of the matter — the fewer the better. In a five-minute talk, you must confine yourself to one or two points. In a thirty-minute talk, you can cover perhaps a half-dozen but not more. If you try to cover too much ground, you give merely a bald series of chapter headings which has no sug- gestion for the listener's mind. The High Spots — The Opening A business address must feature properly the high spots. Attention should be given especially to the opening, the junc- tion points, and the close. The purpose of the opening is in part to arouse attention, to create confidence, to arouse interest. It depends, of course, on your relation with your listeners what sort of start you will make. In talking with friends, you can begin with hardly any preliminary ; in talking to strangers, you may need THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 40 1 some sort of a splash to get attention. Sometimes a personal reference is useful, sometimes a story, sometimes a surprising statement. But do not fuss over the opening too much. It does not matter much, usually, in a business address — the audience will listen anyway for a while. Alake the beginning brief. Do not forget that its chief object is to open the statement of the subject. Almost invariably, inexperienced speakers waste time in the preliminaries, and as a result have to crowd or omit some part of what they really want to say, later on. The Junction Points An inexperienced speaker drives right along; he is apt to run the listeners off their feet to keep up. The man who knows how, stops at the junction points to let his listeners rest. AVhen you pass out of one division of the subject into another, stop and sum up. Tell them what ground you have already covered, where they are going next, and why. Keep them with you ; show them the road ; change your manner as you pass from one sentence to another. Follow a quiet passage with something snappy, follow an intense passage with something quiet or light. On the other hand, it is only too easy to make too much of a break. You hear addresses sometimes which are built like a unit bookcase, in entirely separate blocks. When the speaker comes to the end of one block, his engine seems to " go dead," and audience and speaker alike wait helplessly for a moment until he can make a fresh start. With a good speaker, who knows what he is about, the pauses serve to emphasize; they do not break connection. When such a speaker stops for a moment, you can see by his face and bearing that he is wait- ing for you to digest what he has told you, that he is ready to go on as soon as you are. 402 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES The Conclusion Too many speakers forget to think over and to plan out their conclusion. Getting off the platform after an address is as important as getting out of the room after an interview. Some men hang around trying to think of a clever exit and as a result they kill the effect of their speech. Some men bolt awav before clinching their point, which is equally fool- ish. The conclusion is the one part of your speech ti'IiicJi you can prepare in adz'aiicc. You do not know until the time comes just where you are to begin, but you do know where you are to come out. Therefore, if you are wise, you will plan your exit. Plan the Closing Sentence The right way is to have your final sentence definitely worded. Then, as you go along through the speech, this will loom up before you and you can see your way to developing parts of your speech to get ready for it. Various methods may be used for emphasizing the close, when it does come. The device most frequently used is that of recapitulation — running over the points you have made. Another device is that of a brief summarizing sentence, putting the essential points in vigorous terms. Or you may close with a story or with a picture. The point is, have a definite finish of some kind — don't just pause and say, " Well, I think that's all I have to say." And do not end with a jerk. It is well, particularly in a speech of twenty minutes or more, to let the audience down easily. A good method is to work to a climax sentence al- most at the close, then after a pause, give a sentence or two of hghter matter — then stop. Holding the audience's atten- tion for a moment after the climax gives time for the slow tliinkers to catch the point. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 403 " Five-Minute " Addresses Business addresses fall into two kinds. There are, first, short addresses of not much over five minutes in length. An address of this kind is literally an oral advertisement. The aim is like that of " general-publicity " or " reminder " copy. The thing of prime importance is not the precise detail of what is said but the manner in which it is said, the slant. It is a question of selection of strategic points and dynamic wording. In a sense it is a case of intellectual jiti jitsu. Such brief speeches may be made very skilful and effective if the speaker gives careful attention to the art of their ar- rangement, as the copy man lays out his car cards and other brief advertisements. Here is a four-and-a-half minute speech, exactly as it tca^ delivered before a large church congregation, to quicken in- terest in a church enterprise. The speaker was a young busi- ness man, a member of the committee representing the con- gregation. What is the Centenary Movement ? It is the call of Methodism, of you and me, on the one hundredth anniversary of its Missionary work to meet in a more adequate way the challenge of the world's needs. That means our needs in this Centenary parish as well as " over there." Can you people in th^ back rows hear what I am saying? Thanks. I feel I can safely say that gofo of those present are mem- bers of this Church. What per cent of this congregation here this morning have signed the intercession cards and are daily praying for the development of the Centenary Move- ment? There is no doubt in our minds that everybody present this morning is in harmony with this movement and wants to see it succeed. But notwithstanding this feeling we are not co-operating in the working of this Mission. Why is it that when the Church needs three to four hun- 404 PUBLIC SPEAKING— BUSINESS ADDRESSES dred workers to help carry out Christ's Mission here among our own parish, we get the following excuses : 1. Have not the time. 2. Do not understand the work. 3. I am willing to do anything to help but cannot do just the one thing you want me to do. 4. Do not care to do Church work. Now stop and consider which one of these excuses applies to you. As members of this Church and believers in Jesus Christ's Mission on earth how can we answer His call so selfishly? Now is the time to seek God's service, not when we are about to die. If we will pray each day God will give us the strength and understanding to accomplish our daily tasks. In answer to the third excuse, there is an old saying that there is a place paved with good intentions. Last but not least, why do you come to Church and what good do you derive from it if you do not contribute your- self as well as your means to its work? Only in so far as you believe and serve will you receive its rich blessings. At the door as you pass out, will be handed to you the Centenary Catechism, Take it home. Read, pray, and serve in this Centenary Movement. Note how compact this is, and how direct. The speaker has one point to make, and he develops it in five steps as follows : • 1. The meaning of the Centenary Movement. 2. Ninety per cent of the audience profess to support it. 3. Actually they are neglecting it, offering four excuses. 4. The four excuses answered. 5. Consider the matter again, and do your part. He uses only 369 words altogether, including a brief digres- sion in the third paragraph — an original method of jogging attention. THE NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ADDRESS 405 The Longer Speech The other form is that of the speech of twenty minutes or longer. Here you have a discussion of a theme. It must appear to be coherent, unified, sufficiently full, and yet actually be in open order and not too compact. The utmost care is required in selecting and grouping material. Do not attempt a detailed and complete discussion but rather a significant cross section of the subject, or two or three of them. Do not use generalities. Use a few well- chosen typical items. If you can present these typical cases in accurate perspective, it will suggest to the audience that you are competent to treat the entire subject equally well, if per- mitted. Take up therefore one vital point. Treat it clearly and frankly. If you cannot speak definitely about it, do not speak at all. Then take another phase of the subject. You must not seem to be cautious when you are talking to your friends. Do not say too much, and do not speak too fast, or give the audience the feeling that you are pressed for time. You will make them nervous and spoil the whole effect. Sometimes you can say, " I haven't time to go into details about the other part of the subject, but, etc." Refer them to printed matter where fuller treatment is available. Some- times you can have the printed matter distributed at the time, or just after you have spoken. Make it evident, always, that your remarks are not offered as a complete treatment of the subject. The problem of a business address, that is to say, as to structure, is essentially the same as the problem of good ad- vertising. The points to be kept always in mind are : 1. Selection. 2. Arrangement, display. If you have command of your machinery and know how 406 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES to concentrate on the audience, you can carry out the plan that you have arranged in advance. That is a matter of technique. What the plan is — what selection of material you are to make — that is a matter of special preparatiion. Exercises 1. Jot down a list of various occasions for business addresses of the sort noted on page 388, in a business with which you are ac- quainted. Define what the aim of the address might be in each case. 2. Describe briefly some " social occasion " in your experience in which there was an actual business intention (see page 391). How well was it utilized? 3. Define the aim of each of the business addresses in Chapter XXIV. 4. Make a note of an address, perhaps by some business executive, which impressed you as too " cold," or too much Hke an " order ; " can you see now how it might have been made better? 5. Note briefly, with regard to any business addresses which you chance to hear, either within an organization or outside, (a) the length, (b) the evident aim of the speaker, (c) characteristics of the language, (d) treatment of the "high spots:" opening, junction points, and conclusion. Continue these notes for some time, for two or three months or so, and see what tendencies appear. 6. Analyze, in connection with page 403, some short and simple busi- ness address which you may chance to hear. CHAPTER XX PREPARATION Preparation Essential You cannot expect to speak in public satisfactorily without preparation. That is particularly true of business addresses. You must have your ammunition handy before beginning your attack. You must at least look over the ground and deter- mine your objective and the best way to obtain it. We hear now and then of purely impromptu talks. A man is called on unexpectedly and comes back at once with a telling speech. In\estigate these cases and you find usually that: 1. The subject was one which was already familiar to the speaker although he did not know that he was to speak upon it just at that time. 2. The success was a more or less lucky fluke. The speaker contrived to turn the talk away from the sub- ject really under attention to some other matter which he did know, or else he was able merely to exploit his own personality. That kind of thing is risky. No man with a reputation to make or to lose wants to try it twice. The Wrong Sort of Preparation On the other hand, not all preparation is the right sort. A man may load up with the wrong equipment and fail utterly. For example, here are two wrong ways : A New York physician had done a good deal of work for a health board committee, in the course of which he had to talk informally at a moment's notice to any sort of audience. He 407 4o8 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES was asked to make a special address on his subject at the an- nual dinner of a leading club. He took special pains this time to write out and memorize a speech that should be worthy of the occasion. When the time came he began, sailed along easily for a minute and a quarter, and then stuck ! He had not brought his manuscript and had to sit down ignominiously. The president of a certain large investment corporation is strikingly fluent, witty, and even brilliant in conversation, or when he gets on his feet impromptu in a discussion. When he has to make a prepared speech, he invariably packs in so much and fusses so laboriously over the details that the ad- dress he finally delivers is beyond the comprehension of the ordinary man and dry as a bone. Responsibility Forbids Taking Chances Such cases tempt one sometimes to think all preparation useless and trust to luck. But when a man has responsibility for definite results, he cannot afford to take chances. What is the right sort of preparation? We are considering here, remember, the ordinary business man who speaks in public only now and then, when he has a definite reason for doing so. Such a man finds that he has to discuss a topic at a trade convention ; or explain a change in the house policy to the em- ployees ; or go before a committee ; or make a public appeal for subscriptions in some charitable " drive; " or he must make a speech at a club gathering. What shall he do to get ready? He cannot drop his business to work out the address elab- orately. He can give little time and effort at best and he must expend that to practical advantage. Three Aspects of a Speech Any address or speech may be considered under three as- pects : PREPARATION 409 1. As to the ideas — the facts which the speaker has to present and his personal reflections upon them. 2. As to the formulation — the method of selection and arrangement of the ideas. 3. As to the outer dress of language, and the details of utterance and expression. Ideas Cannot be " Specially Prepared " Now the ideas cannot be specially prepared. Or rather, they do not need to be prepared. You ha\'e them. A man can talk only of what he knows. To study up a new subject in order to make a speech upon it is something no prudent man attempts. The fact that he has been selected to speak on a certain subject shows that people regard him as suffi- ciently informed to handle it. When asked to speak he must of course think over and test what he already kno\\s. He may look up certain points to verify and broaden his grasp of the subject. But he should not do too much of that. If he spends much time in further study, he will not be able to assimilate the new material. Delivery Cannot be " Specially Prepared " Regarding the dress of the thought, the language, the man- ner of delivery, there is very general misunderstanding, particularly among people who are only occasionally called on for speeches. Much of the inefficient preparation which we ob- serve is in connection with this. Men try to do the impos- sible. Meanwhile they overlook and fail to utilize powers which they have easily at command. You cannot in a few days or a few weeks develop skill in delivery. Some men, it is true, attempt to make just such a quick preparation of the details of an address. They hire someone to coach them in a few lessons in public speaking. The result is always small. Some years ago, a distinguished 410 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES English writer of poetry and essays came over here to lec- ture. He had never done any lecturing; he disliked it; but he had to do it in connection with war-work, and so he took a few " lessons." As a result, his speaking was a patch-work. His talk in private was that of a sensible, masculine man, but his talk before the public was mechanical and was spotted with queer mannerisms picked up from his instructor. Not long ago, a distinguished business executi\'e, who had been giving a good deal of study to problems of reconstruc- tion, prepared an elaborate address. He also, to make ready for the public, took a few " lessons " in delivery. The speech itself was remarkable for intellectual grasp and for firm logical construction. But the delivery was absurd. He sounded like a school-boy speaking a piece. The gestures, the tone, the method of changing from point to point showed the half as- similated instruction of a mechanical teacher. They were out of key with the man's personality; the whole efifect was bad. Memorizing the Language Unwise Moreover, it is unwise to attempt to prepare the language in any detailed way- A still larger number of men attempt that. Some of them write out and painfully memorize an elaborate speech. Now memorizing a speech, unless }'ou are very skilful, unless in fact it is your regular business, is a very difficult thing to do. The more closely the ideas are fitted together, the more likely you are at some point or other to lose the connection and then the whole thing may go from you, as in the case of that New York doctor. Reading from Manuscript Ineffective The most common method is to write the speech and read it. This is safer than memorizing, but it is not the right method for a business address. In the first place, this also is an extremely difficult thing PREPARATION 41 1 to do successfully. The inexperienced person does not write as he talks. His words are more formal; his sentences more elaborately put together. What he produces may be a good essay or argument, but it is rarely an address, such as will get results in direct presentation. Nine times out of ten it is a monologue. In the second place, it is even harder for a man to read aloud what he has written so that it sounds like talk. Not one man in a thousand can read aloud in public so that if you close your eyes he will seem to be talking. He falls into sing-song. He emphasizes the wrong words or he tries to emphasize too many words. The audience listens more or less respectfully, but the speaker does not reach them as a man can do when he talks straight out in the words that come. Reading versus Talk Some time ago, a prominent New York club invited repre- sentatives of both sides of a labor dispute of national im- portance to discuss the subject before the members. The representative of the managers, a courtly, distinguished gen- tleman, read a remarkably well written " paper." It was acute, logically put together, and fair, but it was so color- less and quiet and so badly read that most of the listeners went to sleep. The man who represented the men, the head of the remark- ably successful union which had just won its fight, did not write his speech. But he had had long experience on the plat- form; he drove straight at his audience and told them what he had to say in vigorous, direct personal language. He was listened to with profound attention although the point of view of his audience was strongly hostile. When he concluded the meeting broke up into little groups and men continued to discuss among themselves what he had been saying. When his speech was printed, later, from the shorthand notes, it did 412 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES not show up so well in many points as that of the representa- tive of the managers, but it was a real speech. It carried the man's personality; it got across the things he was trying to say, and it was remembered vividly by the men who heard it. A Better Way — Learn to Think on Your Feet Special preparation of language is not merely futile, it is unnecessary. You neglect a better way. If you have mas- tered conversation you can find a better dress for your ideas on the spur of the moment, face to face with your audience, than you can possibly think out in advance. You may not believe this, but it is true. The fact is, nearly all of us are oppressed by the partial recollection of what ice have said. What we wrote out yesterday and have gone over and criti- cized and punctuated, seems to us far more trustworthy than what we are uttering at the moment. Yet the same head must furnish the language yesterday and today alike. The phrases turned out today are likely to be as good as those of yesterday. They are fresh, more- over, not set and prearranged. They are more likely to be appropriate to the listener in front of you. If the thing is written down, you cannot safely modify it on the spur of the moment. Experienced speakers can sometimes change from manuscript to extemporization and back, but it is a source of risk in every way for the man who is not fully experienced. But even if you could write as you speak, and read as you speak, the written speech is always relatively formal and im- personal. Better a hahing, fragmentary talk than the best reading from manuscript, for a business address. Besides, you may mislay the manuscript! In his excellent book on " Extempore Preaching," Dr. James M. Buckley, a famous Methodist divine, tells of a certain convention of clergymen belonging to a denomination that ran to written PREPARATION 413 sermons. The divine who was to preach the convention ser- mon found at the last moment that he had left his manuscript at home. One after another of the visiting clergymen was asked to take his place, but not one had brought a sermon with him. They had to apply, indeed, to the local Metho- dist brother, who preached an excellent extempore sermon on the text: "And the foolish said unto the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps have gone out ! " The motive which leads men to write or memorize is sound ; they fear to jump the track if they talk " without notes." They know they can say the thing somehow on the spur of the moment, but they fear that they will gi\e the wrong slant, or leave out something important, or say something that will make trouble unexpectedly later on. Such caution is right and proper, but the method of attaining the object is wrong. A man who has had experience in talking to com- mittees will have little trouble in " finding the right words " when he has to address a general audience. What You Must Prepare — The Plan The part of the speech which you can prepare and ought to prepare is the formulation, the treatment, the pattern. This part of his address the wise man will plan as carefully as he plans any other job. Then he can figure definitely on re- sults. This point, which is by far the most important in con- nection with an address, is the most generally neglected. Two matters should be covered in planning : I. Inventory; discovering just what your own thought is. We do our work most of the time with only passive attention. We rarely view it comprehen- sively and as a whole, or think how it would appear to an outsider. When asked suddenly to tell about it, we are almost certain to describe it in a manner that is out of perspective. We dwell upon the items 414 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES which are immediately before our attention at the moment and forget others just as important which we know perfectly well. Now what the " other man " wants when we talk about our work is not de- tails but a comprehensive view, a clear but general statement. 2. Formulation; determining how to present the matter to the particular audience to be addressed. That is the problem we have had confronting us all through this book. Here it is of prime importance. You must select, among the things you know to be important, those which can best be said at this occasion. You must consider how to arrange and formulate your thought so as to convey it with maximum effect to the particular company you have to face. So far as you have time, your planning should take account of both of these objects. You may gi\'e no time whatever to further investigation of the subject, you may perhaps write down nothing at all, or even fix a single sentence definitely in mind. If you are wise, however, you will give all the time you can find, a good many hours in case of an important address, to planning. Most of this work can be done at odd moments — on the street-car, or when you are waiting for someone. If you can possibl)- do so, howexer, you should de\'ote one block of two hours or so together to one stage of the process. Even if you should be called on unexpectedly, you should give whatever time you have to fixing the pattern of your re- marks. You will always have some warning, rarely less than an hour or so. Use that time properly, and when you ac- tually rise to talk you will be able to see your way. The Inventory Suppose now that you have to get ready for a business ad- dress to be given in a week, or two weeks, or something like PREPARATION 415 that. Suppose that the subject is famihar to you but that }ou have not discussed it before an audience. Suppose, for example, that as collection manager you have to explain the procedure of the house at a convention of retailers some of whom are customers. Or suppose that you are chairman of the building committee of a country club, and ha\e to present to the members a plan under consideration for financing and erecting new quarters. The first thing to do is to turn the subject over in your mind, and see what you really think about it. 1. Thinking it Over Sit down in the evening, or better, go outside alone for a walk, and think over the whole topic. Don't trouble at this point about arrangement of points, about the items to be se- lected, or details of language; just let your mind run. Don't ramble or dream, keep your thought on the subject, but don't try to drive it in any direction. Review the w hole matter — climb a tree and look over the landscape. Gradually the leading ideas will emerge. You will think of things you have forgotten, you will arrive at a rather vague but comprehensive notion of what you think about the whole subject. The items will not be arranged clearly, but you will have a broader view than usual. 2. Talking it Over The next step is to talk the matter over with other people. This is very generally neglected. Ask people whom you chance to meet what they think aljout this or that point. Try not so much to give them your ideas as to discover their ideas. Test out a few of your own thoughts, and see how people react to them. Don't be a bore, don't stay on the subject too long, but bring it up every chance you have. What other people say will remind you of points which you have forgotten. 