CHAPTER VIII

DELIVERING THE ARGUMENT

The statement is frequently made by those well versed in the art of public speaking that a poor speech well delivered is much better than a good speech poorly delivered. Again the statement is sometimes made that in judging the efficiency of an oral argument, twenty-five per cent is counted on the substance while seventy-five per cent is counted on the delivery. Be that as it may, the delivery of an argument is certainly a most important factor in determining its effect upon the hearer. Under the head of delivery we might include the whole field of public speaking and oratory, but since we are treating only of argument we must confine our attention to those phases of public speaking which may be applied in a practical way to the oral delivery of argumentative discourse.

I. Methods of delivering the argument.

1. Reading.

To read an argument is certainly the most ineffective way to present it. After all the work of constructing the argument is accomplished, it is certainly poor policy to intrust its delivery to the lazy method of reading it from the manuscript. Such a method presents all the disadvantages of speaking with none of the advantages of reading. If the argument is read, the reader can inform himself fully of its contents, because he can read it slowly or rapidly as he chooses. Passages which he does not thoroughly understand may be re-read. Moreover, he may go back over the argument

and review its main points as well as scrutinize all the evidence offered to support them. But if the argument is read from a manuscript, the listener must receive it at the rate of delivery which is chosen by the reader. He cannot, as a general rule, ask that the passages which are not clear to him, be re-read, and at the end he is not permitted to go back and ponder over parts which appear to him to be of doubtful validity, nor can he very well question the evidence presented. Furthermore, the reader, being tied down to his manuscript, cannot give the force or expression to the argument which would be possible were he speaking directly to the persons addressed. He cannot see by the look of understanding or perplexity on their faces, just what parts of his argument are clear and what parts are not clear to them. Again, the sympathy which should exist between speaker and audience is almost entirely shut out. A manuscript stands like the Chinese wall between the speaker and his audience.

The defects of this method of delivering an argument are pointed out because there is a decided tendency on the part of college men, and a few men of some reputation, to adopt this manner of presentation, which is certainly the easiest way but which is generally as ineffective as it is easy. Whenever it is important that real results be obtained, whether in the class room, in a formal debate, or in real life, this method should be avoided.

2. Memorizing the argument verbatim.

The delivery of a speech memorized verbatim is certainly to be preferred to reading, because it at least affords the speaker the opportunity of stating his case directly to his audience, and permits the use of all the arts of declamation; but since the speech is set in definite form it precludes the modification necessary to adapt the argument to the conten

tions advanced by the opposition. In college debating this form of delivery is especially objectionable because from it the student derives little practical benefit. As has already been pointed out, the great value of debating lies in its training for the practical affairs of life by teaching the student to frame his argument on the spur of the moment, adapt it to the conditions of the particular situation which he is facing, and present it in an effective manner. All of these advantages are lost if the argument is committed to memory verbatim.

3. Memorizing the argument by ideas.

By this method the written argument which has been prepared is made the basis of the delivery. It furnishes a substantial foundation for the speech. The argument has gone through the process of construction according to the directions heretofore given. It is, therefore, an efficient instrument of persuasion and the greatest results may be most surely obtained by the method of memorizing the argument by ideas. The three steps in this process of memorizing are as follows:

First, the argument should be read over slowly several times in order that the speaker may get an accurate view of the production as a whole. In most cases the student will have this much accomplished by the time he has written out the argument in final form.

Second, the central idea of each paragraph should be memorized. As a general rule, the paragraphs will conform to the topics of the brief. That is, each topic in the brief, with the possible exception of the lowest sub-topic, will be developed by means of a separate paragraph. The central idea will, of course, be the thought expressed by the statement in the brief which the paragraph is designed to develop. However, this idea should be committed in the form

in which it appears in the finished argument, and not in the form in which it appears in the brief. In this way each idea will be grasped in its relation to the rest of the argument as well as in its relation to the manner in which it has been elaborated in the paragraph. Each idea presented should then be committed in its proper order so that the speaker can go through the entire argument and state the idea expressed in each paragraph.

Third, the idea contained in each sentence of the paragraph should be committed to memory. If the student has honestly constructed his argument each statement in it means all and more than he expressed when he wrote it out, therefore the committing of the idea contained in each sentence should not be difficult. Furthermore, the idea should be grasped in its completeness without reference to the words in which it is expressed in the manuscript. In most cases it is well to remember the key-word of each sentence, which expresses the central thought. Sometimes more than one word is necessary for this purpose, but in any event, only those words which embody the heart of the thought, should be committed. All subsidiary words, or words explaining, expanding, limiting, or showing transitions or relations should not be committed, but should be left for spontaneous utterance at the moment of delivery.

This method of memorizing gives naturalness, directness, and spontaneity to the delivery. It trains the speaker to keep his mind firmly fixed on the subject in hand and it eliminates the danger of that monotony which is the result of verbatim memorizing. Perhaps the most important advantage of this method of delivery is the fact that it allows the speaker to adapt his argument to the contentions of his opponent. Since he has made himself thoroughly familiar with the material of his argument but has not tied himself to any set form of words, his expression is flexible. If the

argument is to be delivered in a debate, the speaker should practice delivering it so as to meet the various contentions which may be advanced by the opposition. Then when the time comes for the final presentation, he will be prepared to so word his speech as to make it directly applicable to what has just been said on the other side. Practice of this kind is needed in everyday life without regard to the occupation in which the student may chance to engage.

There are other methods of delivery, but we need not give them extended consideration. The argument might be delivered extempore from the brief. This method however, is likely to be ineffective, since the speaker does not express himself with definiteness and precision. Furthermore, he is likely to occupy a great deal of time in presenting points which, if carefully framed in forcible sentences, could be stated directly and briefly. Again, the tendency to ramble is great when the purely extempore method is used.

The speaker should first write out his argument even though he expects to follow what he has written only in a general way. The very fact of his having written out the argument will tend to make more definite his own ideas of what he wishes to say. It blazes the trail or wears a sort of path through the mind of the writer from which he is not likely to deviate far when the final delivery is made. The method of extemporaneous delivery, however, is not well adapted to the presentation of a formal constructive argument, because it is too loose and lacks the conciseness characterizing the method of committing by ideas. After long periods of practice the student may be able to use the purely extemporaneous method with good effect, but while he is a student he should keep to the well-beaten path.

Still another method of delivery is to write out an introduction, a conclusion, and certain important passages, and leave the rest to extemporaneous delivery. This method