GESTURE YOUR AUDIENCE

While preparing, study your audience. Think of their wants, their wishes. That is something half the battle. In preparing some topics, it is very advisable to do some reading, to discover what others have thought, what others have said on the same subject. But don’t read until you have first thought yourself dry. That is important-very. Then go to the public library and lay your needs before the librarian. Tell her you are preparing a speech on such and such a topic. Ask her frankly for help. If you are not in the habit of doing research work, you will probably be surprised at the aids she can put at your disposals; perhaps a special volume on your very topic, outlines and briefs for debate, giving the principal arguments on both sides of the public questions of the day.

SELECT YOUR PROBLEM

If you stand up and think clearly and keep going for two or three minutes, that is all that can be expected of you during your first few talks. A topic such as why you are studying public speaking is very easy; that is obvious. If you will spend a little time selecting and arranging your material on that topic, you will be almost sure to remember it, for you will be speaking of your own observations, your own desires, and your own experiences. On the other hand, let us suppose that you have decided to speak on your business or profession. How shall you set about preparing such a talk? You already have a wealth of material on that subject. Your problem, then, will be to select and arrange it. Do not attempt to tell all about it in three minutes. It can’t be done. The attempt will be too sketchy, too fragmentary. Take one and only one phase of your topic: expand and enlarge that. For example, why not tell how you came to be in your particular business or profession? Was it a result of accident or choice? Relate your early struggles, your defeats, your hopes, your triumphs. Give a human interest narrative, a real life picture based on firsthand experiences. The truthful, inside story of almost anyone’s life-if told modestly and without offending egotism-is most entertaining.

THE RIGHT WAY TO PREPARE

Ask yourself all possible questions concerning it. If, for example, you are to speak on divorce, ask yourself what causes divorce, what are the effects economically, socially. How can the evil be remedied? Should we have uniform divorce laws? Why? Or should we have any divorce laws? Should divorce be made impossible? Suppose you were going to talk on why you are studying speech, you ought then to ask yourself such questions as these: What are my troubles? What do I hope to get out of this? Have I ever made a public talk? Do I know others who will probably never achieve a gratifying measure of success because they lack these positive assets? Be specific. Tell the stories of these people without mentioning their names.

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR TALK

What topics ought you to speak on for practice? Anything that interest you. Don’t make the almost universal mistake of trying to cover too much ground in a brief talk. Just take one or two angles of a subject and attempt to cover them adequately. You will be fortunate if you can do that in a short speech. Determine your subject in advance, so that you will have time to think it over in odd moments. Think over it for seven days; dream over it for seven nights. Think of it the last thing when you retire. Think of it the next morning while you are shaving, while you are bathing, while you are riding down town, while you are waiting for elevators, for lunch, for appointments, while you are ironing or cooking dinner. Discuss it with your friends. Make it a topic of conversation.

WHAT PREPARATION REALLY IS?

Does the preparation of a speech mean the getting together of some faultless phrases written down or memorized? No. Does it mean the assembling of a few casual thoughts that really convey very little to you personally? Not at all. It means the assembling of your thoughts, your ideas, your convictions, your urges. And you have such thoughts, such urges. You have them every day of your waking life. They even swarm through your dreams. Your whole existence has been filled with feelings and experiences. These things are lying deep in your subconscious mind as thick as pebbles on the seashore. Preparation means thinking, brooding, recalling, selecting the ones that appeal to you most, polishing them, working them into a pattern, a mosaic of your own.

SELF-CONFIDENCE THROUGH PREPARATION

When the speaker is in the kind of mental and emotional state, he will discover a significant fact: namely, that his talk will almost make itself. Its yoke will be easy; its burden will be light. A well-prepared speech is almost nine-tenths delivered. The primary reason why most people want the training for speech is to acquire confidence and courage. And the one fatal mistake many make is neglecting to prepare their talks. How can they even hope to subdue the cohorts of fear, the cavalry of nervousness, when they go into the battle with wet powder and blank shells, or with no ammunition at all? Why don’t we prepare our talks more carefully? Why? Some don’t clearly understand what preparation is or how to go about it wisely; others plead a lack of time.

PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!

Even though you forget everything you have read so far, do remember this: the first way, the last way, the never-failing way to develop self-confidence in speaking is –to speak. Really the whole matter finally simmers down to but one essential; practice, practice, practice. Choose your subject, preferably one on which you have some knowledge, and construct a three-minute talk. Practice the talk by yourself a number of times. Then give it, if possible, to the group for whom it is intended, or before a group of friends, putting into the effort all your force and power.

DRAW YOUR STATUS

Draw yourself up to your full height, look your audience straight in the eyes, and begin to talk as confidently as if every one of them owed you money. Imagine that they do. Imagine that they have assembled there to beg you for an extension of credit. The psychological effect on you will be beneficial. Do not nervously button and unbutton your coat, play with your breads, or fumble with you hands. If you must make nervous movements, place your hands behind your back and twist your fingers there where no one can see the performance-or wiggle your toes. As a general rule, it is bad for a speaker to hide behind furniture; but it may give you a little courage the first few times to stand behind a table or chair and to grip them tightly-or hold a coin firmly in the palm of your hand.