Archive for October, 2005

Pet Peeves

Pet peeves can gather momentum in a hurry as each panelist tries to outdo the others. One may begin by pointing out Patrick Henry’s famous line, “Give me liberty or give me death,” and observe that today it’s been shortened to just “Gimme.” This one simple observation can start an avalanche. Discussions can extend to government gimmicks for sharing the wealth, and go all the way down to the courthouse handouts embracing even the impatient panhandler who begged for five dollars so he could put all his begs in one basket.

Provocative Personalities

The difference between an idealist and a realist gives provocative thought to a panel. Participants sometimes tend to over-simplify, and this over-simplification can backfire as it did for Cathy Simm, a wee belle of the Bel Air district. She was reprimanded by her Daddy who prefers resorting to reason rather than administer a fanny fanning. He told Cathy that whenever she was naughty Mommie got another gray hair, and the little tot retorted, “She must have been a bad little girl. Look at Grandma.”

The difference between an idealist and a realist is as noticeable as that between a bathing beauty and a nudist. That difference is material. The idealist searches for beauty but the realist seeks bare facts. Even romance can suffer at the hands of a realist. One night a full moon glowed in the garden and the scent of flowers lay heavy in the air. In this bower of beauty a young trucker stood silent and contemplative in the way of a swain. The girl in his arms stirred and softly asked what he was thinking about. Absent-mindedly he sighed back to her, “About how to get bigger loads on return trips!”

Panel Discussions

Panel discussions are increasingly popular as service club programs because they bring out the many facets of an interesting subject and accentuate its various phases.

One-sided opinions do not develop a subject as fully as building up its pros and cons by discussion, because discussion increases the number of people in the program and extends membership participation.

Lions International has strongly pressed panel discussions. According to John Day, past president of Denver’s Pride of Lions, “Many members who don’t feel capable of delivering the principal address at a meeting, handle themselves quite creditably in a panel discussion. Differences of opinion not only make horse races, they also make open forum meetings and panel discussions add zip to our programs. They serve as practical mediums for encouraging timid members to participate in public speaking.”

Suggested Subjects

A subject loaded with patriotic potentials revolves around the question: “What are the traits peculiar to America that make it great?”

One panelist might stress the enthusiasm of Americans for fast action, a trait illustrated well by an incident involving an African beauty who sashayed past a corner in Casablanca. An Englishman remarked, “By Jove”; an Arab murmured, “By Allah”; but the Yank sighed, “By tomorrow night!”
Another panelist discussing the originality of Americans cited Farmer Fencerow who sought to stop gangs of boys from pilfering his pumpkin pile during the pre-Halloween hi-jinx. He posted a sign, “One of these pumpkins is poisoned.” Next morning his eyes bugged when he went out to look over his “safety device,” because some prankster added a second line that said, “Now TWO of these pumpkins are poisoned!”

Proficient public speaking requires a thorough knowledge of your subject matter. Your perfectly pitched voice may be pleasing to the ear; you may be a master of delivery and have a fine command of the English language. Despite all these attributes your performance still might be a flop if you are not thoroughly conversant with your subject.

This lack of thorough subject knowledge is the rock that wrecks more public speakers’ ambitions than any other. Veterans of the hard roll and fruit cup circuit frequently pop up with a talk at the sight of a bread crumb, but often their urge to be heard is hardly worth while because they don’t know what they’re talking about. Audiences are quick to sense it when your knowledge of your subject is superficial and your speech goes over like a lead balloon. Contrariwise, a person may not be considered a first-rate speaker and yet be much in popular demand because he is a recognized leader in his field and knows his subject thoroughly.

How to Master More Subjects

If effective public speakers confine themselves to subjects they know well, how then, you wonder, do you expand your subjects? Where do you acquire background for further fields? Your personal experiences primarily are your foremost source of speech material; those things that happened to you and around you in the course of your lifetime furnish a storehouse of material. You have talked about these incidents and now you extend those conversations to a larger audience. It is the experiences that you remember most vividly and leave a lasting mark on your memory that count. A world traveller exposed to a wealth of unusual experiences may be so blase that he is thoroughly bored and spends his time in the bistros. Consequently, he adds next to nothing to his storehouse of speech material.

