CHAPTER XII.

AFTER THE SPEECH.

When a fervent and successful discourse has been concluded there comes a feeling of inexpressible relief. The burden of an important speech rests with accumulating force upon the mind from the time the subject is chosen until it becomes well-nigh intolerable. When speech actually begins every power is called into play and exerted to its utmost capacity. The excitement of the conflict hurries the speaker on, and although he may not at the time realize the gigantic exertions put forth, yet when he pauses at length, perhaps exhausted, but with the victory won, the sense of rest, relief, and security, is exceedingly delightful.

After such an effort both mind and body do need rest. There are speakers who profess to feel no fatigue after an hour’s labor, but these are seldom in the front rank of orators. If the soul has been aroused and all the man’s faculties bent to the accomplishment of a great purpose, relaxation is often followed by a sense of utter prostration. Nothing better for the moment can be advised than to abandon one’s self to the luxury of utter repose. Social intercourse and all distractions should as far as possible be avoided. If circumstances permit, a short sleep, if but for a few minutes, will afford great relief; and in most cases sleep will come if wisely courted.

After resting, it is well to ponder closely the lessons derived from each new experience in speaking. To indulge in exultation over success or to lament over failure is not profitable. The speaker is not a perfect judge of either. He has probably done the best he could at the time, and there the case should rest, except so far as he sees the need or the means of future improvement.

But judgment of success or failure cannot easily be avoided. If the speaker’s standard is low, he may pass beyond it without accomplishing anything worthy of high praise: or if he is despondent in nature he may have expected little and may now feel correspondingly elated because he has exceeded his very moderate expectations. But it is a curious fact that speakers are often least pleased with their best speeches. In the mightiest efforts of the mind the standard is placed very high—perhaps beyond the possibility of attainment—and the speaker works with his eyes fixed upon that summit, and probably, after all his exertions, sees it shining still far above him. His ideas are but half expressed; he is mortified that there should be such a difference between conception and realization. But his hearers have been led over untrodden fields of thought, and knowing nothing of the grander heights still above the orator’s head, they are naturally filled with enthusiasm, and cannot enter into the feelings of the speaker if he is foolish enough to tell them of his disappointment.

This is the reason that we are least able to judge of the success of speeches that have been long meditated and thoroughly prepared. The subject expands as we study, its outlines becoming grander and vaster until they pass beyond our power of adequate representation. Each separate thought in the whole discussion that is fully mastered becomes familiar, and is not, therefore, valued at its true worth. Sometimes, when we begin to speak with little thought, intending to give only easy and common views of the subject, everything appears fresh before us, and if some striking ideas arise, their novelty gives them three-fold value, and we imagine that we have made a great speech. All this constitutes no argument against diligent preparation, but it should stimulate us to bring up our powers of expression more nearly to the level of our conceptions.

There should never be extreme discouragement over an apparent failure. Some good end may be reached even by a very poor speech. One evening the writer preached when weary and almost unprepared. From first to last the effort was painful, and to prevent absolute failure the intended plan had to be abandoned, and detached thoughts from any source thrown in. Yet that discourse, which was scarcely worthy of the name, elicited warmer approval and did more apparent good than any one preached for several previous months. One or two fortunate illustrations redeemed every defect, so far as the audience (but not the speaker) was concerned.

Whatever judgment we may entertain of our own performances, it is not usually wise to tell our hearers, or to ask their opinions. Criticisms spontaneously offered need not be repulsed, but all seeking for commendation is childish or disgusting. It is sweet to hear our efforts praised, and most of men can bear an amount of flattery addressed to themselves which would be insufferable if offered to others; but this disposition, if much indulged, becomes ungovernable and exposes us to well-deserved ridicule. It is pitiable to see a man who has been uttering wise and eloquent words afterward stooping to beg crusts of indiscriminating flattery from his hearers.

Whenever there is a probability that any discourse will be repeated, it is well to review it soon after delivery, while its impression is still fresh upon the mind, and if any defect appears, amend it in the plan, and add to the same plan all the valuable ideas that have been suggested during the speech or afterward. In this manner we keep each discourse up to the high watermark of our ability.

Some orators are accustomed to write their speeches out in full after delivery. When the theme is important and time permits, this is a good exercise, but in many—perhaps the majority of cases—the labor would outweigh the profit.

