proposition was to controvert it. That habit is chilling to the social
affections; it mars conversation."

Conversation offers daily opportunity for intellectual exercise of high
order. The reading of great books is desirable and indispensable to
education, but real culture comes through the additional training one
receives in conversation. The contact of mind with mind tends to
stimulate and develop thoughts which otherwise would probably remain
dormant.

The culture of conversation is to be recommended not only for its own
sake, but also as one of the best means of training in the art of public
speaking. Since the best form of platform address today is simply
conversation enlarged and elevated, it may almost be assumed that to
excel in one is to be proficient in the other.

Good conversation requires, among other things, mental alertness,
accuracy of statement, adequate vocabulary, facility of expression, and
an agreeable voice, and these qualities are most essential for effective
public speaking. Everyone, therefore, who aspires to speaking before an
audience of hundreds or thousands, will find his best opportunity for
preliminary training in everyday speech.




TYPES OF TALKERS


There is no greater affliction in modern life than the tiresome talker.