I understand well those who find it difficult to speak in public, and for a long time worked in politics, not even trying to speak publicly. My first experience of public speaking took place at a breakfast party, where I made a small improvised comment. Then I said only about two dozen words, after which I returned to my place, pale and trembling. I then became so nervous that I left the event, having forgotten my glasses.

For the second attempt, I had prepared a whole speech, through which, for twenty minutes, I somehow wade. After the speech, my wife told me that all this time I paced back and forth like a tiger in a cage, shouting my speech over my shoulder.

I think the art of speaking will give you a lot easier than me, because, along with the shyness with which I had to fight, I have a speech defect, in general, I control, but go out of control when I am excited, making me tongue-tied . Therefore, I had to come up with a poll trick so that, being in front of the audience, I had time to regain control of my vocal cords, not allowing weary pauses in my speech. If it worked for me, then it will work for you too.
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As I gained experience speaking, all my difficulties gradually disappeared. And shortly before the war, the time came when I was invited to speak as a keynote speaker at a party convention in another state. (yes, I brag, but only to instill in you confidence in your oratorical abilities). My speech was recorded, and the nerve of a spinning disc acted on me nervously, recording all my awkward pauses, grammatical errors and reservations. Just in case, I prepared for myself a written cheat sheet with a speech, but I did not need it. My performance lasted an hour and forty-five minutes, I improvised, and they listened carefully to me. The text of my speech was edited and published (not by me) in the form of a pamphlet that has already survived two editions; I still receive letters from its enthusiastic readers.

I told all this not only because it was my personal triumph, but also because my example shows: all the fears associated with public speaking are imaginary. As soon as you overcome them, speaking to a large audience becomes no more difficult than a table talk. I would even say that it is more difficult to speak in front of an audience when going around the houses of voters, which is why, speaking about visiting the voters, I gave detailed examples of typical conversations with them.
When you speak, do not try to joke a lot and entertain the audience, unless the joke itself is asking for the language, and is relevant in this context. A couple of funny stories illustrating what you are talking about can be useful, but you can do without them. Refined eloquence from you is not required, it is enough only that you are sincere, and your performance will be held with a bang. I heard William Bryan speak at a time when eloquence and eloquence were in politics in greater favor than now. And I remember that most of all the audience was touched not by his long eloquent digressions, but by what he believed in what he said. His honesty acted so irresistibly that I could not resist the power of his conviction, despite the fact that I was totally disagree with him.

Nowadays, one of the best political speakers is Congressman Jerry Vourhis. Even his opponents are not indifferent to the convincing strength of his speeches. Mr. Voorhees does not have the gift of eloquence and gives the impression of a shy, and even timid person. However, all his speeches are permeated with such harsh seriousness that everyone who listens to him is convinced that he says exactly what he himself believes to be true.

Can any of us forget the emotional power of the simple, unsophisticated words of that speech of the British king Edward VIII, in which he renounced the throne?

Chapter 6 The Art of Practical Politics (cont.): Political influence, its conquest, use, and its abuse.

How to get hold of guaranteed voices in your pocket

Often we hear that the politician So-and-so has got in his pocket the guaranteed electoral votes of such-and-so district. But as a rule, this is not entirely true. Only the local leader in this district has no viable opposition, and there is only one political organization consisting of his supporters. It is even less likely that this So-and-so will come to your headquarters, and, assuring you that such and such a district is “lured”, will wish to know what you intend to do about it. That is, how much you pay him to support you in this district.

Ignore such suggestions. Usually, the subjects making them control only their own electoral vote, and the voices of their wife and their family members, if they are registered as voters at all. I have not yet met a person who claims that he controls voters in the district, and in fact has such an opportunity. Tell your visitor that you regret not being able to use his services, because of the lack of money in the party ticket office, praise the party’s commitment, and express the hope that, nevertheless, his civic consciousness will not allow him to stand aside, and Do not support you, even if you do not pay him. Ask his opinion on the upcoming elections and advice on how to best act. But only, for no reason, never, and under no circumstances pay him any money! He does not deserve even a small handout, in the form of compensation to him, so that he does not begin to act against you. Of course, after your refusal to pay, he can take up arms against you, but if you reasonably use the money in the campaign fund, you will get much more votes, more righteous ways. In addition, it is unfair to pay him, depriving his volunteers, much more in need of money.

