Public Speaking | Page 9

literature. As
soon as possible all technique is to be forgotten, unless the
consciousness is pricked by something going wrong.
Voices in general need, in the larger development, to be rounded. The
vowel forms "oo" as in moon, "o" as in roll, and "a" as in saw, greatly
help in giving a rounded form to the general speech; for all vowels can
be molded somewhat into the form of these rounder ones. The vowels
"e" as in meet, "a" as in late, short "e" as in met, short "a" as in sat, are
likely to be made very sharp, thin, and harsh. When a passage for
practice begins with round vowels, as for example, "Roll on, thou deep
and dark blue ocean, roll!" the somewhat rounded form of the lips, and

the opened condition of the throat produced in forming the rounder
vowels, can be to some extent maintained through the whole of the
passage, in forming all the vowels; and this will give, by repeated
practice, a gradually rounded and deepened general character to the
voice. On the other hand the thinner, sharper vowels may serve to give
keenness and point to tones too thick and dull. In applying these
suggestions, as well as all other vocal suggestions, moderation and
good sense must be exercised, for the sake of the good outward
appearance and the good effect of the speaking. The chief vowel forms
running from the deepest to the most shallow are: "oo" as in moon, "o"
as in roll, "a" as in saw, "a" as in far, "a" as in say, "e" as in see.
Since the making of tones means practically the shaping of vowels,
something should here be said about vowel forms. The mouth opening
should of course be freely shaped for the best sounding of the vowels.
For the vowel "a" as in far, the mouth is rather fully opened; for "a" as
in saw, it is opened deep, that is, the mouth passage is somewhat
narrowed, so as to allow increased depth. The vowel "o," as in no, has
two forms, the clear open "o," and the "o" somewhat covered by a
closer form of the lips, Commonly, when the vowel is prolonged, the
initial form, that is the open "o," is held, with the closed form, like "oo"
in moon, touched briefly as the tone is finished. So with long "i" (y), as
in thy, and "ou," as in thou--the first form is like a broad "a" as in far,
with short "i" (sit) ending the "i" (y), and "oo" (moon) ending the "ou."
This final sound, though sometimes accentuated for humorous effect, is
usually not to be made prominent. The sound of "oi," as in voice, has
the main form of "aw" as in saw, and the final form in short "i," as in
pin. The vowel "u" is sounded like "oo" (moon) in a few words, as in
rule, truth. Generally, it sounds about like "ew" in new or mew. In
some of the forms the front of the mouth will be open, in some half
open, and in some, as in the case of long "e" (meet), nearly closed.
Whatever the degree of opening, the jaw should never be allowed to
become stiffly set, nor the tongue nor lips to be held tight, in any
degree or way. These faults cause a tightening in the throat, and affect
the character of the tone. It will generally be advantage to the tone if
the lips are trained to be very slightly protruding, in bell shape, and if
the corners of the mouth be not allowed to droop, but be made very
slightly to curve upward. The tongue takes of course various positions

for different vowels. For our purposes, it may be sufficient to say that it
will play its part best if it be not stiffened but is left quite free and
elastic, perhaps quite relaxed, and if the tip of it be made to play easily
down behind the lower teeth.
Since voice has here been discussed in an objective sort of way, it is
fitting to emphasize the importance of what is called naturalness, or
more correctly, simplicity. Everybody desires this sort of result. It can
readily be seen, however, that about everything we do is a second
nature; is done, that is to say, in the acquired, acceptable, conventional
way. Voice and speech are largely determined by surrounding
influences, and what we come to regard as natural may be only an
acquired bad habit, which is, in fact, quite unnatural. Voice should
certainly be what we call human. Better it should have some human
faults than be smoothed out into negative perfection, without the true
ring, the spunk of individuality. There is, nevertheless, a best
naturalness, or second nature,