4l6 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES will broaden your view and help your general perspective in unexpected ways. You can utilize your ordinary conversation, the daily routine of your business. If your mind is thinking of the business address and the results to be gained, you will find points of explanation and illustration constantly coming up. 3. Jotting Down Your Ideas After several days of this, give an hour or two some day just to jotting down your ideas on the subject. Take a number of small cards — say, the 3x5 size — and put down on the first card in a single, short, but complete sen- tence, the first thing that comes into your mind on the subject, and put it aside. Put down the next thing that comes into your mind on the next card. Keep on working in this way, putting one idea only on a card and then throwing the cards aside. Don't try to follow a line of talk consecutively, don't drive your mind in any way, just spill out your thoughts on these cards, one after the other. Your mind will jump back and forth. You will find yourself thinking at one point about something that has already come up. Set down the new thought as it occurs. The incoherence does not matter. Your purpose is to get a record of the contents of your mind on the subject. But you must be careful to put only one idea on a card. If you have two or three together, you cannot group them and arrange them, as will be shown later. After you have been working a few minutes, you will find your thoughts beginning to come faster. The first ten min- utes will probably be rather slow. Then the thoughts will come faster and faster for an hour or more, perhaps two hours if you are interested in the subject. After that time, probably, the pace will slacken somewhat. You will ha\e about emptied your mind of what you have to say. PREPARATION 417 4. Sorting the Items Now take the pile of cards — there may be 100, or 200, or more — spread them all out face up on the table, and play a game of solitaire -with them. You will find as you look them over that some of them are repetitions of the same idea in various ways. Clip these cards together in a little pile. If the repetition is close, throw away one of the duplicates. If the two cards give slightly different shades of the idea, keep them both. You may find that several cards deal with suc- cessive phases of a point. Put those together. Your com- mon sense will tell you what to group together better than any prearranged selection can do. \\'hen you have a little pile of two or three cards, write out on another card a short, complete sentence summarizing their ideas and enclose it with the pile. If you keep this up, you will find that your cards have been grouped now into perhaps forty or fifty little packages, each of them with a summarizing sentence. Continue the game. Some of these packages, you will find, can be combined in the same way. Clip those together, with another short sum- marizing sentence on a new card on top. You will gradually reduce the number of packages until at last you get them all into one pile, bearing a summarizing sentence which expresses the chief idea of the whole set of cards. This is no theory, it is a plan that has been used by thousands of people in preparing speeches, and it vi^orks. 5. Drawing Off an Outline Now draw off upon a sheet of paper in outline skeleton form these summarizing sentences. The summary sentence attached to the entire pile represents more or less exactly the idea which you have to convey. The summaries of the larger packages represent the main heads of your idea. Under each of those you will put the summaries of the next smaller pack- 4l8 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES ages, representing subheads; these in turn will have their sub- heads, and so on down to the individual cards. You have here, finally, an outline of what you actually thought about the subject at the time when you made this record. Some things, you will find, have been left out which ought to be added, while on the other hand, some of the smaller packages you may find superfluous. On the whole, though, this outline represents what you have to say. You may find that it is much more than you expected be- fore making this deliberate analysis of your thought. On the other hand, you may find that it is much less. You may not have treated the subject as you would like to do, or as you could do with further study. But the fact remains that this is what you actually had in your head. It is from this that you must draw your materials. The Formulation Now you approach the second part of the process of prepa- ration, namely : How to arrange your ideas for the particular company of people to whom your discussion of the subject must be presented. It is at this point that one of the special advantages of the address form manifests itself. Continuous talk is much more economical of time than is conversation. If you have really mastered your subject, )'ou know the steps that are really essen- tial in a logical treatment. If you can visualize it as it would appear to the average mind among the individuals who are to listen to you, you can go through it far more quickly than if you had to pause for the interruptions and digressions of con- versation. Consider again the illustration given in Chapter XIV of the course traveled over in carrying a listener from point X to point y. The direct route may be represented as x y. PREPARATION 419 That is the course which would be laid down in a logical brief (see Chapter XXI). The course of a conversation with a given individual may be represented as Figure 20. Course of Thought in Business Interview You cannot, even in public speech, hope to follow a straight road, you cannot talk directly from a brief. But it is possible to plan a course which holds to the logical order on the whole and yet allows for the probable reaction of the average mind among your listeners. This may be represented as Figure 21. Course of Thought as Planned by Public Speaker 1. Sizing up the Audience The first step in formulation is to consider as fully as possible the persons who will constitute your audience; their limitations, their capacities, their tastes. Size them up as well as you can. Even if they are strangers you can form some notion of their probable capacity and interest. If they are known to you, you can guess a great deal more closely. But do not just " take them for granted," no matter how well you know them. You may overlook significant facts regard- ing them. Whatever the occasion, it is time well spent to work out a little written analysis of your audience, soberly and coolly, as a sales organization analyzes a market. 2. Framing the " Text " Now make up your mind as to just what, in view of the character of your audience, you will make the main thought 420 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES of your talk, the one chief idea which you want them to grasp and retain whatever else they miss. Write it down for your own guidance, in a single short, simply-worded, but complete sentence. That is your text, whatever form the address may finally take. When )'ou have once got the text written down in definite form your further work becomes much easier and more certain. 3. Choosing the Main Points Next choose among the chief points of your outline, as above worked out, the three, four, or five which will be most significant in conveying your text to the audience you are to face. To attempt to tell them everything, remember, will only confuse them. Select. Choose what is best for your purpose and think out the best possible order of treatment for that audience. Do not be satisfied with the first arrangement that suggests itself. Try again and again. Vary the selection of points and especially vary the arrangement. Whenever you have an odd moment, jot down single key-sentences — short and plain like the text-sentence already written — for each point you in- tend using, and see what you think of them. It is not neces- sary to preserve these ; just put them down, look at them, and throw them away. 4. Trying It Over After a while, two or three plans will seem to be better than the others. Now begin and make a little speech — just to yourself — following one of these best forms. Go out and take a walk and talk the subject through in definite words, imagining the audience as well as you can and putting the idea in the words that come. Plan your time-table as definitely as you do your ideas. By that I mean, if you have ten minutes to talk, and intend to make three general points, decide whether PREPARATION 421 you will^give, say, one-third of the time to each point, or per- haps a quarter of the time to the first, a half to the second and a quarter to the third, etc. Just talk straight through, but try to reach your various key-sentences on time, and make yourself stop when you have talked for the time you have set. It may be asked whether you are to talk aloud. Well, if you are walking alone at night, why not? If there are people around, talk mentally ; say the words definitely in your mind without moving your lips. That can be done. The first time you try it you will have a little difficulty. After two or three times you will find you can do it. If is as easy to talk consecu- tively, in reality, as to write consecutively. We are less accus- tomed to it but we can readily learn the trick. A better plan is to dictate the speech to a stenographer, or write it out with running pen — that is to say, writing along without stopping for revision or correction, just throwing your thoughts on paper as they come. The best plan of all is to dictate to a dictating machine. Nothing compares with that for recording and showing you exactly what you have said and how you have said it. Just begin and talk it all straight to the machine. When you have finished put on the reproducer, turn back, and listen to what you have done. That will show you how the whole thing sounds. It will show you also the characteristics of voice and utterance, the changes from loud to soft, from fast to slow, the management of pauses. It is a good plan, by the way, to have this cylinder trans- cribed. Read over the transcription, study it, and see how far it represents what you wish. 5. Fixing the Formula Do the same thing with another of your tentative plans, and perhaps with a third. Now compare them carefully; estimate their possibilities. If you want to, dictate the one 422 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES that looks most promising a second time, without referring to the first draft. Make no attempt to memorize it; do not try to fix in your mind the words, or even the detail treatment of the ideas. Only get the key thoughts clearly in mind, and a clear sense of your time-table. If you prepare in this way, you are likely to ha^'e something to say when you face the audience and to know pretty definitely how to say it with effect. In response to the suggestion of the moment you may take a different path, at some points, from any that you hart gone over. You knozv the country: you can readily find your way. Before the time for the actual speech, it is well to write down and learn a key-sentence for each of your main points, another for the beginning and particularly one for the close of your speech. You may, of course, forget these in the ex- citement of the moment, but it is not likely. They are likely to remain in your mind and they will hold you steady. You will not try to cover more than two or three points, re- member, in a speech of ten minutes or under, or more than five or six points in a thirty-minute speech. But after the careful preparation the points which you feature will be the essential ones and will be in the right order logically. Then the presence of the audience will suggest suitable details with reference to each point. Before the Audience When at last you face the audience, follow your program so far as the order and the proportion of the main points. As for the intermediate matter, the details of sentences, of words, of illustrations, follow the impulse of the moment, but keep to the time-table. Do not try to connect the points closelv or to make the opening sentence of point 2 grow out of the last sentence of point i. If the points are in logical order they will show more clearly if the paragraph edges are sharp cut. PREPARATION 423 Even if you are called unexpectedly, perhaps with only a few minutes' warning, you can, before you begin to speak, glance over the subject and determine the points to make. A man does quick thinking in a sales interview, in a conference, before a committee — he learns to jump for the essentials. You can do that here, if you concentrate. At any rate you can determine the last and principal point you will aim at. That is the most important thing of all in preparing a talk. Most people who have not had experience gi\e attention chiefly to the way they are to begin. That is like putting up the doorstep before building the house. Preparing the " Speaker's Attitude " Now, besides this specific preparation for the individual speech here mentioned, it is possible for a man who has to speak in public now and then — or for a man who expects to climb to a position where he will have to make speeches — to prepare the speaker's habit of mind, the speakers attitude. Then it will be easier to get ready for the particular occasion when it comes. In the chapter on conversation, it was said that a man should develop an active attitude of mind. That comes through thinking out what this or that item which comes to his attention really means to him, imagining what it would mean to someone else. Make it a practice to talk over in a definite way, whenever you can, ideas and questions that come up in connection with matters of business interest. Don't be a bore, of course, but utilize your chances. If you don't get a chance for actual discussion, carry on imaginary discussion, in your odd minutes. Children do that constantly. Grown people neglect the practice, but it is one of the best and surest ways of developing the power of visualization and the power of formulating quickly what you have to say. It quickens your sense of the audience. 424 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Packing Your Mental Stores-room Such conversational practice serves to pack the goods in your mental stores-room. You are getting them ready to be reached quickly when needed. In the same way you can pre- pare even then for such business addresses as you are likely to have to give. For every man, there are certain topics upon which he is likely to be called to speak. The wise man will get ready by thinking these out somewhat as they might be presented to outsiders. The effort to formulate his views for other people will clarify his own thought. It is very unlikely that a man will be asked to talk on a topic entirely outside the range of his duties. Within that range it is entirely possible for him to think out and formulate his ideas as he might present them to various sorts of listeners. Such a method as that helps a man to organize his knowledge of his job. It is a mental fire drill. Some time or other, you may be practically certain }'ou also will be drafted into service. If you are known as an expert upon a subject, you are going to be called on to tell about it. If you have made some such general preparation as has been suggested, you are partly trained. The specific preparation will be easier and quicker because of this constructive atti- tude of mind which you have developed. Even if you should have to talk on something which is strictly outside your own range, the habit of careful formulation of your ideas will carry over to a considerable extent in your dealing with the strange material, provided it is a matter which you can safely talk upon at all. The demand for public addresses of the sort considered in this book is going to increase in every branch of business ac- ti\ity. An active man, whatever his present position, ought to get himself ready for later responsibilities. As he goes higher his range of responsibility will widen and he will have more things to think of. If he has developed the habit of PREPARATION 4-'5 analyzing and formulating his ideas he will be better able to carry the later responsibilities. When a man has a high executive position the occasions for public discussion of matters affecting the business may perhaps come very frequently. If he has already acquired an orderly method, he can meet these requirements with ease as they develop. Observing How Others Do It Finally, there is continual opporturiity to observe how other people do it. When you attend a house conference, a conven- tion, or a public gathering, you are sure to hear business ad- dresses. Most of us most of the time listen passively, merely following the lines of suggestion over which the speaker car- ries us. If you are yourself studying the art of business addresses you will listen actively. You can learn even from speakers who are not skilful. You will note how various speakers play their game, what their problems are, what their advantages and disadvantages, how far they make the most of their resources, what reaction they get from the audience. Watching that kind of thing in other people shows you at every turn something that you can apply to your own work when the call comes. Business journals, house organs, business magazines fre- quently print addresses by various men of prominence in your own line or other lines, such as those given in Chapter XXIV. If you read these with the same activity of mind you will learn how men like Schwab, Rockefeller, Gompers, etc., deal with the situations they have to handle. Unless such speeches are read actively, they are of only slight value. You get the idea, but cannot appreciate how the situations were dealt with. But if you study them with an eye to the handling of the problem of transportation of thought, if you have become aware your- ,self of the difficulties of that process, and to some extent of 426 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES the art of business address, these records in print become aHve. You can trace in the form the reasons why such a form was used. You can discoxer the reasons for the perspective, the treatment of details, the structure of effective sentences, even for the omissions. You can see the situation the man was deahng with and estimate his skill in managing his resources. A man who is actively interested in the problem of convey- ing his own thought effectively to other people, can find con- tinual suggestion and stimulus in watching how other people do it. Exercises 1. Analyze some case of apparent " extemporization" from your own experience or observation. 2. Analyze several cases of failure through wrong preparation. 3. Just what do yoii do when planning a piece of zuork; for example the layout of an office; a marketing campaign; routing a new production job, etc.? Just what when preparing for an impor- tant interview; an informal talk to a small group of business associates? 4. Make a list of topics — either such as are connected with your business affairs or some others — on which you might be asked to speak. 5. For practice make a quick analysis and formulation of several of these topics, giving to each perhaps a half-hour's reflection, and then writing down for it a set of three or four main heads and a set of first subheads. 6. Select one of these topics and run through the five steps of the " inventory ' (pages 414 to 418) and the five steps ot the " for- mulation " (pages 418 to 421) : see where you come out. CHAPTER XXI CLEAR THINKING — TESTING YOUR THOUGHT Unsound Thinking — Its Causes The world is plagued with a vast amount of talk which is useless, or even pernicious, because lacking a foundation of sound, clear thinking. Without such a foundation no talk is worth while, however playful and casual, however earnest and well meaning. Unsound thinking may come from either — 1. The false or " crooked " reasoning of what may be called wrongly-acting or abnormal minds — minds which are seriously defective in knowledge, taste, judgment, or in a sense of intellectual responsibility. 2. The hasty or careless operations of normal or rightly acting minds. " Crooked " Thinking — Defective Minds Some years ago Dr. W^ashington Gladden, himself a sturdy, honest thinker, called attention to the number of people who have developed facility in merely " going through the mo- tions " of thinking, without experiencing the discipline of real thought. He pointed out that in recent generations a vast number of persons have acquired a stock of superficial in- formation, a superficial acquaintance with the processes of mental action, and a shallow dexterity in expressing such ideas as they possess. Their half-baked theorizings do immense harm, deluding many other half-educated persons and deluding themselves most of all. Without the power to think acutely, without the feeling of 427 428 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES responsibility for thinking straight, skill in conveying ideas is of no use whatever. It becomes instead one of the worst of dangers. In the modern world especially, where the en- tire business of living rests upon interchange of information and counsel, the man who has adroitness in the use of language without a reliable sense of responsibility becomes a pest. The extraordinary events of the past few years have em- phasized the truth of this statement. In the realm of eco- nomic and political matters such crooked thinking by abnormal or undeveloped minds has bred the Bolshevists and the I. W W., and has led the supposedly well-educated " parlor-Bolshe- vists," who ought to know better but who lack the sense of in- tellectual responsibility, into playing with fire. In the business world it has led, for instance, to the vogue of the " get-rich- quick " swindler peddling oil-stock, etc. Errors of thinking which come from defective or unde- veloped minds cannot be dealt with here. Those are hospital cases; they can be cured only through careful general educa- tion — just as persons suffering from stammering must go to a competent physician and be cured of their abnormality be- fore they can profit by this book. The exercises and advice here given with regard to transmitting your ideas to others rest upon the assumption that your mind is of normal power and development. Careless Thinking by Sound Minds But there is also far too much unreliable thinking on the part of people with perfectly sound minds. Everyone, no matter how acute and honest, is in constant danger of error through inadvertence. We all need to have at hand reliable objective methods for testing and verifying our mental proc- esses. Errors in thinking on the part of normal minds are owing chiefly to — TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 429 1. Incorrect statement of single thoughts. 2. Incorrect passage from one thought to another. 3. Inadequate grasp of the basis, the conditions of dis- cussion — the " premises." Incorrect Statement of Single Thoughts One of the difficulties involved in clear and exact reasoning is essentially the same as that met with in developing a clear and satisfactory system of accounting, or a stores-room record. It is the difficulty of accurate description and classification of the multitude of widely dififerent phenomena which fill our mental stores-room. A special difficulty arises from the nature of language itself — its inexactness. The symbols in which accounts are reck- oned and expressed have definite meanings, but the words which make up language are indefinite at best. If we could devise a sort of " algebra " language for business communica- tions — words, phrases, sentence-groups, etc. — the problem of accurate thinking, would be much simplified. The mere number of words we use in a given case is of course no help to the clearness of a statement. It is necessary to make sure of accuracy and uniformity in the selection of individual terms and in their arrangement. Incorrect Passage from One Thought to Another Another difficulty in the way of clear and exact reasoning comes from our carelessness, our absent-mindedness in passing from one idea to another. We fail to look where we are going; we make assumptions and substitutions without war- rant — turning to the left, so to speak, instead of the right; taking the wrong car; or getting off at the wrong station in our mental journeys — and have to retrace our steps. A taci- turn man, by the way, who keeps his thoughts to himself, is specially prone to this error. 430 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Inadequate Grasp of Premises A third difficulty, less often recognized but perhaps even more serious, comes from misunderstanding or imperfectly realizing the true basis of discussion, in a given matter. This is -often apparent in the case of a debate. For example, in many of the public debates regarding the ratification by the United States of the League of Nations proposal, affirmative speakers gave attention to demonstrating the horrors of war and the desirability of international co-operation; the nega- tive speakers gave attention chiefly to questions of consti- tutionality, etc. Similarly, in discussing prohibition, the " Drys " dwelt upon the evils of drink while the " Wets " were apt to stress the question: "Does prohibition prohibit?" The same danger of ignoring or forgetting the basis of con- troversy, the point of view of the discussion, lurks in all our thinking. Definite Methods of Formulation Essential To protect ourselves against these faults of our own minds we need to work out methods of formulating our thoughts, when we have something important to say, which will be so definite and striking that they will jog our attention if we go astray — like the differences in color of folders and pattern of guides in a modern filing system. In Chapter XX was sketched a useful method of working out a business address. That procedure you may follow at all times, however important the occasion and however elabo- rate your preparation. Even if you were building the plan for a book that general procedure would hold. An important matter, however, may require special investi- gation through examination of books and documents, through questionnaires, personal interviews, etc. Such study would come into the first and second steps of the process outlined in Chapter XX, which might occupy many days or weeks. TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 43 1 The third step, that of precipitating and sorting your mate- rial, would be the same whether the preparation were hasty or elaborate. In the latter case this process would take longer and the " piles "of items would be much more numerous. For Thorough Work, Make a " Brief " After you have made this tentative outline, however, if your preparation has to be thorough and you wish to test your thought, you will be wise to interpolate another step and make what is known as a " brief." People who have to formulate and present ideas on impor- tant occasions have devised methods of drawing up before- hand an explicit statement, more or less skeletonized, by means of which they are enabled to scrutinize and test the accuracy of each fact and inference. This carefully planned written statement is the brief. In drawing it up the foremost require- ment is of course accurate, patient thinking. In addition care is taken to secure — 1. Wording from which all indefiniteness or ambiguity has been eliminated. 2. A careful and fair statement of the basis of discussion, the premises. 