Evening star., 1927-05-22

duOuL Il clllSI llldJO1 A'A|'~AAi~'AN
among mankind
| No true leader ever handed his
men a communique of it was possible
| TO reach them with his own voice.
When the number involved becomes
| so vast as to make personal appear
impossible he still calls in his key
men and communicates his inspira-
| ton to them verbally, leaving them
to echo it to those below them, as
| Pershing did with his officers before
| he began his major offensive.
| Lao-tse. Confucius, Jesus, Buddha,
| Mohammed, Luther-all produced
their results through the same means:
Never man spake like this man!'
They spoke not merely 10 the mutt.
| tude. but to stir the enthusiasm of
their intelligent but cold lieutenants.
Spoken Words Are Spur.
History. indeed, is but the record
(embalmed in written words of what
men have been driven on to do under
the spur of the spoken word!
OF course, only an infinitely small
number of spoken words have had
driving power, and in most OF those
instances the words themselves, as
we'll a $ the technique of their delivery,
have been swallowed up in the deeds
which they precipitated. Likewise,
he who studies oratory the art of
the quickening word) must be on his
guard lest he mistake a subtle tech
niuue for a simple one, merely be-
cause it has been used by and upon
men of all degrees of intelligence
from the beginning of history.
AS these oratorical contests move
TO a. climax and the best speakers
emerge, one detects the power of one
of the subtlest elements in effective
public speaking-the audience. Per
haps therein is the secret OF the
drawing power of oratory-the hearer
being almost half of great speech
Thrill Called Necessary.
Between the successful speaker and
his audience there must be felt speed
lily mutual thrill. The orators per-
sonality as it reveals itself must be
fired and swept along by that respon-
sive urge which comes rushing up
to him from beyond the footlights.
This urge has nothing to do with the
culture, the education or the imme.
diate environment of the crowd. 1t X
not a product of a friendly and SYM
pathetic audience. Indeed, "sympa- |
thetic" ii. e., suffering with'0 audi. |
ence is a severe handicap to a real |
orator.
Almost all of the speeches of en- |
during effect have been delivered to |
hearers superficially (that is, men. |
tally) hostile. Such hostility gener- |
ally acts as stimulus to the speaker |
of courage and conviction, But there |
must be psychic kinship between !
the speaker and the crowd, something |
going back. one might almost say, be. |
yond the very beginning of language. |
Smaller Matters Fade.
In the higher oratory truly Deep |
calleth unto deep!"-the soul of the |
speaker and the composite soul of |
the crowd. If these two souls thrill |
together. the smaller matters fade |
away.
Under such conditions John Ran |
dolph, the STAKEHOLDER. becomes as |
one with OConneli as he listens to |
that remarkable opponent of slavery; |
the ignorant English mill workers, |
though their very bread seems to de. |
pend upon the slave-grown cotton, |
take sides against themselves when |
Beecher addresses them; Philip OF |
Macedon. thrilled by the enthusiastic |
report of one of his spies on Demos.
themes superb denunciation of him, is |
moved to exclaim: Had I been there |
l would have declared war upon N.Y. |
self; Patrick Henry, on different |
economic and social level from most |
Of the members Of the House of Bur. |
gesses, not only wins then over in |
spite of themselves. but stamps his |
words SO deeply in their minds that |
a number Of them, days afterward |
and without consultation, could write |
down his speech almost verbatim en- |
tirely from memory.
soul OF Crowd" Changes.
The orator, in fact, uses words to |
go back beyond words, and to do it |
successfully he must have an audience |
which. while being lifted lifts him |
also. Nor is the soul of the crowd |
always the same, even though the |
same people are gathered together |
on different days. There is an ehb |
and flow in the composite receptive |
power of the audience as in the in |
dividual creative power of the |
speaker
Oratory. which this contest strives |
to utilize on behalf of American insti |
tutions. is the art of bringing ideas |
to white heat and then lettin- them |
loose among men through the immedi- |
ate agency of the most powerful stim- |
ulus known to man--personality. |
Launched thus, ideas through centur- |
les. have swept into and speeded up the |
currents Of life. Untagged, imprinted.
often unperceived, they throb on and
on, as do ether waves-not to be
ignored merely because not fully un-
derstood.
Truly an exacting art, this oratory,
with its battling ramifications and it's
immemorial vigor. But, what vast
returns it offers--returns in influence.
in power and, above all. in giving to
the prisoned, inward self sweep and
fire and wings.