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The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and J. Berg Esenwein onlineVI PAUSE AND POWERpage 5 of 7 | page 1 | table of contents  William Pittenger relates in his volume, "Extempore Speech," an instance of the unconsciously farcical use of the pause by a really great American statesman and orator. "He had visited Niagara Falls and was to make an oration at Buffalo the same day, but, unfortunately, he sat too long over the wine after dinner. When he arose to speak, the oratorical instinct struggled with difficulties, as he declared, 'Gentlemen, I have been to look upon your mag--mag--magnificent cataract, one hundred--and forty--seven--feet high! Gentlemen, Greece and Rome in their palmiest days never had a cataract one hundred--and forty--seven--feet high!'" QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Name four methods for destroying monotony and gaining power in speaking. 2. What are the four special effects of pause? 3. Note the pauses in a conversation, play, or speech. Were they the best that could have been used? Illustrate. 4. Read aloud selections on pages 50-54, paying special attention to pause. 5. Read the following without making any pauses. Reread correctly and note the difference: Soon the night will pass; and when, of the Sentinel on the ramparts of Liberty the anxious ask: | "Watchman, what of the night?" his answer will be | "Lo, the morn appeareth." Knowing the price we must pay, | the sacrifice | we must make, | the burdens | we must carry, | the assaults | we must endure, | knowing full well the cost, | yet we enlist, and we enlist | for the war. | For we know the justice of our cause, | and we know, too, its certain triumph. | Not reluctantly, then, | but eagerly, | not with faint hearts, | but strong, do we now advance upon the enemies of the people. | For the call that comes to us is the call that came to our fathers. | As they responded, so shall we. "He hath sounded forth a trumpet | that shall never call retreat, He is sifting out the hearts of men | before His judgment seat. Oh, be swift | our souls to answer Him, | be jubilant our feet, Our God | is marching on." --ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE, _From his speech as temporary chairman of Progressive National Convention, Chicago, 1912_. 6. Bring out the contrasting ideas in the following by using the pause: Contrast now the circumstances of your life and mine, gently and with temper, Ęschines; and then ask these people whose fortune they would each of them prefer. You taught reading, I went to school: you performed initiations, I received them: you danced in the chorus, I furnished it: you were assembly-clerk, I was a speaker: you acted third parts, I heard you: you broke down, and I hissed: you have worked as a statesman for the enemy, I for my country. I pass by the rest; but this very day I am on my probation for a crown, and am acknowledged to be innocent of all offence; while you are already judged to be a pettifogger, and the question is, whether you shall continue that trade, or at once be silenced by not getting a fifth part of the votes. A happy fortune, do you see, you have enjoyed, that you should denounce mine as miserable! |