The correct position and action of the vocal organs are of supreme importance to all speakers.  Many an inveterate stammerer, stutterer, or repeater can be relieved, if not cured, of the embarrassing impediment by attention to the position of his speech organs and by careful, persistent practice in their manipulation.  In fact every speaker must be cognizant of the placement of these parts if he desires to have control over his speech.  Frequently it is such correct placement rather than loud noise or force which carries expressions clearly to listeners.

While it is true that singing will strengthen the lungs and help in control of breath, it is not always the fact—­as might be expected—­that singing will develop the speaking voice.  Not every person who can sing has a pleasant or forceful voice in ordinary discourse.  In singing, to secure purity of musical tone, the vowels are likely to be disproportionately dwelt upon.  Thus we have the endless la-la-la and ah-ah of so many vocal show-pieces.  The same practice leads to the repeated criticism that it makes no difference whether a song be in English or a foreign language—­the listeners understand just as much in either case.

In speaking effectively the aim and method are the exact opposite.  When a man speaks he wants to be listened to for the meaning of what he is uttering.  There are so many words in the language with the same or similar vowel sounds that only the sharpest discrimination by means of consonants permits of their being intelligible.  The speaker, therefore, will exercise the greatest care in pronouncing consonants distinctly.  As these sounds usually begin and end words, and as they are produced by rather sudden checks or interruptions, they can be made to produce a wave motion in the air which will carry the entire word safely and clearly beyond the ear into the understanding.  In public speaking no amount of care and attention bestowed upon pronouncing consonants can be spared.

Tone.  The most marked quality of a person’s voice is its tone.  It will be enough for the purposes of this manual to assert that the tone should be both clear and agreeable.  In public speaking the first of these is all important, though an absence of the second qualification may almost neutralize all the advantages of the first.  Clearness may be impaired by several causes.  The speaker may feel that his throat closes up, that he becomes choked.  His tongue may become stiff and “cleave to the roof of his mouth”—­as the feeling is popularly described.  He may breathe so energetically that the escaping or entering air makes more noise than the words themselves.  He may be more or less conscious of all these.  The others he may not discover for himself.  The instructor or members of the class will inform him of their presence.  Set jaws will prevent him from opening his mouth wide enough and operating his lips flexibly enough to speak with a full tone.  A nasal quality results mainly from lack of free resonance in the head and nose passages.  Adenoids and colds in the head produce this condition.  It should be eradicated by advice and practice.