Excerpt from Speeches and Toasts: How to Make and Propose Them, a Handbook of Social Speech-Making for Every Occasion Silence may be "golden," as the proverb has it, on certain occasions when by speaking strife may be protracted; but there are times and seasons when speaking is not only admissible but necessary. The power of a speech, the influence for good (as well as for evil) that a powerful speaker can exercise over his hearers, is a possession greatly to be desired. But not every speaker can enchain his audience. Still it cannot be denied that a man who can speak well upon any subject will have a following; and it is a fact that nearly all, if not all great movements, have been set going by the power if speech. "Deeds, not words," is a good motto; but deeds are done and over. Words excite or calm; grow and bear fruit. Deeds may create or destroy; oratory builds up and incites to deeds. Speech, then, is the mainspring of action, the advocate of peace. "Eloquence is the queen of the world," and by oratory comes fame and power. The power to turn men's minds and influence their actions by persuasive eloquence is a grand possession; to carry away an audience in parliament, in court, in pulpit, or theatre is a sign of power of brain, the result of study and application. Now how must this power be attained? How can we inscribe our names upon the roll of fame and have it handed down to posterity? Let us see! There are certain essential qualifications for the speaker which will be immediately recognized - clearness of utterance, deliberation of manner and repose of mien. The hurried man will stammer, the nervous man will flounder in his talk. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.