complete. Every effective speaker and every vivid actor has observed, considered

and practised gesture until his dramatic actions are a sub-conscious possession,

just like his ability to pronounce correctly without especially concentrating

his thought. Every able platform man has possessed himself of a dozen ways in

which he might depict in gesture any given emotion; in fact, the means for such

expression are endless--and this is precisely why it is both useless and harmful

to make a chart of gestures and enforce them as the ideals of what may be used

to express this or that feeling. Practise descriptive, suggestive, and typical

movements until they come as naturally as a good articulation; and rarely

forecast the gestures you will use at a given moment: leave something to that

moment.

 

_Avoid Monotony in Gesture_

 

Roast beef is an excellent dish, but it would be terrible as an exclusive diet.

No matter how effective one gesture is, do not overwork it. Put variety in your

actions. Monotony will destroy all beauty and power. The pump handle makes one

effective gesture, and on hot days that one is very eloquent, but it has its

limitations.

 

_Any Movement that is not Significant, Weakens_

 

Do not forget that. Restlessness is not expression. A great many useless

movements will only take the attention of the audience from what you are saying.

A widely-noted man introduced the speaker of the evening one Sunday lately to a