On the other hand, an office worker who trudges the same paths day in and day out takes an interest in his fellow men and the things that go on about him. He is keenly alert, pays attention to details, and is impressed by all he sees. Something as simple as a trip to the super-mart may increase vastly his storehouse of recollections and add more conversation material to his mental reservoir than that blase old goat after a trip around the globe. Then too there is the “creative memory” type of person; give him a little makin’s and he can manufacture a conversational masterpiece much as Mark Twain did in his day.

Another source of material is the written word. The effective public speaker broadens his understanding by extensive reading. He keeps his storehouse from becoming lopsided by digesting editorials, news columns, sports pages, and even the comic strips. By reading, he can mull over the material and what he reads has more time to register than the things he hears. A further source of material covers the broad field of luncheon meetings, dinners, banquets, the theatre, concerts, lectures, and regular radio and TV programs covering current events. The outcome of any or all of these is your own analytical and imaginative thinking in reviewing the experiences you have had and the things you have read, heard and seen.

Most speakers avoid these embarrassments. At an early stage they develop a reliable repertoire of appropriate responses to use when called upon to make a few impromptu remarks-a sort of emergency kit. A speaker addressing the parents of a squirming lot of little live why-ers proves he knows parents as well as he understands kids. He urges that little peoples’ problems are as big to them as those of the biggest business man in town.

This touch of truth came to light when Marilyn was recuperating from pneumonia. Her first-grade assignments taxed her depleted strength and when she came home for lunch that first day back at school, she flopped down on the sofa in an attitude of utter fatigue. “If Daddy thinks he has to work hard, he should be in the first grade!”

Preparedness Is Important

Good speakers are ever prepared to talk about weather-as everyone’s heard so often, whether we like it or not, we’ll always have weather. On a wintry morning when someone says, “Oh what a beautiful snow” the beauty of it depends on whether you look at it or have to shovel it.

The changing seasons that chase each other around the calendar affect different people in different ways. To some the melancholy days of Fall are fraught with forebodings of heavy storms and slate gray skies; they heed the swarming starlings, chill to misty mornings, and detest the putrid smell of frost-bitten cabbage forgotten in the field. The rustling leaves on their lawns are a nuisance, and cornstalk teepees in the countryside remind them of gaunt ghosts.

Other people are the other extreme: They welcome Jack Frost as the fellow who turns the sumac to crimson and puts a golden glow on the maple trees. Honkers winging southward are music to their ears, and they thrill to the tang in the autumn air … to them smoldering leaf-fires are like incense, and ripe pumpkins amid the cornfield teepees are harbingers of a happy harvest.

Whether we like it or not, the weather never fails to open a wide variety of viewpoints, as the foregoing samples prove.

Invite Criticism

Debating Societies and the Toastmasters’ members are evaluators of other members. They observe poor speaking habits and distracting mannerisms and point them out. These evaluations by fellow members go far in removing any awkward, self-conscious ill-at-ease manner that might embarrass both you and your audience when you get up to talk. If you can’t prevail upon one of these evaluators to hear you speak your piece, pick a member of your family or a close friend to hear you out and criticize your efforts.

Keep Up Your Good Work

In all probability your first attempt at public speaking only answered the question “Who are you?” You knew the answer to that one better than anybody else, and that knowledge gave you sufficient confidence to get through without breaking down!
This proves that knowledge begets confidence. That confidence in turn gets across to the audience a feeling that you know whereof you speak, and gains their respect. It is important for your speech to reflect a personal conviction in order to make your remarks convincing.

Your Second Attempt

For your second appearance let’s add to your first speech the idea that yours is an interesting business; you can be convincing because you are enthusiastic about your work. Your new speech now assumes a definite purpose. You seek to convince an audience that your work is interesting, and your personal enthusiasm becomes contagious because you know that you know more about your business than anyone else present. This knowledge kindles your confidence and you become convincing.

You will find that people are not sold just because you like your work; to this they add a “So what?” They aren’t concerned with your conclusion; they want the reason for thinking as you do. Nothing disgusts an audience more obviously than a big shot who puts too many “IV in his talk, or one who substitutes sound for sense. A Hoosier hotshot governor once was caught in a small village on a Sunday. A departed legionnaire was to be buried that day. Members of the local post asked the Governor to attend the services and to say a few words. Although the ghost writer for this head of state was absent, he felt that he couldn’t refuse the Legion.

