CHAPTER IX

THE PERSONALITY OF THE SPEAKER

In "Virginibus Puerisque" Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: "An orator makes a false step; he employs some trivial, some absurd, some vulgar phrase; in a turn of a sentence he insults, by a side wind, those whom he is laboring to charm; in speaking to one sentiment he unconsciously ruffles another in parenthesis; and you are not surprised, for you know his task to be delicate and filled with perils." The last clause conveys a rather extreme impression, but it will be readily admitted that to satisfy and please an audience requires the best there is in a man. And since the things he will say and the way in which he will say them are greatly influenced by his personality, his attitude toward his subject, and his attitude toward his audience, we may profitably examine these aspects with care. In this chapter we shall take up the personal qualities most essential to the success of a speaker. These may be classified under three heads: self-confidence, sincerity, and what is variously known as charm, graciousness, or magnetism.

A. SELF-CONFIDENCE

With respect to self-confidence, the speaker is, for the time being, a leader; he assumes to direct the thoughts, or, it may be, the actions of his listeners. In this position, timidity is almost as much out of place as it would be in an officer at the head of a body of troops. A lack of self-confidence results in a nervous, halting, unconvincing presentation. Furthermore, it frequently causes the speaker to express himself in a sketchy, incomplete fashion, even when he has a real message and is adequately prepared to deliver it. He takes the floor in a convention, let us say, because he thinks he has a contribution to make to the discussion. Upon facing the audience, he becomes self-conscious, panicky. In some instances a vague, and often mistaken, sense of inability to express his thoughts overwhelms him, and he gives up after a few detached sentences. Another cause of such a failure is that as the timid speaker begins to talk he gets the notion that his ideas are too well known, too common-place to warrant their development. Consequently he

aims to sit down as soon as possible. The chances are that a following speaker with more assurance can take the same ideas and elaborate them with credit to himself and profit to his audience. Many of us, especially when before an audience, are all

too ready to retreat upon the auto-suggestion that our thoughts are not new and striking. Even if they are not, a fresh expression, a recombination of them may be worth while. Indeed, if only new and original thoughts were fit for public utterance, public speaking and several allied arts would have died a natural death long ago. Of course, if a man has nothing worth while to say, the time to reach that decision is before he leaves his seat; the poorest place to say nothing is in front of an audience.

I. The Basis for Self-confidence

How can assurance, self-confidence be gained? Broad reading, thoughtful reading, which gives a person some degree of familiarity with the best that is thought and known in various selected fields is one preliminary step. Careful observation of the people and things which surround him day by day is another step. A man who reads thoughtfully and sees things with real discernment, whether they be children's games, factories, sunsets, crowds before shop windows, or forests in winter is laying a foundation for self-confidence in speaking, because he is acquiring a store of thoughts and experiences upon which such confidence is most securely built.

II. Means of Development

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

B. SINCERITY

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

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

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