Page 19 - The model orator, or, Young folks' speaker : containing the choicest recitations and readings from the best authors for schools, public entertainments, social gatherings, Sunday schools, etc. : including recitals in prose and verse ...

PART I.

The Mind Speaking Through the Body.

IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES AND RULES.

The H o o k ..—Hold the book in your left hand, and keep the place open with
the thumb and little Gnger, supporting the book with three fingers placed on the
under side. Tvet your eyes ghmce freqiidntly from the pa go Lo your audience. Be
so familiar with the selection that your eyes will not Ijc bound to the book, and
will Ijc left fret: to act their very important part in Die; expressio' of the thought
and sentiment. Your reading will be more effective if you h: re the selcctiou
committed to memory, and can lay aside the book entirely.

Tiiii M an n er.— I!e perfectly natural. Get into touch wit) your hearers.
Stand or sit among them, as it were, and talk with them ; do nuc place a cold
distance between yourself and them, ami then. speak at tlictu. Do not be stiff
or stilted. I la vu all youf powers under command, Take possession of yourself,
a:; in this way only cati you take possession of your audience. If you are ill at. ease,
your listeners will be also. Keep the body er«?ct, yet not rigid or defiant unless the
i*et)tirnc!it calls for it,

•Phi-: V o ic e. ’-T o have a full, rich, flexible voice, capable of easy modula­
tions, is one of the necessary accomplishments of a successful reader. This,
as a rule, must be the result of patient training.
Practice breathings, Stand erect, with the shoulders thrown back, and take
in a bill breath, filling the lungs to their utmost capacity. The breath should
he emitted at times slowly ; again, more rapidly ; again, with quick, explosive
force.
The human voice is capable of great cultivation, yet always within certain
limits. It should not be strained or overworked, With a full breath give a
prolonged sound, as you would in calling to some one at a distance. Do this
on different keys* from the lowest to the highest. Practice quick, explosive
sounds. You should know how to whisper : a forcible whisper can be heard
bv every }H:TSon it; the largest audience.
Your voice should have what, for want of a better term, may be called
volume. It should have a certain carrying power that wi^l enable it to reach the
larthest listener without rising to a shout. A loud voice {5 not always the most
effective, u or can it always be heard at the greatest distance. A voire com para-