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The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein onlineIII EFFICIENCY THROUGH EMPHASIS AND SUBORDINATIONpage 4 of 5 | page 1 | table of contents  I intended to buy a _HOUSE_ this Spring (and not an automobile). I intended to buy a house _THIS_ Spring (instead of next Spring). I intended to buy a house this _SPRING_ (instead of in the Autumn). When a great battle is reported in the papers, they do not keep emphasizing the same facts over and over again. They try to get new information, or a "new slant." The news that takes an important place in the morning edition will be relegated to a small space in the late afternoon edition. We are interested in new ideas and new facts. This principle has a very important bearing in determining your emphasis. Do not emphasize the same idea over and over again unless you desire to lay extra stress on it; Senator Thurston desired to put the maximum amount of emphasis on "force" in his speech on page 50. Note how force is emphasized repeatedly. As a general rule, however, the new idea, the "new slant," whether in a newspaper report of a battle or a speaker's enunciation of his ideas, is emphatic. In the following selection, "larger" is emphatic, for it is the new idea. All men have eyes, but this man asks for a _LARGER_ eye. This man with the larger eye says he will discover, not rivers or safety appliances for aeroplanes, but _NEW STARS_ and _SUNS_. "New stars and suns" are hardly as emphatic as the word "larger." Why? Because we expect an astronomer to discover heavenly bodies rather than cooking recipes. The words, "Republic needs" in the next sentence, are emphatic; they introduce a new and important idea. Republics have always needed men, but the author says they need _NEW_ men. "New" is emphatic because it introduces a new idea. In like manner, "soil," "grain," "tools," are also emphatic. The most emphatic words are italicized in this selection. Are there any others you would emphasize? Why? The old astronomer said, "Give me a _larger_ eye, and I will discover _new stars_ and _suns_." That is what the _republic needs_ today--_new men_--men who are _wise_ toward the _soil_, toward the _grains_, toward the _tools_. If God would only raise up for the people two or three men like _Watt_, _Fulton_ and _McCormick_, they would be _worth more_ to the _State_ than that _treasure box_ named _California_ or _Mexico_. And the _real supremacy_ of man is based upon his _capacity_ for _education_. Man is _unique_ in the _length_ of his _childhood_, which means the _period_ of _plasticity_ and _education_. The childhood of a _moth_, the distance that stands between the hatching of the _robin_ and its _maturity_, represent a _few hours_ or a _few weeks_, but _twenty years_ for growth stands between _man's_ cradle and his citizenship. This protracted childhood makes it possible to hand over to the boy all the _accumulated stores achieved_ by _races_ and _civilizations_ through _thousands_ of _years_. --_Anonymous_. You must understand that there are no steel-riveted rules of emphasis. It is not always possible to designate which word must, and which must not be emphasized. One speaker will put one interpretation on a speech, another speaker will use different emphasis to bring out a different interpretation. No one can say that one interpretation is right and the other wrong. This principle must be borne in mind in all our marked exercises. Here your own intelligence must guide--and greatly to your profit. |