Home > Work > The Art of Public Speaking
1 " It never hurts a fool to appear before anaudience, for his capacity is not a capacity for feeling. "
― Dale Carnegie , The Art of Public Speaking
2 " Live an active life among people who are doing worthwhile things, keep eyes and ears and mind and heart open to absorb truth, and then tell of the things you know, as if you know them. The world will listen, for the world loves nothing so much as real life. "
3 " Students of public speaking continually ask, "How can I overcomeself-consciousness and the fear that paralyzes me before anaudience?"Did you ever notice in looking from a train window that somehorses feed near the track and never even pause to look up at thethundering cars, while just ahead at the next railroad crossing afarmer's wife will be nervously trying to quiet her scared horse asthe train goes by?How would you cure a horse that is afraid of cars—graze him in aback-woods lot where he would never see steam-engines orautomobiles, or drive or pasture him where he would frequently seethe machines?Apply horse-sense to ridding yourself of self-consciousness andfear: face an audience as frequently as you can, and you will soon stop shying. You can never attainfreedom from stage-fright by reading a treatise. A book may giveyou excellent suggestions on how best to conduct yourself in thewater, but sooner or later you must get wet, perhaps even strangleand be "half scared to death." There are a great many "wetless"bathing suits worn at the seashore, but no one ever learns to swimin them. To plunge is the only way. "
4 " The firstsign of greatness is when a man does not attempt to look and actgreat. Before you can call yourself a man at all, Kipling assuresus, you must "not look too good nor talk too wise. "
5 " Blacksmiths sometimes twist a rope tight around the nose of a horse, and by thus inflicting a little pain they distract his attention from the shoeing process. One way to get air out of aglass is to pour in water. Be Absorbed by Your Subject "
6 " A blow that would kill a civilized man soon heals on a savage. The higher we go in the scale of life, the greater is the capacity for suffering. "
7 " Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. "
8 " Apply the blacksmith's homely principle when you are speaking. If you feel deeply about your subject you will be able to think of little else. Concentration is a process of distraction from less important matters. It is too late to think about the cut of your coat when once you are upon the platform, so centre your interest on what you are about to say—fill your mind with your speech-material and, like the infilling water in the glass, it will drive out your unsubstantial fears. "
9 " There is only one excuse for a speaker's asking the attention of his audience: he must have either truth or entertainment for them. "
10 " They that soar too high, often fall hard, making a low and level Dwelling preferable. The tallest Trees are most in the Power of the Winds, and Ambitious Men of the Blasts of Fortune. Buildings have need of a good Foundation, that lie so much exposed to the Weather. "
11 " Monotony reveals our limitations. "
12 " If you believe you will fail, there is no hope for you. You will. "
13 " audience? "
14 " Practise, practise, PRACTISE in speaking before an audience will tend to remove all fear of audiences, just as practise in swimming will lead to confidence and facility in the water. You must learn to speak by speaking. "
15 " conformity "
16 " All things are ready if the mind be so. "
17 " The world owes its progress to the men who have dared, "
18 " Cut out modifiers. Cut out connectives. Begin with words that demand attention. “End with words that deserve distinction,” says Prof. Barrett Wendell. "
19 " Observe Nature, study her laws, and obey them in your speaking. "
20 " It is often dangerous to rush into battle without pausing for preparation or waiting for recruits. "
