Here a word of caution is needed.  We have advised you to allow your gestures and postures to be spontaneous and not woodenly prepared beforehand, but do not go to the extreme of ignoring the importance of acquiring mastery of your physical movements.  A muscular hand made flexible by free movement, is far more likely to be an effective instrument in gesture than a stiff, pudgy bunch of fingers.  If your shoulders are lithe and carried well, while your chest does not retreat from association with your chin, the chances of using good extemporaneous gestures are so much the better.  Learn to keep the back of your neck touching your collar, hold your chest high, and keep down your waist measure.

So attention to strength, poise, flexibility, and grace of body are the foundations of good gesture, for they are expressions of vitality, and without vitality no speaker can enter the kingdom of power.  When an awkward giant like Abraham Lincoln rose to the sublimest heights of oratory he did so because of the greatness of his soul—­his very ruggedness of spirit and artless honesty were properly expressed in his gnarly body.  The fire of character, of earnestness, and of message swept his hearers before him when the tepid words of an insincere Apollo would have left no effect.  But be sure you are a second Lincoln before you despise the handicap of physical awkwardness.

“Ty” Cobb has confided to the public that when he is in a batting slump he even stands before a mirror, bat in hand, to observe the “swing” and “follow through” of his batting form.  If you would learn to stand well before an audience, look at yourself in a mirror—­but not too often.  Practise walking and standing before the mirror so as to conquer awkwardness—­not to cultivate a pose.  Stand on the platform in the same easy manner that you would use before guests in a drawing-room.  If your position is not graceful, make it so by dancing, gymnasium work, and by getting grace and poise in your mind.

Do not continually hold the same position.  Any big change of thought necessitates a change of position.  Be at home.  There are no rules—­it is all a matter of taste.  While on the platform forget that you have any hands until you desire to use them—­then remember them effectively.  Gravity will take care of them.  Of course, if you want to put them behind you, or fold them once in awhile, it is not going to ruin your speech.  Thought and feeling are the big things in speaking—­not the position of a foot or a hand.  Simply put your limbs where you want them to be—­you have a will, so do not neglect to use it.

Let us reiterate, do not despise practise.  Your gestures and movements may be spontaneous and still be wrong.  No matter how natural they are, it is possible to improve them.