Languages & literature > Abridgement of lectures on rhetoric

PRONUNCIATION or DELIVERY.
r JL ' HE great objedls, to which every public fpeaker
fhould dire<5t his attention in forming his delivery, are,
Firft, to fpeak fo, as to be fully and eafily underftood
by his hearers ; and next, to exprefs himfelf with fuch-
grace and energy, as to pleafe and to move them, j
To be fully and eafily underllood, the chief requifltes
are a due degree of loudnefs of voice, diftinftncfs, flow*
nefs, and propriety of pronunciation.
To be heard is undoubtedly the firft requifite. The
fpeaker muft endeavor to fill with his voice the fpace,
occupied by the affembly. Though this power of voice
is in a great meafure a natural talent, it may receive
confiderable afiiftance from art. Much depends on the
proper pitch and management of the voice. Every¬
man has three pitches in his voice ; the high, the mid¬
dle, and the low. . The high is ufed in calling aloud to
fome one at a diftance ; the low approaches to a whif*
per ;. the middle is that, which is employed in common
converfation, and which fhould generally be ufed in.
public fpeaking. ‘For it is a great error, to fuppofe
that the higheft pitch of the voice is requifite, to be well
heard by a great affembly. This is confounding two
things materially' different, loudnefs or ftrength of found
with the key or note, on which we fpeak. The voice
may be rendered louder without altering the key ; and