No such objection applies to reviewing and correcting a verbatim report of our speeches. To many speakers such a review of the exact words they have uttered would be a striking and not altogether pleasing revelation. Pet phrases, which might otherwise be unnoticed for years; faults of expression, and especially the profuseness of words, in which extemporaneous speakers are tempted to indulge;—would all be forced upon our notice. We would be surprised to learn that we could often write the discourse in one-fourth the words employed in delivery. To form the habit of thus condensing our speeches after delivery would have a powerful tendency toward compacting thought in speech itself. The only hindrance in applying this capital means of improvement consists in the difficulty of obtaining such shorthand reports. Where this cannot be overcome a part of the advantage may be gained by taking the plan and from it writing out the same kind of a compact presentation of the thoughts as uttered. This differs from writing in full by making no effort to record exact words or forms of expression, but only to recall from memory and from the sketch the exact thoughts that were expressed in the language of the moment. Even if the same kind of brief sketch has been made previous to the act of speech, this does not take the place of what we now recommend; for the former outline may have been greatly modified by the experience of delivery.

In whatever form the best result of the discourse is recorded, great care should be taken in its preservation. The plan, sketch, or fully written discourse may be slipped into an envelope (which may also contain all illustrative scraps, notes, or references to books that bear upon the discourse) and on the back may be written the title, time, and character of delivery, with any other facts of importance. If the young speaker will faithfully follow up such a method of recording the results of his oratorical experience, he will find it one of the best forms of discipline, and the record itself—carefully indexed, frequently reviewed, and kept within reasonable bulk—will in time possess a value greater than gold.

FINIS.

ALPHABETICAL INDEX.

