wanted to speak well he must first learn to talk well. He recognized
that good talking was the basis of effective public speaking.

Bear in mind, however, that this does not mean you are always to confine
yourself to a conversational level. There are themes which demand large
treatment, wherein vocal power and impassioned feeling are appropriate
and essential. But what Lord Brougham meant, and it is equally true
to-day, was that good public speaking is fundamentally good talking.


_Edmund Burke_

Edmund Burke recommended debate as one of the best means for developing
facility and power in public speaking. Himself a master of debate, he
said, "He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our
skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This amiable conflict with
difficulty obliges us to have an intimate acquaintance with our subject,
and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer
us to be superficial."

Burke, like all great orators, believed in premeditation, and always
wrote and corrected his speeches with fastidious care. While such men
knew that inspiration might come at the moment of speaking, they
preferred to base their chances of success upon painstaking preparation.


_Massillon_

Massillon, the great French divine, spoke in a commanding voice and in a
style so direct that at times he almost overwhelmed his hearers. His