rike a serious blow at his resolution to
persevere.

The one idea of the aspirant to poise should be above all things never
to risk a failure.

Such a check will rarely be a partial one. It will have a marked effect
upon his proposed plan of educating his will-power by again giving rise
to that confusion which is always lurking in the background of the
thoughts of the timid and which is, moreover, the source of all their
ills.

Another wise precaution consists in foreseeing objections and in
preparing such answers as will enable one to refute them.

Eloquence is one of the most useful achievements of poise; it is also
the gift that best aids one to acquire it.

It is, therefore, indispensable to train oneself to speak in a refined
and correct manner.

The man who is sure of his oratorical powers will never be at a loss. He
will find conviction growing while he seeks to create it.

We spoke in the preceding chapter of the mechanical exercises necessary
to make speaking an easy matter.

We must not forget, however, that before one can speak one has to think.

Words will spring of themselves to our lips the moment we have a
definite conception of the idea they serve to present. As a proof of
this contention one has only to cite the case of those persons who,
while ordinarily experiencing great difficulty in expressing themselves,
become suddenly clear, persuasive, and even eloquent when it comes to
discussing a subject in which they are deeply interested.

The study of the art of speaking will become, then, for people of
timidity, over and above the mechanical exercises that we have
prescribed in a former chapter, a profound analysis of the subject upon
which they are likely to be called upon to express themselves.

One should strive to describe things in short sentences as elegantly
phrased as possible.

When the idea we wish to convey seems to be exprest in a confused
fashion, one should not hesitate to seek for a change of phraseology
that will make it more concise and clear.

But above all--above all, we must pull ourselves up short and begin over
again if any tendency to stammer, to hesitate, or to become confused,
begins to manifest itself.

Just as soon as one feels more at one's ease one can seek to put in
practise all these special studies.

Nothing is quite so disconcerting as the idea of stammering or stopping
short.

For this reason it is imperative that one should begin all over again
the