CHAPTER ONE
 

Acquiring the Basic Skills

STARTED teaching classes in public speaking in 1912, the year the Titanic went down in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Since then, more than seven hundred and fifty thousand people have been graduated from these classes.

In the demonstration meetings preceding the first session of the Dale Carnegie Course, people are given the opportunity of telling why they intend to enroll and what they hope to gain from this training. Naturally, the phraseology varies; but the central desire, the basic want in the vast majority of cases, remains surprisingly the same: "When I am called upon to stand up and speak, I become so self- conscious, so frightened, that I can't think clearly, can't concentrate, can't remember what I intended to say. I want to gain self-confidence, poise, and the ability to think on my feet, I want to get my thoughts together in logical order, and I want to be able to talk clearly and convincingly before a business or social group."

Doesn't this sound familiar? Haven't you experienced these same feelings of inadequacy? Wouldn't you give a small fortune to have the ability to speak 'convincingly and persuasively in public? I am sure you would. The very fact that you have begun reading the pages of this book is proof of your interest in acquiring the ability to speak effectively.

I know what you are going to say, what you would say if you could talk to me: "But Mr. Carnegie, do you really think I could develop the confidence to get up and face a group of people and address them in a coherent, fluent manner?"...............

THE QUICK AND EASY WAY TO EFFECTIVE SPEAKING