Public Speaking | Page 5

Clarence Stratton
of thought and language, of material and expression. It
would be quite possible to begin with considerations of the thought
content of speeches--the material; but this book begins with the
other;--the language, the expression. If this order have no other
advantage, it does possess this one;--that during the informal
discussions and expressions of opinion occasioned by the early
chapters and exercises, members of the class are attaining a feeling of
ease in speaking among themselves which will later eradicate a great
deal of the nervousness usually experienced when speaking before the
class. In addition, some attention to such topics as voice, tone,
pronunciation, common errors, use of the dictionary, vocabulary, may
instil habits of self-criticism and observation which may save from
doubt and embarrassing mistakes later.
EXERCISES
1. Recall some recent speech you heard. In parallel columns make lists
of its excellences and deficiencies.
2. Give the class an account of the occasion, the purpose of the speaker,
and his effect upon his audience, or upon you.
3. Explain how children learn to speak.
4. From your observation give the class an account of how young
children enlarge their vocabularies.
5. Using the material of this chapter as the basis of your remarks, show
the value of public speaking.
6. Of what value is public speaking to women?

7. What effects upon speeches by women will universal suffrage have?
8. Choose some profession--as law, engineering--and show how an
ability to speak may be of value in it.
9. Choose some business position, and show how an ability to speak is
a decided advantage in it.
10. What is the best method of acquiring a foreign language? For
example, how shall the alien learn English?
11. Choose some great man whom you admire. Show how he became a
speaker. Or give an account of one of his speeches.
12. Show the value of public speaking to a girl--in school; in business;
in other careers.
13. Explain the operation of a dictaphone.
14. How can training in public speaking help an applicant for a
position?
15. Explain the sentence quoted from Bacon's essay on studies.
CHAPTER II
THE VOICE
Organs of Speech. Although the effects produced by the human voice
are myriad in their complexity, the apparatus involved in making the
sounds which constitute speech is extremely simple. In construction it
has been usually compared to an organ pipe, a comparison justifiable
for imparting a non-technical understanding of its operation.
An organ pipe is a tube in which a current of air passing over the edge
of a piece of metal causes it to vibrate, thus putting into motion the
column of air in the pipe which then produces a note. The operating air
is forced across the sounding piece of metal from a bellows. The tube

in which the thin sounding plate and the column of air vibrate acts as a
resonator. The resulting sound depends upon various sizes of the
producing parts. If the tube is quite long the sound is low in pitch. If the
tube is short the sound is high. Stopping the end of the pipe or leaving
it open alters the pitch. A stopped pipe gives a note an octave lower
than an open pipe of the same length. The amount of the vibrating plate
which is allowed to move also determines the pitch of a note. If the air
is under great pressure the note is loud. If the air is under little pressure
the note is soft.
It is quite easy to transfer this explanation to the voice-producing
apparatus in the human body.
To the bellows correspond the lungs from which the expelled air is
forced upwards through the windpipe. The lungs are able to expel air
regularly and gently, with no more expense of energy than ordinary
breathing requires. But the lungs can also force air out with tremendous
power--power enough to carry sound over hundreds of yards. In
ordinary repose the outward moving breath produces no sound
whatever, for it meets in its passage no obstruction.
Producing Tone. At the upper end of the windpipe is a triangular
chamber, the front angle of which forms the Adam's apple. In this are
the vocal cords. These cords are two tapes of membrane which can be
brought closely together, and by muscular tension stretched until
passing air causes them to vibrate. They in turn cause the air above
them to vibrate, much as the air in an organ pipe vibrates. Thus tone is
produced.
The air above the vocal cords may fill all the open spaces above the
larynx--the throat, the mouth, the nasal cavity in the head, the nostrils.
This rather large amount of air, vibrating freely, produces a sound low
in pitch. The larger the cavities are made the lower the pitch. You can
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code

 / 114
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.