and directly constructed, may be delivered
much more rapidly than involved explanation, unfamiliar phraseology,
long and intricate sentence constructions, unusual material, abstract
reasoning, and unwelcome sentiments. The beginnings of speeches move
much more slowly than later parts. A speaker who intends to lead an
audience a long distance, or to hold the attention for a long time,
will be extremely careful not to speak at the beginning so rapidly
that he leaves them far behind.

This does not mean that a speaker must drawl his words. One of our
national characteristics is that we shorten our words in pronouncing
them--_ing_ generally loses the _g, does not_ has become _doesn't_ and
quite incorrectly _don't, yes_ is _yeeh_, etc. In many cases nothing
more is required than the restoration of the word to its correct form.
Some words can easily be lengthened because of the significance of
their meanings. Others must be extended in order to carry. The best
method of keeping down the rate of delivery is by a judicious use of
pauses. Pauses are to the listener what punctuation marks are to the
reader. He is not conscious of their presence, but he would be left
floundering if they were absent. Some of the most effective parts of
speeches are the pauses. They impart clearness to ideas, as well as
aiding in emphasis and rhythm.

Pitch. A second quality of speech is its pitch. This simply means its
place in the musical scale. Speaking voices are high, medium, or low.
Unfortunate tendencies of Americans seem to be for women to pitch
their voices too high, with resultant strain and unpleasantness, and
for men to pitch their voices too low, with resultant growls and
gruffness. The voices of young children should be carefully guarded in
this respect; so should the changing voices of growing boys. To secure
a good pitch for the speaking voice the normal natural pitch of usual
conversation should be found. Speech in that same pitch should be
developed for larger audiences. Frequently a better pitch can be
secured by slightly lowering the voice. If the natural pitch be too
low for clearness or agreeableness it should be slightly raised--never
more than is absolutely necessary.

No connected group of words should be delivered in a monotonously
level pitch. The voice must rise and fall. These changes must answer
intelligently to the meaning of the material. Such variations are
called inflections. The most disagreeable violations of