The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-04
WOMEN WILL BE HEARD.
They Are Taking Lessons in the Art
of Public Speaking.
New York Sun.

They Are Taking Lessons in the Art
OF Public Speaking.
New York Sun
Since all the women's clubs have sprung
INTO existence, the experience of speaking
in public has come to many a womans
lot. To most of the women it is a pain
full experience but not half so discomfort
ing as ii is TO their audiences. The club
woman is Il queer species, so a grabbed
Old bachelor says and some who boast
possession of the badges of no fewer than
eighteen organizations must own that this
IS true when it comes TO speaking in pub
Few club women refuse to read paper
or speak when their time comes. Nearly
all of them declare that they won't when
appointed 10 do so for the hrst time, and
Vous strain of addressing a number OF
their sex who are certain TO be amused
at their awltwardness in manner and ina
blhty to make themselves heard. But they
always end by attempting IL. Nobody
could safely assert such a thing positively,
but since the era of womans cubdom il
is possible that great many brilliant and
original thoughts may have been lost to
pubic ever craving new ideas Countless
nave never been heard by anybody except
the speaker herself. The trouble is that
cluD women are afraid to speak to one an
other about their Oratorical shortcomings,
and as a result they go on like the brook,
forever, without improving in their deliv
cry IN the slightest degree. After a WOm-
that settles it. She is always more than
willing to do her share, as club women
modestly put ii, after that and goes on
Indefinitely adding 10 the aggregate of
misery that the audience have to endure.
Not long ago the wife of a distinguished
engineer in this city was called on 10 read
a paper in public. She accepted the inVi-
tatlon and wrote an excellent article. Her
friends were enthusiastic over what she
wrote, but they had grave doubts concern
ing how she would say it when the proper
time came
You have a charming voice, dear said
one, but you know it isn't very strong,
and your paper is so good that the audi
ence would be cheated if they missed a
word; so don't you think you had better get
some one else to read it for your
Il shall read my own paper" answered
the wife of the engineer firmly.
Really your paper IS 50 uncommonly
man to read it, suggested another friend.
L was able to write the paper, and ! am
going to read it, insisted the plucky wom-
an; and she did. But she did something
Fortunately she had some time for prepa-
ration and she determined to make herself
as expert a speaker in that time as possible.
She was as nervous over her first appear
ance as the average woman, but she had
no notion of forcing her audience to strain
their ears to catch what she was saying
or OF giving them chance to he secretly
amused at her gestures. Therefore, she
went to the widow of a well-knOwn actor
who had recently took charge of the
her what she wanted. The teacher put
her through a short course of preparation,
ana When the woman came 10 make her
speech she did 1t so we'll that she swept
her audience along with her and caused
even the women present to break into ex-
CARNATIONS of admiration.
THAT woman was my first pupil in the
art of public speaking" said Mrs Adelaide
Stanhope Wheatcroft, in response to ques-
why every club woman in the city of New
York should not become a first rate
speaker. How would / go about teaching
a nervous, shrinking woman to read or
speak in public so that to hear her would
give genuine pleasure? l am a great be-
lever in personal magnetism, and the first
thing that | do with such students is to
show them how to walk on the platform
and look at the audience. So much depends
on that. Some people repel, others attract.
A speaker can take in her entire audience
with one look, or she can bow in one spot
to speak. and the rest of the audience
will Immediately feel themselves neglected.
upon the way in which the first bar is
sung. So in public reading or speaking
just as much depends on the first sentence.
Few people, men or women, know how
This should be done in a matter-Of-fact
tone, and then the voice should be modu-
lated to suit the subject. One of the great
est faults with WON IN unaccustomed to
public speaking is their failure to space
their paragraphs properly so as to give
their audience time to grasp the idea.
Maybe there is method in this madness with
some of them, but nearly all women speak
erS rush too rapidly from one thought to
another. AS a. rule they speak in too high
and throaty tone accompanied by nasal
twang. Their voices do not carry then,
and 1t Is almost impossible for them to
make themselves heard even at a short dis
tance. l find it a very successful plan to
make such students speak to some one in
the last row of the parquet, and then |
of the lungs, which enables them to speak
with a consciousness of reserve force. An
occasional pause, look up, or a smile at
suitable for the use of any reader or
speaker.
dience with respect yet she should dom
mate them. She should make them feel
that she is teaching them something which
she knows al about though, she may not,
and she must always make them feel that
she knows she is right in what she is say
ing. "A pretty graceful pose must be con-
sidered, and facial expression is one OF the
greatest aids to a public speaker ] have
made a great study of that and deduced
a practical method of teaching it, though
student has To be dealt with individually.
The hand is also great factor in winning
and holding an audience though gesticula-
ton is not always necessary.
Il suppose that l ought not to say it, but
l have noticed for many years that literary
women dress with less taste than others.
Probably they have no time for such trifies,
but 1 never let one who comes to me for
lessons escape without giving her some
slight hint as to dress when / see that 1t
is necessary. Any one appearing in public
should try to create as favorable an i'm
preston in every way as possible. 1t is
so easy to overcome indistnctness in tone
and awkwardness in action that / marvel
TO hear of so many women prominent in
club life who go on jerking and mumbling
their speeches out to unhearing audiences.
They can easily learn to say what they
have to say so that il can be readily heard,
understood and appreciated. American
women are exceedingly intelligent and
quick, but not one out of twenty is free
from mannerisms of voice or enunciation.
This can be overcome in a few lessons. All
that is necessary is to point out the fault,
to make known the remedy, and then the
student can do the rest herself Taking
lesson every day for just one week will so
improve a woman's way of presenting
paper that she won't believe her own ears
when she gets up to speak before an au-
dience. l find that there is a distinct de-
mand for a new department in the
dramatic school, especially devoted to the
preparation of women who are TO speak
before clubs. This sort of thing is not I'M
known with men, so the women need not
fear 10 take ii up on the plea of being
laughed at by the sterner sex.
John RusLin as "a PhiIanthrOpist.
3. O. Flower in July Arena.
Of Pr1sI in