3. An arrangement which is definitely systematic and uni- form, alike in grammatical construction and in order of words and of ideas. Generally these devices are supplemented by a uniform system of labels attached to each item or point. The Lawyer's Brief The brief idea originated with the lawyers. When a law- yer has to present a case he prepares a written brief or outline of his argument point by point. In this he cites explicitly in connection with each point the evidence which bears upon it : the statutes and court decisions which apply and the evidence 43-2 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES developed in the case, together with such explanation and comment as he thinks necessary, all arranged according to the prescriptions of legal procedure. The aim is to present in concise logical form the entire case. A person trained in the law could render an adequate decision merely from studying the briefs of the lawyers on both sides. In fact, cases are con- tinually so decided in the courts. The term " brief " may appear somewhat inappropriate, as the legal brief is often a bulky document, but the sense is rather that the ideas are stated barely, without elaboration or persuasive enforcement. Each item is merely filed in its proper logical place. The Debater's Brief Students of argumentation and debating have to prepare briefs of somewhat similar character, in which the argument and evidence bearing on the question under consideration are presented in logical order and in skeletonized form. Here also the aim is to present the entire case. If the brief is properly constructed, any fair-minded and reasonably intelli- gent person will lie aljle to render a just decision merely from examining the briefs of the debaters on both sides. The lawyer's brief is highly technical in form, and cannot well be used as a model for general purposes. The debater's brief, modified to suit the situation, can be followed with ad- vantage by any person who has an important or puzzling argu- ment or explanation to prepare. The Brief a Preliminary Analysis of the Thought For ordinary purposes, of course, the brief is too much trouble — the " flywheel of common sense " does well enough. When you get into difficulty, however, when the subject is of great importance, nothing will clarify your mind like the care- ful preliminary analysis of your thought involved in briefing. TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 433 The principles of brief-drawing are discussed in any book on debating or argumentation for students. The standard work of this sort is " Principles of Argumentation " by George P. Baker and H. C. Huntington, which e\ery business man who has cases to work out will do well to have at hand. Here we have space only to notice certain features, together with their application to business conditions. Each Idea Stated in a Sentence The first essential feature of the debater's brief is the rule, invaluable for all clear thinking: Formulate every idea zvhieh you introduce in a brief, zvhcther important or minor, lehether fact or reason, in a single, complete sentence. Not a phrase but a sentence, with subject and verb. In the outlines we are wont to jot down for ourseh'es we are apt to use merely phrases, such as " League of Nations and Peace," " League of Nations and the Constitution," etc. This is an unsafe method. A phrase may be understood in many different ways. The notion it conveys to another person may be different from what you had in mind, and your own un- derstanding of it will vary according to your mood of the moment. On the other hand, a sentence conveys to any reader, to yourself at different times, always one definite idea. When you have once set down " The League of Nations will tend to prevent war," or " The League of Nations plan conflicts with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States," you can tell at any time just what the statement means, and whether it expresses the view which you now hold. The more consistently and systematically this same rule is applied in a business brief, the better. The extra time required for framing every item in a complete sentence is more than compensated for in the lessened chance of error. Even when the rule is not followed strictly as to the subheads of the brief, 434 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES it should be insisted upon with regard to points of importance, especially — 1. The opening statement of the proposition or idea to be established — what Chapter XX has called the " text." 2. The statement of each main division of the thought. Preliminary Explanation — Debater's Introduction The second essential of the debater's brief is this: The argument is preceded by an introduction which states the con- ditions of the case, the premises, the " rules of the game." If the subject is strange or complex this preliminary explanation will be longer and more particular in statement. In a de- bater's brief the introduction is often a lengthy affair, some- times filling from one-third to one-half the entire space. It is expected, moreover, to be worked out in approximately the following steps : 1. First should come the definition of terms, that is to say, a statement of the exact meaning of each of the words of the " text." For example, in any discussion of the " text : " " The plan for a league of nations, presented in connection with the treaty of peace, will tend to prevent war," it would be important first of all to state clearly your understanding of the three terms : " plan for a league of nations," " in connection with the treaty of peace," and " tend to prevent war." 2. Usually it is well to give next some account of how the discussion has arisen, more or less detailed accord- ing to the knowledge of the subject which the listen- ers may be presumed to have. 3. Then should follow a statement of points admitted by both sides, points ruled out of the discussion as ir- relevant, etc. TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 435 4. Then should follow a careful statement of what are the issues, the exact points in controversy. Analysis of the subject shows certain main points upon which the two sides differ. If these, when investigated as to their truth to fact, are decided in favor of the affirma- tive, the affirmative wins, and vice versa. The num- ber of these issues will vary according to the case. A clear recognition of just what they are is essential for successful argument. Introduction for Business Brief How closely the business brief should adhere to such a treatment of the introduction must be determined by circum- stances. In the specimen brief given below (page 439) the introduction is very short, because all parties concerned were closely in touch with the existing situation of the business. If that brief had been prepared for a presentation of the case to the stockholders of the company — presumably less closely informed — the introduction would probably have approached more closely the typical form of the debater's brief. The most important steps of the introduction are 1. The definition of terms, which reminds )'0U of just what it is that you are talking about, and 2. The statement of " issues " or points to be established, which reminds you similarly of just what items must be covered for completeness of treatment. The term " issues " comes from the lawyers, who found long ago the importance of such careful preliminary state- ment of the lines of their argument. Argument Matter Skeletonized but Explicit The third essential feature of a debater's brief is this : When the preliminary explanations of the Introduction have been made, all " probative " matter, both fact and reasoning, is 436 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES presented explicitly in a careful logical arrangement, so that the mind is carried steadily and certainly forward from one step to another and at last to the proper conclusion. In a good " debater's brief " this rule is observed literally. Every item of either reasoning or evidence which is to appear in the completed discourse is explicitly set down in skeleton- ized form in the brief, not merely the material to support your own views but also that which you intend to use in answering the contentions of the other side, or the objections which may occur to your listeners. In a carefully made brief you would not merely say, for instance, " Prominent men have expressed themselves in favor of this proposal, etc. ; " you would cite definitely such of their statements as you might intend using. With a business brief also this rule of explicit statement is eminently worth following. The fact that the case calls for briefing at all shows that there is probably a " catch " in it somewhere. If that is so, the more explicit and detailed your statements in this preliminary analysis, the more likely you are to avoid error. .\n explicit statement need not be a lengthy one. Not many words are needed to give logical com- pleteness, if care is used in skeletonizing. Careful " Correlation. " Imperative Whether the treatment is detailed or general, one rule is imperative, if your brief is to be worth the paper it is written upon : All of the material must be systematically and con- sistently " correlated " under main heads, subheads, etc., to show unmistakably its logical relations. The best way to do this, the surest way to detect and remove errors of reasoning, is to arrange everything in the order of statement followed by reason. The formula to be used in- variably is this : TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 437 This statement is true, because That statement is true, and That other statement is true. The main heads should read as reasons for the truth of the proposition or " text," and each subhead or sub-subhead as a reason for the truth of the point to which it is logically subor- dinate. One of the most useful features of brief-making is that it forces you in this way to make up your mind clearly as you go, with regard to the precise relations of your ideas, even minor ones — which of them are subordinate and which more inclusive. Clear correlation is greatly assisted by systematic indenta- tion on the page and by making a practice of labeling every item, no matter how trivial, according to a comprehensive and consistent system of figures and letters. Such mechanical devices for symmetry serve to " jog our attention." The Main Heads Few The main heads of a brief should be few. Having a large number of main heads shows that you have not fully thought out the case. Furthermore, do not subdivide too far. The mind easily becomes confused through attempting too elabo- rate a layout of a subject, with too much tagging, too many sub-points, too much hair-splitting. Better a few carefully selected subheads with a sufficient number of items of evidence to support each one. However complex the suljject may be, your job is to think it out and make it simple. Patient analy- sis will enable you to do that. As to the order in which you bring in these main heads, that is largely a matter of convenience. With some subjects the order is determined by the nature of the case — certain things must be treated before others. With other subjects you may follow your own judgment. Generally speaking, it is a good plan to begin with one of the most striking points. 438 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES to pack in next those which are less striking, and to reserve the principal point to the last. But that is not always the best arrangement. The method sketched above may be used with equal advan- tage in preparation for addresses to audiences or for interviews with individuals. Sometimes a ten-minute interview is as momentous in its consequences as an address to a vast throng. A department head, a salesman, even a subordinate employee, will often find it decidedly profitable to analyze and formulate his ideas on a subject with the most painstaking thoroughness, before entering upon even an informal conversation. Brief-Making Applied to Explanation In talking business a large proportion of your " speeches " — probably much the chief proportion — consists not of argu- ment but of explanation. Or rather, the intention is argu- mentative but the method used is largely or entirely explana- tory. For example : You wish your house to adopt a new filing system. Your procedure consists of laying the facts before the proper individual or committee. You explain in detail what the proposed system is and how it differs from the pres- ent one, and just how each applies to your particular business. But you do not offer much argument ; once the authorities have the facts set before them you must leave them to make up their minds for themselves. The method of briefing is equally applicable to explanation. You do not have the distinction between introduction and argument but you observe the two essential features of the debater's brief : 1. You set down each item in a single sentence, precisely as in a debater's brief. 2. You arrange the points and sub-points in the same sort of detail order; with the distinction that instead of TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 439 proposition followed by proof, or statement followed by reason, you have the form of generalization fol- lowed by particulars. Specimen of a Business Brief The application of the brief form to the analysis of a busi- ness problem, a practice rapidly growing in progressive busi- ness houses, may be illustrated by the following brief prepared by a sales executi\e before an extremely important conference. The sales executive of the B-J Company — a concern mak- ing motor trucks, whose production, largely increased during the war, was beginning to slacken — conceived the idea of for- eign trade as a resource. After looking -into the matter with some care, he sketched out a definite initial campaign which should serve as a tryout for the general plan. Before laying the project definitely be- fore the heads of the business, he put down his ideas for his own guidance in the form of a brief. The typical form of the debaters brief is here somewhat simplified; for example, the Introduction — here termed " Sit- uation," as the Argument is termed " Solution " — is less elab- orate. The essential features, however, are followed rather closely. The ideas of both Situation and Solution are ex- pressed in complete sentences, and the order of statement fol- lowed by evidence is closely observed.* Foreign Trade for the B-J Company Situation I. The B-J Co. needs an enlarged market. (a) It has a restricted local market — it already controls a good portion of the maximum available business in U. S. (b) It has an excess production capacity — due to extension * For this example of a business brief I am indebted to Mr. J. R. Wilson, Jr., of the Foreign Trade Department of the National City Bank. 440 PUBLIC SPEAKING— BUSINESS ADDRESSES of facilities to meet war-time necessities, now passed, (c) It has surplus resources: both the finances of the com- pany and available sources of raw material are sufficient for larger expansion. 2. The B-J Co. has always led its field and seeks opportunity to move in newer directions of leadership. 3. Other concerns, in a situation somewhat similar, are turning to foreign trade. Shall we do the same? Questions which Must Be Answered Satisfactorily 1. Is there a sufficient potential demand abroad for our product to warrant our effort ? 2. Are sufficient facilities available to enable us to develop such business? 3. What will be the cost? 4. Can we make a definite test of the suggestion in a specific case? 5. Is the probability of success sufficient to offset the risks involved in the undertaking? Solution I. Foreign trade offers us a desirable opportunity for developing new outlets. A. There is a sufficient demand abroad for B-J goods to war- rant our effort. 1. We have already received inquiries from export houses and from foreign customers. 2. Trade magazines urge opportunities in foreign trade. 3. Reports from Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com- merce, bankers, and others having representatives in the foreign field indicate large potential demand. B. Sufficient facilities are available to develop such business profitably. 1. Manufacturing facilities are already at hand. 2. Banking connections assure co-operation in financing business, and minimizing credit risk. 3. Low production costs and patent rights already regis- tered abroad give B-J product every advantage in foreign markets. 4. Advertising agencies, banks, and export magazines TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 441 will furnish lists of desirable dealers and custom- ers, marketing and shipping requirements for indi- vidual countries, translating and advertising serv- ice — writing service and other assistance in sales building. 5. W'e already have on the sales staff a man experienced in organizing and handling export campaigns. C. Foreign trade is a desirable sort of business. 1. Foreign distribution helps spread out the business risk, — if unfavorable conditions arise in this coun- try, foreign distribution can be relied upon as offset. 2. Foreign trade is patriotic — and meets every encour- agement from U. S. Government. II. The cost ratio in handling foreign business would not be serious. A. Detailed estimate of sales and other costs, with percentage of possible profit. B. Proposed arrangements for financing. 1. The necessary arrangements for financing. 2. Business done abroad. (a) Methods of collection and payment. (b) Satisfying tariff requirements, etc. (c) Licensing salesmen. (d) Commissions to be allowed. III. The following outline of a tryout campaign in Cuba offers an opportunity of a definite test of the suggestion. A. Cuba offers the largest immediate opportunity because 1. Proximity — It can be reached by water or by rail and water. The man traveling southern states can also make Cuba. 2. The Cuban mind is receptive toward American made goods. 3. During the year ending December 31, 1918, 557 trucks, valued at $1,109,368.00 were imported. This is almost 50% of the total amount of trucks im- ported by all South American countries, and is an indication of the potential truck market in Cuba. 442 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES 4. The recent railroad strikes in Cuba have demon- strated very clearly the value of motor trucks as a means of transportation. In fact these strikes have advertised motor trucks .far better than any active advertising campaign could have done. 5. There are many large towns in Cuba, and trucks are needed for quick, economical connection. B. The plan for Cuba is, in detail, this : 1. Obtain from bankers list of reliable houses selling motor trucks, with name of truck handled by each house. 2. Select from this list names of firms not handling com- petitive trucks. 3. Send to the bank for credit information on names se- lected as possible agents. 4. Send sales manager to Cuba for first-hand survey of territory. 5. Determine from sales manager's findings — (a) The plan of sale. Shall the company open its own office? Shall it give representation to some local house? Shall it sell direct? Advantages and disadvantages of the above plans. (b) The plan of advertising. (c) The plan of financing. (d) The plan of delivery. TV. The probability of success is sufficient to warrant every ele- ment of credit or other risk involved. A. Large risks are being assumed in domestic. business every day. B. If it is objected that " B-J product cannot be sold abroad " the reply is that other products of like kind are now being sold abroad. C. If it is objected that " B-J product cannot compete with that manufactured locally and shipped from nearer points or from countries where labor and other costs TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 443 are less," the reply is that B-J product is a quality product. Buyers in the United States pay more for B-J product in order to get B-J quality. Foreign buy- ers will do the same. D. If it is objected that " You don't know whom you are selling in foreign trade," the reply is that international banks can furnish reliable and accurate credit informa- tion on foreign buyers. E. If it is objected that "long credit terms cannot be met" the answer is that banking facilities which are de- signed to enable the manufacturer to meet such terms are available. F. It is reasonable to expect that the B-J Co. can make a success in foreign trade. 1. The company has made domestic success. 2. Foreign trade is fundamentally the same as domestic business and the principles of success are similar. Benefits of Brief-Making Whoever you are, whatever your position or your line of business, the practice of brief-drawing benefits you in two ways : 1. It sharpens your logical sense, and aids you to see your way more clearly through a chain of reasoning — either your own or that of someone else. 2. It develops the habit of cool, unbiased scrutiny of your own ideas — the mental attitude of a good lawyer towards his case. The lawyer recognizes the weak points of his own case and the strong points of that of his opponent; then he is able to put his cool atten- tion upon using his resources to the best advantage. The brief, it must be remembered, is for the speaker him- self, never for the listener. It is merely an elaboration and rectification of the fourth step in the speaker's preparation as explained in Chapter XX, the arrangement of his ideas ac- 444 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES cording to their logical relation. It is hardly ever to be fol- lowed closely in the actual address or interview. In fact, if you were to follow it in every respect you would bore your listener, perhaps droicii him with detail, and defeat your pur- pose. Outlining the Actual Address A\'hen you come to the actual speech or interview you again have need for careful thinking, but it is of a different nature. You must draw from the stores represented by the brief what the occasion requires in order to con\ey your ideas to the persons before you. Other matter, illustrative, persua- sive, etc., is added, and nearly always much of what the brief includes is omitted, or given only passing mention. The " speech " which you actually deliver, whether to an audi- ence or in conversation, is thus usually much more simple in structure than the brief of the same subject would be. But the material which is included in the " speech " follows the slant, curve, perspective alread)- worked out in the brief. Both arrangement of material and distribution of space may be very different from those indicated by the brief, but the logical relation is the same, the relati\'e importance of points and sub-points is unchanged. The pattern, that is, which is to be formed in the mind of the listener is the same as that already planned. Thus the working out of a careful brief gives you your bearings. Once _\'ou have the course fully plotted out you can depart from it this way or that as may prove conven- ient at the moment, without interrupting your progress. Adaptation of Material to Occasion To lay down full rules for the shaping of material at the moment of delix'ery is impossible. The problem \'aries with every case, with every listener and every mood of that listener. Success comes only through good thinking, highly developed TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 445 control of machinery and language — which have been con- sidered in the preceding chapters — and experience. You may succeed now and then without conscious command of some or all of these resources, but you cannot be sure of your- self. With these under control you can be much more sure. Specimen Outline — Address to Trade Association To illustrate, here is the outline of an address recently de- livered to a trade association — the Hydraulic Society — by Mr. C. H. Rohrbach, presenting a plan for co-operative work by members of the society which is now being carried out under 'Mr. Rohrbach's supervision. Reports of this sort are continually being presented to associations or public bodies or to committees within an organization. Summaries of them are often to be found in house organs or in journals of asso- ciation proceedings. They should be carefully studied by any- one who has work of the kind to do. What is here given, remember, is not a brief but an outline, drawn up afterward, of the address as actually delivered. The speech was delivered without notes and altogether in- formally. It was based, however, on a most careful analysis of the particular problem involved. The speaker was ac- quainted with the needs of the persons he \\as addressing and thoroughly familiar with the matter presented. He had in mind beforehand a general plan of treatment and an approxi- mate time-schedule. The details of form, of treatment, and of space were determined at the time of delivery according to the suggestions of the occasion. Modern Co-operative Competition (1% hours) I. Exposition of Statistical Work in a Manufacturers' Co-operative Trade Association. (35 minutes) A. What it is — a general description. I. Statistics and charts of general business conditions throughout the country, showing periods of alternate 446 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES ease and stringency in money and credits, which are closely paralleled by successive periods of large volumes of trade followed by periods of liquidation. (4 minutes) {Note: To illustrate this point a statistical chart issued by Brookmire's Economic Service was used.) 2. Statistics and charts of a particular industry showing similar rise and fall in volume of trade due to — (a) The fluctuations in general business conditions just described, and (b) Supply and demand conditions peculiar to the particular industry. (6 minutes) {Note: To illustrate this point a blue-print chart of another industry with which the speaker was familiar was used.) B. How it is operated — the mechanical features of such statis- tical work described. The point was here developed that each participating manufacturer can get accurate informa- tion respecting conditions of trade in his particular indus- try without divulging the figures of his own business to any of his competitors. (S minutes) {Note: This feature made probably the deepest im- pression of the entire talk.) C. What such work will do for a manufacturer. 1. It shows the working of the law of supply and demand, and enables him to extract the maximum of profit from strong demand conditions and avoid needless losses through cutting prices to get business at a time when there is no business to be had. 2. It furnishes a trade barometer, a tool of exact knowledge to work with, replacing the time-worn guess-work methods. (20 minutes) {Note: Numerous concrete cases were described showing how manufacturers in other industries had actually benefited by this work. These illustrations consumed from 12 to 15 minutes, but they gave ef- fectiveness to this feature of the talk, as shown by the questions asked afterwards.) II. Market Price Information Exchange — (10 minutes.) A. A trade news service furnished by the association througph TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 447 which every contributing member is promptly informed of any market price changes made by his competitors. Its operation and mechanical features described. (6 minutes) B. The misrepresentations of buyers are a constant source of price cutting. The trade news service removed this par- ticular source of losses. (4 minutes.) {Note: The listeners were keenly alive to what this feature of the work might accomplish, and the idea ap- pealed to them as a novel but practical one.) III. Costs. (20 minutes) A. Ignorance of costs the greatest hindrance to profits in busi- ness. Manufacturers suffer losses through their own ignorance, or through the unfair competition of other manufacturers in failing to include in the cost figures of their product the various items of depreciation, interest charges, repairs, allowances for spoiled work, " slippage " in labor charges, and proper distribution of overhead ex- penses such as is sanctioned by the most approved ac- counting practice. Concrete examples cited. (10 minutes) B. Development of adequate and uniform cost accounting methods in an industry through — 1. Co-operative work of the cost men of the various manu- facturers concerned. 