CHAPTER XIV

PREPARATION OF THE SPEECH

GATHERING MATERIAL

Having chosen a theme, the logical order is to first gather the material, second to judiciously select from it and arrange it in order, and third to fix it in the mind ready for use. The task of finding material may be slow and tedious at first, but successive efforts will bring ease and facility. The habit of completely "thinking out" a subject should be cultivated from the beginning. Thoughts should be noted down in writing as they occur and not be left to the caprice of memory. There must be ample time in which thoroughly to do this work. After exhausting the resources of his own mind, the student may next turn to books in order to confirm and strengthen his ideas and gather further new material. He will also converse with well-informed people whenever possible and closely observe things about him that bear upon the subject in hand.

To repeat, the note-book habit can not be too strongly urged here as the only safeguard against lapses of memory. References, ideas, quotations and arguments should be promptly put down in writing. At this stage of preparing a speech the student will eagerly read books, magazines and newspapers, with a view to finding further suitable material.

The advice given to preachers by Prof. Arthur S. Hoyt, applies equally to other public speakers. He says: "By

all means do your own thinking. Fix your thought upon the text and subject, and try to penetrate to its vital meaning. Find the message for your own soul in it. Believe in the spirit of truth and learn to trust your own judgment as enlightened by His influence. Do not go at once to commentaries and homiletic handbooks for material, but let your own thought grow by thinking. Take stock of your own mental and spiritual resources. Be thoroughly yourself and find your own voice, for in this way only will you have that personal and individual flavor which makes the charm of true preaching."

ARRANGING MATERIAL

The second step, that of selecting what is desirable from this mass of unarranged material, requires unusual skill and judgment. Many pet ideas and phrases must be discarded. Certain portions will probably have to be rewritten many times before they are at all satisfactory. It is said of Macaulay that he would write off a whole story at a headlong pace, sketching in the outlines under the genial and audacious impulse of a first conception; but in the final writing he would not allow a sentence to pass muster until it was as good as he could make it. He would recast entire paragraphs and chapters in order to secure a more lucid arrangement.

The student should carefully note the distinction between the preparation of an essay and a public address. There is a wide difference between them, inasmuch as one is intended to be spoken, while the other is intended to be read silently. Both require the highest kind of literary ability, but a speech demands a more vivid style than an essay,

being designed to arouse the emotions of the hearer as well as to convince his judgment. In a speech, too, frequent repetition of thought may be indulged in, to emphasize or drive home truth, tho the phraseology in such repetitions must be changed. Aristotle speaks of this as the orator's gift of tautology.

In preparing a speech it is well to stop every little while in writing and read aloud what has been written to find whether it "speaks" well. If the words do not fit the mouth of the speaker there is something wrong somewhere and he should endeavor to find it out as soon as possible, otherwise he may have to prepare his entire address over again.

BRIEFING

A "brief" is not the exclusive possession of the lawyer, as so many persons believe, nor something that has to do only with the court room. It is a plan whereby any speaker may arrange his material in logical order, in somewhat the same manner that the architect draws his plans of a proposed building. The regular divisions of a brief are: 1. The Introduction. 2. The Brief Proper. 3. The Conclusion. It is made up of certain definite statements, put into concise language and distinguished by letters or numerals. Under each of the main headings may come subheadings setting forth subordinate ideas. As the name implies, a "brief" means conciseness and clearness throughout, so that the entire plan can be readily understood by another. For a full exposition of this subject the student is referred to "The Principles of Argumentation," by Professor Baker, of Harvard University, and "Argumentation and Debate,' by Professors Laycock and Scales, of Dartmouth College.

COMMITTING

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It is good discipline for the average beginner to thoroughly memorize his speeches. This will train him in accuracy of expression and increase his self-confidence. he gains experience, he may speak simply from full notes, then from an outline or "brief," and finally from a series of "catch-words" or headings.

There is a wide difference of opinion as to whether a speech should be memorized or not. This is a matter that depends largely upon the temperament of the speaker. Some men are handicapped by a memorized effort. They must have free exercise of the mind at the moment of speaking, otherwise they prove cold and mechanical. It should be the aim of every student to eventually acquire the art of extemporaneous and impromptu speaking, but in the majority of cases the habit of memorizing at first will be found both necessary and advantageous.

The proposed speech should be recited aloud many times, before a looking-glass, with suitable gesture, in the fields or the open air, and, when possible, in the hall or place where it is finally to be given.

A successful speaker once said: "They talk of my astonishing bursts of eloquence, and doubtless imagine it is my genius bubbling over. It is nothing of the sort. I'll tell you how I do it. I select a subject and study it from the ground up. When I have mastered it fully, I write a speech on it. Then I take a walk and come back, and revise and correct. In a few days I subject it to another pruning, and then recopy it. Next I add the finishing touches, round it off with graceful periods, and commit it to memory. Then I speak it in the fields, on my father's lawn, and before my mirror, until gesture and delivery are perfect. It some

times takes me six weeks or two months to get up a speech. When I am prepared I come to town. I generally select a court day, when there is sure to be a crowd. I am called on for a speech, and am permitted to select my own subject. I speak my piece. It astonishes the people, as I intended it should, and they go away marveling at my power of oratory. They call it genius, but it is the hardest kind of work."