WOMEN ON THE PLATFORM

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12643, 31 December 1926, Page 15

WOMEN ON THE PLATFORM

■ HINTS ON VOICE CONTROL The woman who contemplates taking up seriously any work which will involve a good deal of public speaking will be well advised to take a course of lessons in elocution, concentrating especially on platform work. If, however, only an occasional public appearance is intended, the study of a few simple rules will be most helpful in overcoming the “stage fright” which beeets the amateur at platform oratory.. Nervousness must be conquered before the voice can be heard to its best advantage. Sincerity and a thorough

grasp of the subject are the first essentials to self-confidence. Any attempt at creating an artificial “atmosphere,” for the sake of driving home a point or getting the full dramatic quality of a thought, will only result in an impression of affectation. The golden rule is: Be sincere! It is surprising how the human voice will respond to “treatment.” Any woman who tries reading aloud, in various keys, will eventually alight on the true pitch and if sho sticks to this, with the necessary inflections and variations of tone she will always he sure that she is heard—and under stood. Pauses are often more effective than actual words. The feminine sin of “gabbling” must ho overcome by the public speaker, and this fault is eradicated immediately she has learnt to pepper her speech with pauses. When a strong point has been made, or a deexily-folt sentiment expressed, a pause will “drive it home” more surely than a thousand words of rhetoric. Gestures are not so helpful to orators as some tyros imagine.. Waving arms, shifting feet, and a nodding head only tend to irritate an audience. On very rare occasions a gesture win emphasise the spoken word, but it *.s better to practise getting force and conviction out of the words themselves, leaving the gestures to come naturally. Long sentences, will exhaust the speaker, and will probably "lose a lot of their significance before they aro finished. The short “pithy” sentence, delivered in measured tones, is the strongest of all orators’ weapons. And, just as calm follows storm, so must a period of quiet, simple speaking follow any attempt to be dramatic and intense, requiem" Over the hills and far away, to the Land of Long Ago. . , Down the valley of distant years to the shrine we used tp know 1. When .the bloom was on the grape of Life, and the sun was always gold; ere yet we were plunged in the worldlings’ strife; ere yet our hearts were old I Over the hills and far away, to a Sun-steepCd, rose-grown lane, that my soul remembers ’twixt smiles and tears, ’twixt trembling joy and pain. . . When love was sweet, and our hearts were sure, of the path we meant to tread. How it beckons again, the old allure, ere the scene of the roses fled! Over the hills and far away . . - the sbund of a distant bell. . . Sad as the slow and measure cl sway of a solemn funeral knell. My heart must echo the rhythmic heat that falls on the quiet air; as I wend my way with weary feet . , , for my dreams are buried there 1