2. An outside cost accountant who, after a suitable cost accounting system has been devised will supervise its uniform application by each of the subscribing manu- facturers. (Note: The listeners had been struggling with the cost situation in their industry for some time and showed by their subsequent questioning that they fully appreciated the practical value in this phase of co- operative effort.) IV. General Economic and Other Features of Modern Co-operative Trade Effort. ( 10 minutes) A. Under (I) above has been shown the interrelation of all business ; hence the necessity of developing knowledge of general business conditions which may be conveniently classified under the general heading of 1. Finance 2. Labor 44S PUBLIC SPEAKING -BUSINESS ADDRESSES 3. Raw Materials 4 Transportation 5. Foreign Trade (6 minutes) B. Information grouped under the above general headings is also developed with respect to the particular industry by means of credit bureau service, questionnaires on labor conditions and bulletins of various kinds. (4 minutes) Comment — This Address Explanatory in Treatment One point which may he noted regarding this outHne of an actual address is that this address was ahnost entirely explana- tion. The hsteners were entirely familiar, of course, with the needs and possibilities of their individual organizations. The aim of the speaker was to set before them, with orderly, con- cise, yet detailed explanation, certain novel but practical ideas regarding ways of mutual helpfulness. These might or might not have occurred to the members individually, but the speaker, from a disinterested viewpoint, could visualize them more completely. Argument would have been out of place, the plan would make its own appeal if it could stand critical inspection. The fact, indeed, that the audience, after listening closely for more than an hour, adopted the plan and put it into opera- tion, shows the clearness and completeness of the treatment. Concrete and Graphic Presentation The speaker relied chielly on specific facts: records of the experience of other industries in similar situations. He was able to cite concrete cases : names, figures, etc. The audience was able to follow and estimate these on their merits. One other feature which is worthy of special notice is that the speaker made effective use, at the beginning of his talk, of charts and diagrams. Thus he presented the essential features of his first and principal point in form which could be easily grasped. TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 449 Order and Distribution of Time There was virtually no introduction. The preliminaries had been considered already. ^Audience and speaker alike had clearly in mind the basis of discussion. Hence the speaker could strike directly into the subject. The address covered four topics. The first of them was given 35 minutes — nearly one-half of the time; the second only 10 minutes; the third 20 minutes and the fourth 10 minutes. Topic I presented the matter most immediately to be con- sidered, one which was essential and basic and the one which was least familiar to the audience. It was therefore consid- ered first and received more than one-half the time. Topics II and III were taken as representative problems be- fore members of the association. It was important to indi- cate briefly how such problems might be dealt with in connec- tion with the plan suggested in Topic I. The matter discussed under Topic II had been under con- sideration by similar associations. It was felt to be one call- ing for investigation but as to which procedure was as yet uncertain; it was therefore taken up second in order, but it received only a brief treatment. Here we might note that the briefer and more general treatment of Topic II furnished a relief in the strain upon the audience's attention. Topic III covered a matter with which members of the as- sociation had been struggling for some time and regarding which they felt the need of comprehensive and unified pro- cedure. This also, therefore, was taken up at length. Topic IV dealt in a brief and summarizing way with a num- ber of other matters interesting to the association and ai^ected in one way or another by the plan of procedure already out- lined. It was not desirable to go into these matters at length, but if they had not been treated the plan would not have been presented with setting and background. As it was, the brief 450 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES treatment of these other matters furnished a suggestive con- clusion. The Aim Distinctly Practical If the speaker had been discussing this subject chiefly as theory, in an address before a group of economists, for ex- ample, he might have followed a different order, and begun with the present Topic IV as a general introduction. He might have made a more equal distribution of the time, omit- ting from the treatment of Topic I some of the detail of con- crete instances, and giving a relatively longer time to Topic II and Topic IV. His object being definitely practical, and the audience fully prepared, the speaker could concentrate atten- tion at once upon the point of chief interest. Outlining After Delivery — A Useful Record Attention should be called to the usefulness, for any man who has to speak in public, of doing what Air. Rohrbach has here done — namely, writing out afterwards for himself, when he delivers an important address, a concise but definite summary of the address as given, with time-schedule, notes, etc. For many addresses which are deeply important to the speaker no stenographic report is made. The speaker forgets, after a few days, just how he dealt with the situation. He loses track of some of the useful and striking detail sugges- tions which came to him at the moment of delivery. If he will take an hour or so, while the speech is still fresh in mind, to set down such an outline he has a valuable record which he can utilize on other occasions. Of course, to make an exhaustive brief before every busi- ness address or interview, or an explicit summary afterwards is impossible. To do both, when the occasion is of impor- tance, is an act of common prudence. To train yourself in the TESTING YOUR THOUGHT 451 methods of each process so that you can carry them through accurately and quickly when there is need, is advisable for e\'ery man or woman who has to deal with others in the busi- ness world. Particularly for the young person in a subor- dinate position who intends to go higher. Meeting the Emergency If you have learned to watch the other man and watch your- self in ordinary conversation, if you have learned to use briefs and outlines as here suggested, you are much less likely to go astray in your thinking when an emergency presents itself un- expectedly. Under the stimulus of the occasion, moreover, you will be able to apply to your entire discourse the process or visualizing, of looking ahead, explained in Chapter XII in connection with planning sentences. Your practice in building sentences and paragraphs will have developed the power of quick, sure vision. But the wise man tries to foresee the emergency. The more fully you have analyzed beforehand your ideas on a given sub- ject, the more sure you will be of choosing the right tactics for the moment. Exercises 1. Examine the outlines printed with the extracts from business ad- dresses in Chapter XXIV; compare, for completeness, logical arrangement, etc., with those given above. 2. Make a systematic brief of some project in connection with your own business, following carefully the form suggested on pages 432-439 and in the specimen brief. 3. Prepare an outline for a speech, on the same topic following the suggestions on pages 444-445 and in the specimen outline. CHAPTER XXII THE TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY An Affair of Intelligence and Good Feeling The application of deliberate skill to the delivery of a busi- ness address has almost limitless possibilities, but the rudiments are not difficult to learn. It is not at all an affair of tricks. Vividness of perception, clearness of thought, and active sense of equity and fair play are the preliminary requisites. Direct concentration of attention on the audience is the condition of their successful development. Any man who has a good com- mand of language and of personal technique in conversation can soon adapt himself to such public speaking as his duties bring his way. Carrying a Message He must bear in mind always, however, the difference already noted between conversation and public speaking. Whereas conversation is a conference of equals, in the form of a more or less casual give and take, public speaking, no matter how informal, is the delivery of a message. The speaker must assume a certain degree of prominence. His game is a solo. He has the responsibility of opening his song and of carrying it through alone. This fact has both disadvantages and advantages. Sizing Up the Audience In conversation, the listener keeps you informed of his re- actions. If there is difficulty or misunderstanding, you can stop and clear it up at once. If at any moment you do not know what line to take, you quickly get your cue from some 452 TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 453 remark of his. In public speaking, you must guess the im- pression }-ou are making solely from the listeners' manner. But this, though at first difficult, grows easy with practice. An audience is more emotional than an individual. It shows its feelings more unreservedly. The experienced public speaker learns to size up a crowd, to estimate what can be done with it and what methods will bring the best results, even more surely than the experienced salesman sizes up a prospect. Effort of Will Public speaking involves, of course, an effort of will just as does a talk with an individual. When you get up in front of people you have to make good. The mere fact, for in- stance, that you are the president of the corporation addressing your employees is not enough. You may be their employer but you are not their leader unless you can control and guide their minds, and that takes effort of will. If you do not suc- ceed in giving them your point of view your speech has failed. The Audience Is Suggestible Actually, however, the effort of will required is far less in proportion in an interview with a thousand people than in an interview with even half a dozen. The fact that they are assembled to hear you address them indicates that they are in a passive mood. They are waiting to be filled and looking to you to fill them. Every one of them is more suggestible as a part of an audience than he would be as an individual. Everyone of them feels more or less the crowd influence that tends — 1. To focus on the line of thought which the speaker is following. 2. To suppress the tendency of individuals to shoot off at a tangent on different lines of thought. 3. To enforce the point which the speaker makes. Each 454 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES individual sees that his neighbors are hstening and apparently accepting the views of the speaker. He is therefore influenced, even more than he realizes, to accept them himself. In conversation the effort of will focusses usually toward the middle or end, however serene the opening may have been. In addressing an audience the effort of will focusses near the beginning ; once you have got your crowd well started you can carry them along much more easily than you could carry along the same number of persons by means of conversation. Will Less Important than Head and Heart The will element, in fact, is often exaggerated in discussing this subject. To talk of the speaker as "dominating" the audience, as if it were a case of forcing his ideas down their throats, is an incorrect diagnosis, certainly as applied to a business address. We may well repeat here that the charac- teristics which count chiefly are simplicity and vividness of statement, and frankness, heartiness, friendliness of feeling. If a speaker has these qualities, it is easy for other people to listen ; he makes them want to listen. Personality a Help — " Ego " a Hindrance The speaker stands, moreover, in the limelight. Every de- tail of his personality has the chance of attracting attention. The listeners may not comprehend all that he says so clearly as if they had his statement before them in written form, but if his personality is impressive, and if it harmonizes with what he is saying, the listeners will be made to feel, somewhere in the speech, that he knows what he is talking about and is com- petent to handle the matter. If that impression is produced, the speech is a success. But the speaker must not concern himself too much about his personality. His worst hindrance indeed is his own " ego " TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 455 — the too great anxiety to enforce his views or to exhibit his own cleverness, the disposition to worry over himself and the effect he is producing. His salvation is the recollection at all times that he is merely a messenger, that the crowd be- fore him is, after all, not interested in him but in what he rep- resents, in his message — whether he is president of the com- pany or a minor department head. Governor of the State, or a plain citizen. A clear realization of this fact will free a man from the chief obstacles to success in public speaking. Sense of the Message Prevents Stage Fright It will free him, for example, from timidity, nervousness, stage fright. This matter was touched briefly in Chapter I, but it deserves somewhat further notice here. Practically every man is conscious and embarrassed when he first stands up in front of a number of people to " make a speech," just as practically everyone, whatever his social position, is seasick when first on deep water. The seasickness wears off with the progress of the trip, and so with the self-consciousness before an audience. The difficulty is often complicated because the inexperienced speaker approaches the matter in the wrong way. Nearly al- ways he makes too elaborate a preparation. He tries, perhaps, to memorize a " clever speech," or in some other way he em- phasizes the difference from ordinary conversation conditions. The rule for the beginner at public speaking, no matter what his record in other activities or what his position in the com- munity, should be : Take it easy ! Overcoming " Nervousness " A good way to start, as has been already noted (page 11), is to pick out some individual in the front row and talk to him in the words which come, precisely as you would in conversa- tion. After a moment or so, the feeling of strangeness usually 456 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES passes off. You find yourself talking to the entire audience, your voice automatically becomes stronger, and you are launched on your speech. I once heard the secretary of a big corporation — a man of unusually keen mind and firm self-control — get up to give a short address on a subject with which he was thoroughly fa- miliar. It was his first attempt before an audience. His opening sentence was clever, amusing, right to the point, and then — he stuck. He choked, blushed, looked around help- lessly, tried again, and sat down. Like a sensible man, he realized that his failure was due to the fact that he was new at the game. He tried again when another occasion presented itself. This time he made no elaborate effort but merely chatted a little in the words that happened to come. He got through all right. After that he had no more trouble. Normal Excitement in Communicating Thought The fact is, there is a perfectly natural and normal excite- ment in the act of communicating thought. The excitement is greatly intensified when you have to raise your voice and address a number of people. This normal but novel sensa- tion the inexperienced speaker calls " self-consciousness," and usually misinterprets it as fear. The truth is such " self-con- sciousness " is an essential of the spcakcr-and-audicnce rela- tion. H it ever wholly disappears the discourse becomes wooden, lifeless — no longer talk, but a monologue. When this self-consciousness is present in a heightened de- gree, that fact, far from being a disadvantage, is evidence of innate aptitude for speaking in public. It is a sign of the sensitiveness and responsiveness of nature, without which the speaker cannot " concentrate " on the audience. But the first initiatory stages of a person thus endowed are often quite the reverse of pleasurable. He may feel unnerved TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 457 and clammy beforehand — when he has to make a speech — and ma)' be vmable to sleep afterwards. The reason is, usually, that he tries to do a great deal better than is possible for him at the time. Such a man is often intense, introspective, sensi- tive. He has a high standard of personal accomplishment. If he fails to attain the same success when he speaks in public as in conversation, he thinks " all is lost." At last, however, some occasion comes, after he has gained the necessary prac- tice, when he catches a breeze and does really well — well enough to feel that he has actually " put it over." After that he is all right. Even if " Nervous"," You Can Conceal It A very few — perhaps one man in a thousand — never get over their uneasiness and after repeated attempts remain em- barrassed and unhappy when they have to stand up and talk in public. There is comfort even for these, however. When they do have to talk, they make a better figure nearly always than they realize. They do not appear to be embarrassed. A high-strung, intelligent, over-sensitive man of my ac- quaintance made a short address before a good-sized audience and did really well. I chanced to meet him just afterwards and complimented him. But he was in the depths of gloom. " No," he said, " you don't mean that, I know that thing was rotten. I got all balled up. Here is what I intended to say. I didn't try to memorize it, of course, but I dictated it this afternoon for practice to my stenographer. You see it's ut- terly different! " The typed sheet was almost identical with the .speech he had actually delivered ; only a single minor point omitted near the close. Though in his excited state, he could not believe it, he had got his message across. If you have acquired command of voice and language in conversation, if you put your mind on the audience and trv 458 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES merely to speak your thought simply and frankly, especially if you bear in mind that after all you are only the messenger, there is little likelihood of your being troubled with " seasick- ness." Apathy and Coldness Remembering that you are the bearer of a message will save you also from a perfunctory and apathetic manner. Many people who have to deliver business addresses, some- times on very important occasions, miss their opportunity be- cause they do not speak with sufficient enthusiasm, or do not manifest their enthusiasm. J\Iost often the reason is that they do not really understand the nature of what they are doing — reaching the minds of plain people by simple, friendly statement. Once they realize this, they can see that their chief concern is not with the package they are carrying but with the consignee, and that it is not enough merely to drop the package at the door. The Temptation to Soliloquize The temptation to soliloquize appears again at this point, and the more carefully you have prepared the stronger the temptation. The more thoroughly you have mastered the logic of your case, the more danger of your assuming that you have found also the one best way to present it. Never forget that what preliminary study can do is chiefly to pre- pare your oivn mind; as to methods of presentation its sug- gestions are after all provisional. The audience may be in a different mood from what you expected. You must watch their response at every moment. Moreover, you must beware of riding even a willing au- dience too hard, of being careless or unsympathetic in man- ner. If you treat a debatable point in an untactful way, if you appear to lay down the law dogmatically, you may pro- TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 459 voke antagonism even though your hearers agree in general with your views. For example : A distinguished authority on advertising re- cently addressed a number of advertising men on writing copy. The whole point he had to make was : A good copy- writer must get in sympathy with his readers ; he must be sen- sitive of them at every point and talk directly to them. Yet the speaker himself gave the lie to his own doctrine in every syllable of his talk. If ever a man was soliloquizing, coldly laying down the law, he was the man. By the time he fin- ished his stock had dropped badly with that audience. Beware of Pretended Enthusiasm If soliloquizing is bad, pretended enthusiasm is worse. Some men who speak in public, usually because of wrong teaching or advice, try to fake enthusiasm. They use me- chanical tricks, they swing their arms about in absurd " ges- tures," they talk in loud, strained tones, they use exaggerated language. Such men wonder sometimes why they are not ef- fective speakers. The editor of a number of trade papers used to be frightfully timid before an audience. He took a course somewhere in what was called " Public Speaking " and o\ercame the nerv- ousness completely. But the result is that whereas he used to be a most interesting talker when he could bring himself to speak at all, now he is a nuisance! He used to have a simple, personal, intimate manner of talking. Today his manner is confident, noisy, and shallow. You never feel that the actual man is talking to you at all. That is absolutely the wrong way. Even uneducated peo- ple can tell when you are talking simply and when you are pretending. Men who have a definite message to give will do much better to trust to their own natural good sense and to the enthusiasm that the subject gives them. 460 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Enthusiasm Takes Many Forms The fact is, enthusiasm takes many forms according to the personahty of the speaker, the occasion, and the audience addressed. I once heard the correspondence supervisor of a great cor- poration talk about business letter-writing. He had a very light voice — you could not hear him further than twenty feet — and yet so far as you could hear him you listened in wonder. He spoke with such intensity and directness that yon felt you were listening to the sincere talk of a man of first- rate mental power who was deeply interested in his subject. If the enthusiasm is in the man, it will come out. Don't imitate other people, don't try to fake — just be honest and natural. Only, don't passively accept a handicap which you can re- move. This correspondence supervisor should have improved his voice so that he could be heard farther. That was inliis own power. Conveying the Essentials Remember another thing. You ma)' not get your message across entirely — you may forget part of it, leave out this, leave out that — but if you have your mind on the job and are not bothering about yourself, you are almost certain to convey the essentials. The impression which the speaker wishes to leave may come to the audience in anj' of the following ways : 1. The listeners may feel that he is intellectually acute. 2. They may feel his authority. 3. They may be pleased by the grace, the charm of his thoughts, or words, or appearance. 4. Or they may be impressed by his friendliness and heartiness. TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 461 Accurate Technique Most Important What has just been said emphasizes the importance of technique, of conscious, intelligent command of your powers of expression. Only it must be real skill, based upon sound thinking, not cheap pretense. And the first thing for any man to learn is to say right out plainly what he means. Actuall)' the possibilities of technique, of what can be done by means of voice and manner, by skill in language, are limit- less. The audience may soon forget most of what you say and yet remember some detail of your look and manner, or some striking phrase, which of itself may produce the effect you desire to gain. One seed will produce the tree when properly lodged. Similarly, technique that is inadequate may spoil your whole effect. If you are haranguing a mob, you may let yourself go and trust to exciting the mob by main strength and awkward- ness. But if you are to guide an audience constructively, so as to obtain definite results, you must know what you are doing. You must not use the fire bell when a dinner bell is needed. The torch of the electric welder is intense and pow- erful but it must be used with delicacy and precision. Speaking Loud Enough In talking to one person or to a small group, your speaking must be light and unobtrusive. When you talk to a large number of people together, you must talk in a tone that is full enough for everyone to hear easily without effort. An inex- perienced speaker when he faces a large audience usually be- gins too lightly. When he realizes that some of the audience are not hearing him he loses his head, and screams. Before long he is hoarse and has to moderate his tone or even to stop. The man who has acquired conscious control of his voice in conversation will rarely fail to be loud enough in public ad- 462 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES dress, no matter where he is talking. Even out doors, if tones are properly placed, they will carry. Some years ago, Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, the English suffrage leader, was one of the speakers at a luncheon of the Chicago Association of Commerce. The great room was filled with people. There was such a clatter of dishes that the big voices of several of the men speakers failed to carry. Mrs. Pankhurst spoke in a quiet, clear, well-placed tone, with perfect enunciation, and she was heard easily. Not Too Loud It is as bad to be too loud as to be too quiet. Look at the people in the back rows, now and then, and aim your talk at them. Say something that will provoke some sort of re- sponse, and see if those people respond as readily as the ones in front. When speaking inside a building, listen for your' voice to come back. You can nearly always catch some sort of echo or return of the sound from the walls, which will en- able you to gauge your force. When you use louder tones, you must enunciate more sharply in proportion, and use wider variations in pitch. Nothing is more annoying than to hear a speaker, whose tones are perfectly audible but who cannot be understood. Neither Too Fast Nor Too Slow The rate of speaking is also to be watched. You must talk neither too fast nor too slow for the size of the room, or for the number of people in the audience. When talking to a large number you must go more slowly, at the pace of the average mind, or you will lose their attention. Inexperienced speakers nearly always make this mistake in beginning a speech. On the other hand, you must not talk too slowly. Sometimes people speak with an exaggerated care and slow- ness which wearies the audience. Watch your listeners. Go TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 463 along as simply and briskly as you can while keeping their attention. Pose and Movement The expressiveness of pose and movement is of especial importance. The habits of control developed for conversa- tion, as explained in Chapter III, will serve you here also. As in conversation, you should observe the common usage of quiet good manners. For one thing, remember to keep still. Do not walk about. Do not fidget. Do not put your hands in your pockets, or hook them up behind or in front. Just let them hang down at your sides where heaven meant them to be. Then when any suggestion for a gesture develops, you may yield readily to it and your action will help express the ideas of the words. Gestures Inexperienced speakers are often much troubled about ges- tures, just as those who are socially inexperienced are trou- bled about the forks at dinner. Some speakers make no ges- tures at all. Others gesticulate too much. Some others " put in a gesture " about so often with the vague notion that it is " expected." Some teachers of " public speaking " instruct their pupils in a complete " set " of eight or ten gestures to be used at appropriate points ! Now with Americans, gestures — that is, movements of arms and body — are a sort of extra ^•ent to carry ofif the thought and emotion for which voice and posture are at the moment insufficient. If you are impelled to move your arms or head — the head gestures are much the most frequent — by all means do so. If you ha\-e gained suppleness and