At the services the Governor rose and announced the name of the departed as David Davis, then slowly (but pompously) he added, “Like David of old”; then came another long awkward pause while he sought to connect the two Davids. Finally and stumblingly, he concluded, “They were both farmer boys.”

It was a very poor sample of the oratorical talent that Wabash water sprouts.

You may well say, “I recognize that before one can command the respect of an audience he must gain self-respect; but where do I find a place to practice?’ Well, learning to swim means finding a swimming hole. Learning public speaking means finding a meeting. Either instance requires a bit of initiative. Where are the practice fields?

Luncheon clubs, lodge meetings, military orders, and community gatherings, afford any ambitious speaker ample opportunity to be heard. Since the school gives parents the first sense of community life and orients them socially, the P.T.A. is a primary starter for making speeches. Toastmasters International of Santa Ana, California, is dedicated to helping any man improve himself as a speaker. This non-profit organization has 2700 local chapters throughout the States. These groups meet weekly and according to their slogan, every member should talk, however briefly, at every meeting.

An Opportunity to Be Heard

Where there’s a toastmaster, there has to be a toast-mistress, so the Toastmistress Club which originated in Huntington Park, California, boasts of some 1500 subsidiaries across the country. Local clubs meet bi-monthly; but being the female of the species they need no slogan to start speaking! Look into one of these groups; membership entails but a nominal fee. College extension courses are available, but bear in mind that an ounce of practice is better than a pound of correspondence. The Dale Carnegie Institute recognizes that “practice makes perfect,” and energtically seeks placements for its pupils as public speakers.

Civic and Service Club Forums

Public speakers became a scarce commodity during World War II. This was particularly true in smaller cities and non-university towns. Kiwanis Clubs solved that problem according to O. D. Peterson, Secretary of Kiwanis International in Chicago, by looking for talent right in their own back yards. They found certain members could express themselves well on certain subjects, and only needed encouragement. This practice of encouraging speaking talent within the Club has become a permanent policy.

Rotary International of Evanston, Illinois, according to Russell Perry, urges its clubs to use local (club) talent whenever possible. Many chapters assign to their own members the task of making commemorative addresses for near and dear ones-Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, etc., and for observing birthdays of famous men.

The audience has seen you, heard you, and will admire your candor and you’ll feel you’ve won a victory. You have learned that you have normal human apprehensions and you’ve learned to face up to them; thus you’ve won your first round.

The Rocky Mountain Round-up Riders are a group of over a hundred men from the West. They meet annually in Colorado for a horseback trek on trails high in the mountain recesses. Some of these riders have more silver threads than gold, and though they lead somewhat sedentary lives, they ride the treacherous trails with far less concern than many novices blessed with less brittle bones. Why do these veterans do better than the younger, more sure-footed men? Tom McGonagle, a retired Denver merchant who spent his early years herding Herefords, gives this answer:
“Folks never fear a fear they’ve once conquered.”

Fight Your Fright

Even after the initial lesson, almost everyone who rises to speak suffers some degree of stage fright. Many distinguished speakers admit recurring nervousness. Veteran Illinois Senator Paul Douglas admits that it may be due to the unusualness of the situation-but a moment’s reflection upon his message readily allays any fleeting apprehensions. Recurring stage fright is just a mental uneasiness that can usually be relieved by taking several deep breaths to restore your composure and cure any palpitations.

Senator Robert Kerr observes, “I just don’t let that recurring feeling rob me of my reward.” He feels that when a speaker is fully informed on his subject, he knows more about it at the moment than anyone present, and that thought in itself destroys any mental hazards.

Oklahoma Senator Mike Monroney’s remedy is, “Rationalize the situation. Recall that this is the moment you’ve been waiting for!”

Remember that a speaker who has a full understanding of his subject radiates confidence. He is as confident that his seeds of thought will sprout, as is the gardener who buys grass seed and a lawn mower at the same time. The important fact for an embryo orator to bear in mind is that his ability to appear publicly and present his speech was established in that initial crucible when he learned to fight his own fright.

In all probability your maiden public appearance will be brief-perhaps no more than stating your name and occupation-yet there are a few cardinal fundamentals to bear in mind. Courtesy demands that as the speaker, you first face the Chairman and acknowledge the introduction you received. Then, as you stand to start speaking, if you must do something with your hands how about knitting them behind your back? Just please don’t stand up there twiddling your thumbs, wringing your hands, or biting your nails to the quick.

