The Art of Public Speaking
mind, and that thought prompts action. _Every_ idea that enters the
mind will result in action unless a contradictory thought arises to
prohibit it. Think of singing the musical scale and it will result in
your singing it unless the counter-thought of its futility or absurdity
inhibits your action. If you bandage and "doctor" a horse's foot, he
will go lame. You cannot think of swallowing, without the muscles used
in that process being affected. You cannot think of saying "hello,"
without a slight movement of the muscles of speech. To warn children
that they should not put beans up their noses is the surest method of
getting them to do it. Every thought called up in the mind of your
audience will work either for or against you. Thoughts are not dead
matter; they radiate dynamic energy--the thoughts all tend to pass into
action. "Thought is another name for fate." Dominate your hearers'
thoughts, allay all contradictory ideas, and you will sway them as you
wish.
Volitions as well as feelings and thoughts tend to follow the line of
least resistance. That is what makes habit. Suggest to a man that it is
impossible to change his mind and in most cases it becomes more
difficult to do so--the exception is the man who naturally jumps to the
contrary. Counter suggestion is the only way to reach him. Suggest
subtly and persistently that the opinions of those in the audience who
are opposed to your views are changing, and it requires an effort of the
will--in fact, a summoning of the forces of feeling, thought and
will--to stem the tide of change that has subconsciously set in.
But, not only are we moved by authority, and tend toward channels of
least resistance: _We are all influenced by our environments_. It is
difficult to rise above the sway of a crowd--its enthusiasms and its
fears are contagious because they are suggestive. What so many feel, we
say to ourselves, must have some basis in truth. Ten times ten makes
more than one hundred. Set ten men to speaking to ten audiences of ten
men each, and compare the aggregate power of those ten speakers with
that of one man addressing one hundred men. The ten speakers may be more
logically convincing than the single orator, but the chances are
strongly in favor of the one man's reaching a greater total effect, for
the hundred men will radiate conviction and resolution as ten small
groups could not. We all know the truism about the enthusiasm of
numbers. (See the chapter on "Influencing the Crowd.")
Environment controls us unless the contrary is strongly suggested. A
gloomy day, in a drab room, sparsely tenanted by listeners, invites
platform disaster. Everyone feels it in the air. But let the speaker
walk squarely up to the issue and suggest by all his feeling, manner and
words that this is going to be a great gathering in every vital sense,
and see how the suggestive power of environment recedes before the
advance of a more potent suggestion--if such the speaker is able to make
it.
Now these three factors--respect for authority, tendency to follow lines
of least resistance, and susceptibility to environment--all help to
bring the auditor into a state of mind favorable to suggestive
influences, but they also react on the speaker, and now we must consider
those personally causative, or subjective, forces which enable him to
use suggestion effectively.
_How the Speaker Can Make Suggestion Effective_
We have seen that under the influence of authoritative suggestion the
audience is inclined to accept the speaker's assertion without argument
and criticism. But the audience is not in this state of mind unless it
has implicit confidence in the speaker. If they lack faith in him,
question his motives or knowledge, or even object to his manner they
will not be moved by his most logical conclusion and will fail to give
him a just hearing. _It is all a matter of their confidence in him._
Whether the speaker finds it already in the warm, expectant look of his
hearers, or must win to it against opposition or coldness, he must gain
that one great vantage point before his suggestions take on power in the
hearts of his listeners. Confidence is the mother of Conviction.
Note in the opening of Henry W. Grady's after-dinner speech how he
attempted to secure the confidence of his audience. He created a
receptive atmosphere by a humorous story; expressed his desire to speak
with earnestness and sincerity; acknowledged "the vast interests
involved;" deprecated his "untried arm," and professed his humility.
Would not such an introduction give you confidence in the speaker,
unless you were strongly opposed to him? And even then, would it not
partly disarm your antagonism?
Mr. President:--Bidden by your invitation to a discussion of the
race problem--forbidden by occasion to make a political
speech--I appreciate, in trying to reconcile orders with
propriety, the perplexity of the little maid, who, bidden to
learn to swim, was yet adjured, "Now, go, my darling; hang your
clothes on a hickory limb, and don't go near the water."