grace through bodily exercise, your gestures will probably be ex- pressive and suitable. They must not be feeble or anemic looking. Beware of overdoing any one movement, such as 464 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES wagging your forefinger continuously at the audience, or shak- ing your fist, or striking one hand in the other. If you desire really to utilize the language of gesticulation — it is a very definite language — take a few lessons in pantomime at a school for professional actors. The possibilities of the expression of thought and feeling through pose and movement are very great. The one thing to remember is that you are not there to show ofT, to exploit your personal charm. When you find yourself getting inter- ested in gestures or posture for themselves, it is time to stop. " Showing-Off " Unpardonable Indeed we may say that if a man finds himself ■i^.'anting to talk, looking forward to the chance to appear in public, it is usually a sign that he had better be silent. That is not at all to say that a man ma}- not have pleasure while speaking. The excitement of transmitting ideas to others is itself the keenest sort of pleasure. But the pleasure is a by-product. You speak because a certain thing must be said and you are the one to say it. The moment you begin to enjoy " per- forming " in public, that moment you are no longer talking business. Sincerity the Most Important Quality The final and all-important reciuirement for speaking well in public is sincerity — the frank manifestation of )'our person- ality. You succeed in proportion as you are able to talk to a group of people with the same direct heartiness and spon- taneity as you show in conversation with friends. Here is the most usual reason for failure in the delivery of business addresses on the part of business men. The execu- tives of a modern business often accjuire, because of their re- sponsibilities, a caution and reticence of speech and manner which prevents them from talking out plainly when they have TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY ^d- to speak in public. They cannot talk to an audience frankly- and easily as they do to their intimate friends. As has been noted, they are apt to be unemotional, repressed, and re- served in manner. On the other hand, they sometimes overdo the effort to be genial, and the result is sentimentality. They gush. People feel that it is not a natural manner and are repelled. The Power of Frankness 'Sien like Secretary Lane and Judge Gary have learned the better way. They have learned one of the final secrets of modern business power, namely : How to influence the mind of the other man by clear-cut and frank expression of their ideas in terms that he can grasp. Some time ago, in a leading American city, the head of a large department store was nominated for mayor. He had little political experience and yet he made a whirlwind cam- paign. He talked to the people even more easil)' and skil- fully than the professional spellbinders who had been ap- pointed to guide him. Everybody wondered ho\\- he did it. The truth was, he had been talking for twenty years to the workers in his store — both the department heads and the employees in general. He had learned to work on the minds of other people in connection with the every-day affairs of his business. When he was brought face to face with the need of reaching the people of the city he had only to use, in another \\ay, this power developed through years of practice. Letting Your Real Self Show Sincerity, after all, means more than merely refraining from misrepresentation. It means letting your real self show, your real interest and feeling and taste, as you do with your family and friends. That does not at all imply tactlessness ; it implies indeed a tact that has become second nature. In 466 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES the case of intimate friends you know them so well that you avoid instinctively all "sore" places; nevertheless you talk of the things which really interest you and let your friends know plainly what you are thinking. Once in a while we hear a man talk in public in that way. Theodore Roosevelt did it. Chauncey Depew can do it — Charles M. Schwab, and Dr. John Finley, and many less widely known. We hear these men gladly. We can profit by studying their methods. Mental Hospitality Most of us are somewhat timid about letting people come over the threshold of our minds and look too closely at our actual furniture of thought and feeling. It is that fear of being misunderstood which makes our public manner so cau- tious and superficial, so different from our manner in con- versation. That fear is needless. We are willing enough to " speak with our enemies at the gate," in the Bible phrase. If we had the courage, or perhaps the impulse of hospitality, to bring them inside, we could more readily turn them into friends. A child speaks out frankly. He expects you to be re- sponsive, and you are. When a grown-up does the same, he usually wins the same response. It is harder, of course, for the determined self-centered nature to be willing to do this. That is the chief reason for the many abrupt, formal, or baf- fling addresses on occasions in business life when what is needed is frank friendliness. But anyone can learn if he wants to. Moreover, true hospitality, mental or otherwise, involves your own enjoyment. A business address that grows merely from a dull sense of duty rings false. You will succeed only if you are really interested in the subject and in the people you are addressing. TECHNIQUE OF DELIVERY 467 The Essential — A Real Message The best feature with regard to .this new form of pubhc speaking is this: It is not at all an affair of " hot air" nor of the professional " orator," whose services, like those of a livery horse, anybody may engage. And yet it is something that is within the power of any man of good intelligence who has a real message. Of course the larger and richer the personality the more interesting will be the expression of that personality in pub- lic address. But the capacity to discuss a matter acceptably in public when the need comes is not confined to those who by nature are ready of speech and graceful in manner. Even those who start late can learn. If You Desire, You Can Learn Even those whose first attempts are halting and poor, if they will follow the one road of frank, hearty talk to the au- dience, will certainly develop the power of vigorous, clear statement and true expression of their personality. Only, they must keep trying to improve. If a man knows that he plays the game badly, yet makes no effort to better his skill, he will remain mediocre, no matter how good his intentions or how acute his mind in other lines of activity. If he really wants to de\elop the power of getting his message to the peo- ple he has to deal with, he can discover the training which he needs. Exercises Your interest in the subject will be increased and steadied if you develop the habit of " keeping score '' in an informal but orderly way of the speeches of all kinds which you chance to hear, both long and short, elaborate and simple, etc. Some of the points which might be noted are : 468 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES 1. Occasion: (a) Size of audience. (b) Nature of audience. (c) Aim of speaker. 2. Course of the Speech : (a) Length. (b) Speaker's "nervousness,'' poise, etc. (see pages 455-458). (c) Workings of the crowd impulse in the audience (see page 453)- 3. Effect of speech due largely to ; (a) Features of personal technique: voice, enunciation, ges- ture, manner. (b) Features of language and arrangement. (c) Brilliant or lucky "items" (see page 461). (d) Intellectual validity of the speaker's case. (e) Heartiness, "hospitality" of spirit, etc. (see page 465). CHAPTER XXIII ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS Invitations from Outside A man who becomes known as a good speaker in connection with business matters is almost certain to be invited to talk on outside occasions : before men's clubs, at dinners, at public meetings. He thinks these occasions call for a different sort of speaking from that of his business addresses, and he is apt to feel uncertain what to do. Little Advice Xobody tells him. He is invited to " talk to our people " about this or that, or to " make a few remarks," but he is rarely given any definite idea of the objecti\e of his speech, or of the slant which is desired. He does not as a rule get much help from the books on public speaking to which perhaps he turns. They seem to be written for the professional speaker, drawing their illustrations from famous " orators " and recommending elaborate methods which he feels to be unsuitable for his own case. Undirected experience is not always a satisfactory guide. Most of the bad speaking in the world is perpetrated by ora- torical veterans — lecturers, lawyers, politicians, clergymen — who ought to know better. He has no wish to increase the number of those who talk much without talking well. Little Criticism Moreover, he receives very little real criticism. His friends assure him that his speech was " great," that he " made the hit of the evening," etc. A man is rarely aware of his own de- 469 470 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES fects and he is apt to go away feeling that he has done pretty well, to repeat the same errors next time. Sometimes his wife will give him a candid estimate, if she is fortunate or unfortu- nate enough to be in the audience. But her remarks are not always constructive. The wife of a clergyman of my ac- quaintance had the invariable criticism for her husband's ser- mons, " Very nice, dear, but if I were you I should have left out about half of it." The comment was just, but not very helpful to a man of expansive temperament. It sometimes happens that if a man does succeed passably with his first attempts at outside speaking, his success goes to his head a little, so that he begins to think himself a cleverer fellow than he had supposed. He is tempted to show off. He permits himself to utter opinions which are not carefully thought out, and which later on he has to take back. He may even get in the way of doing tricks for his audience, almost like a paid entertainer. One unfortunate by-product of the campaigns for the Liberty Loan and other war activities, it is to be feared, was a considerable increase in the number of such cases. A Safeguard — Consider the Audience The one sure way to avoid these errors, if you have to ven- ture into the field of the general address, is to put yourself resolutely in the place of the audience and consider — 1. Their attitude toward public speaking in general. 2. Their attitude toward yourself on this particular occa- sion. What is your own private attitude of mind when you are a listener at a lecture or a public meeting? That of the ordinary man, safe to say, may be summarized about as follows: I. He does not as a rule desire to be instructed or made to think. ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 471 2. He has a vague respect for the man who can make speeches, but he listens passively, rather idly. 3. He can be gripped and carried along, if the speaker is able to catch his attention. 4. But before long he grows tired, and then he turns away or goes to sleep. These conditions may not apply to the audience you are to address; your hearers may be specially interested in you or in your subject, so that you feel at ease at once. But on the other hand, the reason for your invitation may be that you have acquired a certain degree of prominence in your com- munity so that people are more or less curious to see what you look like, somewhat as the members of a college foot-ball team, after a victory, are asked to stand up one by one and " say a few words." Or the case may be merely that the members of the audience are in the habit of coming together periodically to be enter- tained and you have been invited to take your turn. When addressing a strange audience it is well to remember that we are after all of merely incidental importance to the people in front. The Essentials of Speaker-and-Audience Relation A lecturer who was experienced in " work on the Chautau- qua Circuit " told me once how disconcerting it was to travel from town to town with the musicians, the Japanese acrobats, the trained dogs, etc., and to discover that to his audience he too was only one of the " turns." But he said the experience was wholesome. It enabled him to realize the essentials of the speaker-and-audience relation, which are always at the bottom the same. The speaker has his chance, but he must not overstay his time. The Chautauqua lecturer had a part of the day's atten- tion of the tentful of subscribers. They wanted to see the 47-' PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES trained dogs but the\- also wanted to hear him speak. The guests at a dinner, after the meal, the cigars, and songs, are ready to listen to the speeches, provided the speakers will ac- cept the conditions of the occasion. A Definite Message The conditions are essentially the same as those of a sales interview, where you are only one among the day's callers but from which you may come out, if you get the buyer's attention, with a twenty thousand dollar order. Whatever the occasion may be, therefore, you will if you are wise — 1. Think out clearly beforehand; What is your message? What reason have you for talking? What definite efifect should your address produce? If you cannot determine these points clearly in your own mind, do not talk. 2. Speak as plainly and directly as you can. Do not show ofl, any more than in a business conversation. 3. Only, remembering that the audience is not directly interested, as a business audience would be — a. Adapt your message. Give the hearers a suffi- cient background. b. And do not try to tell too much. Do not rub it in. Do not overstay the time of your " turn." Tactful Delivery I once heard the president of a great insurance company talk to a group of soldiers in a reconstruction hospital about the histor}- of his company. His compact, well-worded address would ha\'e held the interest of any audience of business men, but it was absolutely over the heads of the boys whom he honestly thought he was entertaining. He gave them no idea of the significance of insurance, of the importance to societ^' ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 473 of the new species of business which his company had originated. He forgot utterly that those boys had not the baclxground for his talk. The same day, I heard the director of the hospital's educa- tional department — also a business man — address the men's club of a church on the work of the hospital. This man knew how to talk. He began : " Perhaps you have noticed crippled soldiers passing along by twos and threes on the streets down- town. You may have wondered where'they came from, etc." Then he chatted along, giving his information crisply in a form that was easy to grasp, putting in stories, and stopping before his listeners were tired. When he began they were but slightly interested, knowing little of either hospital or speaker. When he closed, they crowded round him and made arrange- ments then and there to visit the hospital. The truth is, the notion which a business man has at his first experience before outside audiences — that a different sort of talk is demanded from that of the business address — is erroneous. He will succeed here also by talking simply and straightforwardly, that is, by talking business. The Greatest Danger — Insincerity That will protect him against the greatest danger for the man who speaks much to miscellaneous audiences — the temptation to cynicism, to insincerity. Any man who has had much experience before popular audiences knows what I mean. He finds that he is often mis- understood ; his listeners do not respond ; they laugh in the wrong place, they miss the point when he is doing his best to make himself clear. Many a man grows to feel cynically that to tell his listeners freely and candidly what he thinks is im- possible and not worth attempting. Then he begins to talk half-truths: to say what he thinks they will understand; what will get by. You will find this attitude of mind very often in professional 474 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES lecturers and political " spellbinders."' They have often a cynical contempt for the audiences that applaud them. Get one of these men aside privately and he will tell you things which he would ne\'er think of saying in public, which he sup- poses — quite wrongly — that his audiences would not under- stand or care for. That leads, in a good many cases, to absolute insincerity. Cheap Cynicism — A Horrible Example Some }ears ago, a friend of mine stopped to change cars at one of those little junctions in southern Illinois — no town in sight, nothing but corn for miles around, the station an empty box car with an all-night lunch counter at one end. It was a broiling hot day. From the other side of the sta- tion he heard the booming sound of a deep bass voice. He went round, and there in the shade sat a great bulk of a man — frock coat, black string tie, wide soft hat, smooth-shaven red face, his chair tipped back against the wall — discoursing to three or four rustics on the vanity of life. " Just come from St. Louis. Dropped in at the Democratic convention. . Those politicians all alike. Graft from beginning to end. . Bryan or Roosevelt, pa\' your monev and take your choice. . . You can buy any one of 'em if you've got the cash. . And women the same. I remember down in Nashville. . . ."' j\Iy friend learned from one of the bystanders that this was a lecturer on one of the country circuits, waiting for a train to his next appointment. He stepped a little closer and incjuired of the big man: " You are on the road a good deal, sir? " " Ye-es, I go about most of the time. Pretty much all over." " I understand you are a lecturer. May I inquire what is the subject of your lecture? " ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 475 " We-ell," the big voice rolled out, more unctuously, " I have several subjects. The one which is most generally favored is — " and his tones jumped to the steam-whistle squeal of the cheap spellbinder: " All power is from GOD! " That was a very gross instance. But something of the atti- tude of mind which had grown upon that man is found in many speakers of much higher intelligence — national figures, some of them — famous criminal lawyers, even certain ministers of rich city churches, and brilliant extension lec- turers. Great Speakers — Interest in Audience The speakers of real power are those who retain, in spite of disappointments, their desire to give their listeners frankly and heartily their honest thought, as a man must do in his business addresses. In the course of a good many years I have listened, I sup- pose, to some thousands of public speakers — professional lecturers, men in public life and business life, college pro- fessors, lawyers, clergymen, labor leaders, cranks and agita- tors, wandering " evangelists," street-corner fakers — good, bad, and indififerent. Most of them, I am happy to say, I have entirely forgotten. The few who remain in memory — whether beginners or veterans — have been characterized nearly always by one quality. They had not lost their interest in the audience ; they seemed to be saying what they honestly meant, confident that their listeners would appreciate and re- spond. Because they were really interested in what they were saying their personality revealed itself truthfully and power- fully in all their talk. Personality The matter of personality has been the theme of many recent get-wise-quick books. In this book not much has been said 476 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES about it, for the reason that personality is not a thing which you can consciously direct or use. It operates unconsciously. If you try to exploit it you become ridiculous or impertinent. Nevertheless, it is personality, intangible and uncontrollable as it is, in which the ultimate power of any speaker resides. What holds our attention and sways our conduct is not certain ideas, however we may think that is the case, but the fact that these ideas are presented to us by someone in whose judgment and good-will we have confidence. What gives us that con- fidence? Not the person's position in societ)', his recom- mendations, or anything else, but our instinctive response to his personality as revealed in subtle, indefinable points of manner and mental attitude. Learning from Others — Types of Speeches The business man who has to address general audiences can learn much from the experienced speakers of various kinds whom he may chance to hear, if he is careful in allowing for the differences in situations. In those of real power he will discover the characteristic I have mentioned, genuine and hearty interest in the audience, and consequent free play of personality. Speeches deli\-ered to general audiences ma)- be classified roughly, according to the object the speaker has in mind, under the heads of — 1. Information: lectures of one sort or another. 2. Advice or exhortation : sermons, for example. 3. Controversy : argument and appeal. 4. Entertainment: after-dinner speeches and others. Lectures — Personality Essential Most lectures are dreary affairs, ^^'e do not enjoy being solemnly fed with information. Yet we all enjoy being put on the inside of a subject by a man who really knows about it, ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 477 if we feel that he is interested in us. We are pleased with the feeling that the big man wants us to know and enjoy the things which interest him. It has been said that every one has in him at least one good novel. Certainly every man has in him one good lecture. He has some topic about which he knows more than other people. If he will talk about that in a definite, personal way, touching the high spots and passing over minor matters, he can make it interesting, no matter what it may be, to any audience of real people. He will not try to tell too much. To tell the audience all that he knows about his subject is impossible. But it is entirely possible to give the listeners his own point of view and to let them see for a few moments with his eyes. Professor Royce One man whose lectures filled these requirements was Josiah Royce, Professor or Philosophy at Harvard. His lectures were excellent examples of applied psychology — as truly as the canvass of an expert salesman. His subjects were technical. He neither ornamented nor cheapened them. Yet because he knew how the human mind operates, he was able to pi^-k out things to say which carried the significance of his thought even to people who had little special knowledge. [Moreover, he seemed eagerly interested, himself, in the audi- ence. Many a third-rate scholar, when talking of his specialty, affects an attitude of solemnity if not of cold aloofness. Professor Royce, at the head of his profession, talked with an infectious enthusiasm that never flagged. Captain Carpenter of the " Vindictive " Last winter Captain Carpenter of the British navy, who commanded the old Vindictive in the raid on Zeebrugge, came to America with some remarkable pictures of the navy's work. 478 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES His lecture, a plain simple story, held the close attention of audience after audience. He had none of the usual arts of the experienced speaker. He talked in the quiet ordinary tones of an English gentleman, with a dead-in-earnest ring in his voice now and then but with no reference to his own part in the raid. But somehow he illustrated for you the very nature of the men who made the tremendous feat possible. And somehow he made you feel — he was so straightforward and modest — that what he chiefly wanted at that moment was to make sure that }-ou who were listening should know and understand how it all happened. Captain Carpenter, at least, had no training in oratorical technicjue. But such training does not necessarily take away genuineness. Spontaneity of feeling and straightforwardness of expression depend on the nature of the man, not on the degree or the direction of his education. I recollect vividly a lecture in French, delivered by a dis- tinguished French writer at a college in England. Technically it was almost perfect : beautifully enunciated, musical, ex- pressive in every point, yet uttered with a deliberateness which enabled the English-speaking listener with a reading knowl- edge of French to follow every word. Yet here again the chief impression was of the single-minded enthusiasm of a big man who was eager to explain to you who were listening the subject which he personally cared about. E. H. Sothern Mr. E. H. Sothern illustrated the same union of absolute spontaneity with perfect technique in an address at the graduat- ing e.xercises of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts; an intimate talk to the young men and women about the stage and its possibilities. A graduating address is generally a funereal affair. When it begins the experienced listener settles himself and prepares for the worst. But Mr. Sothern merely talked. You never would have thought of him as the foremost ADDRESSES t)N OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 479 Shakespearian actor of his country, but merely as a private gentleman who had somehow wandered on the stage and was conversing with friends. He had a sheaf of loose notes in his hand. He looked over them, picked out a point here or there, looked up and chatted about it informally, then picked out another item and talked about that and so on, in the most informal and apparently careless manner. But e\-ery quiet word carried easily throughout the big theater. And those items he selected so informally one after another led straight along in the direction in which he wished to go. Insensibly his thought grew up within the listener's mind. Probably few of the audience realized until afterward how much he had told them, what an intimate view they had been given, what a demand he had made on their own powers of attention and assimilation. Sermons — Peculiar Conditions Often you are advised to study as a model the manner of some prominent clergyman. The advice is good, provided you bear in mind the special nature of a clergj'man's speech — of a sermon — and the relation of preacher to congregation. The preacher retains always something of the old priestly character. His hearers are in an emotionally docile attitude. They expect to receive moral advice, to have their faults re- buked, to be stimulated to better living. The preacher begins, that is, at a point which other speakers reach late in their discourse, if at all. In ordinary- addresses, moreover, lengthy advice as to conduct and fervent emotional appeal make the listeners uneasy. When considering the manner of impressive preachers, you must allow for the difference of proportions. Many preachers, indeed, overdo their exhortation and emo- tional appeal. Emotional joy-riding, " wallowing in senti- ment " — to use a phrase of Robert Louis Stevenson's — is 480 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES not good on any occasion. Too much moral advice induces callousness. Much to Be Learned from Good Preachers But you can learn a great deal from the good preachers, who know how to give swift rebuke, a brief appeal to the heart, a bit of intimate personal counsel, without causing re- sentment or embarrassment. Here, too, the power is usually that of the speaker's personality working out through perfect simplicity of manner. You feel: "This man is himself straight, clear-headed, friendly. He thinks I can do better in this or that point. It is worth trying, if I can gain something of his sincerity and wholesomeness ! " Some of these great preachers have the power of fit and graceful words. Dr. Frank Crane, who can hold an audience of men anywhere, seems merely chatting along impromptu in a series of easy, simple statements, yet each one falls — like the cast of an expert fisherman — precisely where he wants it. You feel the power of a serene, earnest nature talking to you in the very terms in which }'ou do your own thinking. On the other hand, the pastor of a great Chicago church, one of the foremost men of the city, is one of the poorest speakers, from a narrowly technical point of view, that I have ever heard : his words ill-chosen, his sentences tangled and clumsy. Perhaps that very fact is one secret of his power over the keen lawyers and business men who throng to hear him, who them- selves deal all the time in the mastery of words. This man, who might almost be said to talk without words, produces in a high degree the feeling of reality. He speaks of matters of ethics, doctrine, prix-ate mental experience, in the same matter- of-fact wa)- as he talks baseball, or business, and you feel that they are equally real to him. When he passes to intimate, personal counsel you listen willingly because he is a genuine man. ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 481 Speeches of Controversy Speeches of controversy by men of real power can teach us most of all. Here again personality, exerted unaware, is the dominating factor. The form in such an address is argument, but argument alone does not count for much. W'liat actually wins our sup- port for a speaker's cause is our impression, rarely put into conscious words : " This is a big man. He is honest and sen- sible, and a good fellow. He seems to know what he is about. He wants me to do so-and-so. I don't know all the ins and outs of the case but I guess he is a good man to trust ! '' In matters of politics and of social welfare, where we feel in- stinctively that unknown quantities are pretty certain to throw out the closest calculations of logic, we instinctively follow a leader whom we feel to be wholesomely human, possessed of common sense, honesty of aim, sympathy, and intellectual honesty — or all of these. We are impressed in proportion as we are made to feel — 1. The speaker's competence, adequacy, largeness, eventual success. 2. The genuineness of his desire to have us for associates. n he seems to be making an uphill fight against obstacles, that impresses us especially. The cases which stand out in my own recollection have all been of this kind. A Politician's Speech — Touching the Crowd Years ago in a big American city, I heard a five-minute speech by a mayoralty candidate before a crowd of working- men. He had already served several terms as mayor. He had been out in California most of the time since leaving office four years before, and the other side was vehemently calling him " carpet-bagger." It was mainly a political cry but it had to be met. 482 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES He came to the crowded little hall about the middle of the evening and this was his speech : My friends, they are saying that I am a carpet-bagger, that I don't belong here, and have no right to be a candidate for mayor. I do not like to talk about my private affairs, but you have a right to know the facts. Four years ago my only son was taken very ill. The doc- tors told us he was threatened with consumption. I am very fond of my family, and I packed the boy and his mother right off to California. As soon as I could get away I joined them. I have been in California several months every year since then. Now, the doctors say my boy is all right. He is well and strong. In fact he has just entered my old college as a Freshman, and I guess he's getting along all right. I know his letters are just like those I used to send to my father. The biggest item in them I notice is '' charity." And I don't mind telling you, my friends, that in my case charity covered a multitude of sins. As he told the story you could feel the crowd purr with interest, and when he stopped they were absolutely for him. A poor ground, we might think, on which to rest a candidacy for mayor — but he knew the situation. The other speakers had taken up the issues. A\'hat he had to do was to make those rough fellows feel that he was a jolly, human man, the kind of man they would like to know. That was the kind of man they wanted for mayor. Balfour — A Master of Debate A speech in the House of Commons by Mr. Balfour, then Prime Minister, illustrated in a remarkable way the power of prompt demonstration of personal readiness. It was toward the end of his administration, when the Liberal party was making a determined attack upon him. ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 483 ■ On this occasion, the Liberal leaders made a concerted on- slaught in a series of remarkable speeches, which lasted all the afternoon and part of the night. One after another, they thundered at him across the narrow space which separates the two parties in the House. Balfour meanwhile lay back with half-closed eyes, straightening occasionally to scribble a note, otherwise apparently scornful of the proceedings. At last, it must have been after eleven o'clock at night, he rose to reply. His speech lasted, I should say, thirty-five minutes or so. It was as graceful and easy in form and manner as the address before the American House of Representatives referred to in an early chapter of this book. But it was one of the most extraordinary bits of political debating on record. He took up his assailants one after another, punctured their arguments, and destroyed their impression in a few keen sentences. Dur- ing the Liberal speeches, you would ha\'e thought that Balfour was completely at their mercy. They had an excellent case against the government, and appeared to have entire command of the situation. But when he replied he seemed like Gulliver among the Lilliputians. The Great Man's Instructive " Control " Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, speaking of humanity's constant temptation to over-excitability : Nature will not have us fret or fume . . When we come out of the caucus, or the bank, or the Abolition convention, or the temperance meeting, or the transcendental club, into the fields and woods, She says to us : " So hot ? my little sir ! " In each of us, so long as we are not personally involved in a given matter, there is a feeling, vague but absolute, as to how far a real man would go in his advocacy of it. If a speaker passes this vaguely outlined dead-line we feel him not so great 484 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES as we had thought him. The controversial speeches of a man of real power show in one or another way an instinctive control that keeps him, however tremendously in earnest, from going too far. You feel that the man is after all larger than the immediate issue which he is supporting. What such a man recommends receives consideration. Theodore Roosevelt Two men in America in recent years have notably exemplified this instinctive control. One was Theodore Roosevelt. No man hit harder in a fight. But he conveyed alwa)'s even while fighting the impression of a nature essen- tially sound, kindly, human. Once in the time of Mr. Roosevelt's popular eclipse, after his return from Africa, I heard him address a great audience, none too favorably inclined, on the issues of the day. I do not know how far he succeeded in winning converts for his views but I do know the marvelous effect of his personality, the way he won those eight thousand people to hearty respect for him- self as a man. I went to the hall in company with a friend, a broker, who was as bitterly hostile to Roosevelt at that time as a man could be to another. We were seated some distance apart and my interest was di\'ided between Mr. Roosevelt and the effect Mr. Roosevelt was having on my friend. At first he sat bolt upright, bitterly disapproving. Then some remark that the Colonel made caught his attention and his face momentarily relaxed. Then another direct and human utterance brought a smile of approval. Before the speech was half finished, my friend was applauding and cheering with the utmost delight. When I met him outside, he remarked rather sheepishly that the Colonel made a pretty good speech after all. But it was not the ideas that won him — it was the big-hearted manliness ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 4S5 of Mr. Roosevelt's personality. That man, you felt, had the instinct of fair play. Booker Washington The other man was Booker Washington. Without excep- tion he was the greatest speaker I have heard. In him there was the combination of entire sincerity, entire devotion to a great cause, with a clear serenity of intellect that gave him absolute control of his powers at all times. His speeches were the incarnation of " talking business." Two occasions especially stand out in my recollection. One was a lecture in a country church on a warm summer evening. I got there early. He was already seated on the platform, apparently very tired. His face was relaxed and the im- pression he made was merely that of a big, heavy-featured negro. Then he rose to speak, and in less than three minutes, his appearance had utterly changed ; the expression of his features, the contour of his face had altered. There was no suggestion of white or black — it was the face of an intellect of tremendous power. You see such an alteration in the shape of the features, sometimes, in the face of a great actor. I never saw it to such an extent as in the case of Mr. Washington. The other occasion was an address before the City Club of Chicago. Mr. Washington was just beginning a campaign for endowment for Tuskegee. A few days before, another well-known negro speaker had been at the club and had de- livered a striking and even beautiful address packed full of bitterness toward the white race. Apparently it was anything but a good time for Mr. Washington to solicit subscriptions. A Chicken-Stealing Story and Its Use The big meeting room was jammed with people. The crowd caused some delay in coming to order and when ]\'Ir. Washington got up to speak, he commented on the fact. 486 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES " I am sorry," he said, " to be late. I always try to be on time but sometimes it is impossible. Some three weeks ago, I had an engagement with an old colored man up state in Ala- bama. He kept me waiting for over an hour. When he finally arrived, I reproached him rather sharply. " The old fellow said to me, ' Yo mustn't be ha'd on me, Ah've had trouble at home. Mah wife went out and lef de chick'n coop do' open, and de chick'ns all got out and went home!'" Then without a word of transition, he passed into a terse analysis of the business situation at Tuskegee, a straightfor- ward, luminous, financial statement which any of those La Salle Street financial men would have been glad to dupli- cate. With those few opening sentences of his chicken-stealing story, he had dissipated all thought of the inferiority of the colored race! A man who could tell such a story on his own people — exactly as a white man might tell a story about his own people, without a particle of fear of being misinterpreted — such a man you felt had nothing to apologize for. Your hat was off to him. He was a man and an equal. The After-Dinner Speech, Etc. The speech of entertainment, the after-dinner speech, for example, may seem at first thought to be essentially different from others, to be in fact merely " idle talk," a modern sub- stitute for the old-time minstrel monologue. Too many dinner speeches, indeed, by men who ought to know better, consist merely of ponderous or silly retailing of " funny column " jokes, or aimless personal chatter. Yet the speech of entertainment, the dinner speech among others, may be no less worth while than the speeches of other types; "when good fellows get together" they do not check their brains with their hats. The private conversation of the ADDRESSES ON OUTSIDE OCCASIONS 487 men who are selected to talk to their acquaintances round a dinner table is usually characterized by intelligence as well as wit. Their speeches of entertainment, if they will but talk naturally, will be the equivalent of good social conversation, the sprightly and intimate touching of worth while matters. A message may strike all the deeper for the wit which wings it, the mood of easy good fellowship in which it is conveyed. However playful his mood, here too — as truly as in a business address — a man should have some definite thing to say which is worth saying ; otherwise he should keep still. Your Most Valuable Asset, Your " Amateur Standing " Your most important requirement, if you have to speak often in public, is to preserve your " amateur standing." Once you are labeled as a professional talker everything you say is dis- counted. Your listeners should feel always that you are first of all a useful citizen, and only incidentally a public speaker. Give the Best You Have When you do talk, say what you really mean. The differ- ence between the big man and the ordinary man is not so great after all, when talking about what they have really observed. The big man has a wider range of interests, he can see more things, but the ordinary man can see just as truly the things within his range. When he tells what he actually knows, when he reveals his honest feeling, others will listen and respect him. There is no pleasure in this world greater than that of sincere and interested conversation with people who understand. If you will carry your conversation attitude of frankness and friendhness into your address to your audiences, you will have the same response as from your own circle of acquaint- ances. 488 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES As was said in the first chapter of this book, no sensible man will speak in public unless he has a real reason for speaking. But when he does have reason to speak, he will not pretend to be more thoughtful, witty, or clever than is possible for him, nor will he timidly utter half-truths. He will simply give to his guests what he has in his house. He will make them hospitably welcome, confident that they will appreciate the spirit of their entertainment. CHAPTER XXIV REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES Addresses Illustrated The business addresses — all of recent date — here illus- trated, represent various phases of what is decidedly the most notable type of public speaking in America today. In con- nection with the subject of this book they are significant in several ways. The Speakers The speakers are men who have earned the right to speak for American industry by their statesmanlike administration of wide responsibilities. The audiences were composed in nearly all cases of business men gathered upon a business oc- casion. Topics The topics discussed are vital problems of our industrial so- ciety — questions of industrial policy in its broadest aspects. Most of them, naturally, are concerned with some phases of our war-time problems : that by Mr. Kahn with the nation's sup- port of the soldiers ; those by Messrs. Gary, Gompers, and Schwab with the active co-operation by capital and labor in the nation's effort. The question of the relations between indus- try and the community is treated in the eight addresses by Messrs. Gary, Gompers, Johnson, Perkins, Rockefeller, and Schwab. The question of relations between employers, man- agers, and working force is definitely the theme of those by Messrs. Rockefeller and Watson, and appears prominently in those by Messrs. Gompers and Schwab, 490 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Spirit and Form These addresses are especially significant for the student of this book by reason of their spirit and form. They deal with themes of great practical importance broadly, vigorously, but temperately and in a spirit of scrupulous care for fact — there is no hot air. Their form, again, is direct, colloquial and easy, not essentially different from that employed by a multitude of other men in the daily occasions of American business life. Limitations of space make it impossible to print the ad- dresses entire. To furnish some idea of their scope and qual- ity there is given in each case, with the approval of the author : (i) a brief introductory note of general comment; (2) an outline of the thought; (3) a considerable extract to illus- trate style and detail handling. When the Tide Turned The American Attack at Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood in the First Week of June, 1918 By Otto H. Kahn An Address at the United War Work Campaign Meeting of the Boston Athletic Association, November 12, 1918. Suddenly out of the gloom flashed the lightning of a new sword, sharp and mighty, a sword which had never been drawn except for freedom, a sword which had never known defeat — the sword of America ! . . There is one record yet to be broken before our boys come home. That is the record of the outpouring of a nation's gratitude to its defenders. Structure. Excellent example of war-charity appeal, in emotional terms but firm in texture. Construction: simple. The address is mainly a narrative from first-hand observation of the work of the American army REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 491 in the crisis of the war. An expository introduction, very brief, sums up the result of the war as the triumph of right. After the narrative a brief appeal — in direct and simple terms : What we at home must now do. The address closes with a picture, in lofty and impassioned terms, of the significance of America's work and of the nation's future. Style and Manner. Vivid personal wording. Crisp, short sentences. Graphic pictures. Literary grace. Variety of manner in different sections. The speech of a man of clear head and literary skill, treat- ing a subject which stirs both speaker and audience to deep emotion, yet keeping easy control. Outline (Length of address, 50 paragraphs; 3600 words) I. Why the Tide Was Fated to Turn (Paragraphs 1-6; 250 words) Eternal law confirmed; evil fails. German morale destroyed by defeat. II. Where the Tide Turned (Paragraphs y-g; 250 words) Not on July 18, but in first week of June. Our force small, but victory moral and strategic. This report is from my own observation. III. Just Before the Tide Turned (Paragraphs 10-16; 550 words) Paris was near capture. French not afraid, but in despair. Defeatists active against Clemenceau. Suddenly — the Americans. IV. Turning of the Tide (Paragraphs 17-33; 1200 words) Americans were rushed to the front. French advice to retreat rejected. German guns stormed by desperate fighting. They stopped the Hun. Both sides recognized American power. Paris was jubilant ; defeatists were silent. Foch gave Americans center of line. They made good. St Mihiel. 49^ PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES They are splendid, knightly. Incident of Americans relieving French. V. Tide of Our Gratitude (Paragraphs 34-41; 700 words) United War Work funds help the soldiers. They overcome homesickness. The workers are human ; they know soldiers. Support must not stop though fighting is over. VI. Tide of Peace (Paragraphs 42-50; 650 words) Peace has come with our help. The nation stood the test. Let us maintain our patriotic mood. Vision of greater national life. [10. J On the 27th of last May the Germans broke through the French position at the Chemin des Dames, a position which had been considered by the Allies as almost impregna- ble. They overthrew the French as they had overthrown the British two months earlier. Day by day they came nearer to Paris, until only thirty-nine miles separated them from their goal. A few days more at the same rate of advance, and Paris was within range of the German guns of terrific destructive power. Paris, the nerve center of the French railroad system and the seat of many French war industries, not only, but the very heart of France, far more to the French people in its meaning and traditions than merely the capital of the country; Paris in imminent danger of ruthless bombardment like Rheims, in possible danger even of con- quest by the brutal invader, drunk with lust and with victory ! As one Frenchman expressed it to me : " \\'e felt in our faces the very breath of the approaching beast." [ll.J And whilst the Hunnish hordes came nearer and nearer, and the very roar of the battle could be dimly and ominously heard from time to time in Paris, there were air raids over the city practically every night, and the shells from the long-ranre monster guns installed some sixty or sev- enty miles distant, fell on its houses, places, and streets al- most every day. [12.] They were not afraid, these superb men and women of France. They do not know the meaning of fear in defense of their beloved soil and their sacred ideals. There was no REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 493 outward manifestation even of excitement or apprehension. Calmly and resolutely they faced what destiny might bring. But there was deep gloom in their hearts and dire fore- bodings. [13.] They had fought and dared and suffered and sacri- ficed for well nigh four years. They had buried a million of their sons, brothers and fathers. They were bleeding from a million wounds or more. They said : " We will fight on to our last drop of blood, but alas ! our physical strength is ebb- ing. The enemy is more numerous by far than we. Where can we look for aid? The British have just suffered grave defeat. The Italians have their own soil to defend after the disaster of last autumn. Our troops are in retreat. The Americans are not ready and they are untried as yet in the fierce ordeal of modern warfare. The Germans know well that in three months or six months the Americans will be ready and strong in numbers. That is why they are throw- ing every ounce of their formidable power against us nou-: The Hun is at the gate now. Immeasurable consequences are at stake now. It is a question of days, not of weeks or months. Where can we look for aid now? [16.] And then, suddenly out of the gloom flashed the lightning of a new sword, sharp and mighty, a sword which had never been drawn except for freedom, a sword which had never known defeat — the sword of America ! [17.] A division of Marines and other American troops were rushed to the front as a desperate measure to try and stop a gap where flesh and blood, even when animated by French heroism, seemed incapable of further resistance. They came in trucks, in cattle cars, by any conceivable kind of conveyance, crowded together like sardines. They had had little food, and less sleep, for days. [18.] When they arrived, the situation had become such that the French command advised, indeed ordered, them to re- tire. But they and their brave General would not hear of it. They disembarked almost upon the field of battle and rushed forward, with little care for orthodox battle order, without awaiting the arrival of their artillery, which had been unable to keep up with their rapid passage to that front. [19.] They stormed ahead, right through the midst of a 494 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES retreating French division, yelling like wild Indians, ardent, young, irresistible in their fury of battle. Some of the Frenchmen called out a well-meant warning : " Don't go in this direction. There are the boches with machine guns." They shouted back : " That's where we want to go. That's where we have come three thousand miles to go." And they did go, into the very teeth of the deadly machine guns. In defiance of all precedent they stormed, with rifle and bayonet in frontal attack, against massed machine guns. [20.J They threw themselves upon the victory-flushed Huns to whom this unconventional kind of fierce onset came as a complete and disconcerting surprise. They fought like demons, with utterly reckless bravery. They paid the price, alas ! in heavy losses, but for what they paid they took com- pensation in over-full measure. [21.] They formed of themselves a spearhead at the point nearest Paris, against which the enemy's onslaught shattered itself and broke. They stopped the Hun, they beat him back, they broke the spell of his advance. They started victory on its march. [23.J A new and unspent and mighty force had come into the fray. And the Hun knew it to his cost and the French knew it to their unbounded joy. The French turned. Side by side the Americans and the French stood, and on that part of the front the Germans never advanced another inch from that day. They 'held for a while, and then set in the beginning of the great defeat. [23.] I was in Paris when the news of the American achievement reached the population. They knew full well what it meant. The danger was still present, but the crisis was over. The Boche could not break through. He could and would be stopped and ultimately thrown back, out of France, out of Belgium, across the Rhine and beyond ! . . [32.] A French officer who commanded a body of French troops, fighting fiercely and almost hopelessly in Belleau Wood near Chateau-Thierry (since then officially designated by the French Government as the Wood of the Marine Brigade), told me that when they had arrived almost at the point of total exhaustion, suddenly the Americans appeared rushing to the rescue. One of the American officers hur- REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 495 ried up to him, saluted and said in execrably pronounced French just six words : " Vous — fatigues, vous — partir, notre job." — "You — tired, you — get away, our job." [t,^.'} And right nobly did they do their job. Need I ask whether we shall do ours? President's Address at the Annual Meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute By Elbert H. Gary Chairman of the Board of Directors, United States Steel Corporation, New York, May 31, 1918. After the war is over, when history is written up, the fair- minded man who writes the account will say that in the ranks of the hosts of really fighting men . . . were the mem- bers of the iron and steel industry of America ; that they were behind, but in strong support of, the battle lines. Structure. A notable example of an impromptu speech be- fore a trade gathering, at a time of public crisis, by a man in position of great responsibility. A brief but comprehensive review of the work of the year and of the existing situation. Structure very firm, consider- ing that it is an impromptu. Little repetition. Style and Manner. Direct, informal, personal, yet grace- ful and flowing. Words plain but well chosen. Sentences short and trim. Little of the wordiness often found in im- promptus. Spirit hearty and generous. The speech of a man of clear, sagacious mind, and easy mastery of language. Outline (Length of address, 46 paragraphs; 3800 words) I. Growth of the Iron and Steel Institute (Paragraphs 1-3; 300 words) II. The War (Paragraphs 4-14; 750 words) The war was deliberately planned and precipitated. This explains Germany's success. 