Public Speaking | Page 7

in the language with the same
or similar vowel sounds that only the sharpest discrimination by means
of consonants permits of their being intelligible. The speaker, therefore,

will exercise the greatest care in pronouncing consonants distinctly. As
these sounds usually begin and end words, and as they are produced by
rather sudden checks or interruptions, they can be made to produce a
wave motion in the air which will carry the entire word safely and
clearly beyond the ear into the understanding. In public speaking no
amount of care and attention bestowed upon pronouncing consonants
can be spared.
Tone. The most marked quality of a person's voice is its tone. It will be
enough for the purposes of this manual to assert that the tone should be
both clear and agreeable. In public speaking the first of these is all
important, though an absence of the second qualification may almost
neutralize all the advantages of the first. Clearness may be impaired by
several causes. The speaker may feel that his throat closes up, that he
becomes choked. His tongue may become stiff and "cleave to the roof
of his mouth"--as the feeling is popularly described. He may breathe so
energetically that the escaping or entering air makes more noise than
the words themselves. He may be more or less conscious of all these.
The others he may not discover for himself. The instructor or members
of the class will inform him of their presence. Set jaws will prevent him
from opening his mouth wide enough and operating his lips flexibly
enough to speak with a full tone. A nasal quality results mainly from
lack of free resonance in the head and nose passages. Adenoids and
colds in the head produce this condition. It should be eradicated by
advice and practice.
Usually whatever corrections will make the tone clearer will also make
it more agreeable. The nasal pessimistic whine is not a pleasant
recommendation of personality. High, forced, strident tones produce
not only irritation in the listener but throat trouble for the speaker.
Articulate--that is, connected--speech may be considered with reference
to four elements, all of which are constantly present in any spoken
discourse.
Speed. First, there is the speed of delivery. An angry woman can utter
more words in a minute than any one wants to hear. The general
principle underlying all speech delivery is that as the audience

increases in number the rapidity of utterance should be lessened. Those
who are accustomed to addressing large audiences, or to speaking in
the open air, speak very slowly. A second consideration is the material
being delivered. Easily grasped narrative, description, and explanation,
simply phrased and directly constructed, may be delivered much more
rapidly than involved explanation, unfamiliar phraseology, long and
intricate sentence constructions, unusual material, abstract reasoning,
and unwelcome sentiments. The beginnings of speeches move much
more slowly than later parts. A speaker who intends to lead an audience
a long distance, or to hold the attention for a long time, will be
extremely careful not to speak at the beginning so rapidly that he leaves
them far behind.
This does not mean that a speaker must drawl his words. One of our
national characteristics is that we shorten our words in pronouncing
them--ing generally loses the _g, does not_ has become _doesn't_ and
quite incorrectly _don't, yes_ is yeeh, etc. In many cases nothing more
is required than the restoration of the word to its correct form. Some
words can easily be lengthened because of the significance of their
meanings. Others must be extended in order to carry. The best method
of keeping down the rate of delivery is by a judicious use of pauses.
Pauses are to the listener what punctuation marks are to the reader. He
is not conscious of their presence, but he would be left floundering if
they were absent. Some of the most effective parts of speeches are the
pauses. They impart clearness to ideas, as well as aiding in emphasis
and rhythm.
Pitch. A second quality of speech is its pitch. This simply means its
place in the musical scale. Speaking voices are high, medium, or low.
Unfortunate tendencies of Americans seem to be for women to pitch
their voices too high, with resultant strain and unpleasantness, and for
men to pitch their voices too low, with resultant growls and gruffness.
The voices of young children should be carefully guarded in this
respect; so should the changing voices of growing boys. To secure a
good pitch for the speaking voice the normal natural pitch of usual
conversation should be found. Speech in that same pitch should be
developed for larger audiences. Frequently a better pitch can be secured

by slightly lowering the voice. If the natural pitch be too low for
clearness or agreeableness it should be