reading and thinking. This is most often a gradual process. The scattered ideas

may be but vaguely connected at first, but more and more they concentrate and

take on a single form until at length one strong idea seems to grasp the soul

with irresistible force, and to cry aloud, 'Arise, I am your _theme_!

Henceforth, until you transmute me by the alchemy of your inward fire into vital

speech, you shall know no rest!' Happy, then, is that speaker, for he has found

a subject that grips him.

 

"Of course, experienced speakers use both methods of selection. Even a reading

and reflective man is sometimes compelled to hunt for a theme from Dan to

Beersheba, and then the task of gathering materials becomes a serious one. But

even in such a case there is a sense in which the selection comes by

development, because no careful speaker settles upon a theme which does not

represent at least some matured thought."[10]

 

_Deciding on the Subject Matter_

 

Even when your theme has been chosen for you by someone else, there remains to

you a considerable field for choice of subject matter. The same considerations,

in fact, that would govern you in choosing a theme must guide in the selection

of the material. Ask yourself--or someone else--such questions as these:

 

What is the precise nature of the occasion? How large an audience may be

expected? From what walks of life do they come? What is their probable attitude

toward the theme? Who else will speak? Do I speak first, last, or where, on the