496 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES The invaded regions have suffered cruelly. We need not now discuss our failure to prepare. We are determined to fight on. III. Supporting the War (Paragraphs 14-29; 1500 virords) We are willing to be taxed to the limit. The Institute is working directly for the government. The whole industry is working patriotically. This is recognized at Washington. IV. Relations with the government (Paragraphs 30-35; 550 words) The government knows we are working for the public in- terest. The government is and will be glad to co-operate with us. We must be reasonable in our expectations. V. Hope of the Future (Paragraphs 36-42; 400 words) Our plants are being put in better condition. Our business prospects are good. Our optimism must be reasonable. We will win because we are right. \T Conclusion (Paragraphs 43-46; 300 words) History will say the steel men were loyal. Our people, like the French, fight willingly. The right is on our side. [36.] We are doing another thing, gentlemen; and the gov- ernment is permitting us, assisting us, urging us to do it. We are day by day putting our affairs in better shape; we may not be making so much money, or, if we do make it, we may be paying it out in excess taxes and in extensions to our works for the benefit of the government at such abnormal cost that we are absorbing our profits, but, nevertheless, we are putting our plants in better condition ; we are becoming better prepared for the future, so that the iron and steel industry will be on a better footing than ever before, well prepared to succeed in the contest and the competition for international trade. If we win the war that will be worth something to us even if we do not save much in cash. If we lose the war then it is not so important whether we have any- thing or not. [37-] On the whole, gentlemen, our business is good. We at least have a steady customer, and one able to pay. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 497 [38.] Our prospects at the present time, notwithstanding the horrors and the cost of the war, are good. We have reason to be hopeful. The one who recognizes the dangers and the difficulties which are in sight is not necessarily a pessimist. I prefer the man who takes a broad vision, which covers disasters and possibilities of destruction, but puts his back against the wall, and, with his teeth shut, proposes to fight it out until success is achieved. [39.] I do not care for the man who is so optimistic that he never sees anything but sunshine and prosperity and happi- ness, for he accomplishes nothing worth while. [40.] Gentlemen, this is a time for good judgment, for pa- tience, for level heads, for patriotism, and, above everything else, the grit that stands and fights and never gives up. [41.] For the long future I am an optimist. I believe we will win this war. [42. J Why will we win it ? Because, first of everything, we are right. We ask for nothing that is of pecuniary benefit to us and which belongs to anyone else. We seek no terri- tory. We are not even vindictive. We have no disposition to punish the evil doer from mere vindictiveness. But we know our rights and we seek them, and we have the brains and the material strength and the -courage to stand for them until they are secured. [43.] Gentlemen, after the war is over, when history is written up, the fair-minded man who writes the account will say that in the ranks of the hosts of really fighting men, with fighting disposition, were the members of the iron and steel industry of America ; that they were behind, but in strong support of, the battle lines. [44.] It is sad to contemplate the carnage in Europe. Words fail me when I allow my mind for a moment to dwell on personal situations. There is nothing that can compensate us for the suffering of our own people, of our boys who must go to the front and who offer themselves as a supreme sacri- fice, if necessary. But there is comfort in the fact that no man or woman who sends the son to war, or who loses the son in battle, ever expresses a word of regret that the boy went. There is no boy, so far as I know, who marches to the front, except with a statement that he is eager to get 498 PUBLIC SPEAKING— BUSINESS ADDRESSES there, that he is willing to fight, that he knows his country is doing the thing it ought to do, and that he is perfectly- willing to offer his life. [45.] I remember in 1914, on the 3rd and 4th and 5th days of August, I took pains to go around the streets of Paris to see the mobilization of troops. I saw French soldiers by the thousands marching along the streets going to the stations to take trains for the battle line ; and along with these boys and men were their wives and their sisters and their children, and their fathers, allowed by the gendarme to proceed with- out interruption, and, while everyone knew that every sol- dier so soon as he got to the front would probably be in the midst of battle, and that many, many of them would lose their lives, there was not a tear or a sigh to be seen or heard. Every woman, every child, every old man was encouraging the boys as they marched along the streets. [46.] And such is the spirit of the people of this country. Why is it so? Because we know, as the French knew, that we and they have the right on our side, and that the other side has nothing but might. Our cause is just and we must conquer. Always the Fight for Freedom By Samuel Gompers President American Federation of Labor, Address Before the Con- vention of the United Mine Workers of America, Indianapolis, January 23, 1918.* Everything that I can adjure my fellow workers and my fellow citizens to do to make the victory of democracy sure, I am going to advise, even if it be with my last breath. . . . The thing that is important is human effort, co-operation, service to the government, service to the people, service to make life the better worth living; and this war . . . will have brought a brighter and a better day for all. Structure. An excellent example of a speech to a large au- * Taken from the Proceedings of the Convention of the United Mine Workers of America, Jan. 15 to 26, 1918. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 499 dience of plain people. It centers attention on the high spots of the subject, and treats them in hearty, colloquial manner that is easy for the common mind to follow. Simple in construction, following the obvious chronological order: How the war came; the official declaration of union chiefs ; exposition of the duty of labor. Details of arrange- ment shrewd and tactful. For example, he counters criticism of mistakes by our own government with reference to the far worse mistakes of the Bolsheviki and the I. W. W. Style and Manner. Language wholly plain and colloquial ; not too concise for ready comprehension. But illustrated with Shakespearian example. Occasional impulsive flash of per- sonal feeling. The speech of a man entirely at home before a popular audience. Outline (Length of address 31 paragraphs; 4500 words.) I. Introduction (Paragraphs 1-3; 350 words) Progress of the labor movement. Support the war for liberty ! n. Cause of the War (Paragraphs 4-15; 1500 words) The German autocracy forced the war and dragged in the United States. III. The Declaration of Labor Leaders in Support of the Govern- ment (200 words) IV. The Duty of Labor in the War (Paragraphs 14-28; 2200 words) Labor will make needed sacrifices. Mistakes are inevitable. We shall take warning from the Bolsheviki. V. Conclusion (Paragraphs 29-31; 400 words) The war, like our Revolution, is a war for liberty. [23.] We were all enthused when the Russian revolution- ists overthrew the Czar of that country, established a revolu- tionary government and fought on and on until there came upon the scene these people who call themselves the Bolshe- 500 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES viki. The exact meaning of that term is not known to every one. It is simply the Russian word for what we would call Maximalists, those who want the maximum of anything and everything and will not compromise or yield to anything, will not accept anything but the uttermost, the maximum. What is the maximum ? All that you have dreamed, all that anyone has dreamed and hoped for, that must be accom- plished and put into operation at once or else we refuse to live with our neighbors of different judgment; we refuse to accept the natural law of growth and development; we refuse to permit industry to be carried on to its fullest extent, so that as in the movements of labor in England and the United States, there may be obtained something better, to make life and work better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today, and better each succeeding day. . [24]. They refuse to permit such a growth, such a develop- ment, but want it all ; and, like the dog in the fable, who, having a bone and seeing the shadow in the water and the shadow being larger than the bone itself, dropped the bone and jumped for the shadow and lost both. To expect that the world shall establish the highest ideals of ownership, of property, of work, of life by edict and without the transition from stage to stage is like expecting an infant just crawling and beginning to walk to enter into a marathon race as a contender for victory. The result of that activity of the Bolsheviki is this, that because of their supposed radicalism they have lost all. As a nation which does not function, an army that will not fight, a people that for the time being cannot act together through this Bolsheviki, the people of Russia are crawling upon their bellies and asking for mercy at the hand of the modern assassin, the Kaiser of Ger- many. [25.] The Czar of Russia in his palmiest days could do no worse than the Bolsheviki have done. The Czar turned his soldiers upon the members of the Duma of Russia, and the Bolsheviki have sent their armed soldiers and sailors to dis- perse the Constituent Assembly, the representatives elected by the people of Russia. . The Bolsheviki who dropped their guns when facing the Kaiser's troops turned them upon their own representative government. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 501 [26.] My friends, the terrible situation in which the people of Russia and the government of Russia are placed by reason of that movement is a reminder to us, too, not only in our own country, but in our labor movement because we know that we have the Bolsheviki right in the United States ! These men, if they had their way, would drive the United States government and the people into the same wretched, miserable, poltroon position. If they had their way the trades unions of our country would not be in existence. . If the extremists in the labor movement of America had their way the United Mine Workers of America might be known as a name but not as a fact ; it would not have one of its repre- sentative men sitting in council with the governmental agencies in order to determine the conditions of industry and the life and the work of the toilers. [29.] We do not know what is coming. This war is mak- ing changes every day; this war is brightening up the minds of men. New concepts are coming; the blood in men's veins is tingling; human brotherhood, in spite of sacrifices, is being held as the great ideal ; the relations between man and man are changed ; wealth, possessions, are no longer regarded as of great importance. The thing that is important is human effort, co-operation, service to the government, service to the people, service to make life the better worth living; and this war, transformed into a crusade, when it is all over will have brought a brighter and a better day for all. . . . Representation in Industry By John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Address at the War Emergency and Reconstruction Conference of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Atlantic City, December 5, 1918. The parties to industry are four in number; they are Capi- tal, Management, Labor, and the Community. . There should be adequate representation of the four parties in the councils of industry. Structure. An excellent example of the business address of more formal character. It has received wide attention be- 502 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES cause of the far-reaching views presented in its " industrial creed." It is noteworthy also as to form and manner. The points or stages in which the ideas are grouped are few, and arranged in an order easily followed. It has a comprehensiveness like that of a good business re- port. Further study reveals that the matter covered is ex- tensive and complicated, yet the treatment though brief and simple is complete; precisely the same outline might be used for a large volume on the subject. Style and Manner. Not at all showy or " clever " in pre- sentation of details, but readily intelligible throughout. The thought is vigorous and substantial; the spirit enlightened and reasonable. The speech of a big man discussing a big subject and say- ing deliberately and definitely just what he means. Outline (Length of address — 89 paragraphs; 6100 words.) I. A. Introduction (Paragraphs 1-7; 500 words) The war was won by co-operation, which is the hope of the future. Representation in industry is one important part of co-opera- tion. B. Fundamental Questions (Paragraphs 8-27; 750 words) What is the purpose of industry? Social service. Who are the parties to industry? Labor, management, capital, the public. What is their relation? Interdependence. II. Causes of Antagonism of Labor and Capital (Paragraphs 28-41; 900 words) Loss of personal relation in industry. Minute subdivision of labor, making the workman merely a cog in the machine. III. Methods of Representation in General (Paragraphs 42-63; 1500 words) Organization of laborers and of employers. U. S. War Labor Board. Recent English plans. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 503 IV. An American Plan (Paragraphs 64-76; 1200 words) Features of this plan as tried in Standard Oil Co., Colorado Fuel and Iron Co., etc. Appeals and adjustment provisions. Results so far. This method is easily adapted and expanded. \'. An Industrial Creed (Paragraph yj : 500 words) 10 items. VI. Conclusion (Paragraphs 78-89; 500 words) Human life is our paramount consideration. Leaders must lead reforms, not hold back. Leaders have great opportunity. [28.] If co-operation between the parties to industry is sound business and good social economics, why, then, is an- tagonism so often found in its stead ? The answer is revealed in a survey of the development of industry. [29.] In the early days of Industry, the functions of Capi- tal and Management were not infrequently combined in the one individual, who was the employer. He in turn was in constant touch with his employes. Together they formed a vital part of the community. Personal relations were fre- quent and mutual confidence existed. When differences arose they were quickly adjusted. [30.] As industry developed, aggregations of capital larger than a single individual could provide, were required. In answer to this demand, the corporation, with its many stock- holders, was evolved. Countless workers took the place of the handful of employes of earlier days. Plants scattered all over the country superseded the single plant in a given community. [31.] Obviously, this development rendered impossible the personal relations which had existed in industry, and lessened the spirit of common interest and understanding. Thus the door was opened to suspicion and distrust ; enmity crept in ; antagonisms developed. The parties to industry came to view each other as enemies instead of as friends and part- ners, and to think of their interests as antagonistic rather than common. [32.J It is to be regretted that there are capitalists who 504 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES regard Labor as their legitimate prey, from whom they are justified in getting all they can for as little as may be. It is equally to be deplored that on the part of Labor there is often a feeling that it is justified in wresting everything possible from Capital. Where such attitudes have been as- sumed, a gulf has opened between Capital and Labor which has continually widened. [34.] Thus the two forces have come to work against each other, each seeking solely to promote its own selfish ends. As a consequence have come, all too frequently, the strike, the lock-out and other incidents of industrial warfare. [34. J Then, too, as industry has become increasingly spe- cialized, the workman of today, instead of following the product through from start to finish and being stimulated by the feeling that he is the sole creator of a useful article, as was more or less the case in early days, now devotes his energies for the most part to countless repetitions of a single act or process, which is but one of perhaps a hundred opera- tions necessary to transform the raw material into the finished product. [35.] The worker loses sight of the significance of the part he plays in industry and feels himself to be merely one of many cogs in a wheel. All the more, therefore, is it neces- sary that he should have contact with men engaged in other processes and fulfilling other functions in industry, that he may still realize he is a part, and a necessary though it may be inconspicuous part, of a great enterprise. [36.] In modern warfare, these who man the large guns find the range not by training the gun on the object which they are seeking to reach, but in obedience to a mechanical formula which is worked out for them. Stationed behind a hill or mound, they seldom see the object at which their deadly fire is directed. One can readily imagine the sense of detachment and ineffectiveness which must come over these men. [37.] But when the airplane, circling overhead, gets into communication with the gunner beneath and describes the thing to be accomplished and the effectiveness of the shot, a new meaning comes into his life. In a second he has become a part of the great struggle. He knows that his efforts are REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 505 counting, that he is helping to bring success to his comrades. There comes to him a new enthusiasm and interest in his work. [38.] The sense of isolation and detachment from the ac- complishments of industry, which too often comes to the workers of today, can be overcome only by contact with the other contributing parties. Where such contact is not pos- sible directly, it must be brought about indirectly through representation. In this way only can common purpose be kept alive, individual interests safeguarded and the general welfare promoted. [39.] The co-operation in war service of Labor, Capital. Management and Government has afforded a striking and most gratifying illustration of this truth. [40.] The basic principles governing the relations between the parties to industry are as applicable in the successful con- duct of industries today as in earlier times. [41.] The question which now confronts the student of in- dustrial problems is how to re-establish personal relations in spite of changed conditions. The answer is not doubtful or questionable, but is absolutely clear and unmistakable : It is, through adequate representation of the four parties in the councils of industry. Ships and the Average Man By Charles M. Schwab Chairman of the Board of the Bethlehem Steel Company, Former Head of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. Address at the War Emergency and Reconstruction Conference of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, December 5, 1918. The work . with the Emergency Fleet has been ... an engineering problem of the human mind and of the human body. A great merchant marine is essential to the United States. . . I believe in the fairness of American labor. . V\'e have got to devise ways and means by which capital and labor shall share equally, not only in theory, but in practice. Structure. Evidently extempore. As presented in the re- port, the individual passages are firmly developed ; less con- cern for close structure of the speech as a whole. 5o6 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Style and Manner. Remarkably direct and colloquial. Words plain, sentences short and simple. Spirit hearty and human. The address of a man accustomed to speaking on large themes easily and frankly, in terms which plain people under- stand. Outline (Length of address — 23 paragraphs; 2000 words) I. Introduction (Paragraphs 1-3; i5o words) Real problem : to establish aristocracy of service. Proud that we are a nation of business men. II. Merchant Marine (Paragraphs 4-14; 1080 words) The Emergency Fleet problem was a human problem. Shipping was greatly increased. Now we must operate that shipping. Government must pay for operation, somehow. Private management is essential. Our excess steel must get to a foreign market. At end of 1919, our shipping will be sufficient. III. Labor (Paragraphs 15-24; 460 words) Labor policies should be based on economic principles. Trusts that restricted output were forbidden by law. Laboring men should abide by economic principles. Labor should organize within plants. Labor should be better treated. IV. Conclusion (Paragraphs 21-23; 3°° words) Adjustment must be gradual. Return to private business. Optimistic outlook. [15.] There is one other question of great and timely im- portance, to cover which no one can lay down general rules. That is the labor question. [16.] I am one of the men who believe in the fairness of American labor. The only foundation upon which any of these things can permanently rest is the economic use of everything, whether it be labor, material, or what not. Any REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 507 foundation of organized labor or capital that is on a false basis must fail. [17.] We started in some twenty years ago on a series of exploitations that many people called " trusts." There were many such concerns organized that had as their prime mo- tive the artificial idea of either restricting production or increasing the selling price. You have seen them, one after the other, fail and fade away. They were on a wrong basis. Our Congress, our legislature in Washington, realized it, . and rightly and justly took steps to correct it. [18.] What has been true of capital will be equally true of labor, and therefore the education of the American laboring man must be to have him realize that his happiness and suc- cess, and the success of the nation, will depend upon Irbor conditions and capital conditions that are founded, first of all, on economic principles. You know, I have had my hand in this matter of the organization of capital. I know some- thing about it; I know what I am talking about. [19.] I am not opposed to organized labor. I believe that labor should organize in individual plants or amongst them- selves for the better negotiation of labor and the protection of their own rights ; but the organization and control of labor in individual plants and manufactories, to my mind, ought to be made representative of the people in those plants who know conditions ; they ought not to be controlled by some- body from Kamchatka who knows nothing about what their conditions are. [20.] In years gone by, I questioned many times if labor has received its fair share of the prosperity of this country. We, as manufacturers, have got to open our eyes to a wider vision of the present and the future with reference to our workmen. We have got to devise ways and means by which capital and labor shall share equally, not only in theory, but in practice. That is one of the lessons this great war has taught us — true democracy. The thing we have to do is to teach, not patronize, to educate and have the American laborer feel that he can stand with his head in the air and say with pride, " I am an American citizen." 5o8 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES New York's Food Problem By George W. Perkins Former Chairman of the Mayor's Food Supply Committee, New York State Fair, Syracuse, September 15, 1917. A number of people equal to the total population of Bos- ton and San Francisco have come to New York city within the past seven years without a material increase in the facilities for feeding them. We have in this State today commissions that look after the public's welfare in almost every respect . but a com- mission with suiBcient power . . to render service to the producer of foodstuffs has not been provided. Stnicturc. An excellent example of a very common type of business address — a plain discussion in simple, blunt terms of the essential features of an important matter. This speech was addressed to a large popular audience at the State Fair; the same sort of presentation might be made to the body of employees in a large concern — or to the members of a large trade convention. jVrrangement very simple : First, a statement in general of the need of co-operation. Then a detailed discussion of the matters chiefly needing attention : especially transportation and the middleman. In conclusion a brief recommendation of a state commission. Style and Manner. Remarkable for plain speaking. Little attempt at finesse. Spirit manly and businesslike. The speaker has been closely identified with the matters he dis- cusses, and treats them frankly in a personal way. Outline (Length of address — 20 paragraphs; 2200 words) I. Litroduction : Relations between Producer and Consumer (Para- graphs 1-3; 400 words) Antagonism due to misrepresentation. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 509 JNIillions of New Yorkers depend on producers. Co-operation is needed. The State should assist. II. Transportation Facilities (Paragraphs 4-8; 560 words) The State aids on the farm but not in marketing. Railroads build only great passenger terminals. Population in New York City increases, but not the market facilities. Food is held up for days just outside New York. Transportation is a vital problem. III. The Middleman (Paragraphs 9-14; 830 words) Law should control the middleman. This is properly a state duty. The State should control cold storage and prevent speculation. The State should establish public markets. Delivery in cities should be simplified. IV. Other Opportunities for the State (Paragraphs 15-18; 260 words) Securing markets in other states. Inducing production of needed crops. Private citizens have had to do this. y. Conclusion: A State Food Commission (Paragraphs 19-20; 150 words) Need of such a body. Honest men will benefit from it. [13.] I believe that much can be done to simplify delivery methods in a great city like New York to the benefit of both producer and consumer. I am accused of wanting to estab- lish food trusts and monopolies. I want no such thing; but I do want the state and the city to take a larger hand in super- vising and controlling the methods by which food is brought into New York and distributed. In certain instances I believe that there should be larger units of distribution, more co-operation and less destructive competition. Take for example the item of milk. As I have thought it out there can be but three ways to deliver milk in New York City. One is the present way, which is thoroughly unsatis- factory to producer, to distributor and to consumer. All three of them want it changed. There are but two other practical ways by which milk can be distributed in New York 510 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES City. One is as water is distributed in the city, namely, by the municipality itself. The other is as our telephone service is provided, namely, by a privately owned concern under the supervision and regulation of the state and the city. Who would think in this day of delivering water to the residents of New York City through a number of different compa- nies? — and who would think of providing telephone service through half a dozen different companies? Every one knows that any such arrangement would be most inefficient and would add enormously to the cost. [14.] Milk is something that every family must have — promptly, fresh and in good condition. I believe that it should be delivered either through one large delivery system or by companies operating in zones, such companies to be licensed and regulated, and that the present extremely waste- ful system of several companies competing with each other and crossing each other's tracks in delivery should be abolished. j\ly critics say that this is proof of the fact that I believe in a monopoly. My answer is that today there are thousands of private monopolies in the milk business in New York city, for many of the janitors of apartment houses receive from $25 to $200 a year for permitting some one milk com- pany to have the exclusive privilege of delivering milk in their building. This establishes the janitor as a private monopolist of the milk business in his building, and the graft he receives comes out of the pockets of the producer, the distributor, and the consumer. Because of competition in delivery it has been estimated that over $500,000 a year is wasted in broken bottles in New York city, and the waste in duplicate conveyances in the delivery of milk is doubtless several millions of dollars. All this comes out of the pockets of the producer and the con- sumer. I cite this milk situation as a typical illustration of what ought to be done in this city as much for the benefit of the producer as for the benefit of the consumer. