HOW TO BECOME AN ORATOR.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7258, 18 January 1889, Page 2

HOW TO BECOME AN ORATOR.

HINTS FBQM LKAm.su :<m.KlSlt* DAT. "* °»

The puMlc speakers whose hint. V L In this article represent betw£?J?*l very varied , *«& % University-Debating Society bench. We give the first Lord Chief Justice of £»£> «• certainly has no superior in his ** for graceful eloquence. Dγ DawnT n°» is known on every temperance rt *>* Finally, the very sensible letter president of the Cambridge Unln "* the experience of an orator in the ** I Lord CoLHßioeg. 1 I must entirely disclaim an » .. ! to attempt to instruct otheiw • 5 art of speaking. No one c&Ti? , value my performances in tbafc vi^T% lower rate than I do myself, fwi?»-l heard great speakers, and I knnJ kw I real oratory is?. Moreover I a~T i Mr Bright that the art *'«> .1 that each man must find oaM?VW I self which is the best way of doinl°f ' * to such speaking power as he niav* vL -i be it great or small. I should " that the more preparation a man «? y 5 lf * both of matter and of words th« :> - Of course he must not )et his biSi ■* think he is saying a lesson, aad coS 1 * Z course replies, whether In I at the Bar, answers to questions.^hS o ' r . which follow the course of a debaj* * » not in the uature of things be nr»n "*"'' No rules, I think, can usefully w Lord Plunkett was a oun of pwfectSS- - and, I suppose one of the'veyjJS*. { orators these islands ever produced- i his mode of preparation, as narnifi* 5 ? I himself in hfs Life, was onenS&H ! believe no human beinc bat himstff'« ' '•'■ did or could pursue with success Inir however, it was perfectly successful W - is not worth publication ; butl % willing to leave your letter without J?" 1 acknowledgment. u «*aosn &

Dβ. Dawsokt Bcrns. I have had considerable experfonf* t. public speaking. The main difflouthii.? all beginners is to acquire so as not to fear the lose either ofT,! or of the language necessary forffi! favourable presentation. This AimS again, largely depends upon coaeUtntSml! qualities, and it would be aImoTSH entirely, Impossible for many fo Jγ come it. With others It would diminish by practice, and" finally jm? I appear. A Rood memory is aWiK such a matter; andl havo knownenK * speakers, with a weak verbal rnenS *■ become nervous when they had , trust to it for quotations. 7, , rule I should advise all speaker. ♦» write notes on their main pointg.« as to ensure continuity of thought , !** then to arrange in their minds the fom, • of expression adapted for the purpose E i the act of speaking these would often S 1 recollected, and if hot other forms S language would occur. This means, h substance, that every speech should i» thought out by the speaker before k attempts to deliver it. He should. rasjfe, his own subject before seeking, or hX» to master his audience. Where the tm would chiefly depend upon the langues. it would, of course, be wise to &*©»3 beforehand, and commit 16 to writing of ■ memory, or both; but, oven here, the fW dom of unwritten speech would freifnenHf Rive to the orator a choice of w&rU, teds power of instantaneous 1 efft>et{tsMtt denied to the use of the mamjeeripß,^^ THK PRESIDENT OF THE CAMBfttDßet»|asf The President of the Cambridge Unian. Mr R. J. WUkinaon, writes from Tt& College :•— ' As a mere beginner iv public speaking, I could hardly venture to critteSTtlj utterances of pur veteran orator, Mrßrisrtii but as a constant listener to beginaem I may be pardoned a littlo apprehension tt the possibility of those counsels being too { literacy interpreted. The of a i greatman, even when clothed in unadorned sentences, will command a hflsrtejj br I their grandeur or originality, 'f is ami- 1 ments of a less distinguished cjaq will also be listened to with attea&a whta the subject under discussion, md tfo \ , result of the votlng,,»re of gresfc import■ ance to all who take part la tnera* fhe s interest of the audience has to be around for the subject before they will Itofon wl& patience to the dull array of argisseala which the orator parades before tfaeir vkw.< Accordingly I have noticed that the ore! ! the House Is usually lent to the speate? who tries to amuse rather then to &ta who endeavours to convince. Many U ginners notice this, asd In trying to avcli the Scylla of boredom, fall into tit Charybdip of buffoonery. The mosteffeetive form of debating society oratory Is* speech bright with epigram, paradox and happy illustration, but at the same \\m covering a solid framework of armament. F shall not say that this Iβ the UiftA form of public speaking, but the her&icsd public life are iilauited t$ the unirapprtance of private discussion. Ido net wlsa to advocate the committing to mwit ol a written speech. But Ido wish t-o r*commend a for more careful prepassttoa than that counselled by Mr Bright. Ths important words and the eenmt, turn of tbe sentence will be remembered srittout an effort, and wIU obviate to necessity of burdening the powers or recollection. Beginners who shah tk bard work of textual preparation gftju attain fl«ency« fend even a certain sweat* of eloquence; but their epeuehei s» usually disfigured by mannerism ftsa colloquialism. The use of tbe righS wori at the right place cannot be oSMnea without an extension of oar ordinary versational vocabulary: and tfc Is weji fe? a beginner to think ont Sis speech bsfe hand, and escape the possibility of WtW having to halt xor a word, or of «elo# <$» below the dignity of its subject,