The stoutest apostle of the Church, they say, is the missionary,
and the missionary, wherever he unfurls his flag, will never
find himself in deeper need of unction and address than I,
bidden tonight to plant the standard of a Southern Democrat in
Boston's banquet hall, and to discuss the problem of the races
in the home of Phillips and of Sumner. But, Mr. President, if a
purpose to speak in perfect frankness and sincerity; if earnest
understanding of the vast interests involved; if a consecrating
sense of what disaster may follow further misunderstanding and
estrangement; if these may be counted to steady undisciplined
speech and to strengthen an untried arm--then, sir, I shall find
the courage to proceed.
Note also Mr. Bryan's attempt to secure the confidence of his audience
in the following introduction to his "Cross of Gold" speech delivered
before the National Democratic Convention in Chicago, 1896. He asserts
his own inability to oppose the "distinguished gentleman;" he maintains
the holiness of his cause; and he declares that he will speak in the
interest of humanity--well knowing that humanity is likely to have
confidence in the champion of their rights. This introduction completely
dominated the audience, and the speech made Mr. Bryan famous.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: I would be
presumptuous indeed to present myself against the distinguished
gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere
measuring of abilities; but this is not a contest between
persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the
armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of
error. I come to speak to you in defense of a cause as holy as
the cause of liberty--the cause of humanity.
Some speakers are able to beget confidence by their very manner, while
others can not.
_To secure confidence, be confident._ How can you expect others to
accept a message in which you lack, or seem to lack, faith yourself?
Confidence is as contagious as disease. Napoleon rebuked an officer for
using the word "impossible" in his presence. The speaker who will
entertain no idea of defeat begets in his hearers the idea of his
victory. Lady Macbeth was so confident of success that Macbeth changed
his mind about undertaking the assassination. Columbus was so certain in
his mission that Queen Isabella pawned her jewels to finance his
expedition. Assert your message with implicit assurance, and your own
belief will act as so much gunpowder to drive it home.
Advertisers have long utilized this principle. "The machine you will
eventually buy," "Ask the man who owns one," "Has the strength of
Gibraltar," are publicity slogans so full of confidence that they give
birth to confidence in the mind of the reader.
It should--but may not!--go without saying that confidence must have a
solid ground of merit or there will be a ridiculous crash. It is all
very well for the "spellbinder" to claim all the precincts--the official
count is just ahead. The reaction against over-confidence and
over-suggestion ought to warn those whose chief asset is mere bluff.
A short time ago a speaker arose in a public-speaking club and asserted
that grass would spring from wood-ashes sprinkled over the soil, without
the aid of seed. This idea was greeted with a laugh, but the speaker was
so sure of his position that he reiterated the statement forcefully
several times and cited his own personal experience as proof. One of
the most intelligent men in the audience, who at first had derided the
idea, at length came to believe in it. When asked the reason for his
sudden change of attitude, he replied: "Because the speaker is so
confident." In fact, he was so confident that it took a letter from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture to dislodge his error.
If by a speaker's confidence, intelligent men can be made to believe
such preposterous theories as this where will the power of self-reliance
cease when plausible propositions are under consideration, advanced with
all the power of convincing speech?
Note the utter assurance in these selections:
I know not what course others may take, but as for me give me
liberty or give me death.
--PATRICK HENRY.
I ne'er will ask ye quarter, and I ne'er will be your slave;
But I'll swim the sea of slaughter, till I sink beneath its wave.
--PATTEN.
Come one, come all. This rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.
--SIR WALTER SCOTT.
_INVICTUS_
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud;
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
--WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY.
_Authority is a factor in suggestion._ We generally accept as truth, and
without criticism, the words of an authority. When he speaks,
contradictory ideas rarely arise in the mind to inhibit the action he
suggests. A judge of the Supreme Court has the power of his words
multiplied by the virtue of his position. The ideas of the U.S.
Commissioner of Immigration on his subject are much more effective and
powerful than those of a soap manufacturer, though the latter may be an
able economist.
This principle also has been used in advertising. We are told that the
physicians to two Kings have recommended Sanatogen. We are informed that
the largest bank in America, Tiffany and Co., and The State, War, and
Navy Departments, all use the Encyclopedia Britannica. The shrewd
promoter gives stock in his company to influential bankers or business
men in the community in order that he may use their examples as a
selling argument.
If you wish to influence your audience through suggestion, if you would
have your statements accepted without criticism or argument, you should
appear in the light of an authority--and _be_ one. Ignorance and
credulity will remain unchanged unless the suggestion of authority be
followed promptly by facts. Don't claim authority unless you carry your
license in your pocket. Let reason support the position that suggestion
has assumed.
Advertising will help to establish your reputation--it is "up to you" to