Students of public speaking continually ask, "How can I overcome self-consciousness and the fear that paralyzes me before an audience?" The authors answer, "How would you cure a horse that is afraid of cars--graze him in a back-woods lot where he would never see automobiles, or drive or pasture him where he would frequently see them? Practice, practice, PRACTICE in speaking before an audience will tend to remove all fear of audiences, just as practice in swimming will lead to confidence and facility in the water. You must learn to speak by speaking. But how shall you be able to criticize yourself? Simply by finding out three things: What are the qualities that make an effective speaker; how at least some of these qualities be acquired; and what wrong habits of speech work against acquiring and using the qualities you find to be good." This thorough, helpful, encouraging book will enable the aspiring speaker to do all three.
