OCR Text |
Show WITH OURSELVES The arl o fconversatlon Is not gabled gabl-ed through 'making conversation A well-known writer says: "A good cou 'Tsationallst is one who has Ideas, who reads, thinks, listens, and who has. therefore, something to say." It sounds simple. There are few of us who cannot, at least in sonu- d-gree, d-gree, measure up to that d-lin:iion, but there are few of us who are really rood conversationalists. Why! Re-cause Re-cause we are afraid to talk. There are other reasons, but this, in a great majority ma-jority of cases, is why people sit tongue tied aud embarrassed vrben they would give almost anything to be able to speak freely and naturally. In every rank of society we see people peo-ple at disadvantage because of the hack of early training in self-expres-Ision. They are humiliated and are tin ible to enjoy thomsehes or contribute con-tribute to the general enjoyment be-! be-! cause they have never learned the art i of putnns their ideas into interesting 1 '.elling language. j It is never too late, however, to cor-j cor-j reel a fault or to acquire a virtue and ithis is as true of the art of making 'conversation as It Is of most eery-I eery-I thing else. Readiness in conversation is largely ia matter of practice, but the voice, i 1 1 cially the American voice, needs i to be trained A discordant voice would seriously mar the most inter resting conversationalist. Do not mumble mum-ble or slur over your words, speak dis-tinctly dis-tinctly and not too rapidly. Do not i a lk like a drone or a parrot. Force ! thought and feeling into your words, hem full of mi uilng bo that pro |