In the district, there may indeed be a subject with influence on the voters, but in order to find him, you will have to look carefully in the back streets, because he (and most likely it’s her) will be busy repairing the fence in his area at this time, and not extorting money in the polyclubs. And when you find this person, you can trust him even the campaign fund, without fear that he will waste it.

And yet, every political volunteer has a sure way to collect a certain number of votes for his party. As soon as your acquaintances learn that you have gone into politics, and understand that politics for you is a hobby, and not a way to make money, they will begin to rely on your political advice. This method affects even supporters of other parties, especially those belonging to the so-called Menshevik factions of these parties. Knowing you as a decent, respected, and well-informed person, many of your acquaintances from other parties will allow you to give them advice on which candidate, which party lists, and which political programs to vote for them, except perhaps the candidate who heads the list. (As practice shows, it is almost impossible to influence the number of votes for the main candidate of the party list, they can only be adjusted a little, helping those who are lazy to vote, registering them at the polling station and delivering them to the polling station).

With the development of your political career, the number of votes you control from year to year will slowly grow, even if you don’t know about it. There will even come a time when you will be asked to publicly speak with the support of a candidate. And then you are surprised to realize your increased political influence. At the beginning of your career, you will be able to influence the election results during conversations with friends and communication with those present at public events. Your advice will be heeded, because you, judging by everything, are well-versed in all these intricacies of the nuances of party programs and nominated candidates.

Perhaps when you influence the election result for the first time, you will not notice it. But a week before the next election, your phone will start to simply burst off from the number of friends calling you, hungry for your advice. “Bill, could you tell me about the candidates for the post of judge, I heard some of them you know personally?” Of course, you are ready to provide such a service, and then your friend will ask: “What about their programs? Which is better? ”You are ready to explain this too. You may need to explain why you think you need to vote for such and such a candidate and such a program. So, they say, and so, such a candidate is a fool, the other - did not show himself from the best side, violating traffic rules and not stopping at the request of the police, and the third candidate - conducts his election campaign using dishonest methods: his election program contains sly a twisted wording that completely changes the goals declared in the title. The fourth candidate's program includes a sophisticated way to steal money allocated for school education. After several such clarifications, you can omit further details, they will believe you without them. All they want to hear from you is advice, for whom to vote.

Hungry for your advice, and in fact need it, wanting to vote independently, and not at the behest of the local political mafia. Such voices cannot be bought, so the citizens possessing them are out of politics, but they exist in any community, and their name is legion.

In the end, it turns out that fifty to sixty of your acquaintances have got into the habit of calling you a day or two before the election asking who to vote for. Therefore, a few weeks before the election, be sure to put a piece of paper on the phone with a list of the candidates you have chosen so that even in your absence even your twelve-year-old son could dictate to your eager recommendations. All the callers want to know, only for whom you advise them to vote, they do not want to understand politics, but they want to vote with dignity. You only need to give them the right advice, and you have guaranteed voices in your pocket! And these are not only the electoral voices of your acquaintances, but also the voices of their families and their friends. Thus, your friends become repeaters of your political influence. Information about the world of politics from the first hand, from a political insider, is so hard to find, that your friends will begin to value acquaintance with you, and pass on the advice received from you further. From everyone who called you for advice, you can safely count on five electoral votes in favor of your candidate. If you multiply the number of fifty acquaintances who called you by these five votes, you will get 250 votes "in your pocket", and that is not counting those that you will receive during the election campaign! Many elections were won and a much smaller difference in the number of votes!

Part 1, where there are links to all other parts