_Have Something to Say_

 

The trouble with many speakers is that they go before an audience with their

minds a blank. It is no wonder that nature, abhorring a vacuum, fills them with

the nearest thing handy, which generally happens to be, "I wonder if I am doing

this right! How does my hair look? I know I shall fail." Their prophetic souls

are sure to be right.

 

It is not enough to be absorbed by your subject--to acquire self-confidence you

must have something in which to be confident. If you go before an audience

without any preparation, or previous knowledge of your subject, you ought to be

self-conscious--you ought to be ashamed to steal the time of your audience.

Prepare yourself. Know what you are going to talk about, and, in general, how

you are going to say it. Have the first few sentences worked out completely so

that you may not be troubled in the beginning to find words. Know your subject

better than your hearers know it, and you have nothing to fear.

 

_After Preparing for Success, Expect It_

 

Let your bearing be modestly confident, but most of all be modestly confident

within. Over-confidence is bad, but to tolerate premonitions of failure is

worse, for a bold man may win attention by his very bearing, while a

rabbit-hearted coward invites disaster.

 

Humility is not the personal discount that we must offer in the presence of