Don’t fret about the audience knowing that you’re a novice; you may make a hit by acknowledging that fact. Just don’t use that worn out cliche about, “unaccustomed as I am to public speaking”! Say something along the line that, “This is my maiden appearance before an audience and frankly I’m scared stiff. My name is , my business
is , and some day I hope to tell you more about myself.”

Then sit down. A clever original addition to your introduction could pay off, though; John Copeland of Salinas, California, after stating his name and the location of his Exchange at a convention in Santa Monica, added: “My purpose is to make you remember my Exchange and me. If you want to make me feel that I have accomplished my purpose, any time in the next three days that you see me, you might say, ‘John Copeland from the Salinas Valley Exchange; let me buy you a drink.’”

His originality made the most of the opportunity, and no doubt became a liquid asset.

Self-confidence comes as a natural consequence of careful preparation. Any normal person can become a successful public speaker if he allows himself to be natural and if he observes certain cardinal canons. Of course he becomes better by working at it, but many talents are lost to the world for want of courage. The woods would have little music if no birds sang except those that sang best.

No instruction equals the simple procedure of employing every opportunity to speak publicly. More than any other human activity, this is learned by doing and improved by practice. The way to develop self-confidence in public speaking is simply by speaking in public.

The first public speaking lesson just as the first swimming lesson, requires gathering up enough confidence to try. A library of literature on swimming techniques about the breast stroke, Australian crawl, or diving as it’s done by the experts, is without meaning until the beginner shakes off his shakes. Until the swimmer (or speaker) discovers that what he fears is not the water (or the audience) but himself, he is lacking in confidence and further effort is a waste of time.

First Shake Your Shaking

Shaking is due to an inner uncertainty when a speaker becomes the cynosure of an audience’s eyes. Their upturned faces frighten him; they make him think of evil gremlins and he’s just too “shook” to talk. Not much can be done to help this helpless lamb; a youth too shy about hitting a cool pool might be shoved into the water, but just as you can’t make him drink, you can’t make a speaker ignore his fear. When he learns that he alone must overcome that fright, he gains confidence and he’s learned one of life’s outstanding lessons; he’s learned to face facts.

The bud of confidence thus opened up may now be cultivated, and with proper care the individual may flower into a fluent speaker. The victory he has won boosts his morale and gives him more backbone. Even though he may develop it no further, this first lesson in public speaking means much in anyone’s life.

Thorough preparation and proper presentation are prime factors. First and foremost, there always should be a good reason for making a speech. Your talk must be timely. Too many speeches not only are poorly planned but also are lacking in purpose. Select a timely subject, one of current public concern; learn all you can about it, for “knowledge is power.” Until you master your subject you cannot master your audience, for a speaker deep in doubt carries no conviction. He not only must believe in the idea he seeks to sell, but he must present it logically.

The idea may not be popular, but if it is presented forth-rightly, sincerely, and along logical lines, you can put across your point of view. Your effort can earn respect for you personally even though your viewpoint remains unaccepted.

Regarding Ghost-Written Speeches

The preparation of your material not only must be thorough, but also must be personal, because to discuss a subject effectively at a management meeting or to present it to a group convincingly it is important to project your own self into your talk. Nobody likes to listen to a ghost-written address read with the zest of a secretary reviewing last month’s minutes; such an impersonal speaker wastes his listeners’ as well as his own time.

Ghost-writing is practiced by public characters who either have little or nothing to say or who do not know how to express their own ideas. These people simply hire better-informed or more articulate characters to provide them with language and also ideas.

When a ghost-written composition appears in print or is passed off as oratory, the public is deceived into believing that it is an authentic discourse which originated in the mind of its putative author who, in fact, is nothing more than a literary microphone or megaphone.

Many individuals are full of good words-so they become ghost-writers-but a good speech requires not only superb language but a thorough knowledge of the subject. The subject may be foreign to the ghost-writer, and to cover any deficiency he may resort to pious platitudes, but fancy phrases are no substitute for lack of knowledge of the subject. That knowledge a speaker must possess personally in order to present his ideas interestingly and convincingly.