its
resources to the public speaker, and that includes the anecdote,
biographical facts, and the narration of events in general.

Narration--more easily defined than mastered--is the recital of an
incident, or a group of facts and occurrences, in such a manner as to
produce a desired effect.

The laws of narration are few, but its successful practise involves more
of art than would at first appear--so much, indeed, that we cannot even
touch upon its technique here, but must content ourselves with an
examination of a few examples of narration as used in public speech.

In a preliminary way, notice how radically the public speaker's use of
narrative differs from that of the story-writer in the more limited
scope, absence of extended dialogue and character drawing, and freedom
from elaboration of detail, which characterize platform narrative. On
the other hand, there are several similarities of method: the frequent
combination of narration with exposition, description, argumentation,
and pleading; the care exercised in the arrangement of material so as to
produce a strong effect at the close (climax); the very general practise
of concealing the "point" (denouement) of a story until the effective
moment; and the careful suppression of needless, and therefore hurtful,
details.

So we see that, whether for magazine or platform, the art of narration
involves far more than the recital of annals; the succession of events
recorded requires a _plan_ in order to bring them out with real effect.

It will be noticed, too, that the literary style in platform narration
is likely to be either less polished and more vigorously dramatic than
in that intended for publication, or else more fervid and elevated in
tone. In this latter respect, however, the best platform speaking of
today differs from the models of the preceding generation, wherein a
highly dignified, and sometimes pompous, style was thought the only
fitting dress for a public deliverance. Great, noble and stirring as
these older masters were in their lofty and impassioned eloquence, we
are sometimes oppressed when we read their sounding periods for any
great length of time--even allowing for all that we lose by missing the
speaker's presence, voice, and fire. So let us model our platform
narration, as our other forms of speech, upon the effective addresses of
the moderns, without lessening our admiration for the older school.

_The Anecdote_

An anecdote is a short