that he could speak all day (a sin in itself) on any subject that an audience

would suggest. He was banished by the Spartans.

 

But preparation goes beyond the getting of the facts in the case you are to

present: it includes also the ability to think and arrange your thoughts, a full

and precise vocabulary, an easy manner of speech and breathing, absence of

self-consciousness, and the several other characteristics of efficient delivery

that have deserved special attention in other parts of this book rather than in

this chapter.

 

Preparation may be either general or specific; usually it should be both. A

life-time of reading, of companionship with stirring thoughts, of wrestling with

the problems of life--this constitutes a general preparation of inestimable

worth. Out of a well-stored mind, and--richer still--a broad experience,

and--best of all--a warmly sympathetic heart, the speaker will have to draw much

material that no _immediate_ study could provide. General preparation consists

of all that a man has put into himself, all that heredity and environment have

instilled into him, and--that other rich source of preparedness for speech--the

friendship of wise companions. When Schiller returned home after a visit with

Goethe a friend remarked: "I am amazed by the progress Schiller can make within

a single fortnight." It was the progressive influence of a new friendship.

Proper friendships form one of the best means for the formation of ideas and

ideals, for they enable one to practise in giving expression to thought. The

speaker who would speak fluently before an audience should learn to speak

fluently and entertainingly with a friend. Clarify your ideas by putting them in