The Portland daily press., 1898-04-21
lSGERs0LL ON ORATORY.
ihings 1hat Are Necessary for the
Public Speaker.

Study Masterpieces of r..ov,.,,,.. uo
Must Have VARIETY .,s A.,
When to Stop.
(New York SUM-
Col. Robert G. Ingersou yvas asked tho
other evening to talk on the hast wan "a
succeed as an orator. The conversation
was started by this question:
"What advice would you give to a.
young man who was ambitious 10 becor,e
a successful public speaker or orator."
"In the first place." said Col. Ingersoll.
81 would advise him to have SOMETHING
to say-something worth sayine-some-
thing that people would be glad to hear.
This is the important thing. Back of the
art of speaking must be the power TO
think. Without thoughts words are empty
purses Most people imagine that almost
any words uttered in loud voice and
accompanied by appropriate gestures con-
stitute an grafton. / would advise ttha
young man tosstudy his subject, to find
what others had thought, to look at it
from all sides. Then l would tell him to
write out his thoughts or to arrange them
in his mind, so that he would know ex-
actly what he was going to say. Waste
no time on the how until you are satisfied
with the what. After you know what
it should be said. Then you can think
about tone, emphasis and gesture, but if
you really understand what you say, EN-.
phasis, tone, and gesture will take care
of themselves. All these should come
from the inside. They should be in per-
feet harmony with the feelings. Voice
and gesture should be governed by the
emotions. They should unconsciously be
in perfect agreement with. the sentiments
The orator should be true to his subject.
should avoid any reference to himself.
1.-THE great column of his argument
should be unbroken. He can adorn it
with vines and flowers, but they should
not be in such profusion as to hide the
column. He should give variety OF epis
ode by illustrations, ebut they should be
used only for the. purpose Of adding.
strength to the argument. The man
who wishes to become an orator should
study language. He should know the
deeper meaning of words. he should uns
derstand the vigor and velocity of verbs
and the color of adjectives. He should
know how to sketch a scene to paint a
picture, to give life and action He
should be poet and dramatist, paint
er and an actor. He should cultivate his
Imagination. He should become famil-
lar with the great poetry and fiction,
wit QnIanHiA nd II -
should be student of Shakespeare. He
should read and devour the great plays.
From Shakespeare he could learn the art
OF expression, OF compression, and all the
secrets Of the head and heart. q
The great orator is full of variety-of
surprises. Like juggler, he keeps the
colored balls in the air He expresses
Drama. BY continued change he holds
the attention. The interest does not flag,
He does not allow himself to be antici-
pated. He is always in advance he
does not repeat himself. A picture is
shown but once. So, an orator should
avoid the commonplace. There should be
no stuffing, no Killing. He should put no
cotton with his silk, no common metals
with his gold. He should remember that
'gilded dust is not as good as busted
gold. The great orator is honest, sincere
He does not pretend. His brain and heart
go togethera Every drop of his blood is
convinced. Nothing is forced. He knows
exactly what he wishes to do-knows
when he has finished it, and stops u at
"Only great orator knows when and
how to close. Most speakers go on after
they are through, They are satisfied only
with lame and impotent conclusion.
Mos5 speakers lack variety. They travel
straight and dusty road. The great Or
ator is full OF episode. He convinces and
charms by indirection. He leaves the
road, visits the fields. wanders in the
woods, listens to the murInurs OF springs,
the songs of birds. He gathers flowers,
scales the crags, and comes back to the
highway refreshs ed, iuyigorated. He does
not move in a straight line. He wanders
and winds like stream. 4
"Of course, no one can tell man what
orator has that wonderful thing called
presence. He has the strange something
known as magnetism He must have
flexible, musical voice, capable of express
ing the pathetic, the humorous, the hero
ic. His body must move in unison with
his thought. He must be Ii reasoner,
logician. He must have keen sense of
humor-of the laughable. He must have
wit, sharp and quick. He must have
sympathy. His smiles should be the
neighbors of his tears. He must have i'm
agination. He should give eagles to the
air, and painted moths should futter in
the sunlight.
"While cannot tell man what to do
to become an orator, can tell him a few
things not to do. There should be no in
PRODUCTION to an grafton. The orator
should commence with his subject. There
should be no prelude, no flourish, no
apology, no explanation. He should say
nothing about himself. Like sculptor,
he stands by his block of stone Every
stroke is for purpose. As he works the
form begins to appear. When the statue
is finished the workman stops. Nothing
is more difficult than perfect close. Few
poems, few pieces of music. few novels,
end we'll. A good story, great speech, a
perfect poem, should end just at the
proper point. The bud, the blossom, the
fruit. No delay. A great speech is q
specialization in it's logic, an effiorescence
in its poetry.
81 have not heard many speeches. Most
of the great speakers in our country wereI
before my time. I heard Beecher, and he
was an orator. He had imagination,
humor and intensity. His brain was
fertile as the valleys Of the tropics. Hell
was too broad, too philosophic, too poetic
for the pulpit. Now and then he broke
the letters of his creed, escaped from his