The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-11-18
FACES IN AUDIENCE
Gov Stanley Tells How Ger
tain Ones Impress Him.
CAN NEVER FORGET THEM
His Campaign in Kansas and
Deductions He Makes From 1t


ct is one Of my curious experiences in
/ public speaking" said Governor Stanley TO
a reporter for the Eagle, that certain
i faces in audiences picture themselves on
my eye and remain with me The pro-
cess must be involuntary, but it is or
such force that the whole power Of men
tai retention is brought into play. A man
when he is speaking is engrossed with
his address, and is not conscious Of any
/ concern for the effect he is having on his
hearers. The element of watchfulhess
/ for effect, common in a conversation, is
absent You speak not to an individual,
at least I 90 not, nor to the mass but
groups. You turn from one group to
another. addressing each in turn direct
and the whole ali the time. sub-con-
sciously applause is pleasing and encour-
( aging, but it can not be a matter Of de-
/ hberate qualification, for the mind is pre-
I occupied with the presentation Of the
/ facts it has outlined"
Governor Stanley, probably more than
/ any other public man in Kansas, is one
who thinks well on his feet" His die
ton is better in a speech than in a con
yersation, and he has greater fuency Of
thought and word before a hundred men
than before one. His experience in re-
gard to certain faces is for that reason
the more curious.
LAS speak 1 frequently become aware
in an indefinite way of a certain man
or woman ia the audience. can not say
that the face arrests my attention for
am not aware Of that process I
simply realize that there is one face
above all others In the audience, which
has fastened its image upon my minds
eye; and strangely enough I locate it in
the audience and viii return to it fire.
quenuy, not pausing and directing the
owner direct but seeing it in the center
of the congregated countenances. It may
disappear temporarily from my mind bat
as in one case, when a. man came up to
me after the speech, 1 felt I had known
him for years. and told him Just where
he had been seated in the audience, and
60 his surprise. 1 can see that man now.
His face viii be always at my call. 1
could not forget him Il I woald, although
I do not expect I could recall his name
Up at Minneapolis Woman's face stamp
ed itself in the same tenacious, mysteri-
Gus manner upon my mind After my
speech she came to me and said; You
sat back and directly to the left OF the
center aisle?" She said she did And
you were the most interested in regard
to our duties in the Philippines as a
custodian Of freedom She said she was.
viii never forget her face And
could close my eyes and see her sitting
away back to the left of the center aisle.
If live to be 70 I could. in the same
way, recall her What do I think it is?
I don't know. The faces which make
this impression may be faces of ex-
tremely strong, typical and characterize
ic lines, which the eye, with faint aid
from the mind, photographs and retains
At all events the process is without con
soious effort upon my part. Perhaps the
lines Of the face may be impressed by
a mental association, springing from
their general similarity to those of soma
other face with which YOU are intimate.
At all events this curious impression is
experienced and it is involuntary to such
a point that speaker finds an image on
his mind and will hunt the audience over
10 identify it with a man or woman who
he knows, must be in the audience.
Asked in regard to the effects Of IN
terruptions and his experience IN the
campaign just passed, Governor Stanley
said: In al I made over a hundred
speeches. I wanted to make a speech in
every county in the state. but the com
mittee said it was impossible. I wish I
had done so. In the matter of Interrupt
tons, it seems to be generally understood
that the audience feels unkindly to the
man who interrupts. and the practice IS
not often INDUCED IN. I was interrupted
but once in my campaign. At another
meeting. however. while another was
speaking a man insisted in interruptng
and finally I arose and asked the au-
dience TO give him a hearing: that il he
was sincerely asking for information he
should be given attention. The audience
Quoted down and then I asked the In
terrupter 70 come to the stage and put
his questions He came up and took the
stage, pronounced his interrOg5 tiOns and
then launched into an argument. which
suddenly branched out into several ex-
haustive lines and became a fulI-de5ged
speech This was too much for the au-
dience and they began yelling ard the
band started up and the man subsidized,
getting down of the stage and taking
front seat The whole proceeding was
good natured
AT the one point I was interrupted a
man arose and fred a long question az
me. which was greatly involved. an
swered II serIatim, but he was nor salts
ned ard began 10 grumble about some +
thing. I waited awhile and told him he
was all right. that we could stand him
once in a while Tor a day. but I would
hate to Be his wife and have him ell the
time. The audience laushsd. and the
QGestioner joined iu and before The end
eff the speech was appiauded with The
rest. which greatly gTaufed me
1.-The Kansas audiences of 1921 T found
almost unfai,ingly liked broad questions I
The most The Joke and its accompanying /.
application pleased them and I did not
know - am audience 10 refuse a laugh. .
bat for the most part they were besr
pleased at the sober-minded presentation
Of questions Of national du-y and adj
ministraton- Time and time again. had .
men. many II them Democrats and POP
ultstS come 70 me ana say In effects 7
was glad to hear you tax on broad lines. .
ga the course cur nation IS taking ard
what its purposes are and what II In
tends Tn roe this was The most marked .
thing az the campaign
AS the only governor oC Ksnsas who .
has been reelected 81 decade Governor
Stanley was asked his opinion about suc- .
cessfuI canaidaees
ss- 49,