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 511 Sales Management By Thomas J. Watson President of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co, Address Before the Sales Managers Club of New York. You can criticise a man, criticise him justly, and yet take his heart out. Or you can do it in the right way and en- courage him. And you always want to present your criti- cisms as constructive criticisms. . . Structure. An informal address, without notes, by a man who has made a conspicuous success in executive work, to a company of other executives of leading houses. The brief introduction is so direct and easy that the ad- dress seems to grow naturally out of that of the preceding speaker. Three-fifths of the space is given to an orderh- re- view of the manager's task in handling men, according to five generally recognized stages. One-fourth of the space is given to certain characteristics required of the sales manager him- self. Then a brief, modest, friendly conclusion. Style and Manner. Direct and colloquial in wording. Sentences as easy as in conversation but full of meaning. Manner frank and personal yet wholly unassuming. The ad- dress is remarkable for its easy reality; concise in language but quiet and informal as private conversation. Outline (52 paragraphs; 5600 words) I. Introduction (Paragraphs 1-7; 550 words) Reference to preceding address on Expense Accounts and En- tertainment. Entertainment of salesmen by the house is useful. II. Five Phases of Sales Manager's Relations with Salesmen Employing: — Consider not only reputation, character, and ex- perience, but also ambition, determination and manner. (Paragraphs 9-18; 800 words) 512 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES Training: — Try to teach knowledge of goods and develop each man's individuality. (Paragraphs 19-26; 900 words) Supervision; — Watch records closely; be fair and friendly, not autocratic. (Paragraphs 27-33; lOSO words) Promotion : — Executives should take active personal interest. (Paragraphs 34-37; 650 words) Discharging: — When discharge is necessary, tell the real rea- son. (Paragraphs 38-39 ; 200 words) III. Personal Qualifications of the sales manager (Paragraphs 40- 50; 1300 words) Mutual confidence essential between sales manager and sales- men. (700 words) The sales manager should have wide and accurate knowledge of territory and men. (600 words) ly. Conclusion (Paragraphs 51-52; 180 words) My remarks have sought merely to recall to mind matters familiar, no doubt, to us all. [27. J When it comes to supervision, one of the best ways to supervise men is to watch their records closely. Check up their work and their records, and let them know that you are checking them closely, and call their attention to everything that you find in regard to the record, whether it is good or bad. Because if a man knows that he is being checked up, he is going to give just a little better attention to his proposi- tion ; it doesn't make any difference whether he is a salesman, sales manager or general manager, or what not. It seems that we all need a certain amount of supervision. [28.] And right on that subject, I believe that a great many of us in managing men make the big mistake in giving the impression to our men that we are their managers, that we are the "boss." I think we ought to get it to the men that " You are not working for me, I am working with you." I have often said to our organization that I was sorry that the word " manager " had ever been coined. I believe that the sales manager should be called assistant, likewise the general manager, the president, and all, because really, gentlemen, that is what we are, or should be. You know we hire men to go out and sell goods, and then we put a sales manager over those men and then we put a general manager over the REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 513 sales manager, and then we put up a president and a few vice-presidents above them, and then a board of directors and an executive committee, and' a finance committee, and then everybody thinks that everybody is being managed, everybody is being supervised and everybody is boss, except the fellow that is going to pay all our salaries — the man that sells the goods. He is the only one who feels that he is not boss. Everybody else is boss of something except the salesman. [29.] We have three sales managers, one for each branch of our business, and I believe that our salesmen feel that in those sales managers they have assistants — men who can assist them in their work. If you can get your men to feel that way — and it is an easy thing to do, because all you have to do is come in contact with your men, and get out into the territories with them — you will not only help the men, but that is where you will find out the weak points in the men, and you will be enabled to strengthen, them. It is always well for a sales manager, if he is in a line of business where it is possible for him to do so, to visit the territories with his men, at least once a year. [30.] At one time, when I was a sales manager, I traveled a thousand miles a week — an average of a thousand miles a week for two years, simply because I wanted to visit the territory of every man in our employ. I was not able to visit every single territory, because we had 1225 men at that time, but I visited every central point, and I talked personally with every salesman about his work. I got into his part of the country and was able to absorb a little of the atmosphere of the west, north, south, east, central, etc., and I think that is the greatest instruction that a sales manager can get — to go out into the territories and go into the customers' stores, go with the salesman, listen to him present his proposition, never interrupting, of course, or offering any advice until at the end of the day. Make your notes and then sit down with the man in the hotel or office and go over the day's work and call his attention to a few little things. In that way I found, when I was a sales manager, that I was able to strengthen my men and increase their efficiency. [31.] Of course, you have to criticise men, but there is where we must use good judgment. You know, you can cri- 514 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES ticise a man, criticise him justly, and yet take his heart out. Or you can do it in the right way and encourage him. And you always want to present your criticisms as constructive criticisms, and get your men so that they are anxious to re- ceive constructive criticism. Because there is an old saying that our friends criticise when we are in the wrong, and our enemies tell us we are all right, to go ahead, because they like to see us go wrong. [32.] I think that sometimes sales managers and general managers and presidents make mistakes by not criticizing their men at the proper time, checking them up, starting them on the right road and giving them an opportunity to learn to do as they ought to do. As I look back, I can see cases where I know that I made that mistake in not checking the man closely enough to find out all of his shortcomings and straighten him out in time to save him, and get him on the right road. At the present time I give a great deal of thought to that in every branch of our business. A manager — a sales manager, general manager, or any other manager should never neglect to check his men closely so that he can note the mistakes that they are making, and then correct those mistakes and start them on the right road. That is the way that the best managers are made, and the best salesmen are made. Scope and Spirit of Our Association By Alba B. Johnson President of the Baldwin Locomotive Works Opening Address as President of the Railway Business Association in National Organization of Manufacturing Mercantile and Engineering Concerns that Deal with Railways, Annual Meeting, Chicago, January 9, 1919. What makes prosperous railways and a prosperous rail- way supply industry is a prosperous country. . The ac- complishments of the Association in promoting co-operation between the public and the carriers are understood and es- teemed in every railway office. REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 515 Structure. As a presidential address this gives, first, a brief opening survey of the association's internal affairs. Then follows a careful discussion of the two pressing questions of the hour : government ownership, and the relations between the association and the government as customer. Then a glance into the future. The address is remarkable for the brevity, comprehensiveness, and consecutiveness of its survey of large problems. Style and Manner. Strikingly graceful and clever in word- ing and sentence structure. Spirit one of broad and kindly sagacity. The speech of a man with striking powers of ex- pression and a sense of humor, who knows business. Outline {2'/ paragraphs; 2900 words) I. Introduction (Paragraphs 1-5; 400 words) Thanks for election to presidency. Comphments to officials and members for their work during year. II. Railroad Ownership Question (Paragraphs 6-17; 1300 words) Formerly matters of policy were left to officials. Members, not officers, must now influence public opinion. Legislation is controlled by public opinion. We must adjust ourselves to the needs of the country as a whole. We must work through commercial organizations. III. Relation to the Government as Buyer (Paragraphs 18-24; 800 words) The government is now our customer. This Association can act in general cases only. Officers cannot do all that is expected by members. IV. Future Relation to Corporations as Buyers (Paragraphs 25-27; 400 words) This Association can influence standards. The future is bright. [20.] What is it fair for members to ask and what is it wise for officers to attempt in connection with government purchasing policies? . . . il6 PUBLIC SPEAKING — BUSINESS ADDRESSES [21.] We may perhaps draw the line by saying that par- ticular exercises of administrative judgment by the authori- ties would fall outside our scope, but general practices and conditions under which such particular acts are performed would be for us to discuss. The fact that some contract was cancelled would not concern the Association. The fact that conditions and standards of administration were such or tending to become such as to encourage arbitrary demobil- ization cancellations would call for recommendations by the Association. [22. J An association as such can and does say things to the authorities which an individual business man could not say with the same impressiveness and which he might not be willing to say at all. This advantage of an association has been recognized by some of our members who appear to feel that there is no limit to what the Association may or can say, or to the enthusiasm and fire with which it will say it. These members would be humane if they would bear in mind that while we are an Association our spokesman must always be an individual, and that such individual may have troubles of his own. He may not have contracts, but frequently he has hopes. At the very hour when some desperately angry and despondent affiliate demands that he assail the power that buys, the Association officer may be on his way to the desig- nated place a humble suppliant for individual or corporate commercial opportunity. As was remarked by one of my associates on such an occasion, if the officer to whom such a delicate mission was tendered had gone through life smiting his customers when their conduct seemed to him susceptible of improvement, the said Association officer never would have attained to a position of sufficient consequence in the business world to cause the desperate and despondent mem- ber to think his ambassadorial influence worth seeking. [23.] Not only has the officer the duty of self-preservation, but also the duty of preserving the Association ; and nine times out of ten, what would be foolish and futile if said by an individual would be equally so or more so if said by a business body. Numbers fortify wisdom, but they aggravate error. I had reason recently on another occasion to recall an anecdote concerning the opening of the Civil War, when REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS ADDRESSES 517 everyone was being urged to do his bit. Artemus Ward an- nounced that he was ready to sacrifice all of his wife's rela- tions. Some of our ardent fellow-members are inclined in perturbed moments to view the responsibilities of the Asso- ciation officers in the same noble spirit. If at times the Asso- ciation appears to any of you less audacious than you could wish, will you not strive to cultivate reasonableness, sym- pathy, and patience? INDEX Adaptation to the listener, 27 Affectation, 256 America: A Catholic Review of the Week. 205 American .Magazine, 209 Appearance, 35-58 attention, 38 control, automatic, how to secure, 45 flexibility, 41 expressiveness, practice for, 54- 56 face-muscles, 39 exercises for, 48 habits to form, 47-51 impassivity, 37, 40 interview, important, how to pre- pare for, 45 " look alive," 35-38 poise, 41-44 position, 50, 51 self-repression, 37, 40 setting-up drill, 47 sitting position, 50, 51 standing position, 50 suggestions, conveyed by, 52, 53 Applying for a job, 303-310 Audience, 419 suggestible, 453 Books to read for style, Bible, 210 Boswell, James, " Life of John- son," 290 Bunyan, John, " Pilgrim's Prog- ress," 210 Defoe, Daniel, " Robinson Cru- soe," 210 Franklin, Benjamin, "Autobiog- raphy," 210 Holmes, O. W., " Autocrat at the Breakfast Table," 290 Lincoln, Abraham, Speeches and Letters, 210 Boswell, James, " Life of Johnson,'' 290 Brandeis, L. D., 209 Breathing, 60, 61 ( See also " Vocal Organs") control of, 153-156 exercises, 154, 155 Briefs, 431-444 (See also "Out- lines ") Buckley, J. M., " Extempore Speaking," 412 Bunyan, John, " Pilgrim's Prog- ress," 210, 216 Burke, Edmund, 217 Business Addresses, Representative, 489-517 B Baker, G. P., and Huntington, H. C, " Principles of Argumen- tation," 433 Balfour, A. J., 140, 222, 223, 275, 482 Begbie, Harold, "Verdun," 174 S19 Carpenter, Captain, 478 Chicago Tribune, 204 Clause, defined, 137 emphasis point, 138 smoothness, 140 Climax, 268 520 INDEX Colds, 70-72 Command of language, thought necessary to, 195 Committee (See "Conversation, committee ") Composition, 236-282 carelessness, 247 climax, 268 contrast, 270 core and trailers, 244-246 arranging trailers, 267-271 featuring core, 262-266 details, specific, 269 diffuseness, 248, 249 directness, 246-259 affectation, 256 forms, 256-259 heaviness, 253 how to secure, 255 normal order, 242, 243 visualizing before speaking, 250-253 forms, oral, 256-259 grammar, 238-243 groups, heaviness, to be avoided, 281 length, 280 heaviness, 253, 281 omissions, 247 parallel construction, 270 parenthesis, 248 core and packing, 262-271 laconic, 278 patterns, 236-238, 260-282 conversational, 275 oratorical, 277 problem of, 261 special, 271-275 staccato, 275 thought, 236-238 whole discourse, 275-279 proportion, 244-246 redundance, 248, 249 repetition, 249, 267, 268 sentences, grammar of, 240-243 visualizing before speaking, 250-253 surprise, 270 Composition (continued) trailers and core, 244-246 arranging trailers, 267-271 unity, 266 verbosity, 248, 249 Consonants, 88-93, 97-99 Contrast, 270 Conversation, 285-382 business, 285-302 courtesy, 297 defined, 290-292 give and take, 295 lightness of touch, 297 maxims, 298 modesty, 296 preparation, 299-302 spontaneity, 297 committee, 368-382 advantages, 373 disadvantages, 371 logic, 378-381 methods, 377 nature, 370 tact, 381 wills, struggle of, 292 nature of, 287 sales, 345-367 antagonism, 358 clinching, 364, 365 equipment, 346 individuality, 362-364 process, 350 sympathy, 359 social, 289, 290 subordinate, of, 303-322 applying for a job, 303-310 favor, asking, 320 impersonality, 315 pitch, 175 promotion, asking, 320 qualities desired of, 311-313 reports, 315 selecting main points, 315 telephone talk, 313 visitors, receiving, 314 superior, of, 323-344 correction, 337 interest, securing, 340 " keeping them in line,'' 340-343 INDEX 521 Conversation {continued) language, 328-330 manner, 331, 337-339 patience, 330 pitch, 17s teaching, 335-337 tone, 332-334 wills, struggle of, in, 292 figure, 293 Conwell, Russell, " Acres of Dia- monds," 281 Core and trailers, 244-246 arranging trailers, 267-271 featuring core, 262-266 Courtesy, business conversation, 297 Crane, Frank, 480 Creel, George, 138, 296 D Darrow^, Clarence, 277 Delivery, 409-413, 422, 452-468 audience, 452, 453 enthusiasm, 459, 460 gesture, 463 sincerity, 464 soliloquy, 458 speed, 462 stage fright, 455-458 volume, 461, 462 Depevif, Chauncey, 466 Dialect, 108-118 defined, 108 examples, 113-118 Dickens, Charles, 202 Dictating machine, as a help to the study of pronun- ciation, 119 melody studied by, 182 Dictionaries, 103, 212 (See also " Synonyms, books of ") Diffuseness, 248, 249 Directness, 246-259 Distinctness, 78-100 consonants, lip, 88 lip and teeth, 89 nests of, 97-99 tongue, 89-93 Distinctness {continued) enunciation a matter of muscle action, 81 how to acquire, 84 levels of, 80 mistakes, common, 79 muscles, exercises for, 85 sounds, 87 classes, 88 how to make, 88-99 vowels, 93-97 E Ease, how to acquire, 30 Edison, T. A., 335 Emerson, R. W., 288, 483 Emotion, control of, indirect, 184 tone, power of, to convey, 145 Emphasis, affects grouping of sounds, 125 point of, 137-139 pitch differentiations, 190 Enunciation, 75, 76, 81 Equitable Life Assurance Company, 341 F Face, muscles of, exercises for, 48 related to voice, 56 Farnam, H. W., 270 Fernald, J, C, " English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Preposi- tions," 217 Finley, John, 466 Fleming, L. A., " Putnam's Word Book," 217 Foch, Ferdinand, 57, 340 Forms, oral, 256-259, 329 Franklin, Benjamin, 200 Garretson, A. B., 185 Garrison, L. M., 141 Gary, E. H., 233, 267, 465, 489, 495-498 Gesture, 463 522 INDEX Gladden, Washington, 427 Going, C. B., 174 Gompers, Samuel, 425, 489, " Al- ways the Fight for Free- dom," 498-501 Grammar, 238-243 errors of, how to overcome, 201 Gregg, Cecil, 187 H Heaviness, 253, 281 Henry, O., 229 Holmes, O. W., "The Autocrat at the Breakfast Table," "The Poet at the Breakfast Table," " The Professor at the Break- fast Table," 288, 290 Huntington, H. C, and Baker, G. P., " Principles of Argumen- tation," 433 Impersonality, of subordinate, 315 Inflection, 177-180 Interest of employees, 340 Intoxicants, and the vocal organs, 72 J Johnson, A. B., 183, 489, " Scope and Spirit of Our Associa- tion," 51S-S17 Johnson, Samuel, 199, 290 K Lewis, E. St. E., 141 Lincoln, Abraham, 200, 223 Localism, 201 Longfellow, H. W., 288 Lowell, J. R., 288 M McAdoo, W. G., 276 McCormack, John, 133 March, F. A., " Thesaurus of the English Language," 217 Mawson, C. O. S., " Standard Thesaurus," 217 Melody, 180-189 Modern Language Association, 228 Monologue, dangers of, 18-20 Motley, J. L., 288 N National Association of Corpora- tion Schools, 265 Committee of Unskilled Labor and Americanization, 197 National Cash Register Company, 349 Natural, how to be, 29, 56 New English Dictionary, 212 useful in study of synonyms, 217 New York Clinic for Speech De- fects, 171 New York Evening Post, 231 New York Telephone Company, 236 New York Tribune, 247 Kahn, O. H., 188, 233, 489, " When the Tide Turned," 490-495 Kleiser, Grenville, " Talks on Talk- ing," 288 Krapp, G. P., " Modern English," 104, 124, " Pronunciation of Standard English in Amer- ica," 120 Lane, F. K., 139, 263, 270, 271, 465 Outlines, 417-420, 444-450, (See also "Briefs") " Oxford Dictionary," 212, 217 Pankhurst, Emmeline, 462 Paragraph, defined, 137 Parallel construction, 270 Parenthesis, 248 Parsons, W. B., 273 INDEX 523 Patterns (See also "Composition, patterns ") sound, 122-143, 181-191 clauses, 139-142 drum-beat patterns, 131 how to trace, 136 melody, 181-191 Pause, 142, 396 Perkins, G. VV., 487, " New York's Food Problem," 508-510 Phrase, defined, 128 Phyfe, " 1800 Words Often Mispro- nounced," 102 Pitch, 172-191 emphasis points differentiated, 190 general, 172-177 inflection, 177-180 degree, 178-180 direction, 177 figure, 178 melody, 180-189 analysis of (figures), 185-189 dictating machine, 182 sentence (figure), 183 spontaneous, 184 selecting the right, 173 sense of, how to delevop, 176 subordinate, in speaking to, 175 superior, in speaking to, 175 Pope, Alexander, 212 Position, 50, SI Preparation of an Address (See " Public Speaking, prepara- tion ") Pronunciation, 101-121 books to use, 102, 103, 120 changes in, 103 correctness of, defined, loi dialect, 108-118 defined, 108 examples, 113-118 dictating machine useful in the study of, 119 dictionary as an aid to the study of, 103 errors, accent, 105 sound, 105-108 Pronunciation (continued) standard, 104 Proportion, 244-246 Prosser, Charles, 269 Public Speaking, 385-517 advantages, 387 advertising resembles, 396 attitude, 393-395, 423 audience, 419 business address, 387 characteristics, 391-393 conclusion, 402 delivery (See "Delivery") impromptu, 407 introduction, 400 junctions, 401 language, 395 length, 399 long speech, 405 manner, 395 occasions, 388-390 opening, 400 outline, 417-420, 444-450 outside addresses, 469-488 controversy, 481 sermons, 479 types, 476 pauses, 396 preparation, attitude, 423 brief, 431-444 central idea, method of select- ing, 419 delivery, 409-413 formulation, 418-422 memorizing, 410 observing others, 425 outline, 417-420, 444-450 phases, 408 plan, 413-418 reading, 410, 411 wrong, 407, 409 questions, 396 selection of material, 400 short speech, 403, 404 thinking, 427-451 ahead, 28 careless, 428-430 crooked, 427 524 INDEX Public Speaking (continued) briefs, 431-444 transitions, 401 utility, 387 Purposes of talk, 20 Putting your mind on the other man, adaptation to the listener, 27 how to do it, 23-28 rules, 26 Questions, art of putting, 351 public speaking, 396 subordinate, asking, 316 R Reading aloud, time values in, 134- 137 Redfield, W. C, 225 Redundance, 248, 249 Repetition, 249, 267, 268 Reports to superior, 315 Resonance, 74 Respiration (See "Breathing") Rhythm, utility of, 129 Rockefeller, J. D., Jr., 425, 489, " Representation in Industry," 501-SOS Roosevelt, F. D., 272 Roosevelt, Theodore, 134, 186, 200, 466, 484 Ross, C. G., " The Writing of News," 204 Royce, Josiah, 477 Sales talk, 34S-367 antagonism, 358 clinching, 364, 365 equipment, 346 individuality, 362-364 process, 350 sympathy, 359 Saturday Evening Post, 209 Schwab, C. M., 340, 425, 466, 489, " Ships and the Average Man," 505-507 Self-consciousness, 14-16, 455-458 Sentences (See also "Composi- tion ") defined, 137 grammar of, 240-243 visualizing before speaking, 250- 253 Sermons, 479 Setting-up drill, 47 Shakespeare, William, 202 Shaw, Bernard, " Pygmalion," 120 Sincerity, 290, 298, 464 Sitting position, 50, 51 Slang, 201-204 Slater, " Freshman Rhetoric," 220 Smoking and the vocal organs, 72 Smyth, N. S., 268 Sothern, E. H., 478 Sounds (See also "Distinctness") carrying quality, 77 classes, 88 grouping, 122-143 clauses, 137-141 emphasis point, 137-139 emphasis syllable, 128 factors of, 125 paragraph defined, 137 patterns, "drum-beat," 131 pause, 142 phrase defined, 128 pronunciation distinguished from, 123 reading aloud, 134-136 rhythm, 130 rules, 143 sentence defined, 137 syllables, 126, 130 time values, 132-137 word, defined, 128 how to make, 88-99 symbols for, 87 vowels, 93-97 Speech (See "Distinctness," "Pub- lic Speaking," " Sounds," " Vocal Organs ") Spontaneity, 290, 297 INDEX 525 Standard Desk Dictionary, 103, 197 " Standard Dictionary," 103, 108, 137 Standing position, 50 Subordinate (See "Conversation, subordinate, of ") Sullivan, John L., grace of, 44 Superior (See "Conversation, su- perior, of ") Surprise, 270 Syllable, defined, 126 Synonyms, 217-219 System, 209 Tact, 21-23, 340-343, 381 Taylor, B. L., 204 Technical terms, 213 Telephone talk, 29, 313 Thinking, 427-451 ahead, 28 brief, 431-444 advantages, 443 argument, 435 correlation, 436 defined, 431 example, 439-443 exposition, 438 introduction, 434, 43s sentences, 433 careless, 428-430 crooked, 427 Tone, 74-77, 144-164 breathing, 153-156 hovif produced, 150 quality, 168-170 throat-muscles, exercises for, 156-160 vowels, exercises for, 160 Trailers and core, 244-246 arranging trailers, 267-271 Transitions of a speech, 401 U United States Rubber Company, 341 Unity, 266 Visitors, receiving, 314 Visualizing sentences before speak- ing, 250-253 Vizetelly, " Desk Book of 25,000 Words Frequently Mispro- nounced," 102 Vocabulary, 195-214 (See also "Words") average, 199 books to read, 210 dictionary, 103, 212 enlarging, listening to actual talk, 208 reading, 209, 210 wrong way, 197 foreign-born, for the, 197 grammar, errors of, how to over- come, 201 hackneyed phrases, 204, 205 inventory of, how to take, 196, 197 localisms, 201 selection of, 207-213 slang, 201-204, 211 technical terms, 206, 207, 213 Vocal Organs, 59-77 (See also " Distinctness," " Sounds," "Voice") adenoids, 73 breathing, 60, 61 control of, 153-156 in (figure), 61 colds, 70-72 description of, 63-70 enunciation, 75, 76 epiglottis, 68 figure, 65, 66 health, general, relation to, 59 intoxicants, 72 larynx, 69 figures, 67, 69 mouth cavity, 66 nasopharynx, 64 nose, 63 figures, 62, 64 palate, soft, 65 pharynx, 65 526 INDEX Vocal Organs (continued) figure, 75 resonance, 74 resonating chamber, 65 smoking, 72 speech, mechanism of, 60 problem of, 77 throat-muscles, 156-160 tone, 74-77, 144-164 tongue, 67 tonsilar fossa, 65 tonsils, 65, 73 trachea, figure, 70 uvula, 65 vocal tract, figure, 66 voluntary actions of, 62 Voice, 144-192 (See also "Distinct- ness," " Sounds," " Vocal Or- gans") breathing, 60, 61, 153-156 control, indirect, 151 emotion and, 145 expressiveness of, 165-192 improvement possible to all, 146, 149 melody, 172-191 modulation, modes of, 165 noisiness to be avoided, 149 pitch, 172-191 emphasis points differentiated, 190 general, 172-177 inflection, 177-180 melody, 180-189 selecting, 173 sense of, 176 subordinate, in speaking to, 175 superior, in speaking to, 175 power of, 144 procedure, 152 quality, 168 variety of, 169, 170 singing lessons help speaking, 163 throat-muscles, 156-160 Voice (continued) tone-effectiveness, phases of, 147 tone, how produced, 150 volume, 166, 167 what is needed, 148, 152 Vowels, 93-97, 160 W Walpole, Horace, 222 Washington, Booker, 485 Watson, T. J., " Sales Manage- ment," 511-514 Webster, Daniel, 277 Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 103, 197 " Webster's New International Dic- tionary," 103, 126 Weed, Thurlow, 55 Whipple, E. P., " Reminiscences," 288 Why we talk, 20 Wills, struggle of, 292, 354 Wilson, Woodrow, 133, 278 Words (See also "Vocabulary") colloquial and formal, 219-224 defined, 128 formal and colloquial, 219-224 not current, 198 selecting, 215-235 blunt words, 216 colloquial terms, 222 concrete, 231 conciseness to be secured, 224 dignified, 217 figurative, 232 graphic, 230, 233 long or short, 227-230 presentive, 224 quantity, 234 short or long, 227-230 sound-suggestive, 232 specific, 231 symbolic, 224 synonyms, 217-219 study of, 219