and easily as in conversation; in a large room, think of the people
farthest away, and speak clearly, with a slight separation between words,
and with definite phrasing,--aiming your _mind_ toward the distant
listeners.

If one is conscious of nasality or throatiness of voice, it certainly pays
to study the subject seriously with an intelligent teacher. But a good,
natural speaking-voice, free from extraordinary vices, will fill all the
requirements of story-telling to small audiences, without other attention
than comes indirectly from following the general principles of the art.

To sum it all up, then, let us say of the method likely to bring success
in telling stories, that it includes sympathy, grasp, spontaneity: one
must appreciate the story, and know it; and then, using the realising
imagination as a constant vivifying force, and dominated by the mood of
the story, one must tell it with all one's might,--simply, vitally,
joyously.




CHAPTER V

SOME SPECIFIC SCHOOLROOM USES OF STORY-TELLING


In Chapter II., I have tried to give my conception of the general aim of
story-telling in school. From that conception, it is not difficult to
deduce certain specific uses. The one most plainly intimated is that of a
brief recreation period, a feature which has proved valuable in many