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THE ART OF SPEAKING AND READING. 77
especially if the sense happens to require a more rapid delivery than usual. Although the pace of utterance must necessarily vary according to the meaning, it must always be deliberate. It is quite possible to be slow without appearing to be slow by making the deliberate speech full of animation. The more deliberate the utterance the more powerful the speaker; it is possible to hurry without being hurried, and to hasten without being careless. A man who can control his temper, and utters his words deliberately and distinctly in spite of his angry passions, will assuredly get the better of the man who gives a free rein to his feeling and with many hideous grimaces emits a volley of indistinct noises, pace alone preventing them from being intelligible. Distinctness in rapid speech is dependent upon a flexibility of the voice and articulation that can only be acquired by assiduous practice.
103. Pause.—In speaking use must be made of what is called the rhetorical pause as distinct from the grammatical pause. Sir Henry Irving made such intelligent use of his rhetorical pauses that it has been said of him that " he was eloquent in his pauses." How remiss our public speakers are in recognising the importance of the pause! A pause before and after the emphatic word makes that word stand out more prominently than does a heavy blow upon the reading desk. A pause is usually made before and after a parenthesis. A pause, while a full respiration is taken, after a speaker has taken up his position, adds great dignity to the beginning of his address. Pauses, however, cannot be said to be eloquent unless they are preceded by proper inflections.
104. Inflection.—Inflection is too often confounded with pitch, but it, like intensity, has a separate existence. |
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