Author’s own experience, 23

Advice to readers of discourses, 29

Ancients and moderns, 34

Augustine, 34

Antony’s speech analyzed, 57

Articulation, 116

Action in gesture, 122

Architecture of continuous thought, 160

Arrangement of thought, 164

Burdens of the extempore speaker, 15

Beecher, H. W., 40

Brutus’ speech analyzed, 54

Benevolent emotion, 97

Bautain’s comparison, 161

“Be bold,” 165

Bodily vigor, 193

Books of illustration, 243

Beatitudes in syllogistic form, 255

Coldness of reading explained, 23

Composite discourse, 25

Cicero, 33

Chatham, Lord, 36

Clay, 40

Calhoun, 40

Critical taste must not be too high, 44

Conclusion, 49

Cultivating emotional power, 95

Conversation, 105

Correcting faults of voice, 119

Correcting faults of gesture, 122

Confidence acquired, 125

Confidence, false and true, 127

Confidence, power of, 128

Confidence while silent before an audience, 129

Changing plan at last moment, 190

Complimentary introductions, 201

Citations as introductions, 204

Calamity from bad introductions, 205

Climax, law of, 208

Crisis of discourse, 211

Concluding, three ways of, 215

Conclusion should have no new matter, 215

Classification, 250

Correcting shorthand reports, 266

Demosthenes, 33

Discussion, 48

Dean Swift’s sermon, 53

Discussion in a free state, 66

Disease as a hindrance, 81

Disqualifications summed up, 86

Drill on the elementary sounds, 116

Duty as a remedy for fear, 126

Divisional or military plan, 168

Deep breathing, 195

Diffuseness remedied, 209

Definition in speech, 249

Division in speech, 249

Eloquence can be taught, 9

Eloquence, degrees of, 11

Essay or speech, 29

Extempore speech in schools, 65

Education in the popular sense, 89

Extempore speech cultivates reason, 94

Emotion and the will, 98

Etymology, use of, 104

Empty speeches, 212

Enriching extempore speech, 247

First speech, 46

Fear overcome, 63

Fluency and accuracy contrasted, 103

Failure, a preacher’s, 158

Five principles of introduction, 205

Funeral speech pronounced by Pericles, 218

Fallacies in reasoning, 253

Gladstone, W. E., 41

Gladstone, letter from, 42

Gibbon’s militia service, 92

Gathering thought, 159

Grasping the subject in a single idea, 183

Great addresses, three plans of, 217

Good results from a poor speech, 264

Healthfulness of extempore speech, 19

Hortensius, 33

Heroic self-denial in speech, 156

Holyoke’s experience, 193

Henry Clay’s eloquence, 214

Humor and pathos, 246

Humor cultivated, 246

Introduction, 46, 196

Impromptu speeches, 49

Initial fear, 60

Increasing thought-power, 90

Intellectual emotion, 95

Imagination, 109

Imagination in the Bible, 109

Instructive addresses, 141

Introduction memorized, 197

Introduction needed, 198

Introductions, kinds of, 199

Keeping the speech fresh, 192

Luther, 35

Literary societies, 67

Language, 101

Laws in language, 102

Loudness, 119

Lawyers, 139

Lawyers not writers of speeches, 140

Lectures, platform, anniversary, and lyceum, 141

Lecture with varying titles, 155

Logical or mathematical plans, 168

Local allusions as introductions, 203

Language adapted to oratory, 210

Luxury of tears, 245

Logic for the orator, 248

Logic, its narrowness, 248

Lessons of speech, 263

Mental weakness, 79

Memorizing original and selected gems, 104

Mental picture painting, 110

Method of gathering and retaining thought, 162

Military plans, 168

Marks of a good plan, 171

Nerves quieted, 47

Natural orators, 74

Nature in the voice, 118

Narrative plans, 167

Naming divisions in advance, 173

Need of illustrations, 243

Oratory, natural and acquired, 13

Oratory of ornament, 28

Object of speech, 150

Objection to using plan in public, 178

Opponent’s position studied, 257

Prejudice, grounds for, 9

Popular desire for extempore speech, 19

Pericles, 34

Pericles, funeral speech by 218

Pitt, William, 36

Patrick Henry, 37

Plan of speech on _Chinese immigration_, 50

Persons who cannot extemporize, 75

Pronunciation, 103

Poetry of science, 112

Poetry described, 112

Persuasion in preaching, 137

Pen and tongue, 145

Power of memory, 145

Pen in gathering and arranging, 146

Pen in preserving speeches, 146

Plan in all discourses, 148

Plan, importance of a good, 166

Plans, varieties of, 167

Plan, marks of a good, 171

Plan, how to use, 177

Plan to be memorized, 180

Preserving the plan after speaking, 186

Passage from introduction to discussion, 207

Pleasure of speaking well, 207

Principles of logic, 249

Readers deceive themselves, 31

Recitations emotional, 32

Robertson, Frederick W., 37

Rude speech plans, 50

Rousing energy at the last moment, 191

Recited and extemporized introductions, 196

Rest after speech, 262

Repeating and amending speeches, 265

Sydney Smith’s sermon, 29

Spurgeon, 40

Spurgeon, sermon by, 230

Simplest framework, 46

Sketch containing three words, 52

Sketch memorized, 52

Sketch on _the ocean_, 53

Stimulus of controversy, 67

Sketches on _the annexation of Cuba_, 69

Seeing with our own eyes, 92

Source of Greek eloquence, 96

Sentence-casting, 131

Seductive but misleading methods, 133

Sermons, 136

Sermon texts, 136

Subject and object compared, 152

Subject definite, 153

Sydney Smith “sticking to his text,” 157

Sermon on Mars’ Hill, 169

Sermon dryness, 174

Shorthand, use of, 184

Speech as a battle, 187

“Stage fright,” 189

Sermon by Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, 230

Sermon on the Mount, 241

Sources of illustrations, 244

Syllogisms, 251

Syllogisms abbreviated, 255

Seeking praise, 265

Training, effects of, 10

Time saving, 24, 175

Transition, 48

Three classes of men in respect to eloquence, 74

Timidity may be overcome, 77

Thought and emotion, 87

Thought-gathering, 159

Textual plans, 167

Tertullus, 201

Topics of the day as introductions, 203

Things seen, heard, or imagined as introductions, 205

Taylor, the Methodist missionary, 258

Unconscious gesticulation, 124

Use of other speakers’ sketches, 171

Voice and gesture, 114

Various fields of oratory, 135

Why extempore speech is emotional, 22

Whitefield, 38

Wesley, 38

Webster, 40

Written composition a hindrance and a help, 45

Writer’s first speech, 61

Weak voices, 76

Wordless men, 83

Waiting for the moment of beginning, 189

Webster, anecdote of, 203

Writing after delivery, 265

NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ELOCUTION AND ORATORY.

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=PRACTICAL ELOCUTION.= By J. W. SHOEMAKER, A. M. This work, as its name imports, is a _condensed_ yet _comprehensive_ treatment of the whole subject of elocution, giving brief consideration to all the topics bearing upon natural expression, with, exercises illustrative of the several departments. 12mo. Cloth, 200 pages, $1.25.

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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Changed “throat and long disease” to “throat and lung disease” on p. 195. 2. Silently corrected typographical errors. 3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. 5. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.