The position of the debater on the platform should indicate ease and dignity of bearing. It should give him an appearance of stability and should make easy and natural the use of gestures. The speaker should not stand rigidly throughout his delivery in the same position which he first took. He should move easily about the platform, and all movements should be made deliberately, not abruptly. The position should not be changed too often but when a change is desired the speaker should not turn away from his audience or move sideways along the platform; he should move back and up again in a V-shaped course.
The object of these suggestions is to enable the speaker to acquire ease and naturalness of bearing, for nothing should be done in a stiff, formal manner. Every position and movement should be so natural and spontaneous that the attention of the audience will not be diverted to the personal eccentricities of the speaker but will follow uninterruptedly the progress of his argument.
2. Voice.
There is no set way of addressing the audience. Good form and manners vary with the locality. Neither is there a set method of delivering an argument. Individual peculiarities vary so widely and the style of delivery adapted to the personality of the debater is so difficult to attain that we can only point out the most common faults and explain general rules regarding delivery. The best training in actual practice is debating under the direction of a competent instructor.
The voice of the speaker should be clear and strong. We cannot give here any complete treatment of the methods of vocal training which make the voice clear and strong, but, where opportunity affords, the student of debate should have a thorough training in the art of public speaking. Singing, under proper instruction, will also improve the volume and quality of the voice as well as give the speaker greater voice control. A few practical suggestions regarding the use of the voice may be given some attention at this point.
It has been said that breath is the stuff of which the voice is made. Attention must therefore be given to proper breathing. The entire lung capacity should be used. The breath should be directed through the vocal chords so as to produce a pure tone. The speaker should remember to keep the throat muscles relaxed and the tongue, jaws, and lips out of the way. These organs of speech are to be used to mould into clear-cut words the stream of sound issuing from the vocal chords. Their function is not to suppress sound but to modify it.
Words should be formed as near the lips as it is possible to make them. The speaker must not fear to open his mouth and articulate distinctly. Most words should be formed just back of the front teeth. So formed, the sound is thrown out with force and resonance, for the hard palate or roof of the mouth is a natural sounding board. If the speaker forms his words far back in his mouth they issue only in incoherent mutterings. Since an argument must be heard to be believed, the most thorough preparation up to this point may be entirely offset by a poor delivery. The enunciation of the speaker should be so clear and distinct that the attention of those addressed will be fixed upon what he is saying, not upon the way in which he is saying it.
Every word should be pronounced distinctly. Vagueness in delivery is just as harmful as vagueness in language or substance. If one word in a sentence is pronounced so ineffectively that it is not understood, it may be impossible for the person hearing that sentence to grasp its meaning. In any event it requires the listener to make the mental effort of figuring out what the sentence means, and this mental effort tires the hearer, prevents him from giving his undivided attention to the substance of the argument, and ultimately results in his losing all interest in the discussion. It is therefore plain that clear enunciation is a matter of fundamental importance.
A clear, resonant voice is in itself a valuable asset for the debater. It inspires respect and denotes self-reliance. However, loudness should not be confused with distinctness, for mere loudness often accentuates, rather than remedies poor articulation. The world at large is more ready to believe a person who has a clear-cut, distinct way of speaking than it is to believe one who utters his words in a slovenly manner. It is often true that slovenly habits of speech indicate slovenly habits of thinking and even slovenly morals. The habit of using the voice effectively, however, is not one which can be put on and taken off at will. The voice must be used correctly in everyday conversation as well as in formal debating.