Successful Methods of Public Speaking | Page 4

drill, until the motions almost became a
second nature. Now, I never know what movements I shall make. My gestures are natural,
because this drill made them natural to me. The only method of acquiring effective
elocution is by practise, of not less than an hour a day, until the student has his voice and
himself thoroughly subdued and trained to get right expression."
Lord Bolingbroke
Lord Bolingbroke made it a rule always to speak well in daily conversation, however
unimportant the occasion. His taste and accuracy at last gave him a style in ordinary
speech worthy to have been put into print as it fell from his lips.
Lord Chatham
Lord Chatham, despite his great natural endowments for speaking, devoted a regular time
each day to developing a varied and copious vocabulary. He twice examined each word
in the dictionary, from beginning to end, in his ardent desire to master the English
language.
John Philpot Curran
The well-known case of John Philpot Curran should give encouragement to every
aspiring student of public speaking. He was generally known as "Orator Mum," because
of his failure in his first attempt at public speaking. But he resolved to develop his
oratorical powers, and devoted every morning to intense reading. In addition, he regularly
carried in his pocket a small copy of a classic for convenient reading at odd moments.
It is said that he daily practised declamation before a looking-glass, closely scrutinizing
his gesture, posture, and manner. He was an earnest student of public speaking, and
eventually became one of the most eloquent of world orators.

Balfour
Among present-day speakers in England Mr. Balfour occupies a leading place. He
possesses the gift of never saying a word too much, a habit which might be copied to
advantage by many public speakers. His habit during a debate is to scribble a few words
on an envelop, and then to speak with rare facility of English style.
Bonar Law
Bonar Law does not use any notes in the preparation of a speech, but carefully thinks out
the various parts, and then by means of a series of "mental rehearsals" fixes them
indelibly in his mind. The result of this conscientious practise has made him a formidable
debater and extempore speaker.
Asquith
Herbert H. Asquith, who possesses the rare gift of summoning the one inevitable word,
and of compressing his speeches into a small space of time, speaks with equal success
whether from a prepared manuscript or wholly extempore. His unsurpassed English style
is the result of many years reading and study of prose masterpieces. "He produces,
wherever and whenever he wants them, an endless succession of perfectly coined
sentences, conceived with unmatched felicity and delivered without hesitation in a
parliamentary style which is at once the envy and the despair of imitators."
Bryan
William Jennings Bryan is by common consent one of the greatest public speakers in
America. He has a voice of unusual power and compass, and his delivery is natural and
deliberate. His style is generally forensic, altho he frequently rises to the dramatic. He has
been a diligent student of oratory, and once said:
"The age of oratory has not passed; nor will it pass. The press, instead of displacing the
orator, has given him a larger audience and enabled him to do a more extended work. As
long as there are human rights to be defended; as long as there are great interests to be
guarded; as long as the welfare of nations is a matter for discussion, so long will public
speaking have its place."
Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most effective of American public speakers, due in
large measure to intense moral earnestness and great stores of physical vitality. His
diction was direct and his style energetic. He spoke out of the fulness of a well-furnished
mind.
Success Factors in Platform Speaking
Constant practise of composition has been the habit of all great orators. This, combined
with the habit of reading and re-reading the best prose writers and poets, accounts in large

measure for the felicitous style of such men as Burke, Erskine, Macaulay, Bolingbroke,
Phillips, Everett and Webster.
I can not too often urge you to use your pen in daily composition as a means to felicity
and facility of speech. The act of writing out your thoughts is a direct aid to concentration,
and tends to enforce the habit of choosing the best language. It gives clearness, force,
precision, beauty, and copiousness of style, so valuable in extemporaneous and
impromptu speaking.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEMORIZING SPEECHES
Some of the most highly successful speakers carefully wrote out, revised, and committed
to memory important passages in their speeches. These they dexterously wove into the
body of their addresses in such a natural manner as not to expose