← All studies

Study 18 of 31

Subject and Preparation

Turning daily life into speech-capital

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Building on the previous chapter's call for reserve power, this chapter moves from general mental cultivation to the specific, acquisitive habit of the working speaker: hearing with the speaker's ear and seeing with the speaker's eye so that daily experience becomes usable material. Webster reading in a sawmill, Patrick Henry roaming the woods, and Conwell memorizing Milton over syrup-pans all illustrate that stolen quarter-hours become the capital of future speeches. The chapter then distinguishes two ways subjects arise — arbitrary choice among suggested topics, and choice by development, where a theme grows naturally out of a speaker's own reading and reflection until it 'pops into the mind' with living force. Once a subject or its treatment is settled, questions of proportion govern how time and emphasis are distributed, so no vital point is submerged by non-essentials or a speech overruns its limits. Original, first-hand facts are urged above secondhand citation for the authority they carry, and the chapter closes with practical counsel on using and indexing a personal library — cards, envelopes, and note-books — so gathered material remains genuinely available for later use.

Key points

  • Preparation means training the whole life to observe, hear, and read with the speaker's purpose in view, not just study for one speech.
  • Even the smallest scraps of time — quarter hours — can be converted into speech-capital, as Webster, Henry, and Conwell show.
  • Subjects arise either by arbitrary choice among suggested topics or, better, by development out of a speaker's own reading and reflection.
  • Proportion — deciding what deserves the most time and emphasis — is essential; many speeches waste their best minutes 'getting up steam.'
  • First-hand, original facts carry more authority than secondhand citation, and a simple card or envelope index preserves gathered material for future use.

Key texts

  • Proverbs 15:28
  • Ecclesiastes 12:9-10
  • 2 Timothy 2:15

From the book

Chapter XVIII — Subject and Preparation · Open the reader

  • “Information consists of a fact or a group of facts; knowledge is organized information--knowledge knows a fact in relation to other facts.”
  • “Napoleon said that quarter hours decide the destinies of nations.”
  • “more speeches have been spoiled by half-hearted preparation than by lack of talent.”

Put it into practice

  • Fill unforgiving spare minutes (commuting, dressing) with reading or reflection toward a subject, rather than letting them drift.
  • When a theme is imposed on you, still ask the occasion's practical questions — audience, time limit, other speakers — before shaping your material.
  • Keep a note-book or card index of ideas and references so material gathered once remains available later.
  1. Comprehension

    1. What two ways does the chapter describe for choosing a subject?

  2. Scripture

    2. Read the chapter's claim about quarter hours. What did Napoleon say they decide?

  3. Doctrinal Clarity

    3. Why does the chapter prefer choice by development over arbitrary choice?

  4. Comprehension

    4. What example does the chapter give of a speaker wasting proportion in a ten-minute speech?

  5. Contrast

    5. Contrast information and knowledge as the chapter defines them.

  6. Contrast

    6. Contrast gathering facts at first hand with citing secondhand authorities.

  7. Comprehension

    7. What practical questions does the chapter say a speaker should ask before an engagement?

  8. Comprehension

    8. What system does the chapter recommend for conserving gathered material?

  9. Application

    9. Identify a 'quarter hour' in your own week that is currently wasted, and how you could turn it into speech-capital.

  10. Application

    10. Choose a subject 'by development' from something you have recently read or thought about, rather than picking arbitrarily.