Talks on Talking | Page 3

much.
The story is told that at a recent dinner in London ten leading public
men were met together, when one suggested that each gentleman
present should write down on paper the name of the man he would
specially choose to be his companion on a walking tour. When the ten
papers were subsequently read aloud, each bore the name of Lord
Morley.

Lord Rosebery is considered one of the most accomplished talkers of
the day. Deferential, natural, sympathetic, observant, well-informed, he
easily and unconsciously commands the attention of any group of men.
His voice is said to recommend what he utters, and a singularly refined
accent gives distinction to anything he says. He is a supreme example
of two great qualifications for effective talking: having something
worth while to say, and knowing how to say it.
Among distinguished Canadians, Sir Thomas White is one of the most
interesting speakers. His versatile mind, and broad and varied
experience, enable him to converse with almost equal facility upon
politics, medicine, finance, law, science, art, literature, or business.
Dates, details, facts, figures, and illustrations are at his ready command.
His manner is natural, courteous, and genial, but in argumentation the
whole man is so thoroughly aroused to earnestness and intensity as
almost to overwhelm an opponent. His greatest quality in speaking is
his manifest sincerity, and it is this particularly which has ingratiated
him in the hearts of his countrymen.
The Honorable Joseph H. Choate must certainly be reckoned among the
best conversationalists of our time. His manner, both in conversation
and in public speaking, is singularly gracious and winning. He is
unsurpassed as a story-teller. His fine taste, combined with long
experience as a public man, makes him an ideal after-dinner speaker.
Some eminent men try to mask their greatness when engaged in
conversation. They do not wear their feelings nor their greatness on
their sleeves. Some have an utter distaste for anything like personal
display. It is said of the late Henry James that a stranger might talk to
him for an entire evening without discovering his identity.
There is an interesting account of an evening's conversation between
Emerson and Thoreau. When Thoreau returned home he wrote in his
Journal: "Talked, or tried to talk, with R.W.E. Lost my time, nay,
almost my identity. He, assuming a false opposition where there was no
difference of opinion, talked to the wind." Emerson's version of the
conversation was this: "It seemed as if Thoreau's first instinct on
hearing a proposition was to controvert it. That habit is chilling to the

social affections; it mars conversation."
Conversation offers daily opportunity for intellectual exercise of high
order. The reading of great books is desirable and indispensable to
education, but real culture comes through the additional training one
receives in conversation. The contact of mind with mind tends to
stimulate and develop thoughts which otherwise would probably
remain dormant.
The culture of conversation is to be recommended not only for its own
sake, but also as one of the best means of training in the art of public
speaking. Since the best form of platform address today is simply
conversation enlarged and elevated, it may almost be assumed that to
excel in one is to be proficient in the other.
Good conversation requires, among other things, mental alertness,
accuracy of statement, adequate vocabulary, facility of expression, and
an agreeable voice, and these qualities are most essential for effective
public speaking. Everyone, therefore, who aspires to speaking before
an audience of hundreds or thousands, will find his best opportunity for
preliminary training in everyday speech.

TYPES OF TALKERS
There is no greater affliction in modern life than the tiresome talker. He
talks incessantly. Presumably he talks in his sleep. Talking is his
constant exercise and recreation. He thrives on it. He lives for talking's
sake. He would languish if he were deprived of it for a single day. His
continuous practice in talking enables him easily to outdistance all
ordinary competitors. There is nothing which so completely unnerves
him as long periods of silence. He has the talking habit in its most
virulent form.
The trifling talker is equally objectionable. He talks much, but says
little. He skims over the surface of things, and is timid of anything deep
or philosophical. He does not tarry at one subject. He talks of the

weather, clothes, plays, and sports. He puts little meaning into what he
says, because there is little meaning in what he thinks. He cannot look
at anything seriously. Nothing is of great significance to him. He is in
the class of featherweights.
The tedious talker is one without terminal facilities. He talks right on
with no idea of objective or destination. He rises to go, but he does not
go. He knows he ought to go,