Public Speaking | Page 2

that word; they merely
reproduce what some one else has actually composed and dictated. This
latter person also does no actual writing. He speaks what he wants to
have put into writing. Dictating is not an easily acquired
accomplishment in business--as many a man will testify. Modern office
practice has intensified the difficulty. It may be rather disconcerting to
deliver well-constructed, meaningful sentences to an unresponsive
stenographer, but at any rate the receiver is alive. But to talk into the
metallic receiver of a mechanical dictaphone has an almost ridiculous
air. Men have to train themselves deliberately to speak well when they
first begin to use these time-saving devices. Outside of business, a great
deal of the material printed in periodicals and books--sometimes long

novels--has been delivered orally, and not written at all by its author.
Were anything more needed to show how much speech is used it would
be furnished by the reports of the telephone companies. In one table the
number of daily connections in 1895 was 2,351,420. In 1918 this item
had increased to 31,263,611. In twenty-three years the calls had grown
fifteen times as numerous. In 1882 there were 100,000 subscriber
stations. In 1918 this number had swelled to 11,000,000.
Subordinates and executives in all forms of business could save
incalculable time and annoyance by being able to present their material
clearly and forcefully over the telephone, as well as in direct
face-to-face intercourse.
The Director of high schools in a large municipality addressed a
circular letter to the business firms of the city, asking them to state
what is most necessary in order to fit boys for success in business.
Ninety-nine per cent laid stress on the advantage of being able to write
and speak English accurately and forcibly.
Testimony in support of the statement that training in speaking is of
paramount importance in all careers might be adduced from a score of
sources. Even from the seemingly far-removed phase of military
leadership comes the same support. The following paragraph is part of
a letter issued by the office of the Adjutant-General during the early
months of the participation of this country in the Great War.
"A great number of men have failed at camp because of inability to
articulate clearly. A man who cannot impart his idea to his command in
clear distinct language, and with sufficient volume of voice to be heard
reasonably far, is not qualified to give command upon which human
life will depend. Many men disqualified by this handicap might have
become officers under their country's flag had they been properly
trained in school and college. It is to be hoped therefore that more
emphasis will be placed upon the basic principles of elocution in the
training of our youth. Even without prescribed training in elocution a
great improvement could be wrought by the instructors in our schools
and colleges, regardless of the subjects, by insisting that all answers be
given in a loud, clear, well rounded voice which, of course, necessitates

the opening of the mouth and free movement of the lips. It is
remarkable how many excellent men suffer from this handicap, and
how almost impossible it is to correct this after the formative years of
life."
Perhaps the most concise summary of the relative values of exercise in
the three different forms of communication through language was
enunciated by Francis Bacon in his essay entitled Studies, published
first in 1597: "Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and
writing an exact man."
Speech and Talk. The high value here placed upon speech must not be
transferred to mere talk. The babbler will always be justly regarded
with contempt. Without ideas, opinions, information, talk becomes the
most wasteful product in the world, wasteful not only of the time of the
person who insists upon delivering it, but more woefully and
unjustifiably wasteful of the time and patience of those poor victims
who are forced to listen to it. Shakespeare put a man of this disposition
into The Merchant of Venice and then had his discourse described by
another.
"Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all
Venice. His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of
chaff: you shall seek all day 'ere you find them, and when you have
them, they are not worth the search."
But the man who has ideas and can best express them is a leader
everywhere. He does the organizing, he makes and imparts the plans,
he carries his own theories and beliefs into execution, he is the
intrusted agent, the advanced executive. He can act for himself. He can
influence others to significant and purposeful action. The advantages
that come to men who can think upon their feet, who can express
extempore